Big Phil said:
Who was faster in your opinion. Now I mean this literally. We all know guys are faster nowadays in general but who was straight up the fastest skater ever.
Yvan Cournoyer - He was definetly the fastest of his generation. Faster than Orr for sure. Look at him in Game 2 of the '72 Summit Series. He takes a pass from Park and blows, by and I mean blows by the Russian defense. He did get the "Roadrunner" for nothing.
Sergei Fedorov - He's always been good all arond but his speed separates him from the rest. Its often forgotten about how fast he can motor.
Pavel Bure - His speed is no secret. There's a goal much like Cournoyer's that is pure speed. It is in Rock Em SOck Em #6, when Bure is in his prime. He just picks up the puck in the Vancouver end and faster than you can say "jiminy cricket" he's beating Lidstrom on the outside and roofing it top corner.
Paul Coffey - Personally Coffey is my pick of guys who could skate faster than anyone else. Put him against Bure in a lap skate and he beats him. He skated so fluidly that you forget he was going so fast until you realized that the other guys on the ice were going so slow. They werent going so slow Coffey was just going too fast! He glidd better than some guys skated really hard. And he skated fast backwards even, so effortlessly. No one could skate as fast as him IMO.
I totally agree with your Coffey assessment.
Coffey had ridiculous speed. I do not think anyone could beat him if you take Coffey in his prime. You nailed it when mentioning how fluid he was, and how he glided at such a high rate of speed. All while calmly carrying the puck. His arms were not flying everywhere, and his legs were not pumping like crazy.
To see the goalie or a teammate set up the puck for him behind the net on a breakout, and have Coffey take a few strides and collect the puck and he was gone, was such a sight. PLAYERS DID LOOK LIKE THEY GOING IN SLOW MOTION because of Paul's amazing speed and control at that speed.
I have seen many fast skaters, but none is close to Coffey imo.