He was solid before the wrist surgery and his finishing never really came back. He does have good hands though he can still handle the puck really well he just can't finish.
My first thought. I’ll never forget when he became a cap I was rising out of my seat every time he got a breakaway then about 2 weeks later I realized he doesn’t score
Paul Bissonette might be a solid answer
Worse than Rob Ray in terms of goals per game and assists per game with none of the fighting skill to compensate
I’ll fuckin challenge you any day buddy. You, me and a 200m sheet of fresh ice with no obstructions, distractions or obstacles and I bet I lose the puck sooner than you do.
My money is on Andreas Athanasiou. Guy could be making $7-8M as a 30+ goal scorer winger if he could finish all the chances his speed gifts him, but unfortunately his hands are nowhere as fast as his feet. And I seriously mean that he could score 30 goals every season on almost any team, but goddammit he fucking can't finish chances.
He'd at least be on the same level as Taylor Hall in his highest scoring years if he could finish breakaways or just other chances in general. It's fucking infuriating to watch him play at times, as you are well aware.
I wouldn't be surprised if Darren Helm had the most breakaways that failed to score. The dude maxed his speed skill on the create a player screen and forgot you can't just shoot it into the goalie's logo.
Todd Marchant.
But for one amazing goal, Hands of Stone Marchant was known for incredible straight line speed, amazing break aways, and a complete inability to hit the broad side of a barn.
late career rob niedermayer skated like he had shit in his pants and had worse hands than almost any beer leaguer i’ve ever seen in my life. he was a legitimate test of my fanhood that season
But he was so endearing!
Good dude, but he is emblematic of a lot of the Wild's boring history. Forced to play way above his skill, got dragged because of it. Rinse. Repeat.
Way back when I would always refer to him as Tyler “Broad Side Of A Barn” Kennedy because it always felt like he was in a scoring drought. I was trying to remember who it was and as soon as I saw this comment I remembered.
I played a charity game with him. Defended him on a 1 on 1. One of the hardest snap shots I've seen while actually on the ice, almost shit my pants, but it was probably a good foot over my head.
I have two Hal Gill stories. One — I knew the son of a GM and he said his dad thought Hal Gill was the worst dman in the league. The other — I know an NHLer and he told me that rookies have to go to welcome to the NHL camp and are assigned a vet to help them learn. He was assigned Hal Gill. Hal Gill didn’t say shit to him except one time during a video demonstration said “listen up this is important” and then proceeded to fall asleep and snore INCREDIBLY loud.
No this is not a pasta even though typing it out it sounds like one
There was a time with him on the Leafs when as soon as an opponent got anywhere near their zone the Leafs D would instinctively just drop to one knee and wave their sticks around. It was hilarious and worked surprisingly well
I seriously miss that man on the Rangers. Could create breakaways at any moment, was an effective goal scorer with us, good defensively, and was automatic with the empty net. Pretty much exactly what the Rangers need these days.
On one hand, yes, Grabner had terrible hands. On the other hand, he was *somehow* a big part of the one year where the Coyotes had so many undeserved shorthanded chances that they seemed to go on a power kill every time he was out there.
[The Story of Eddie Convey](http://www.greatesthockeylegends.com/2013/08/eddie-convey.html?m=1)
TLDR: King Clancy, Charlie Conacher and Lorne Chabot of the Leafs try to help their old buddy score a meaningless goal against them, only for Convey to shoot one puck wide, one over the boards, and one into Chabot's throat, after which they said "fuck him, he doesn't deserve to score."
There are probably better answers, but the name that comes to mind for me is Boyd Devereaux who was surrounded by so much talent on the early 2000s Red Wings and seemed to get so many grade-A scoring chances but could never finish.
I don't think Pascal Dupuis's hands are "the worst ever," but the thread reminded me of [this all-time classic](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/2970ONAn9xkj9ZAfvkQWFah2shA=/0x0:327x410/1120x0/filters:focal\(0x0:327x410\):format\(webp\):no_upscale\(\)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/assets/210214/pascal_dupuis_nohands.jpg).
The Missing Link, maybe? One of those enforcers from the 80s, just not even close to playing offensive hockey. He had 29 points in the WHL the year before he made the NHL... and that was 1987, so not exactly the dead puck era. Joe Sakic had 160 points that year.
This was the first Blue that came to mind, but that’s probably because he was overused at times. Certainly Chase, Twist, and Kimble had worst hands right?
Originally, I thought Tobias Rieder. Scored 0 Goals on 92 Shots in 2018-19. Career 7.4 Sh Pct. He's a forward, BTW.
For comparison, Carl Hagelin was a career 7.7% shooter.
But, no. Worst SH Pct (min 200 GP, min 200 SOG) belongs to Rod Pelley with a 3.3% CAREER Sh Pct. 9 Goals on 273 SOG. Brent Severyn is next with 10 Goals on 297 SOG.
Other notable names close by (for context): Shawn Thornton (4.2%), Ken Baumgartner (4.5%), Jody Shelley (4.6%), and Brian McGratten (4.8%).
Chris Bourque "hands down" ha ha. Son of Ray Bourque. I still remember him vividly shooting the puck across the crease and out the other side with the goalie out of position and the net wide open when he had a brief stint with Pittsburgh
For an example of a great player with so-so hands, I would nominate Hall of Famer Doug Gainey. Never scored more than 23 goals in a season despite being described, by the Soviets, as the greatest hockey player in the world. His hands would turn to stone when he got close to the opposing net. That’s how I remember him, anyway. 😀
it's hard to answer, people are going to give you players they know.
For how amazing he is at everything else, I'd think Lowry gets an honourable mention. If he had hands he'd be Bin the conversation with Barkov/Bergeron
Leo Komarov. Loved his work ethic but my god he couldn't accept or make a pass in the neutral zone.
I remember rewinding my tv to take a video and send it to my buddies once. There was a loose puck was sitting out front, goalie out of the net, and he swooped in, took a shot (from just outside the crease) and completely missed the net. it was so outrageous i had to capture it.
https://youtu.be/VU3bKwSVpGE?si=o55djYPWYjDAz4gU
Absolute filth. He had another one against Dallas that year that was just as dirty
https://youtu.be/dDXbo2lMiWM?si=pzD7bzDBujuYMJ9W
I looked at the lowest shooting percentage by shot quantity bands (0-99 shots, 100-199 shots, etc) category:
Jansen Harkins 0 goals on 37 shots
Connor Brown 4 goals on 108 shots
Mikael Backlund 15 goals on 209 shots
Cole Caufield 28 goals on 314 shots
Just saw the thread about Ilya Mikheyev from 3 hours ago and, according to the comments, it's probably him.
I came here to say him. Poor guy couldn’t score in the last 6 months if his life depended on it
He was solid before the wrist surgery and his finishing never really came back. He does have good hands though he can still handle the puck really well he just can't finish.
Good, would you like him back?! Right now he’s just a very expensive penalty killer
I mean since apparently that's all Marner does he'd be a cheaper fill in for us.
Guy would get so many breakaways and never fucking score
So funny seeing all the comments about how he wasn’t finishing for the Canucks on chances because he did the exact same thing on the leafs.
Hes gotta be the leagues leader in most short handed breakaway misses
Carl Hagelin
But the speed, oh the speed
Undoubtedly fast
He basically skated into the net to score an empty netter in the 2017 Final.
Lol so determined not to fuck up
And it was fucking glorious!
My first thought. I’ll never forget when he became a cap I was rising out of my seat every time he got a breakaway then about 2 weeks later I realized he doesn’t score
I’m wonder if there are fancy stats out there that tracks shots right into the goalie’s chest, cause he probably ranks high up there too lol
Rangers legend Carl Hagelin
Viktor stalberg was the same way
The newer version of Daniel Paille.
Paul Bissonette might be a solid answer Worse than Rob Ray in terms of goals per game and assists per game with none of the fighting skill to compensate
It me
I’ll fuckin challenge you any day buddy. You, me and a 200m sheet of fresh ice with no obstructions, distractions or obstacles and I bet I lose the puck sooner than you do.
Why do you want to play on a rink 3x the size of a normal one?
More room to lose the puck
More room to show you how bad I can stick handle.
Taking that bet mate. Squares off against you LOL
It ya boii
Oh yeah, I replied this as well, but I think it's me for sure.
Rusty High and Wide, ohh just high and wide, aka Russ Courtneall
My money is on Andreas Athanasiou. Guy could be making $7-8M as a 30+ goal scorer winger if he could finish all the chances his speed gifts him, but unfortunately his hands are nowhere as fast as his feet. And I seriously mean that he could score 30 goals every season on almost any team, but goddammit he fucking can't finish chances.
AA would be a superstar if he could pull off his trademark breakaway->fake->backhand top shelf move 30-40 times per season
He'd at least be on the same level as Taylor Hall in his highest scoring years if he could finish breakaways or just other chances in general. It's fucking infuriating to watch him play at times, as you are well aware.
The hype was real for grease lighting
Yeah he has one move and its the blast through the outside -> biiiiiiig sweeeep behind defense -> shoot for the chest
A guy who [scores goals like this](https://youtu.be/dbtS0sNZSPg?si=n9Wf53Afnx4ofGGT) shouldn’t be in the convo for worst hands
EW. I’ve never seen that one.
Absolutely the most frustrating player that I've ever witnessed. So many breakaways with barely even a shot on net.
Real Viktor Stalberg energy to that guy.
A younger version of Jason Chimera. Does Athanasiou get caught offside three times a game as well?
c/'. Cle-ment, Cle-ment, hands of ce-ment. c/'
For the newer fans here… https://youtu.be/YGN5Gl0vQIc
Miss those commercials
This is the correct answer and immediately what came to my mind.
I wouldn't be surprised if Darren Helm had the most breakaways that failed to score. The dude maxed his speed skill on the create a player screen and forgot you can't just shoot it into the goalie's logo.
Every time Darren Helm got a break away with the Red Wings I immediately lost my excitement when I realized it was him. Stone Hands Helm
Came here to say this. Love the guy, and he was a monster defensively, but he was the definition of cement hands.
Todd Marchant. But for one amazing goal, Hands of Stone Marchant was known for incredible straight line speed, amazing break aways, and a complete inability to hit the broad side of a barn.
Came here to say this. Unbelievable speed. With a modicum of finish he would have been a perennial 30 goal guy.
Tobias Rieder on his season with the Oilers
He scored three more shorthanded goals in the Edmonton bubble in 10 games than all situations goals in 67 games the year before playing for the Oilers
Bob Nicholson fuming rn
Woulda did some damage that year if he scored more 🤦♂️
late career rob niedermayer skated like he had shit in his pants and had worse hands than almost any beer leaguer i’ve ever seen in my life. he was a legitimate test of my fanhood that season
Lol that is a interesting new saying.
Antti Miettinen?
More like Anti Mittens-en
Good ol MissinTheNetAgain
But he was so endearing! Good dude, but he is emblematic of a lot of the Wild's boring history. Forced to play way above his skill, got dragged because of it. Rinse. Repeat.
Josh Brown is the worst puckhandler I’ve ever seen play in an NHL game
Replace puckhandler with player and you'll be correct
Tyler Kennedy would have to dust the puck off *six fucking times* before shooting. Could have scored so many goals, but he shoots like Sergio Garcia.
Way back when I would always refer to him as Tyler “Broad Side Of A Barn” Kennedy because it always felt like he was in a scoring drought. I was trying to remember who it was and as soon as I saw this comment I remembered.
Tyler Kennedy shot so many pucks into the glass behind the net. So many.
I played a charity game with him. Defended him on a 1 on 1. One of the hardest snap shots I've seen while actually on the ice, almost shit my pants, but it was probably a good foot over my head.
It's Tanner Glass and no one else is even close
Could a man with no hands do [this?](https://youtu.be/MhGPK_E-c40?si=p7c1BDxI0YfCcLkD)
I dunno man. Grabner and Hal Gill have to be up there
I have two Hal Gill stories. One — I knew the son of a GM and he said his dad thought Hal Gill was the worst dman in the league. The other — I know an NHLer and he told me that rookies have to go to welcome to the NHL camp and are assigned a vet to help them learn. He was assigned Hal Gill. Hal Gill didn’t say shit to him except one time during a video demonstration said “listen up this is important” and then proceeded to fall asleep and snore INCREDIBLY loud. No this is not a pasta even though typing it out it sounds like one
Man Hal is the electrical infetterence of the NHL.
Amazing
Gill's stick was so long it would take 3 business days for the signal to travel from his top hand to his blade.
There was a time with him on the Leafs when as soon as an opponent got anywhere near their zone the Leafs D would instinctively just drop to one knee and wave their sticks around. It was hilarious and worked surprisingly well
Grabner put up like 34 goals in a season he's not on this list (anymore, early career yeah he struggled)
Imagine how many goals he'd have in that 34 goal season if he had hands. Dammm
The open net whiff in the 2011 finals. My grandma could have tapped that in.
Fanner Glass
Tanner Glass just sounds like such a grinder name idk how to explain it.
For his salary? Troy Brouwer
Viktor Stalberg
Never forget that he almost had a breakaway on the play that broke the Senators
Growing up the old drunk men near my dad's seats would have you know it's Troy Loney, no exceptions
Jacob De La Rose convinced me on a nightly basis his gloves were made out of concrete
Habs fans prob still think he has 2C potential
Matthew Lombardi
Lombardi had McDavid-esque speed (without the agility), and enforcer level puck sense and finishing ability
Todd Marchant
Trevor “Stone Hands” Lewis
came here to say this
Hal Gill was an offensive weapon
Skillsy?!?
George Costanza, after the accident
Magnus Paajarvi.
Ryan Strome… there I said it
Michael Grabner
michael grabner was a 30 goal scorer, give him some respect!
Don't let that fool you. He could have had 80 that season if he finished his breakaways, haha.
As a Canucks fan the first person you could think of was Grabner? We’ve had so much worse lol
Sergio Momesso could hit the post wide open, unchecked on an empty net breakaway.
I nominated him cus he could of been nearly a point per game player year in and year out, but wasn't, due to his hands of stone.
Probably Darren Helm then. He's a Kirkland Michael Grabner.
I seriously miss that man on the Rangers. Could create breakaways at any moment, was an effective goal scorer with us, good defensively, and was automatic with the empty net. Pretty much exactly what the Rangers need these days.
On one hand, yes, Grabner had terrible hands. On the other hand, he was *somehow* a big part of the one year where the Coyotes had so many undeserved shorthanded chances that they seemed to go on a power kill every time he was out there.
Dody Wood
Now, that's a name I've not heard in a long time... A long time.
Leo Komarov
J E R R Y H E L L O
Hi Uncle Leo...
Did I tell you what your cousin Jeffrey has been up to?
Re: puck handling: Arturs Irbe was always atrocious.
[The Story of Eddie Convey](http://www.greatesthockeylegends.com/2013/08/eddie-convey.html?m=1) TLDR: King Clancy, Charlie Conacher and Lorne Chabot of the Leafs try to help their old buddy score a meaningless goal against them, only for Convey to shoot one puck wide, one over the boards, and one into Chabot's throat, after which they said "fuck him, he doesn't deserve to score."
There are probably better answers, but the name that comes to mind for me is Boyd Devereaux who was surrounded by so much talent on the early 2000s Red Wings and seemed to get so many grade-A scoring chances but could never finish.
Douglas Murray was a big and strong defenseman who wasn’t too graceful on skates or handling a puck lol
I recall Ray Neufeld from way back used to be referred to as “stone hands”.
More like Paul Miss-the-nette!!
Turner Stevenson! "Grand coeur avec les mains dans le ciment"
Sean Avery
Tim Schaller
I don't think Pascal Dupuis's hands are "the worst ever," but the thread reminded me of [this all-time classic](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/2970ONAn9xkj9ZAfvkQWFah2shA=/0x0:327x410/1120x0/filters:focal\(0x0:327x410\):format\(webp\):no_upscale\(\)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/assets/210214/pascal_dupuis_nohands.jpg).
Oh I haven't seen that image in ages
Joey Kocur. Hands of stone. Great for fighting, not so much for scoring.
Rico Fata was the real life Luis Mendoza
Austin Wagner. Very fast. So many breakaways but just could not convert...
Chris Tanev. Great defender, but dude has a terrible shot and no hands.
Gretzky. Didn't he get his ass kicked by Bobby Hill the one time he fought?
Volchenkov
The Missing Link, maybe? One of those enforcers from the 80s, just not even close to playing offensive hockey. He had 29 points in the WHL the year before he made the NHL... and that was 1987, so not exactly the dead puck era. Joe Sakic had 160 points that year.
Happy Gilmore
Dwyane Hay
Patrik Stefan [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhTs\_O0atdI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhTs_O0atdI)
Jamal Mayers, In 2001 we chanted, "Jammers, Jammers, hands like hammers."
This was the first Blue that came to mind, but that’s probably because he was overused at times. Certainly Chase, Twist, and Kimble had worst hands right?
Sens legend Erik Condra. Always on breakaway, never rewarded
Clement, Clement, hands of cement?
Kurtis MacDermid has no hands. He does have two registered weapons, though.
I remember a video of Versteeg chirping Michael “hands of” Stone
Eric Condra
Andrew Cogliano. Hell of a penalty killer and warrior, but the dude flat out cannot bury Grade A chances with his life.
Me.
Me.
Stars era Valeri Nichuskin
Dan Blackburn gotta be up there
Back in the 80’s Ray Neufeld had that reputation
Alvin Law
Colin Fraser.
Scott Parker, but boy could he throw 'em
Miles Wood
Originally, I thought Tobias Rieder. Scored 0 Goals on 92 Shots in 2018-19. Career 7.4 Sh Pct. He's a forward, BTW. For comparison, Carl Hagelin was a career 7.7% shooter. But, no. Worst SH Pct (min 200 GP, min 200 SOG) belongs to Rod Pelley with a 3.3% CAREER Sh Pct. 9 Goals on 273 SOG. Brent Severyn is next with 10 Goals on 297 SOG. Other notable names close by (for context): Shawn Thornton (4.2%), Ken Baumgartner (4.5%), Jody Shelley (4.6%), and Brian McGratten (4.8%).
Rich Peverley led the league in shots hitting high glass for a couple years when he played for the Bruins
[Max Talbot](https://youtu.be/fu5IvD1A0wg?feature=shared)
Lol, never saw that interview before.
Shean Donovan.
Whoever it is, he played on the Washington Capitals in the eighties.
Josh Anderson. He’s le big and fast tho
Kreider
You guys never watched Craig Ludwig
Andrew Peters
Sammy blais, at least while on the rangers
Dan paille
Hal Gill aka Stonehenge
Buchburger
Mike York
Christoph Schubert: check out his breakaway highlight.
Glen Featherstone, played beer league ball hockey against him . Ultra competitive and mean as fuck . No god damn hands though.
Luis Mendoza
I would like to vote my little brother
Josh Anderson
Stone hands Todd Marchant
Eric mf Robinson
Turner Stevenson
Chris Bourque "hands down" ha ha. Son of Ray Bourque. I still remember him vividly shooting the puck across the crease and out the other side with the goalie out of position and the net wide open when he had a brief stint with Pittsburgh
Goldberg
For an example of a great player with so-so hands, I would nominate Hall of Famer Doug Gainey. Never scored more than 23 goals in a season despite being described, by the Soviets, as the greatest hockey player in the world. His hands would turn to stone when he got close to the opposing net. That’s how I remember him, anyway. 😀
Dan Blackburn. Had nerve damage so had to play with two blockers
it's hard to answer, people are going to give you players they know. For how amazing he is at everything else, I'd think Lowry gets an honourable mention. If he had hands he'd be Bin the conversation with Barkov/Bergeron
Voynov. Just ask his wife.
Leo Komarov. Loved his work ethic but my god he couldn't accept or make a pass in the neutral zone. I remember rewinding my tv to take a video and send it to my buddies once. There was a loose puck was sitting out front, goalie out of the net, and he swooped in, took a shot (from just outside the crease) and completely missed the net. it was so outrageous i had to capture it.
Jesse Puljujarvi
He had decent hands for a while and then completely unlearned the act of shooting
Max Talbot
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fu5IvD1A0wg&t=3s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fu5IvD1A0wg&t=3s)
Granite Hands Tim Schaller sent the NY Rangers into a retool.
Canucks legend
How so?
https://youtu.be/VU3bKwSVpGE?si=o55djYPWYjDAz4gU Absolute filth. He had another one against Dallas that year that was just as dirty https://youtu.be/dDXbo2lMiWM?si=pzD7bzDBujuYMJ9W
Torry Mitchell had bedrock stone hands besides 1 or 2 goals a year where he’d make the highlight reels
Immediately thought of him and Mike Grier lol
I looked at the lowest shooting percentage by shot quantity bands (0-99 shots, 100-199 shots, etc) category: Jansen Harkins 0 goals on 37 shots Connor Brown 4 goals on 108 shots Mikael Backlund 15 goals on 209 shots Cole Caufield 28 goals on 314 shots