Is Dastyuk the best?

[ASchwaiger 0]

I don't post here very much, but i check the site a few times everyday. (and you can move this if it isn't in the right place.)

but i got to thinking.

i was watching some datsyuk highlight videos on youtube the other day. i am consistently amazed at what he is capable of with the puck. and every time i think i have him figured out, he pulls something completely new and insane out.

with that being said (and even though i've only watched hockey since about 1994), is he the best stickhandler/deker/dangler ever?

AND what about his passing ability? i think when its all said and done, he could be the best all around deker/stickhandler/passer ever.

maybe i'm being a bit of a homer, but i honestly believe it.

thoughts?

[toby91_ca 620]

No....too many others to bother listing.

[DatsyukownzU13 1]

Kovalev is up there, so is Hemsky I would suppose (in terms of active players).

Kovalev:

Hemsky (bad quality, but you get the idea):

Bure should be considered for all-time probably.

Cool Video comparing Bure/Datsyuk:

(Yes I am a youtube junkie)

Edited August 6, 2008 by DatsyukownzU13

[omnipotent_hudler 0]

one of the best, but probably the best ever at stripping players of the puck

[BeeRYCE 2]

Datsyuk I'd say is the best active stick handler. It's too bold to say all time, but he might be the most unique out there. The way he's graceful and the way he shifts his body during alot of the dekes is very unique.

Kovalev is great, but he doesn't use it in game situations enough.

Gilbert Perreault, Denis Savard, Mario Lemieux, Pavel Bure, Stan Mikita, Bobby Orr, and Peter Forsberg are all names that come to mind for all time's sake.

[zata40 3]

He's one of the best, not THE best

edit: spelling

Edited August 6, 2008 by zata40

[omnipotent_hudler 0]

http://www.hulu.com/watch/21787/nhl-red-wi...penguins-053108

watch from about 18:17

[toby91_ca 620]

Datsyuk I'd say is the best active stick handler. It's too bold to say all time, but he might be the most unique out there. The way he's graceful and the way he shifts his body during alot of the dekes is very unique.

Kovalev is great, but he doesn't use it in game situations enough.

Gilbert Perreault, Denis Savard, Mario Lemieux, Pavel Bure, Stan Mikita, Bobby Orr, and Peter Forsberg are all names that come to mind for all time's sake.

Since you listed Mario as one of the best, he in fact said that Kovalev is the best he has ever seen and is a far better stickhandler than he could ever dream of being.

[Saran 1]

i say sammy takes the title easily

[CrossoverThrash 0]

His shootout move is the best ever although i heard some guy in the russian league taught it to him

[Slave 31]

as a homer i think he is the best in the league right now, but kovalev is just sic with the puck, and got in an argument last night at the bar with a guy who says hemsky is the best, but i never watch the oilers so not sure. My gut still tells me Dats is the man though

[haroldsnepsts 4,826]

Datsyuk is absolutely one of the best.

I'm not sure how you could really say anyone is the best, because it becomes so subjective.

[GMRwings1983 8,804]

Bure was the best I've ever seen at full speed. I don't think anyone was a better stickhandler than him when going full blast.

Datsyuk would certainly be on the list, but as harold already stated, it's too subjective.

[C-TownWing 0]

I'm 28, so I'll lead with that and say that I'm always a little uncomfortable rating guys I've only ever seen on grainy b&w highlight reels, but I'll honestly think he's the best I've ever seen, which would include guys like Kovalev, Bure, Hemsky...all of those guys are great though.

What's great about Datsyuk is that he's so much stronger on his skates than you'd expect...I can't even count the number of times I've seen him successfully protect the puck with his body on the boards against a guy twice his size, then fire off a sick centering pass. He destroys the Euro "floater" stereotype too--I'm thinking of that goal from the 2007 playoffs where he singlehandedly went through three Flames. That was a pure effort play, plain and simple, he just wanted it more. Toss in the phone booth dangles and relentless backchecking/pickpocketing, and you have a pretty complete package, one I'm comfortable putting up against anyone.

[Rice 42]

I don't think there's anyone better in the league right now but I don't think you can say he's the best of all time. It's too subjective.

As for his playmaking ability, he has a long way to go before he's known as the best set-up man ever. Think Gretzky, Forsberg, Oates, etc. He's not even the best in the league right now. Crosby and Thornton are the best set-up guys in the NHL. Back-to-back 90 assist seasons are incredibly impressive. Better overall players? I don't think so, but those guys are better pure puck distributors.

Let's see what Pavel can do with a pure finisher like Hossa on his wing though.

[dicksmack 33]

All time? He's up there but it's hard to say, given the span of time and sheer number of players; he may well be considered so by the end of his career. Having said that, he is absolutely the best stickhandler and stickchecker, for that matter right now. It's not that subjective, either. That's just the "wow factor." If you look at creativity, escapability, being dangerous one on one, two, three etc., being able to reliably stickhandle into the attacking zone on the pp... like the song, nobody does it better...

[Earthhuman 8]

Jagr has got to be up there on the list. Look up his top 10 goals on youtube if you haven't seen him play much.

Jagr used his size. Nobody could push him off the puck and all he had to do was turn his back.

-

Bure's skates were on steroids and there should have been a speed limit when he played. Notice he sometimes crashes into the boards because he can't stop fast enough. Other players do this, but that's because the boards are designed to be somewhat elastic- the players kind of bounce off. Why wouldn't you drift into it? In Bure's case, he crashed headlong, sometimes feet-first.

-

Datsyuk has a little string on his stick that he expertly ties around the puck before the drop of the puck. It's got a little fishing pole reel, so it can go far away from him, even when he's on the bench. When intermission comes, he just cuts the string and reties it before the next period. When broadcasters say that it's like he's got the puck on a string, they're utilizing a technique called dramatic irony.

Kovalev is probably the best. I was just watching the Rangers '94 cup run on dvd (August, need hockey soon!) and he's so subtle, and he doesn't really show off, but he definitely controls the puck more than anyone on the ice. Well, except for Leetch, but I believe he's the best defenseman we've seen since Orr.

[CrossoverThrash 0]

I think pavel probably has the highest total within a 5 foot radius of the puck time in the nhl hes just always freaking on it

[Guest Shoreline]

Yes, absolutely. He's also better than Yzerman, Gretzky, Lemieux, Orr, Lidstrom, Howe, Borque, Roy, Hasek, Messier, Hull, Robitaille, Kurri, Rodriguez, Bonds, Brady, Favre, Bryant, Iverson, Woods, Gordon, and Kobayashi.

Edited August 6, 2008 by Shoreline

[Wing Across The Pond 196]

Found this video a while ago and thought it was pretty funny. But I know he's only mucking around.\

[robat 13]

I don' think he has better hands than Keith Primeau.

[Zion 93]

What's great about Datsyuk is that he's so much stronger on his skates than you'd expect...I can't even count the number of times I've seen him successfully protect the puck with his body on the boards against a guy twice his size, then fire off a sick centering pass. He destroys the Euro "floater" stereotype too--I'm thinking of that goal from the 2007 playoffs where he singlehandedly went through three Flames. That was a pure effort play, plain and simple, he just wanted it more. Toss in the phone booth dangles and relentless backchecking/pickpocketing, and you have a pretty complete package, one I'm comfortable putting up against anyone.

Agreed. He's certainly improved in that aspect. A big knock on him just a few short years ago was that he was getting knocked on his can too easily.

[BeeRYCE 2]

Since you listed Mario as one of the best, he in fact said that Kovalev is the best he has ever seen and is a far better stickhandler than he could ever dream of being.

In game situations, Lemieux has done the most smoothest things with his hands. one can ever witness. Kovalev has done spectacular things in games, but obviously not as much as Lemieux. Now, mind you, Kovalev may be a better stickhandler say in puck control relays and just showboating around, but what Lemieux did in games makes him one of the better stickhandlers of all time, IMO.

[Saran 1]

Found this video a while ago and thought it was pretty funny. But I know he's only mucking around.\

nice vid, thanks. datsyuk's english is just terrible

[Doggy 130]

Crosby is the best.