Who are some of the smartest hockey players you have ever watched
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The taste of honey is worse than none at all
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The big 3 goalies (Roy, Hasek, Brodeur) all had incredible hockey IQ. Add Eddie the Eagle to the list too. Just great anticipation of plays breaking in front of them, both in terms of the offense coming down and trying to score against them and helping out their own defensemen with great puck management, passing skills, and rebound control.
Hasek specifically had elite vision, some of the best we'll ever see. Yeah he had the athleticism of a gold medal gymnast and the spine of a slinky, but it was really his anticipation and situational awareness (even when literally standing on his head) that gave him the ability to pull off those miraculous saves.
Brodeur could envision a breakout as soon as the puck was on the opposing defenseman's stick behind the net. He could anticipate a dump and chase or chip and chase and play the puck accordingly, or square up to face a controlled zone entry while challenging the shooter just enough to not be caught flat footed by a quick pass or odd man rush. Really just an incredible mind for hockey and his position.
Hasek specifically had elite vision, some of the best we'll ever see. Yeah he had the athleticism of a gold medal gymnast and the spine of a slinky, but it was really his anticipation and situational awareness (even when literally standing on his head) that gave him the ability to pull off those miraculous saves.
Brodeur could envision a breakout as soon as the puck was on the opposing defenseman's stick behind the net. He could anticipate a dump and chase or chip and chase and play the puck accordingly, or square up to face a controlled zone entry while challenging the shooter just enough to not be caught flat footed by a quick pass or odd man rush. Really just an incredible mind for hockey and his position.
Snuggs
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- Jun 24, 2018
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I consider myself spoiled watching the careers of Pavel Datsyuk and Nicklas Lidstrom. Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Sydney Crosby, Patrick Roy, Adam Oates, Jonathan Toews, Pavel Bure, Jaromir Jagar.
ScottyMascotty
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NyQuil
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Dead Coyote
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- Oct 10, 2017
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Sedins always seemed to have some kind of mental tether in between them at all times, especially Henrik who always made ridiculous passes to Daniel (and others) as if he had eyes in the back of his head.
Datsyuk and Bergeron were almost always in the correct place at the correct time and anticipated the game super well both defensively and offensively. It was super noticeable defensively when they would seemingly effortlessly intercept a pass or go into the corner and come up with the puck as if they didn't need to fight for it at all. I see some of that with Marner on the PK too (and others) where they'll be at the point and just intercept a pass for a breakaway.
Crosby has had a lot of that as well, especially as he's gotten older. He isn't on the same level as Datsyuk or Bergeron were but he still makes ridiculous take aways and works pretty hard on the back check, I can't seem to find any footage of it but there was a play where he was against NYI i think, in the offensive zone without the puck, and he just intercepts the d-man's clearing pass right in front of him as if he's a venus fly trap catching his prey, dunno if he scored but the reflexes on that play (and in general) were just insane along with his awareness of his stick and where he needed to be.
Offensively Michkov and Eiserman have the greatest awareness I've ever seen in prospects, They both know exactly where to be and where to go to get the puck in the net, Michkov especially just uses everything on the ice to his advantage, spacing, speed, angles, it's like he's got another layer to his hockey sense that I've very rarely seen so consistently from anyone else.
Eiserman just has an incredible nose for the puck, obviously his shot is fantastic and NHL quality already but so many of his goals are just him picking up a rebound and wiring it in or getting garbage goals from the halfboards or into the slot. He has the potential in my mind to be one of the best goal scorers of all time if he develops properly.
Of course there are plenty of other guys like Kucherov who also have amazing offensive awareness but I haven't watched a lot of NHL recently so I wanted to highlight some guys I've seen either in the past or not in the NHL.
Datsyuk and Bergeron were almost always in the correct place at the correct time and anticipated the game super well both defensively and offensively. It was super noticeable defensively when they would seemingly effortlessly intercept a pass or go into the corner and come up with the puck as if they didn't need to fight for it at all. I see some of that with Marner on the PK too (and others) where they'll be at the point and just intercept a pass for a breakaway.
Crosby has had a lot of that as well, especially as he's gotten older. He isn't on the same level as Datsyuk or Bergeron were but he still makes ridiculous take aways and works pretty hard on the back check, I can't seem to find any footage of it but there was a play where he was against NYI i think, in the offensive zone without the puck, and he just intercepts the d-man's clearing pass right in front of him as if he's a venus fly trap catching his prey, dunno if he scored but the reflexes on that play (and in general) were just insane along with his awareness of his stick and where he needed to be.
Offensively Michkov and Eiserman have the greatest awareness I've ever seen in prospects, They both know exactly where to be and where to go to get the puck in the net, Michkov especially just uses everything on the ice to his advantage, spacing, speed, angles, it's like he's got another layer to his hockey sense that I've very rarely seen so consistently from anyone else.
Eiserman just has an incredible nose for the puck, obviously his shot is fantastic and NHL quality already but so many of his goals are just him picking up a rebound and wiring it in or getting garbage goals from the halfboards or into the slot. He has the potential in my mind to be one of the best goal scorers of all time if he develops properly.
Of course there are plenty of other guys like Kucherov who also have amazing offensive awareness but I haven't watched a lot of NHL recently so I wanted to highlight some guys I've seen either in the past or not in the NHL.
Patrice Bergeron. From the first day of his first training camp as a teenager I could see he was thinking the game at a whole different level.
Cursed Lemon
Registered Bruiser
I'm throwing in a dark horse for Patrick Kane. He does one thing extremely well which is use his puck handling skills to control the space around him. Take the following goal:
It might just look like a dude walking in and shooting but if you pay close attention, each shuffle of the stick is designed to prevent both Ottawa defenders from collapsing on him. They have to stay where they are because he's poised himself to both pass or shoot, while at the same time he continues to encroach on the goalie. He's done this his whole career and it's honestly pretty remarkable if you look into it.
It might just look like a dude walking in and shooting but if you pay close attention, each shuffle of the stick is designed to prevent both Ottawa defenders from collapsing on him. They have to stay where they are because he's poised himself to both pass or shoot, while at the same time he continues to encroach on the goalie. He's done this his whole career and it's honestly pretty remarkable if you look into it.
CutOnDime97
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Vasilevskiy
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HockeyVirus
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Smart how? On the Leafs
Tavares is so smart with positioning he is able to produce by knowing where the puck is going because he knows he can't skate fast enough for the play
Matthews is smart with using defenders against their own team, using them to screen shots with his curl and drag shot and seemingly always being in the perfect spot for where the puck bounces
Marner is so smart in how he sees the play develop. Unreal IQ and vision, able to find guys and you wonder how.
3 different types of intelligence IMO. If someone had all 3 they are probably Greztky
Tavares is so smart with positioning he is able to produce by knowing where the puck is going because he knows he can't skate fast enough for the play
Matthews is smart with using defenders against their own team, using them to screen shots with his curl and drag shot and seemingly always being in the perfect spot for where the puck bounces
Marner is so smart in how he sees the play develop. Unreal IQ and vision, able to find guys and you wonder how.
3 different types of intelligence IMO. If someone had all 3 they are probably Greztky
Not a huge fan of Kucherov, think he is pretty dirty and whiny, but he just effortlessly makes the right play with the puck every time, it is impressive.
Defensively, not sure, but offensively, Kucherov may be the best currently.
From my team, Matthews has some of the best abilities to get lost in the ozone and find the puck when others can't, defensively, his ability to anticipate plays is up there with the best I've seen (Marner too), and the way he uses his stick to quietly steal pucks at the last second is the best I've seen.
Defensively, not sure, but offensively, Kucherov may be the best currently.
From my team, Matthews has some of the best abilities to get lost in the ozone and find the puck when others can't, defensively, his ability to anticipate plays is up there with the best I've seen (Marner too), and the way he uses his stick to quietly steal pucks at the last second is the best I've seen.
DangleCity
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- Jun 23, 2016
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BigBadBruins7708
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Bergeron.
He was unbelievable in his ability to read the ice and always be in exactly the right spot to make a play on both offense and defense. Most of his defensive plays were from thinking steps ahead and putting himself in the right spot to intercept the puck or break up the play. Conversely on offense he made so many passes that appeared to have no chance or to be to no one only for it to thread through or as soon as it got to where he wanted it the teammate was there for a great shot opportunity. He also put himself in great spots to receive passes and get rebounds.
It was like watching a chess grandmaster out there just thinking that much ahead of everyone else.
He was unbelievable in his ability to read the ice and always be in exactly the right spot to make a play on both offense and defense. Most of his defensive plays were from thinking steps ahead and putting himself in the right spot to intercept the puck or break up the play. Conversely on offense he made so many passes that appeared to have no chance or to be to no one only for it to thread through or as soon as it got to where he wanted it the teammate was there for a great shot opportunity. He also put himself in great spots to receive passes and get rebounds.
It was like watching a chess grandmaster out there just thinking that much ahead of everyone else.
banks
Only got 3 of 16.
- Aug 29, 2019
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I'll try to name some players that haven't been mentioned already.
Tomas Kaberle. The guy was super smooth, and could thread a pass that no one else saw was available. Slowing down the game is a sign of hockey IQ.
Marian Hossa. His defensive game was awesome, while still being a huge scoring threat. That 2-way game shows his intelegence.
Duncan Keith. He wasn't just a workhorse playing all those minutes. He was able to stay on the ice for seemingly entire games because he was so smart and knew where to be and when to put in the effort.
Tomas Kaberle. The guy was super smooth, and could thread a pass that no one else saw was available. Slowing down the game is a sign of hockey IQ.
Marian Hossa. His defensive game was awesome, while still being a huge scoring threat. That 2-way game shows his intelegence.
Duncan Keith. He wasn't just a workhorse playing all those minutes. He was able to stay on the ice for seemingly entire games because he was so smart and knew where to be and when to put in the effort.
- Mar 10, 2010
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Moose Head
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There’s hockey smart and book smart. Bourque was very hockey smart, but seemed a bit dopey as a person. On the contrary, Juneau was very book smart, but not particularly hockey smart.
So in terms of hockey smart, here goes:
H Richard
Keon
Orr
Clarke
S Savard
Lemaire
Gainey
D Jarvis
Bourque
Gretzky
Carbonneau
C Ramsey
Fedorov
Larionov
Fetisov
Lehtinen
Datsyuk
Lidstrom
P Bergeron
Toews
Barkov
Kopitar
Crosby
There’s more, but that’s it off the top of my head.
So in terms of hockey smart, here goes:
H Richard
Keon
Orr
Clarke
S Savard
Lemaire
Gainey
D Jarvis
Bourque
Gretzky
Carbonneau
C Ramsey
Fedorov
Larionov
Fetisov
Lehtinen
Datsyuk
Lidstrom
P Bergeron
Toews
Barkov
Kopitar
Crosby
There’s more, but that’s it off the top of my head.
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