Worst players on a breakaway?

[Silver]

Inspired by this part of redbull's post in the best breakaway thread.

On a side note, nobody gets as many breakaways as Michael Grabner. He must have had 30-40 breakaways last season, that's no exaggeration. He scored maybe on 7-8 of them. He's terrible on breakaways though. He's too fast for his hands/head. If he ever gets it together - wow. He's the complete opposite of Mario who really looked like he was in slow motion, seemingly had as much time as he wanted.

Todd Marchant got a ton of breakaways. As an Oiler fan with Ducks tickets, I saw an awful lot of them over is career.

He scored one important one in 97. I can't remember another one. It got to the point where a Marchant breakaway was actually relaxing, because the outcome was predetermined.

Who else was absolutely brutal on breakaways in your mind? And don't say Gretzky-I'm not talking about someone who thought they were a weakness. I'm talking all-time brutal.

This has to be the all-time worst single breakaway, now that I think of it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kc7HztZS9R4

Click to read more...

 

[Rhiessan71]

Believe it or not, Guy Lafleur was terrible on breakaway's, well...clear cut one's anyway.
He always said it gave him too much time to think and ended up out thinking himself most of the time.

 

[Hardyvan123]

Blair McDonald with the Canucks had a breakaway were he lost control of the puck and it went into the corner and was a lost opportunity which is pretty much how his career went after being traded from Edmonton and being on Wayne's line.

 

[DisgruntledGoat*]

As much as Todd Marchant has become the punchline for this question (at least for Oiler fans), I actually think Andrew Cogliano was worse.

 

[RabbinsDuck]

Scotty Bowman once said the only safe place on a Kris Draper breakaway was between the goal posts.

 

[John Flyers Fan]

David Booth would be at the top of the list among current players.

 

[Bexlyspeed]

don't remember Brett Hull being too good at them

 

[BruinsNeedaRussian]

Paille. I am pretty sure no bottom six forward in the history of the game has had more breakaways and he has like two goals on them. Stone hands with blazing speed.

 

[Ruslan Zainullin]

for a talented goal scorer Iginla isnt very good at them.

 

[BruinsNeedaRussian]

Ah Bruins need, how could I forget? Simple I wanted to forget..........But yep Paille does not create that many, but he and his stone hands are definitely in the conversation.

I can't really back it up, but it seems like he creates a ton.

 

[clefty]

I saw Ville Nieminen on a breakaway once, and he shot it into the stands.

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

When Jay Pandolfo got a breakaway, I don't think anyone sat on the edge of their seats.

John Madden and Pandolfo got more than their share of odd-man rushes due to their speed and playing against offensive players with questionable defensive abilities.

Madden wasn't the best on breakaways, but he wasn't awful.

 

[Ruslan Zainullin]

this former top draft pick wasnt much of a threat on the breakaway!

 

[Psycho Papa Joe]

I recall Bill Barber messing up breakaways.

 

[Big Phil]

For some reason I remember Yvan Cournoyer to be shaky on breakaways. He had blazing speed that he used very well in the context of a game as good as anyone ever but if my memory serves me correct he often seemed to be too fast for his own good getting the puck caught in his skates. He always seemed to score more on the fly or with his brilliant wrist shot.

I don't remember Messier being great at them either for a guy who scored almost 700 goals.

Shanahan, Leclair and Nieuwendyk are other names to come to mind. The first two didn't score most of their goals that way but Nieuwendyk I felt often overplayed a breakaway.

 

[Psycho Papa Joe]

For some reason I remember Yvan Cournoyer to be shaky on breakaways. He had blazing speed that he used very well in the context of a game as good as anyone ever but if my memory serves me correct he often seemed to be too fast for his own good getting the puck caught in his skates.

Similar description of Russ Courtnall. Just seemed to fast for his own good sometimes.

 

[habsjunkie2*]

Similar description of Russ Courtnall. Just seemed to fast for his own good sometimes.

I was gonna post Russ, but I could be misremembering. He seemed like a player who must of had his share of breakaways, his speed was out of this world, but seemed to out skate the puck and his hands on a regular basis, I can't remember too many breakaways of his, but if I were to guess, he had a few and likely wasn't great on them.

Any one care to chime in on Russ here? Was his finishing ability as poor as I remember?

 

[VanIslander]

Sergei Samsonov.

He'd shoot the middle of the goalie's chest. Not right, not left, not up, not down. Dead center.

I've never seen a guy so skilled at puck handling be such a bad shooter. He could create turnovers, had the wheels and balance to break away, but just couldn't finish.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Common thread here seems to be that blazing speed creates breakaways but works against the shooter as it takes away his time and space very quickly.

Makes me appreciate the Bures of the world a little more, for their ability to do something with that quick-closing window of opportunity.

 

[TasteofFlames]

Common thread here seems to be that blazing speed creates breakaways but works against the shooter as it takes away his time and space very quickly.

Makes me appreciate the Bures of the world a little more, for their ability to do something with that quick-closing window of opportunity.

Pascal Dupuis is another guy who fits this description, at least in his brief ATL days. His speed got him a lot of breakaways/shorty chances, but he would faceplant more often than score. It became comical after a while. "Duper falling on a breakaway" was one of the requirements of the drinking game I used to play to make Thrashers games bearable.

 

[weaponomega]

Dan Paille and Marco Sturm both get a lot of breakaways due to their speed - both are abysmal on them.

P.J. Axelsson was another who go a fair amount of breakaways and never scored on them.

 

[CarlWinslow]

How about Mike Grier?

 

[Penguins23]

Pascal Dupuis is another guy who fits this description, at least in his brief ATL days. His speed got him a lot of breakaways/shorty chances, but he would faceplant more often than score. It became comical after a while. "Duper falling on a breakaway" was one of the requirements of the drinking game I used to play to make Thrashers games bearable.

I came in here to say Dupuis. But like has been mentioned, not everyone with speed can be as good as Bure at finishing. Like has been said, the quicker you come in the harder your deke is going to be to pull off.

 

[redbull]

How about Mike Grier?

if he ever learns to raise the puck, he'd be much better. Brett Lindros also couldn't raise the puck.

I think Jason Allison should be added. The only player I've ever seen who was almost caught from behind on a shootout attempt.

 

[Big Phil]

I was gonna post Russ, but I could be misremembering. He seemed like a player who must of had his share of breakaways, his speed was out of this world, but seemed to out skate the puck and his hands on a regular basis, I can't remember too many breakaways of his, but if I were to guess, he had a few and likely wasn't great on them.

Any one care to chime in on Russ here? Was his finishing ability as poor as I remember?

It was as poor as you remember. He scored 30 goals once. He was a guy always flying over the ice, you recognized him for sure, but not for his great plays either.

Another name popping into my head is Alex Daigle. In his shortened career does anyone remember his reputation on breakaways? He had blinding speed but hands of stone. I just can't picture it with him