NHL Power Rankings: Datsyuk, Gaborik and the 20 Biggest Ankle-Breakers in NHL

By (Featured Columnist) on May 12, 2011

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SAN JOSE, CA - MAY 01:  Pavel Datsyuk #13 of the Detroit Red Wings in action against the San Jose Sharks in Game Two of the Western Conference Semifinals during the 2011 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at HP Pavilion on May 1, 2011 in San Jose, California.  (Pho
Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

Watching these guys play is mesmerizing.

There are a lot of ugly things about hockey:

Giant scars.

Missing teeth.

Stench of equipment.

Brent Sopel's hair.

However, there is nothing more beautiful than a well-executed dangle.

The following are the 20 greatest danglers in the NHL today.

20. Vincent Lecavalier

Vincent Lecavalier was born to score.

(Although, recently, he hasn't been doing it as often.)

19. Marian Hossa

Marian Hossa spites one of his former teams with this goal.

18. Alex Ovechkin

He's considered more of a sniper, but Ovie has great hands.

17. Martin St. Louis

Crazy to think that two players as gifted as Martin St. Louis and Tim Thomas could go this overlooked.

St. Louis was never drafted.

Thomas was one of three goaltenders to be drafted in the ninth round of the 1994 draft and go on to make a major impact in the NHL.

The other two?

Evgeni Nabokov and Thomas Vokoun.

16. Evgeni Malkin

He's not Sidney Crosby, but Evgeni Malkin has great hands.

15. Ilya Kovalchuk

Ilya Kovalchuk is known more for his booming shot than soft hands, but the man can dangle.

This is still one of my favorite videos ever (I know... he doesn't dangle).

14. Steve Sullivan

Steve Sullivan has been dangling forever.

At least long enough to let karma run its course.

13. Matt Duchene

Ryan Getzlaf is one of the greatest danglers in the game, but gets a taste of his own medicine from Matt Duchene in this clip.

12. Mikko Koivu

A pass-first guy who doesn't score as often as other superstars, Mikko Koivu has great hands that the Wild hope will produce more goals as time goes on.

11. Tim Connolly

Overshadowed by Thomas Vanek in Western New York, Tim Connolly is one of the most underrated danglers in the league

10. Mike Ribeiro

Amazing hands allow Mike Ribeiro to do this.

Suave, creamy, filthy; call it whatever you like.

9. Ales Hemsky

If the Oilers were more relevant, Ales Hemsky's name would ring a bigger bell among hockey fans.

However, this goal is pretty unforgetable.

8. Jason Spezza

Jason Spezza may go a little overlooked as a dangler because the Sens have become irrelevant and he's a center who usually has talent to pass to.

However, goals like this will remind the NHL community that he's got some of the greatest hands in the league.

7. Anze Kopitar

He may have great hands in regulation, but Anze Koptiar puts his best on display in the shootout.

6. Ryan Getzlaf

Ryan Getzlaf has the greatest toe-drag in all of hockey.

Hands down.

5. Sidney Crosby

Sidney Crosby was born to play.

His ability to handle the puck puts him among hockey's elite.

4. Rick Nash

Columbus is a struggling expansion franchise, but team captain Rick Nash gives the people of Columbus reason to fill Nationwide Arena.

I've seen this video maybe 20-30 times and it still makes my head spin.

Simply amazing.

3. Alexei Kovalev

Alexei Kovalev's body of work over his career speaks for itself.

2. Marian Gaborik

Marian Gaborik's magical hands have earned him some love in New York.

His stick-work was on display when he netted four against Toronto in January.

1. Pavel Datsyuk

This man is the greatest dangler in the NHL.

Somehow, at age 32 and with a hand injury he is still able to humiliate the best players in the NHL.

His fancy play against Patrick Marleau in Game 5 added insult to injury for the former Shark captain, who was called "gutless" by a former teammate after the game.

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