Ice hockey requires players with speed, strength, shooting ability and skill. The ability to fake a goalie out of position when you have the puck on your stick will give you the ability to score goals and become a dangerous offensive player. When you can make fakes and feints while carrying the puck, you have the ability to "dangle."
Scoring Opportunities
A player may be able to break past the defense and go in alone on the goalie. The player has the option of taking a quick shot or making a series of moves to fake the goalie out of position. Instead of going directly in on the goal, the player "dangles" as he gets near the net in an attempt to get the goalie to make the first move and the shooter can take advantage. Shooters who can dangle often turn into outstanding scorers.
Importance
Players who can dangle and make the most out of their scoring opportunities have always been vital to their team because they create memorable plays and score goals. However, with the onset of the shootout at the end of tied regular season games since the start of the 2005-06 season, players who make outstanding moves on breakaways have become even more valuable. In a shootout, players go in on the goaltender after taking the puck at center ice and try to score in one-on-one situations. The danglers are often the toughest players to stop.
Hockey Instincts
Dangling in hockey is a function of hockey instincts and creativity. It is not necessarily a result of being able to skate fast, but it is a matter of being able to skate with balance and maneuverability. Detroit Red Wing forward Pavel Datsyuk is often recognized as the most outstanding dangler in hockey because of his athleticism, skating ability, hockey instincts and creativity. "Datsyuk's moves still dazzle teammates, even those who play on his line," said Tomas Holmstrom of the Detroit Red Wings. "Pretty much every day he is doing something you don't think you can do out there."
Great Danglers
The history of hockey is loaded with brilliant and instinctive players who made an array of moves and shocked teammates, coaches and fans with their creative moves. Montreal's Yvan Cournoyer, nicknamed "the Roadrunner" during his memorable career with the Montreal Canadiens during the 1960s and '70s was perhaps the most dangerous player in the history of the league in one-on-one situations because of his stickhandling ability and speed. Datsyuk may rival Cournoyer's skills. Mario Lemieux was a Hall of Famer with the Pittsburgh Penguins who use head-and-shoulder fakes to beat opposing goaltenders. Wayne Gretzky had an array of moves and is the greatest scorer in the history of hockey but he never felt as comfortable on breakaways as some of the other dynamic players in league history. Boston's Bobby Orr is recognized as the greatest defenseman in hockey history and he would often break through the opposition, dangle and beat the goalie with a superb move.
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