Those who "should" have made it

Status
Not open for further replies.

Habsfan 32

Registered User
Aug 18, 2004
6,316
2
Way up north...
One guy that lived next to me was offerd a contract by the Detroit Vipers but he refused because he wanted to stay with his girlfriend.

Then their was one dude who had all the talent in the world but he never wanted to go play junior because he was mommy's boy and did not want to leave home.

And of of my teachers was an awesome player in college but he was to small to get to the next level.

And the coach of our Midget AA team played in the AHL in the 80's but was not big enough to get to the NHL.

And their is one guy that started playing in the Q last year but he only 5'7'' but is skill are amazing but is head is a real problem he can't take the pressure and came back home after christman. He went back this fall but he got benched and after the game he quit the team.

All the guys from my hometown have lots of talent but they don't want to go play outside the town or they go but then they come back because they miss their moms.
 

Hawker14

Registered User
Oct 27, 2004
3,084
0
Habsfan 32 said:
One guy that lived next to me was offerd a contract by the Detroit Vipers but he refused because he wanted to stay with his girlfriend.

Then their was one dude who had all the talent in the world but he never wanted to go play junior because he was mommy's boy and did not want to leave home.

And of of my teachers was an awesome player in college but he was to small to get to the next level.

And the coach of our Midget AA team played in the AHL in the 80's but was not big enough to get to the NHL.

And their is one guy that started playing in the Q last year but he only 5'7'' but is skill are amazing but is head is a real problem he can't take the pressure and came back home after christman. He went back this fall but he got benched and after the game he quit the team.

All the guys from my hometown have lots of talent but they don't want to go play outside the town or they go but then they come back because they miss their moms.

what's wrong with a young man wanting to stay at home with family ? absolutely nothing.

if the nhl entry draft age was changed to 20, it would take this pressure off of 15, 16, and 17 year olds.
 

jiggs 10

Registered User
Dec 5, 2002
3,541
2
Hockeytown, ND
Visit site
I went to school with a "can't miss kid" who was just too damn lazy! Had all the talent in the world, and none of the drive. Ended up playing JV in college, now he's gained weight and plays about every other year once. What a waste.
 

Spetzky

Registered User
Jul 31, 2004
443
0
Edmonton
Myself, i wish i didnt get injured 3 years ago (r. knee) and in the same spot the next year then again last year. I quit after the 1st injury couldn't rehab and play comfortably. I still play on and off but my skating is nowhere near what it was.
I would of been a 2008 pick, late '89.
 

Slats432

Registered User
Jun 2, 2002
14,757
2,778
hockeypedia.com
I was friends with a kid and he was by far the most talented hockey player I every played with.

The problem was he was vertically challenged. At the age of 10, I could remember he taking slapshots and hitting the crossbar from the blueline more often than not.

He made it to the NCAA and that was it.
 

Mxpunk

Registered User
Jul 3, 2004
1,269
0
RPV, CA
One of my former teammates, Craig Garcia. This kid was a phenomenal player...He had amazing stickhandling skills and a helluva shot. He also was a defenseman who played the body well...Only thing was his size (I think he was 5'6, 150 lbs when we played at the age of 16). Amazing roller hockey player and a great ice hockey player. I think he went to play ice at some college somewhere before retiring.

You may recognize him from the old Mission Hockey ads. He was one kid who would attract fans to our ROLLER hockey tournaments...Also saw him pull one of the most amazing moves by skating to the slot, picking the puck up on his blade while pulling a 360, and flinging the puck at the goalie. He didn't score, but hey, it was roller hockey, and he could mess around.
 

Habsfan 32

Registered User
Aug 18, 2004
6,316
2
Way up north...
hawker14 said:
what's wrong with a young man wanting to stay at home with family ? absolutely nothing.

if the nhl entry draft age was changed to 20, it would take this pressure off of 15, 16, and 17 year olds.


There is no probleme with him staying home with his family but whats so funny is that he did not want to stay with his family but with his girlfriend and she left him 2 months after that to go off to college with some other dude. He still plays in the beer league and dominates.
 
I played with Rick Girard in Edmonton as a Bantam. He was pretty much as sure a thing as there was who was drafted in the 2nd round by the Canucks as I recall. Bad knee injury I heard. Last I heard he was still playing somewhere in Europe.

Same situation for a defenceman I knew. I got called up to a couple of midget games with a solid d-man named Shane Peacock. He was a 3rd rounder for Pittsburgh. THink he's in Europe too.
 

Avery4Byng*

Guest
A buddy of mine was an amazing player..... unreal. Fast, skilled, could score... Would skate through the whole team in Midget and score whenever he felt like it. Only problem was he didnt know a thing about defense or team play. Still to this day in beer league he is a 1 man show. And smoking a pack of smokes a day and some weed doesnt help him either.... :shakehead
 

tml_4ever

It's Chaotic
May 24, 2004
8,923
0
Calgary, Alberta
isn't it just sad to hear those kids who're really good when they were young, but then they don't pan out....the later, you hear they're living in some dump in a ghetto or someplace, and you just think back and shake your head?
 

fresh83

Registered User
Jan 18, 2005
7
0
this is about football, but one of my teacher's dad got drafted by some pro team, i tihnk it was tampa bay but not sure.. anyways b4 the season started, in practice he got injured and the coach came in and said, you not getting paid to sit in here all crippled, so he quit and never played a game.
 

It Kills Me

Registered User
Aug 6, 2004
10,789
2
My tag teacher played NCAA basketball. She was pretty much set for the WNBA (or whatever) but she got pregnant, and injuries.
 

Beauty eh?

Not sure if serious.
Dec 20, 2004
5,367
1
Southern California
Mxpunk said:
One of my former teammates, Craig Garcia. This kid was a phenomenal player...He had amazing stickhandling skills and a helluva shot. He also was a defenseman who played the body well...Only thing was his size (I think he was 5'6, 150 lbs when we played at the age of 16). Amazing roller hockey player and a great ice hockey player. I think he went to play ice at some college somewhere before retiring.

You may recognize him from the old Mission Hockey ads. He was one kid who would attract fans to our ROLLER hockey tournaments...Also saw him pull one of the most amazing moves by skating to the slot, picking the puck up on his blade while pulling a 360, and flinging the puck at the goalie. He didn't score, but hey, it was roller hockey, and he could mess around.

Haha....I played against Garcia a bunch of times in Koho Cup tournaments when he was with the Whittier Wings. He was awesome....and he was ripped like a mofo too! I also played against current Manchester Monarch Noah Clarke, as well as former Ice Dog Alex Kim and Justin Morrison (VAN draft pick).

Currently there is a kid I play with and against from time to time, his name is Sabraj Niijar. He goes by the name "OGHabib" on most boards. He is flat out amazing. It blows my mind how he isn't playing pro somewhere right now. The guy does everything well, he is easily the best player I have played with or against.
 

SergeiKost99

Registered User
Mar 12, 2004
743
1
canada
i have an opposite story of all the rest. This is a guy who wanted to play in the QMJHL and thought he was all good just cuz his dad was a cop on the island. He tried out for the pei rockets this past summer's training camp. And the first drill they do is go to UPEI to do 36 laps around the track. And this guy couldnt even do 20. The reason he thinks he is so good is cuz hes tall but he should realize that he sucks. Then 2 days after the running exercise, he was the 1st one cut, he was a complete joke he shouldnt even be there.

He didnt even make the major AAA team here either, what was he thinking trying out for the rockets? He is playing for minor AAA now, he is too lazy and doesent have the drive needed to succeed. Oh well Alain Vignault got a laugh out of that :handclap:
 

bonefizzle

Registered User
Dec 5, 2004
260
4
ya it truely is sad to hear about players like this.. i have played with former world junior players jay mcclement who was unreal growing up drafted 2nd overal in the ohl only to spezza who had already played as an underager, but still the best player i ever saw as a minor hockey player growing up in kingston was a year older then us. He moved away to play tier 2 when he was 15 and got all screwed up from their, took a few cycles of steroids was 5'8 160 probably when he went away .. then he got drafted by peterbrough and showed up to the camp weighing in at 220.. he is 5'8 lets remmember .. the coach made him ride the bike during their games until he lost weight.. so he quit.. went downhill from there because he couldn't play for any team at a lower level because he knew he was good enough to play in the ohl...
 

Papadice

Registered User
Apr 29, 2003
815
0
Moncton, NB, Canada
www.myfhl.net
One guy (Jeremy Caissie) from my city was incredible... Amazing hands.. Great shot... Great size... good skater... and he got drafted quite high into the Q... played four seasons in the Q with 4 different teams i think... was about a point a game player in the Q in his last year... Nothing spectacular... BUT, he had potential for SO much more... He was talked about around here as a sure fire NHLer... But, he heard all of that and got completely full of himself and never dominated in junior like he expected... He was very lazy and ended up playing his last year of junior with me in Tier II... what a headcase... he would have been a wicked player if he had his head in the game and had even half a work ethic...
 

Papadice

Registered User
Apr 29, 2003
815
0
Moncton, NB, Canada
www.myfhl.net
Wow... I can't believe I mentioned Caissie before mentioning Derek Cormier...

My first year of high school I was trying out for the high school team and the Bantam AAA team at the same time... I made both teams but chose to play Bantam AAA instead because I had the starting spot there and would have been backup to a grade 12 in high school (goaltender)... But when I tried out for the high school team there was one player named Derek Cormier that was incredible... and he just kept getting better and better... unfortunately, the guy was very small... I'd guess he was only about 5'6, but solid for his size... Lightning speed, amazing hands, a wicked shot... Smart as hell on the ice... His size really held him back... After playing high school he played Tier II in Moncton and set the league record for points in a season (since eclipsed by a guy I played with, Deny Gaudet)... He then went to play for the University of New Brunswick where he put up over a point and a half per game, which is very good for university hockey... Then he went to Europe and he's done very well for himself over there... Despite the fact that hockeydb.com doesn't list him as still playing, as far as I know he is still playing in Europe... He'd be about 32 now but man, if Bell's Making the Cut would have been around about 7 or 8 years ago, this is a guy that seriously could have competed for one of those draft picks... He was a dynamite player...

One final note about Derek... I used to teach at Rollie Melanson's Goalie School here in Moncton and Derek was one of the shooters that would come out to help us out... Every day at lunch we (the instructors) would take to the ice to stop some pucks ourselves and kind of "show off" for the kids... Each Friday, Rollie would step on the ice to do the same at lunch... He would always put up a great showing and nobody could usuable beat him... Remember, at the time, this is a guy that was a year removed from being Patrick Roy's backup in Montreal, so he was no slouch... Anyways, this one Friday that Derek was there, we were all out taking shots, mainly breakaway competitions, and we were all putting on a good show... Rollie steps onto the ice and takes about 20 breakaways back to back and stops all 20... The guy looks incredible in net and nobody could beat him... Everyone goes to the bench for a 5 minute break to get some water into us and stuff and then we start up again... This time, Derek steps onto the ice too... He lines up 6 pucks at center and comes in on Rollie 6 times on breakaways... 1, 2, 3, 4, 5... wow... first 5 breakaways he scores on Rollie... Derek goes back to get the 6th one and starts coming down on the last breakaway... He approaches the front of the net with the puck out in front of him.. let me explain to you forwards out there... goaltenders are taught that a player with the puck in front of him cannot shoot without pulling the puck to his side... it's a no brainer that if the shooter has the puck directly in front of him, he is going to deke... So, Derek gets close with the puck in front of him... Rollie sees this and reads the deke is coming so when Derek gets close enough, Rollie drops to his knees and attempts a poke check... Derek pulls the puck back so that it is directly between his feet and then flips the puck into the air, off the crossbar and in, over Rollie's shoulder by using the tip of his blade... Rollie fell to his @ss and just looked over at us with a "wtf" type of look... he was stunned... Derek beat Rollie on 6 breakaways in a row and then made him just look silly with a wicked move on the 6th one... it was amazing...
 

kerrly

Registered User
May 16, 2004
811
1
Regina
Todd Holt. Any of you follow the Swift Current Broncos over the last decade should know who he is. I didn't grow up with him, but have become good friends with him over the last couple years since I played on a senior team with him. Now he plays in Horse Lake, with Theo Fluery who also happens to be his cousin.

I've played with an against many people who have gone onto do well in hockey. A couple guys I know right now are in the NHL, and a few more in the AHL, and a couple of my hometown friends are in the NCAA. But Todd Holt was by far the most skilled player I have ever seen and to this day it has not diminished, he lit up our league last year like crazy.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Ad

-->