Who were effective 'soft' players in past playoffs?

[Ace36758]

Don't wanna get into a debate about who's "soft", so let's just say players who weren't generally physical and performed well in the playoffs.

Patrick Kane
Daniel Brière
David Krejci
Brad Richards (at least for the first half of his career)
Jason Spezza
Erik Karlsson
Pavel Bure
Pierre Turgeon
Wayne Gretzky
Mike Bossy
Guy Lafleur

To name just a few. Honestly, the notion that only physical players are succesful in the playoffs is bull****. If you can take good decisions and capitalize on opportunities while having little time and space, you're gonna have success in the playoffs, regardless of how many hits you throw.

 

[Bank Shot]

@ Datsyuk being called "soft".

That was the talk when he had limited playoff success his first few years.

Now he's a legend. Its crazy how sample size can have such a big effect on fans.

 

[Fugazy]

Phil Kessel is the first one that comes to mind.

 

[Pilky01]

Datsyuk.
The Sedins.
Sakic.

Annoys me to see Sakic's name mentioned only once so far.

Dude played in the height of the dead puck era and dominated.

18 goals in 22 games in 1996.

1996 NHL Stanley CupPlayoffs Skater Statistics | Hockey-Reference.com

 

[Turning Mangiapanese]

Ville Leino had that one epic >PPG post-season campaign.

 

[PuckSeparator]

Zdeno Chara the pink bunny, way too cute and cuddly to belong on the playoffs rink.

 

[Deen]

Pavel Bure was pretty soft. Over a PPG for his career in the Playoffs though.

 

[CartographerNo611]

Mats Sundin, and yes for a jacked 6 ft 4 guy, he was S.O.F.T.

 

[Beauner]

Kessel
Kane
Selanne
Gretzky
Early years Crosby, now a much more dominant two way player.
Tarasenko
Briere

Crosby has never been soft

 

[TheAngryHank]

Mario.

 

[admiralcadillac]

the milkbag himself - Phil Donuts Kessel

 

[DearDiary]

Early years Crosby, now a much more dominant two way player.

Crosby has been one of the most physical players in the league since joined in 2005. How can someone who plays a grinding game shy away from physical contact? I guess you also consider Simmonds, Gallagher, Hornqvist, Oshie etc all to be soft players?

 

[Lazlo Hollyfeld]

Kessel
Kane
Selanne
Gretzky
Early years Crosby, now a much more dominant two way player.
Tarasenko
Briere

Breire as in Daniel?

He's small but never shied away from physical play and was actually a pretty dirty player. Playoff stud though.

 

[Lazlo Hollyfeld]

Datsyuk.
The Sedins.
Sakic.

It's ok to admit you've never seen Datsyuk play.

 

[illpucks]

Patrick Kane

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

Datsyuk.
The Sedins.
Sakic.

They all are HOF I'll take any one of thm on my team

 

[Toonces]

Briere was small but not soft. He was always in the dirty areas on the ice.

Yes, Briere does not belong on this list. He wasn't laying out big hits but he was one of the best in the most physical real estate areas around the net

 

[Bank Shot]

It's ok to admit you've never seen Datsyuk play.

Its something added later in his career.

But I expected if I said anything that was perceived as a slight all the fanbois would come out of the woodwork and joust with windmills.

 

[Bank Shot]

Annoys me to see Sakic's name mentioned only once so far.

Dude played in the height of the dead puck era and dominated.

18 goals in 22 games in 1996.

1996 NHL Stanley CupPlayoffs Skater Statistics | Hockey-Reference.com

Yeah but he never crosschecked anyone in the face.

 

[Lazlo Hollyfeld]

Its something added later in his career.

But I expected if I said anything that was perceived as a slight all the fanbois would come out of the woodwork and joust with windmills.

ah yes, throw in the insults and move the goalposts when you don't have a leg to stand on. It's not that it was a slight. It's that it's simply untrue.

By later in his career you mean four seasons in? Because he was hitting people then.

You included Datsyuk on a list of players that were soft. You are wrong.

 

[Spectra]

Patrick Kane. Top 5 playoff performer all time. Has the heart of a lion and the courage of a fire fighter. Perfect player and human.

 

[Freudian]

Plenty of players mentioned in this thread are far from soft. Players like Sedins and Sakic were able to take a lot of physical play without shying away. That's not being soft.

 

[Antropovsky]

Mats Sundin, and yes for a jacked 6 ft 4 guy, he was S.O.F.T.

Not physical... but played strong and didn't appear to be deterred by physical play. He could carry a person on his back and go to the front of the net with him.

 

[wintersej]

Yeah this thread sure is weird.

Soft does not mean "small".

Soft does not mean "doesn't throw checks".

Mitch Marner is small and doesn't throw checks. He isn't close to being soft.

Michael Nylander is small and doesn't throw checks. And he avoids the dirty areas. He is (at this point in his career...but better than last year) soft.

 

[SotasicA]

Michael Nylander is small and doesn't throw checks. And he avoids the dirty areas. He is (at this point in his career...but better than last year) soft.

He is 46, so cut him some slack.