Greatest one trick pony in Hockey History?

[Yozhik v tumane]

Ovi

That one trick worked like a charm against ya in the SCFs if memory serves me well.

 

[IceNeophyte]

That one trick worked like a charm against ya in the SCFs if memory serves me well.

I actually enjoyed watching him celebrate on our ice. Good on him, it was a long time coming.

 

[hypereconomist]

Marc Andre Bergeron

 

[The Panther]

Good grief, Al MacInnis was not a "one-trick pony". Really, people.

MacInnis was not overly physical (no more than Leetch, I would say), but he was defensively adept most of the time, had the incredible shot, was a superb outlet passer, and might have been the best in the League at the 'slap-pass' and at shooting pucks for deflections.

 

[c9777666]

Dave Andreychuk. Not a speed demon, not a playmaker, but he was reliable in front of the net for 20 years- esp. on the Power Play

For many years, you could chalk him up for no worse than 20 goals.

 

[hacksaw7]

Dave Andreychuk. Not a speed demon, not a playmaker, but he was reliable in front of the net for 20 years- esp. on the Power Play

For many years, you could chalk him up for no worse than 20 goals.

And reinvented himself very late in his career as a good defensive player as well. Despite always being a very slow skater. Though the dead puck era climate that existed in 02/03/04 really helped him as well

 

[MadLuke]

Good grief, Al MacInnis was not a "one-trick pony". Really, people.

MacInnis was not overly physical (no more than Leetch, I would say), but he was defensively adept most of the time, had the incredible shot, was a superb outlet passer, and might have been the best in the League at the 'slap-pass' and at shooting pucks for deflections.

This I remember him being an elite passer as well, is nearly 1,000 assists does not come all from slap shot rebound getting put in, he would have been a great D with a regular hard shot imo.

 

[kaiser matias]

Ovi

I was thinking Brett Hull.

 

[Arthur Morgan]

Vesa Toskala
He was really good at letting the puck in

 

[Hatfield]

Didn't realize Carey ever wore that uniform with the Calitals. His Vezina year was their first in the new blue and black style.

1995 (the shortened season) was his rookie year, and their last one wearing that jersey.

It actually isn’t true that he had one good season; he was good in his rookie year too. IIRC he was a Calder runner-up (to Brodeur I think).

 

[JuJu Mobb]

Marc Andre Bergeron

How about Sheldon Souray?

 

[c9777666]

1995 (the shortened season) was his rookie year, and their last one wearing that jersey.

It actually isn’t true that he had one good season; he was good in his rookie year too. IIRC he was a Calder runner-up (to Brodeur I think).

Forsberg

 

[Ace36758]

Chad Kilger's record-breaking slapshot was literally his only redeeming skill.

He could also fly if I recall correctly. But could do nothing else.

 

[hypereconomist]

How about Sheldon Souray?

Souray brought some physicality and was good enough at defense to play meaningful ES minutes.


Not a single team that MA Bergeron played for trusted him at even strength, he was averaging 4-5 mins of PP time per game out of 16-17 mins of total TOI, 60% of his career points came off the PP, and he was out of the league the moment that his PP contributions faltered.

I struggle to think of players that were as much of a one-trick pony as Bergeron was.

Guys like Yanic Perrault and Manny Malhotra may have been faceoff specialists, but at least they could contribute to other aspects of the game too.

 

[SniperHF]

Perreault is truly a one trick pony personified.

I'm assuming you mean Yanic, I actually don't think this is fair to him. It's true he was the elitetest of elite at faceoffs.
But even at the end of his career he put up 33 points in 49 games and breathed a lot of life into a pretty sad Coyotes team.

He had a couple 50 point campaigns in the middle of the DPE. A really good two way middle 6er. A very nice, underrated shot. Not a volume shooter but a brilliant spot picker.

 

[Noldo]

Thought of Jussi Jokinen, but I guess you mean a shootout specialist as in having some dangling instagrammer wasting space on the bench for league minimum until a shootout happens?

Jussi Jokinen may have prolonged his NHL career just because he was good in shootouts. But I suppose that as the ice time has become more valuable and coaches insist that every player has to be able to play meaningful shifts (which has partially contributed to the end of enforcers), a player whose primary contribution would be a goal if the game goes to shootout would be too expensive investment.

And player who could reliably score in shootout could probably get better offer from Europe (see Omark or Schremb)

 

[The Macho King]

Zenon Konopka.

Win the face off. Get the f*** off the ice because you're awful at literally everything else.

 

[GMR]

Zenon Konopka.

Win the face off. Get the f*** off the ice because you're awful at literally everything else.

If you include him, this entire topic changes to include enforcers and fighters.

Konopka wasn't just there to win faceoffs.

 

[Hasbro]

Ray Sheppard: the ultimate can do nothing but score goals.

 

[Nick Hansen]

Souray brought some physicality and was good enough at defense to play meaningful ES minutes.


Not a single team that MA Bergeron played for trusted him at even strength, he was averaging 4-5 mins of PP time per game out of 16-17 mins of total TOI, 60% of his career points came off the PP, and he was out of the league the moment that his PP contributions faltered.

I struggle to think of players that were as much of a one-trick pony as Bergeron was.

Guys like Yanic Perrault and Manny Malhotra may have been faceoff specialists, but at least they could contribute to other aspects of the game too.

MA Bergeron is a good one. If not for that booming slapshot, he likely ain't an NHLer.

 

[The Macho King]

MA Bergeron is a good one. If not for that booming slapshot, he likely ain't an NHLer.

When he was on the ice, someone was going to score. You just didn't know if it was going to be your team or the other team.

 

[Arkadiusz]

Perreault is truly a one trick pony personified.

What surprises me is that there has not yet been any dedicated shootout specialists in the League.

When I think shootout, I think Erik Christensen. Nothing else about that player of significance that I can recall...

 

[GRob83]

When I think shootout, I think Erik Christensen. Nothing else about that player of significance that I can recall...

Matt Hendricks as well, he had that paralyzer move working for a couple years.

 

[MS]

Pavel Bure.

My Best-Carey

Pavel Bure would have been a 40-goal scorer if he skated like Luc Robitaille.

People focus on his end-to-end rushes but he only converted a couple of those/year while absolutely pouring in goals with the best one-timer in the league outside of Brett Hull. His shot was absolutely elite.

 

[Arthur Morgan]

Darcy Tucker in his few goal scoring years.

on the left of the net