What weaknesses did Jaromir Jagr have in his prime?

[Nerowoy nora tolad]

There is that Ovechkin guy.

Scores on slapshots or one-timers?

Ive seen him overwhelm goalies with snap and wrist shots



But can you show me examples of him scoring on slappers that arent one-timers?

Just seems like that play is gone from hockey these days since the wind-up takes more time & space than players have got now

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

Scores on slapshots or one-timers?

Ive seen him overwhelm goalies with snap and wrist shots



But can you show me examples of him scoring on slappers that arent one-timers?

Just seems like that play is gone from hockey these days since the wind-up takes more time & space than players have got now

Sorry, I guess I just consider a one-timer to be a slapshot.

 

[Nerowoy nora tolad]

Sorry, I guess I just consider a one-timer to be a slapshot.

As far as forwards taking slappers goes, the issue is the league went from this:



To this



Im slightly cherrypicking because you can see a slapshot goal in the 93 game with a lot of time & space, but the difference in defenders getting on the shooter and not giving him time & space is really dramatic. It only got tighter after the lockout with the introduction of composite sticks and how much easier they make it to have an active stick defensively

 

[Theokritos]

My theory is, if you could put the old Jagr's mind in the prime Jagr's body, the resulting player would probably be better than Jagr ever was.

Perhaps that would be true for most players?

 

[BenchBrawl]

Even adjusting for eras, Jagr never striked me as a player to use a long-winded slapshot, even if he was given the time. Now why I have this perception is uncertain, so I'm looking for different opinions.

I have memories of Ilya Kovalchuk, John LeClair, Alex Kovalev, old Mario Lemieux using slapshots (not one-timers), to give a few examples. They all played in Jagr's era. So era alone cannot explain this.

I concede it's not a weakness, more something lacking in his arsenal.

 

[Hobnobs]

Even adjusting for eras, Jagr never striked me as a player to use a long-winded slapshot, even if he was given the time. Now why I have this perception is uncertain, so I'm looking for different opinions.

I have memories of Ilya Kovalchuk, John LeClair, Alex Kovalev, old Mario Lemieux using slapshots (not one-timers), to give a few examples. They all played in Jagr's era. So era alone cannot explain this.

I concede it's not a weakness, more something lacking in his arsenal.

I remember he scored a pretty nice slapshot goal in the olympics. But yea I dont think he was much of a slapshot guy. He used the fake slapshot from time to time.

 

[Troubadour]

Perhaps that would be true for most players?

Haha, I figured someone would point this out. Perhaps it would. But maybe it goes a longer way with a guy like Jagr who had more pronounced mental/emotional issues. Anyway, he seemed like a prototypical flake who later matured into an old-school.

Even adjusting for eras, Jagr never striked me as a player to use a long-winded slapshot, even if he was given the time.

He did slap it from time to time, but his instinct was to stickhandle to the net.

 

[Dingo]

There is that Ovechkin guy.

next your gonna tell me he scores lots of goals from the circle!!

 

[Michael Farkas]

No one takes slapshots anymore, especially at forward, they take too long to get off...

The only guys I can really think of that are willing to fly down the wing and try to power one are like Laine and Mike Hoffman...I think I have seen Kucherov do it sometimes...that's pretty much it, Ovechkin one times it, not quite the same thing...

 

[BenchBrawl]

No one takes slapshots anymore, especially at forward, they take too long to get off...

The only guys I can really think of that are willing to fly down the wing and try to power one are like Laine and Mike Hoffman...I think I have seen Kucherov do it sometimes...that's pretty much it, Ovechkin one times it, not quite the same thing...

And ain't that a shame. One of the most satisfying plays to witness.

Hockey died a little bit the day this become true.

 

[Johnny Engine]

Sundin did had from time to time, often in high profile moments (ping!)

I remember in the late 90s he and the other forward named “___din” would frequently let slappers fly off the wing, but only Mats could actually hit the broad side of a barn.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

Sundin did had from time to time, often in high profile moments (ping!)

I remember in the late 90s he and the other forward named “___din” would frequently let slappers fly off the wing, but only Mats could actually hit the broad side of a barn.

oh yeah freddie was a guy who would not think twice about stepping back and getting a big slow-ass slapshot off.

 

[Dingo]

Sundin did had from time to time, often in high profile moments (ping!)

I remember in the late 90s he and the other forward named “___din” would frequently let slappers fly off the wing, but only Mats could actually hit the broad side of a barn.

Modin?
He had a cannon, and scored a ton internationally
that line of him and Sundin and a beat up forsberg in 2006 was essentially as close as you can get to a LOD in Olympic hockey (without being suspended)

Sundin had an absolute beauty slapper. That guy really had it all, and i think for sure was held back by teammates. I always view him as a poor man’s Mario. He had essentially the same skillset, but just levelled down in each area.

he didnt slap it as much as i would have liked, and he also didnt hit as much as id have liked. God help the one guy every two months he decided to lay into, though.

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

No one takes slapshots anymore, especially at forward, they take too long to get off...

The only guys I can really think of that are willing to fly down the wing and try to power one are like Laine and Mike Hoffman...I think I have seen Kucherov do it sometimes...that's pretty much it, Ovechkin one times it, not quite the same thing...

Wingers still take slapshots.

They just don't go in as often as they did before goalies were giants with huge equipment.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

 

[MadLuke]

Really cant think of anybody in the last 25 years that regularly scores with a slapshot as a forward, so its really a moot point

First name that I thought of was Kovalchuk precise bombs (mostly could have been mostly one timer one):


Would still call those slapshot, like Ovy.

 

[blogofmike]

The slapshot on the rush still happens occasionally.



I would guess the largest factor in its decline is it being coached out of guys. Coaches are cowards who would prefer to maintain possession than let something fun happen, because they're afraid of the chance of the wild rebound leading to a break the other way, like one of the Vanek goals in the above video.

There's still enough time and space on powerplays and forwards who take wind up slappers (as opposed to wind up slappers) in those situations are still rare.

 

[Johnny Engine]

Modin?
He had a cannon, and scored a ton internationally
that line of him and Sundin and a beat up forsberg in 2006 was essentially as close as you can get to a LOD in Olympic hockey (without being suspended)

Sundin had an absolute beauty slapper. That guy really had it all, and i think for sure was held back by teammates. I always view him as a poor man’s Mario. He had essentially the same skillset, but just levelled down in each area.

he didnt slap it as much as i would have liked, and he also didnt hit as much as id have liked. God help the one guy every two months he decided to lay into, though.

Modin definitely figured out how to use his offensive tool more effectively in Tampa Bay, but he was a notorious menace to the boards and glass in Maple Leaf Gardens, to the point where you had commentators backhandedly pointing out that he actually hit the net whenever he scored. Still better than Cory Cross, clearly.

Sometimes with European wingers you wonder if they took some time to figure out the angles of an NHL rink.
I did some quick trigonometry for the first time since high school and found the following.
If you're 10 feet from the left boards and 10 feet inside the blueline on an IIHF rink, you need to shoot it at a 39.8 degree angle to your right to hit the centre of the net (the puck will travel 48 feet forward and 40 feet to your right). Take that same shot from the same place on an NHL rink, and you'll put it 10 feet wide of the far post (54 feet forward and 45 feet to your right, with the centre of the net being 32 feet to your right annd the far post being 3 feet further). That would have to be a little difficult to adjust your intuition on that, no?

 

[Big Phil]

I remember many goals of Mario winding up. He had all the weapons so he didn't use it too often but he it was part of his arsenal. I can't think of a single Jagr goal like that, but maybe I'm wrong.

Crosby doesn't have a great slapshot, true.

Just from memory I can recall the odd time Mario one-timed a slapper - generally on the power play - on the left side with his right handed shot. That 5 goal game against the Rangers in 1993 he had an accurate and howitzer of a shot on a partial breakaway. Generally he was so good that he would be closer to the net and use his wrists to score, like snapping a shot top corner or so. Just a flick of the wrists did the trick. But yeah, there are at least some memories of him using a heavy slapper, with Jagr - much like Crosby - I just can't picture it.

 

[Didalee Hed]

Gambling and women

 

[Nathaniel]

Just from memory I can recall the odd time Mario one-timed a slapper - generally on the power play - on the left side with his right handed shot. That 5 goal game against the Rangers in 1993 he had an accurate and howitzer of a shot on a partial breakaway. Generally he was so good that he would be closer to the net and use his wrists to score, like snapping a shot top corner or so. Just a flick of the wrists did the trick. But yeah, there are at least some memories of him using a heavy slapper, with Jagr - much like Crosby - I just can't picture it.

Crosby uses the slapper (not onetimer) moderately. I've seen plenty of slap shot goals from him

 

[psycat]

He wasn't Canadian and he directly trailed the two most offensively gifted players of all time. If not for these factors I suspect he would be pretty much concensus 5th best skater of all time, and rightfully so I might add.

 

[BenchBrawl]

He wasn't Canadian and he directly trailed the two most offensively gifted players of all time. If not for these factors I suspect he would be pretty much concensus 5th best skater of all time, and rightfully so I might add.

Nonesense. Jagr is judged on his own merit, not his nationality.

 

[Gregsky99]

His only weakness was his inability to learn how to use a pair of scissors

 

[psycat]

Nonesense. Jagr is judged on his own merit, not his nationality.

Not at all. Lumping him together with second tier all-stars like Crosby is borderline offensive, same goes for Hasek and Roy. It's just Canadians who can't accept that players from other countries are actually superior(even though the 4 obvious best of all time are clearly Canadian that's not enough it seems) gotta make narratives about playoff antics, intangibles, partial seasons and what not.

Likewise here in Sweden you would probably have people tell you Forsberg is superior to Crosby even though it's just as ridiculous.