Is there a player who relies more on one skill than Iginla?

[begbeee]

Pretty sure the only thing you have been able to do is skating. Even below avarege athlete can make it to the NHL if he can skate pretty good. So I suppose there are some players who relied only on their skating.

Then it goes two ways... If you are strong and big you relied only on physical part of your game and you become decent bottom pairing defensman or fighter/enforcer. If you are smaller and speedy you can became decent 15-20 goals forward..

 

[Super Fadio Bro]

Craig Janney's playmaking

Before or After Shanhan came along?

 

[tjcurrie]

Anyone saying Brett Hull should watch this video in it's entirety. He scored a lot more goals other than just standing back and shooting than what people think. It's just because his shot was so damn good that's all people think he had.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrkTs4Ub8zI

 

[Big Phil]

I think a lot of his goals come from bursting down the right wing with his hard and accurate wrist shot, that is hard to deny but he has other qualities. A good and able fighter, a physical player, a decent playmaker. Brett Hull is the best example of a player who relies on one skill the most, Phil Esposito was the same way with how he worked the slot. By the way, this is not meant to be an insult to any player. If Esposito was so easy to contain then teams would have stopped him if they knew he was more likely to score from the slot. Same with Hull, teams would focus on him on the powerplay with that booming shot on his left side but he still scored.

Iginla specializes down the right wing and that's fine. He doesn't get ALL of his goals that way of course but a lot of them which is fine. Lafleur scored a lot with his slapper down the right wing. Someone mentioned Messier with his off-wing snapshot. These guys were successful however. A guy like Phil Kessel has yet to perfect the type of goal Iggy is able to score. Maybe that'll take time but Iggy has always seemed to have it down pat. But yeah, I know the OP didn't exactly say he was one-dimensional but I will repeat that he certainly isnt

 

[Infinite Vision*]

Anyone saying Brett Hull should watch this video in it's entirety. He scored a lot more goals other than just standing back and shooting than what people think. It's just because his shot was so damn good that's all people think he had.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrkTs4Ub8zI

Watched it, and saw him play many times, If he had an average shot, he wouldn't be an NHL player. I'm actually positive of that.

 

[Hertl Power]

I am surprised Heatley hasn't been said yet. He has a shot and........... Did I forget to mention he has a shot.

 

[Infinite Vision*]

I am surprised Heatley hasn't been said yet. He has a shot and........... Did I forget to mention he has a shot.

Disagree completely. If you watched him in Ottawa in his prime, he could skate a lot better than people pretended, was and actually still is a severely underrated playmaker, he was even a pretty solid backchecker. Heatley was far from a one tool player, maybe now, but you don't get drafted 2nd overall and have multiple seasons of 50+ assists in a low scoring era if you're a one tool player.

 

[SmellOfVictory]

I didn't mean Iginla was one dimensional. Thought I worded it well enough. What I mean is that while Iginla does everything well, it is his shot that he utilizes the most and is what he's known for.

He does certainly have a signature shot, but again there are guys like Hull, who was mentioned, or Stamkos who look way more reliant on a single ability than Iggy. Up until he played with Cammy he was also known for just plowing through an entire team to score, but he's definitely switched to more of a finesse game (I'm not sure that it suits him as well). He'd be better-known for his playmaking if Cammy had been kept around, as well. A single season of having someone else on your line who can finish isn't going to cut it, but maybe if Tanguay ever decides to shoot the puck more than 80 times in a year (or if Backlund/insert center shoots enough) we'll see more of Iggy's playmaking.

 

[KingGallagherXI]

Absolute winner.
That man has no other skill than his shot.

 

[SmellOfVictory]

Absolute winner.
That man has no other skill than his shot.

I think it was implied that we had to be talking about good players. Otherwise there are tons of 4th liners, spare players, and enforcers who have only one real ability (enforcers as a whole being the worst offenders, since their single skill isn't even directly related to winning).

 

[SauceHockey]

Boyd Devereaux only had speed after that he has no other reliable skill
Brett Lebda only has speed and has no other reliable skill

 

[tjcurrie]

Watched it, and saw him play many times, If he had an average shot, he wouldn't be an NHL player. I'm actually positive of that.

Did you watch and see, or just watch ? There's a difference. The guy was more than just his shot. It's only because his shot was so good that people ignore everything else. It's obviously what he's recognized for but there's no way you can say he wouldn't have been in the NHL. Obviously if you take away the #1 skill of any kid before they make it, theyre gonna have a tougher time doing so and it's impossible to say what direction theyre careers would go.

Let's say half of Hull's goals were scored with his shot. Hell let's say 2/3 of them. Take away half of those because his shot isn't as powerful, that still works out to 494 goals and 1144 points. So let's say he doesnt make the show, the show is missing out on a damn good player.

 

[6 8 5 13]

No mention yet of the huge number of players throughout the history of hockey who have made careers based on one facet of their game!

Enforcers, fighters, goons etc.

 

[UnrefinedCrude]

I didn't mean Iginla was one dimensional. Thought I worded it well enough. What I mean is that while Iginla does everything well, it is his shot that he utilizes the most and is what he's known for.

Even as an Oiler fan I think you sell Iggy short.

Iggy is known for hard work, good hitting, toughness, a willingness to fight, decent passing, good but not elite speed, great puck protection, and a great shot.

he is very far from one dimensional. In fact on your team alone JBo is more one dimensional. he s known for having a pretty stride, and that is it.

 

[Puckgenius*]

Iggy is a player who definitely does NOT rely on one skill.

 

[pt_mck]

Disagree completely. If you watched him in Ottawa in his prime, he could skate a lot better than people pretended, was and actually still is a severely underrated playmaker, he was even a pretty solid backchecker. Heatley was far from a one tool player, maybe now, but you don't get drafted 2nd overall and have multiple seasons of 50+ assists in a low scoring era if you're a one tool player.

That was 4 years ago. He may have other tools but is quite lazy and refuses to use them most the time. Even in Ottawa 4 years ago he was quite lazy relying on his shot. Spezza and Alfie did 90% of the work and hustle to get the puck to Heatley in a scoring position.

Hey, did I mention he's a ****ing all-star.

 

[superhakan]

Even as an Oiler fan I think you sell Iggy short.

Iggy is known for hard work, good hitting, toughness, a willingness to fight, decent passing, good but not elite speed, great puck protection, and a great shot.

he is very far from one dimensional. In fact on your team alone JBo is more one dimensional. he s known for having a pretty stride, and that is it.

Very rarely Iggy will throw out a random dangle which will leave you going "where the **** did that come from?!". However he rarely scores from it.

Iggys shot is his best asset, but it is far from his only one.

 

[dennilfloss]

I am surprised Heatley hasn't been said yet. He has a shot and........... Did I forget to mention he has a shot.

First name that came to mind, The Hated One!

 

[Rorschach]

I was gonna bring up Brett Hull as an example of someone people mistakingly assume he relied solely on one skill. My point being that sometimes there's players who are so strong at something, people overlook everything else and tend to underrate their all-round skill. It get's overlooked. Brett Hull is a good example, as Ive already seen two posters mention him.

His shot was obviously his strong point, but he could pass the puck pretty darn well and he's made more rushes up the ice and scored more goals where he's had to deke either the defenseman and/or goalie than what people give him credit for.

I've heard people tell me all he had was his shot, and that's completely false and short sighted.

Agree. Brett Hull is way underrated as an overall player. He just wound up using that getting to an open area-quick release thing because it worked by far the best. But that didn't mean that's all he had. He played a great two-way game for Team USA in that first World Cup.

- R

 

[Rorschach]

I think Jan Erixon back in the late 80s and to a lesser extent Esa Tikkanen had careers just being pests and shadows. There have been lots of players especially at the end of their careers who just were grinders or were excellent face-off men who were needed for key positions. Plus obviously in the late 80s, you have guys that were total goons and didn't even have ONE hockey skill other than being able to stand still and not fall down on skates, haha.

Maybe if I have one guy who I would point out as a player who puts up big numbers but offers the least to a team...it would probably be Mike Gartner. On the other spectrum, I would say Rod Langway was a great player who only played his stay-at-home D style.

- R