Who are some of the smartest hockey players you have ever watched

CaptTennille

President of the Blair Betts Fan Club
May 24, 2017
494
973
Brooklyn
I don’t know if I’ve ever seen someone manipulate the players in front of them with misdirection and false information like Adam Fox.

He has opponents seeing ghosts with his head fakes and fake passes.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Agent Zuuuub

Killswitch

Registered User
May 22, 2022
130
149
Gretzky is at the top, but I always felt Larmer and Mats Naslund were high IQ players. Lehtinen from Dallas also
 

bleedgreen

Registered User
Dec 8, 2003
25,086
43,059
colorado
Visit site
Gretzky
Mario
Datsyuk
Sedins
Francis
Bergeron
Fox
Sakic
Zetterberg
Larionov
Lidstrom
Fedorov
P Kane (only when playing hockey)
I don’t know about Syd as a youngster but I think he’s very much there now.

Dahlin could be in here in time, his level of deception is off the charts.
 

habsrule4eva3089

Registered User
Nov 22, 2008
4,248
1,034
Andrei Markov and Sergei Gonchar. Two Russian defensemen.

Both absolute generals from the backend who controlled the game with their mind more so than their physical talents.

Their eloquent manipulation of the opposition was always a treat to watch.

It's a joy to see players dissect and make plays from nothing. Those two were top 10 defenseman of their era.

Hockey at its best is not speed of feet or speed of hands, it is the speed of the mind that shines brightest.
 

Our Lady Peace

Registered User
Aug 12, 2014
3,239
2,918
BC
Kucherov and his timing. He brings NHL pace down to beer league level

Adam Fox shoutout as well. In the most unspectacular way yet at an elite level, he can direct play based on his vision, patience, head fakes and feet deception

Crosby in current time does tons of little things that eliminate the "grinding" aspect for him and his linemates

In the past, I can't not mention the Sedins. Never the skated fastest and never shot the hardest. Man they could stir up the drink in the offensive zone. They'll make it look like they run out of space but in doing so they've just opened up a massive unmanned portion of ice where they would send no-look, tape-to-tape back door saucer passes to
 

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Ad