The Game's Greatest Snipers

[Steve Kournianos]

Shooting PCT shouldnt be a defining factor, but if it takes a guy less shots to score a goal, i think that is a significant factor.

To me, a shot on goal is a scoring opportunity. It makes the goalie work, and more times than not, a rebound off of a shot can serve the same purpose as a tape-to-tape pass.

Some goal scorers were more high maintenance than others. Guys like Bure and OV create their own opportunities, while guys like Kerr, Kurri, Andreychuk and to an extent Brett Hull needed good set-up men.

However, 60 goals is 60 goals anyway you slice it.

 

[lextune]

lol....I don't think a lot of people are actually reading this thread.

 

[Heat McManus]

People are reading the thread. There isn't a strong definition of what a sniper is or what a sniper's goal looks like.

You can't compare Ovechkin and Esposito. Espo scored most of his goals from down low, using his body and hands to put catch the goalie out of position. Ovechkin shoots from all angles because his shot is just that dangerous.

Is a sniper "a player who relies primarily on his shot to score goals"? Or "a player with a great shot"? Or "a great goal scorer"? Or "a great goal scorer with a great shot"? I've heard the term used to describe all of these things.

We could use the military anatomy of "one shot, one kill".

 

[vivianmb]

People are reading the thread. There isn't a strong definition of what a sniper is or what a sniper's goal looks like.

You can't compare Ovechkin and Esposito. Espo scored most of his goals from down low, using his body and hands to put catch the goalie out of position. Ovechkin shoots from all angles because his shot is just that dangerous.

Is a sniper "a player who relies primarily on his shot to score goals"? Or "a player with a great shot"? Or "a great goal scorer"? Or "a great goal scorer with a great shot"? I've heard the term used to describe all of these things.

We could use the military anatomy of "one shot, one kill".

how about a guy who the goalies always knew when and where they were shooting...but still couldn't stop their "deadly shot"?

 

[Oilers1*]

how about a guy who the goalies always knew when and where they were shooting...but still couldn't stop their "deadly shot"?

I like this.

To me, a sniper is a guy who can go all game only touching the puck twice, and still end up with two goals. Its a player that doesn't need alot of chances or alot of time or open space. He gets the puck, gets it off in a hurry and picks a top corner while doing it.

Ovechkin is probably one of the most impactful goal-scorers ever because he's a 'clear and present danger' whenever he steps on the ice. He changes the dynamic of a game because everyone has to be aware that he'll shoot the puck from anywhere at anytime. Sometimes three or four times a shift.

Bure was much the same, but in a different way. Bure was a goal-scoring machine who could create something out of nothing with his speed and stickhandling and defense's always had to adjust to that.

Compare those guys to Brett Hull, who IMO more fits the bill as a 'sniper'; he'd float around the offensive zone until he got close to a loose puck and then BAM! it was in the net.

Just my opinion.

 

[vivianmb]

I like this.

To me, a sniper is a guy who can go all game only touching the puck twice, and still end up with two goals. Its a player that doesn't need alot of chances or alot of time or open space. He gets the puck, gets it off in a hurry and picks a top corner while doing it.

Ovechkin is probably one of the most impactful goal-scorers ever because he's a 'clear and present danger' whenever he steps on the ice. He changes the dynamic of a game because everyone has to be aware that he'll shoot the puck from anywhere at anytime. Sometimes three or four times a shift.

Bure was much the same, but in a different way. Bure was a goal-scoring machine who could create something out of nothing with his speed and stickhandling and defense's always had to adjust to that.

Compare those guys to Brett Hull, who IMO more fits the bill as a 'sniper'; he'd float around the offensive zone until he got close to a loose puck and then BAM! it was in the net.

Just my opinion.

hull is the prototypical sniper.although bossy was one as well and he played both ends of the ice.luke robitaille was a sniper.
bill barber,gartner,lafleur....

 

[Cake or Death]

This thread reminds me of an article I once read:

"If you talk about a sniper, Kovalchuk's it," Philadephia Flyers defenseman Kimmo Timonen says. "It comes off his stick so hard and fast, and you just hope it hits something on the way through -- preferably the goalie."

But San Jose Sharks coach Ron Wilson has a different slant. "Kovalchuk is obviously a tremendous goal scorer, but I don't view him as a sniper because he has all these long dashes up the ice, beating two or three people," Wilson says. "It seems to me that a sniper is a guy who appears and then -- boom! -- it's in the net. Brett Hull, Mike Bossy: Those are the true snipers."

Sniper might be the trickiest label in hockey because so many inside the game have their own standards and definitions. Defining the term is like interpreting the Constitution. There are justices who are loose constructionists and those who are strict. And then there are the centrists, which in this case is Sharks director of scouting Tim Burke.

"A sniper is a guy that doesn't need many chances," Burke says. "You have gunners who throw a ton of shots on net. They do score, but they need more shots. Kovalchuk is interesting because I can see him falling into both categories."

 

[Heat McManus]

This thread reminds me of an article I once read:

so it's not just us hockey nerds that have a tough handle on it? lol

 

[Cake or Death]

how about a guy who the goalies always knew when and where they were shooting...but still couldn't stop their "deadly shot"?

^ Nice. If you look at the image of an actual sniper, you think of knowing where to set up for the perfect shot, knowing the right moment to take the shot, needing only one shot to do the job. On that representation, guys like Bossy, Kurri and Hull immediately jump to mind. And while a Kovalchuk, Iginla and Ovechkin can all score many different ways, I think all three of these guys also fall into that representation of a sniper -- give them an open inch of space and their shots can be accurate and lethal.

While Bossy, Hull and Kurri are closer to the definition of what might be deemed a more 'pure' sniper, I think guys like Kovalchuk, Iginla and Ovechkin have top-end sniping abilities, as well.

 

[NOTENOUGHJTCGOALS]

This type of rhread has come up a few times. In the past they called it "pure goal scorer". "Sniper" is better. Using your definition Guys like Bossy, Espo, Brett hull. & horvath are good fits. Not so great in other aspects of the game, but they could take a pass & shoot it quickly, hard & accurate.

Pure goal scorer is a horrible term. And in my books it's pretty much an insult. Quite often they call a player a "pure goal scorer" because he cant do anything else.

 

[lextune]

You can't compare Ovechkin and Esposito. Espo scored most of his goals from down low, using his body and hands to put catch the goalie out of position. Ovechkin shoots from all angles because his shot is just that dangerous.

I do compare them.

But in the sense that they are both great goal scorers, but neither fits my idea of a sniper. Obviously they both played (and scored) in totally different ways.

Is a sniper "a player who relies primarily on his shot to score goals"?

Yes, and more specifically on his shot's accuracy (ie - like a sniper).

Or "a great goal scorer"?

Not necessarily; (see above Espo and Ovy references).

 

[Stonefly]

Lemieux and Bossy are the two I would label as snipers. They could pick a hole the size of a puck and put the puck through it and do that while under pressure. Most players take a shot and you think 'Is it going to go in'? but when those two took a shot you expected it to go in.

 

[mco543]

Is it bad that the 1st person i thought of was Paul Kariya?

 

[PeakMcOil]

Gotta mention Dany Heatley here, amazing shot.

 

[Big Phil]

Is it bad that the 1st person i thought of was Paul Kariya?

No not at all. Kariya was a wicked sniper back in the day. If this is 1997 you might just classify him as the best goal scorer in the NHL, I think I would have.

Here's another guy we can debate until the cows come home whether or not he is truly a "sniper". Yvan Cournoyer. We know he had blinding speed, but he had an awesome wrist shot as well.

Lanny McDonald could classify in this category too, a wicked wrsit shot and was deadly coming down the right wing at times

 

[Big Phil]

Is it bad that the 1st person i thought of was Paul Kariya?

No not at all. Kariya was a wicked sniper back in the day. If this is 1997 you might just classify him as the best goal scorer in the NHL, I think I would have.

Here's another guy we can debate until the cows come home whether or not he is truly a "sniper". Yvan Cournoyer. We know he had blinding speed, but he had an awesome wrist shot as well.

Lanny McDonald could classify in this category too, a wicked wrist shot and was deadly coming down the right wing at times. I don't think he scored 66 goals in a season by accident

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

Gotta mention Dany Heatley here, amazing shot.

Good one.

How about Neely, Goulet, Lafluer, The Big M?

 

[overpass]

Ken Dryden on Gretzky and snipers.

The thing about Gretzky," says Dryden, "is that unlike most other great goal scorers, he's a real sniper—Bossy's another one—much like the Europeans. He doesn't miss much. The other great ones—Hull, Esposito, Richard, Howe—were volume shooters. They were quite stoppable, but they created so many scoring chances that they ended up with a lot of goals.

 

[mrzeigler]

Nice listAlthough he hasnt stood the test of time yet, Ovechkin is the carbon copy of what we would consider a sniper.

I dunno. For me, a sniper is a guy who only needs one or two shots to bury it. Yeah, Ovie clearly is a great goal-scorer, but he takes so many damn shots that I've never really considered him a sniper. I've simply thought of him as a shooter.

Not that anything's wrong with being a shooter.

I equate snipers with surgeons, guys who lean more on skill and smarts than brawn. They get in the opposing goalie's head, instantly assess the goalie's positioning and then quickly unleash a shot that the goalie has no hope of stopping.

Speed. Smarts. Economy of movement.

A hard shot isn't a requirement. A quick shot is.