Great skaters, bad players

Status
Not open for further replies.

MS

1%er
Mar 18, 2002
53,367
83,459
Vancouver, BC
Shawn Antoski had amazing wheels for a guy who was 230 lbs, but no skills whatsoever. Nikita Alexeev is the best-skating 6'5" player I've ever seen, but can't do anything else.

Jason Krog doesn't do much with his great speed although he's a useful checker, much like many of the other guys listed here.

Maxim Afinogenov is a decent player who will never live up to his skating ability. Same with Fata.

Yaremchuk and Lazaro are great examples who have already been listed.
 

Psycho Papa Joe

Porkchop Hoser
Feb 27, 2002
23,347
17
Cesspool, Ontario
Visit site
mcphee said:
That's who came to mind for me. Man, he could fly. Hands never caught up to his feet though. Anybody remember Ron Flockhart ? He looked great for a few games in Mtl., 'til we realized, he was Sheehan re-incarnated. Didn't they refer to him as Flockey Hockey when he was in Philly ?
That's who I was going to say. Speed with a capital S and Schit with a bigger capital S.
 

Form and Substance

Registered User
Jun 11, 2004
5,670
0
Poochie_D said:
Oleg Petrov was a world class skater, but a decent hockey player.
Ron Flockhart wins hands down. I totally remember Oleg with his razzle dazzle spin moves because they never fooled anybody.
 

Matsi

got paws?
Mar 22, 2005
1,599
0
Chiricahua Mountains
looooob said:
Paul Ranheim has played 1000 games, so not sure he counts, but in those early years with Calgary he never lived up to his IHL billing. alot of speed, not much else

that was mainly because he suffered a very serious injury early in his nhl career. he had some very good seasons up to that point whereafter he never was the same... but throughout his entire career he's been an excellent defensive forward with very deft passing skills :teach:
 
Last edited:

octopi

Registered User
Dec 29, 2004
31,547
4
I can think of one who's the opposite...bad skater, great player:
Brett Hull. Had to have a great shot, because he's...ummm...not that mobile
 

God Bless Canada

Registered User
Jul 11, 2004
11,793
17
Bentley reunion
Antoski's a great pick. Geez, the guy could fly. Injuries held him back, too, but he would have likely been a fourth line enforcer.

Alexeev has terrific wheels for such a big man, but hasn't been able to put his talent together on a consistent basis. Michael Samuelsson (drafted in the first round by Boston in 2000) is another 2000 draftee that immediately comes to mind, although he doesn't come close to Alexeev's size or skill set.

Jeff Heerema has terrific wheels and the talent to be an impact scorer, but is mired in the AHL.
 

Yammer

Registered User
Oct 22, 2002
2,357
2
Republic of East Van
In Vancouver we have had some great skaters who went nowhere as NHLers, I am thinking of Steve Kariya and Adrien Plavsic. Bret Hedican has had a very good career as a slick defender, no question, but with his incredible wheels and cannon shot, you always thought "should be a perennial All-Star."
 
  • Like
Reactions: grentthealien

brianscot

Registered User
Jan 1, 2003
1,415
17
Halifax, NS
Visit site
chooch said:
Flockhart is a complete mystery to me; for a few games and others with other teams he was more than a great skater; he could really stickhandle (FlockeyHockey)
- only thing was he had his head down a lot and didnt pass much for a centre. But I dont get why he never became a huge star.

He reminded me a lot of Morenz from old footage (really).


I saw Ron Flockhart play an AHL year here in Portland with the old Maine Mariners and he was stunning to watch at the AHL level. His skating expertise was simply light years ahead of his other hockey skills.

Earlier, Gene Carr was mentioned and he'd get my vote for the best skater who umm, didnt truly do all that much with it?

But hey, he did have an NHL career.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Ad

-->