BenchBrawl
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- Jul 26, 2010
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Where do you see him in the shots department against the best of them?( overall , all shots , power , accuracy , speed of execution )
Where do you see him in the shots department against the best of them?( overall , all shots , power , accuracy , speed of execution )
Wrist shot: Release and accuracy the best I've witnessed. He found openings, and his release was so quick and so accurate the goalies had no chance. There's a reason he could comeback after 3 1/2 years and pot 35 goals in 43 games against superior goaltenders with superior equipment, even though he himself seemed slower. It was his release and accuracy, as well as subtle fakes in which he used his long reach to freeze the goalie, then he could either deke or fire it into a corner the second a goalie blinked his eye. His wrist shot power was not the greatest, but it was right up there though. Sakic and Ovechkin have him beat for wrist shot velocity.
Slap shot: Same story with the wrist shot, except only a select few have more velocity on their shots in game situations, think Bobby Hull, Brett Hull and Al MacInnis. Possibly Ovechkin and Kovalchuk today. He could also take long windups and it didn't really matter if the goalie knew it was coming, they could have all the time to prepare and as soon as they committed he would find the opening and wire it in. He also had multiple shots the goalie got a piece of but still went in anyway.
Snap shot: Once again very similar to his wrist shot, his release and accuracy were unmatched. He combined his reach with a variety of other options he had, deking the opposing team out of their jockstraps, making a quick pass from any angle that only he could see, this made it hard for goalies to cheat, they basically had to guess and hope they guessed right, which didn't happen too often.
Backhand: He didn't seem to use the backhand too often other than when he was deking the goalie. I recall more than a few times him sniping from far out with a back hand much like Crosby or Datsyuk do today. It wasn't his main weapon though. Even strength it was mostly the wrister or the snapper, and the slapper on the powerplay.
Overall: To elaborate more on what made him such a great goalscorer other than his shooting skills, his vision, hockey sense, anticipation, his deking abilities, his long wingspan, were all a nightmare for goaltenders. He could have the puck on one side of the goalie, then bring it back 15 feet the other direction in a split second, and either make a pass or a shot that was sure to fool the goalie. His accuracy and release have to be the best I've witnessed, and when you're 6'4", have the best hands ever seen in a hockey player as well as the second best hockey sense ever, there's not a whole lot anyone can do to stop you from putting the puck in the net.
Excellent summary. Reads like you have scouted a bit.
Few additions.
Mario Lemieux had the ability to change a shot to a pass or a pass to a shot later than most players who commit rather early. Also he used to fool goalies with blade positioning and the pressure he applied on the stick hiding his intentions shoot or pass.
For a big man, Lemieux was very adept at playing the puck close to his body, forehand and backhand while masking his intentions, shoot or pass.
Up thread.The shot of the face-off was an old Jean Beliveau play. Bit of a trick - position the other players for the draw. If the goalie overplays by moving from the post a bit, nail the opening.
The key to Mario Lemieux's offensive game was that his wingers and dmen had to play wide. This forced the defence wide and forced the goalie to move creating the additional openings.
A few things I forgot to add was Lemieux has scored multiple times directly off the face-off as you and someone else mentioned, he also had the 5 goals in 5 different ways which is still a record to this day. I also agree he was without doubt the best breakaway player ever. If he had played today, no one could hook and hold him, which is all you really could do to stop him, and he'd be easily the best shootout player in the league today. He would have 70+ goals per year, and another 10-15 in the shootout in todays league, he would be a force, possibly even more so than he was due to the shootouts and stricter clutching and grabbing penalties. Shot blocking I wouldn't see as being a huge detriment to him today, because of his ability as you mentioned to out wait players/goalies and make the precise decision.
Top notch all the way around, but IMO, the 2nd way he'd score goals.
His reach and deking ability is what just made both players and goaltenders look amateur.
I agree.
when I was a teenager I used to rewrite the player rankings for my EA sports NHL games. Lemieux always got 100 in shot accuracy, passing, agility and stickhandling. I think I also gave Jagr 100 in the last two. This was circa 1997. Aside from them, I wouldn't give anyone else even a 95, out of respect for their abilities.
I'll say this, Ovechkin has among the best shots I've ever seen. The newer sticks, monster curves DOES make a difference.
Bossy had the best release by far.
Brett Hull next closest. Stamkos pretty good nowadays.
Ovechkin, with time, probably has the hardest wrist shot I've seen, great slap shot too.
Mogilny, Kovalev, Iginla - great wrist shots.
99, well he didn't have much of a shot except a deadly accurate slap shot that he used sparingly.
Mario's shot was unspectacular but incredibly effective, probably the best, most accurate ever. I think Bossy was able to score on anyone, seemingly at will, with little room. But it was the quick release more than the pure shot/accuracy.
Mario made the game look slow motion. As C1958 said, he seemed to have way more time to make decisions than other players. He was so elusive and could beat a defender/goalie any way he wanted to. It was as though he CHOSE HOW he would score, out of several choices, rather than trying something/anything to try and score.
He really made the game look incredibly easy.
In his prime, in full health, he would be a real treat to watch in today's game. No red line, no holding, new sticks, wow.
I thought I was the only one to do that. I remember using a text editor and "hack" my way into the hex codes that generate the attributes, altering them based on what I believed.
Regarding Mario, I think I was most impressed by a goal he scored from (almost?) behind the net, along the extended goal line, during a powerplay.
I couldn't agree more with everything you've said here... going a little off topic, but since you mentioned him, where are all the Mogilny highlights?! I can hardly find any at all.