Max Pacioretty might have a career in TV after he’s done playing hockey because he has been coming out with some hot takes recently.
Even better is that, unlike many TV personalities, they’re not complete nonsense.
If you asked most hockey fans who the best skater in the league is, you might get 99 out of 100 people to say Connor McDavid. Watching him skate, it’s unlike anything most people have seen in the NHL, as he often blows by players many would consider the top defenders in the league. Well, now another contender has emerged.
Pacioretty nominates Mathew Barzal:
He goes on to explain that when he says best skater in the league he’s not talking about blue line to blue line speed and is instead fascinated by how he constantly seems to be building up speed. Here’s the full quote:
“He’s by far the best skater in the league. It’s no question. A lot of guys judge speed goal line to blue line or whatever, a straight line. But he’s crossing over the entire game, winding up, building up speed. Every time we lose the puck in the o-zone, you turn around for a second and I can just see his hair flapping in the wind in front of me and I had to get on my horse and get back… That’s the toughest matchup that I’ve had this year.”
There’s only one way to settle this and it won’t happen this year. Unfortunately for Barzal his teammates have been too good this season, so he wasn’t invited to the All-Star game. If he was, he and McDavid may have been able to face off in the fastest skater competition.
There’s always next year.
