Stickhandling with Johnny Gaudreau

[Ulrith]

Originally Posted by MarkGio

He's got to be among the best ever. He's definitely a hard worker than Kovalev, but Kovalev was a physical player when he had a fire in his belly. Both are very comparable as stick handlers, and I always considered Kovalev the best ever

Kovalev was pretty ridiculous in his prime, but I still think Datsyuk was better (at least at stickhandling).

Johnny isn't far off from that comparison though. He's just ridiculously silky smooth with the puck. And the speed at which he does those drills is incredible.

[stemit14]

That clip against Buffalo where he dekes out the entire team is absolutely insane.


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[CroFlames]

Originally Posted by Ulrith

Kovalev was pretty ridiculous in his prime, but I still think Datsyuk was better (at least at stickhandling).

Johnny isn't far off from that comparison though. He's just ridiculously silky smooth with the puck. And the speed at which he does those drills is incredible.

Yeah but can he do it in the NHL vs men?

[polak]

Came for awesome Johnny stick handling gifs. Leaving mildly disappointed.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by MarkGio

He's got to be among the best ever. He's definitely a hard worker than Kovalev, but Kovalev was a physical player when he had a fire in his belly. Both are very comparable as stick handlers, and I always considered Kovalev the best ever

I think the difference is the speed at which Johnny can do it. I was too young to really see Kovelev in his prime, but to me he always looked like a guy who could stick handle in cardboard box, but only because his feet couldn't take him anywhere.

That clip of Gaudreau above is incredible skill done at such a high pace it almost looks impossible.

[Komskies]

Originally Posted by Ulrith

Kovalev was pretty ridiculous in his prime, but I still think Datsyuk was better (at least at stickhandling).

Johnny isn't far off from that comparison though. He's just ridiculously silky smooth with the puck. And the speed at which he does those drills is incredible.

[GoJetsGo]

That's the beauty of it, the agility that sends defending players off balance.

[MarkGio]

Originally Posted by Ulrith

Kovalev was pretty ridiculous in his prime, but I still think Datsyuk was better (at least at stickhandling).

Johnny isn't far off from that comparison though. He's just ridiculously silky smooth with the puck. And the speed at which he does those drills is incredible.

For me it's 1) Kovalev, 2) Gaudreau, 3) Datsuk

Datsuk is obviously an exceptional stick handler, but for Datsuk it's not his go-to bread and butter. He can survive and play smart hockey without having to break ankles, so he's not always stick handling his way into the offense. Gaudreau is very much the same, but Gaudreau is small so I assume he uses it to avoid contact. He does use his stick handling moves around 50% or less of the times he touches the puck.

Kovalev was just a weak skater like Hudler so he absolutely needed it every time he touched the puck. You never really saw him with the puck just skating and carrying if there's an opponent nearby. He was always wiggling and juggling the stick and the puck