Players who had stats in a game (or over a few games) that you wouldn't have expected from them

[Brodeur]

Maybe doesn't exactly fit since I had never heard of defenseman Jere Karalahti ahead of time.......but I was in college in 1999 and couldn't follow hockey as closely outside of checking box scores. I was home for winter break and was watching a Kings game:

Edmonton Oilers vs. Los Angeles Kings Box Score: December 30, 1999 | Hockey-Reference.com

Get the latest box score updates on the Edmonton Oilers vs. Los Angeles Kings game played on December 30, 1999 on Hockey-Reference.com

www.hockey-reference.com

Karalahti led the Kings in ice time (over Rob Blake), scored a couple goals including an Al MacInnis-esque slapper, and threw a couple nice open ice hits. That was his fourth game in the NHL and Karalahti now had 5 points. I was convinced that I had just seen a burgeoning superstar.

I had just joined a keeper league and decided that I needed to acquire him. Unfortunately for me, Karalahti finished the season with just 16 points in 48 games. I wasn't aware that he had a known substance abuse problem and he'd be out of the NHL within a couple years.

Meanwhile to get Karalahti, I gave up a different older NHL rookie D. Some guy named Brian Rafalski. D'oh.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

something random i recently came across

in october 1995, dan quinn scored 3 goals, 3 assists for his hometown senators in a 7-4 win against their expansion cousins in tampa.

for context, at this pt, quinn was 30 years old and had missed the better part of two and a half seasons due to his rape allegation plus the 1994 lockout, before playing out the lockout year as a second line center on a 20th place kings team. 1995-96 was his last full-ish year in the league; he played 16 games the following season (0 goals, 3 assists) before it was all over for him.

the sens entered the 1995-96 season having finished last three years in a row, and would finish last again this season.

going into this game, with their best player and number one center alexei yashin in his first holdout, they started the year 0-2. then for this one game at least, dan quinn filled that void.

all in all, quinn scored 4 goals, 8 assists, 12 pts in 11 games before breaking his hand. that looks good, but without the big game, that’s 1 goal, 5 assists in 10 games.

after he came back, he had 2 goals, 10 assists in 17 games before yashin signed. quinn was immediately given away to philly. he finished out the year as a PP specialist, 21 pts in 35 games (almost exactly half of it on the PP), and added 5 pts in the playoffs (4 on the PP).

afaict, quinn had signed a two-year deal with ottawa, but the flyers “released” him at the end of the year. no idea what the rules were then, but i guess you could just terminate contracts back then?

here’s what i could dig up:

Quinn’s salary last season was $400,000, and his deal with the Senators is believed to be worth about $1 million over two years.​

The Flyers also released forwards Shawn Antoski and Dan Quinn on Tuesday. Quinn had 13 goals and 45 points in 63 games last season, but the club deemed him expendable when it acquired Dale Hawerchuk in mid-March.​

​

"Antoski had the ability to improve yet only wanted to fight and never got any better," Clarke said. "Quinn was good for the time we had him, but we didn't need both him and Hawerchuk."​

​

​

In other news:​

PENGUINS: SIGN ANTOSKI, QUINN Pittsburgh signed former Flyers forwards Shawn Antoski and Dan Quinn to contracts.​

Signed with Pittsburgh as a Group III unrestricted free agent on July 31, 1996.​

​

​

To entice Lemieux into returning, the Penguins re-signed one of his best friends, forward Dan Quinn​