A. Kostitsyn vs A. Galchenyuk

[Non Player Canadiens]

I remember his delevery to take ages to be unleashed. He also was very slow to take his chances with his shot. He could also used some variances in his delevery ala Ovechkin/Matthews to get his amazing shot to the net. I swear all his shots were always blocked. Anyway amazing power and accuracy when he had the time (which was sadly not enough)

Some shots were heavy but some were quick. Look at

is not bad too.

 

[JeffreyLFC]

Some shots were heavy but some were quick. Look at

is not bad too.

Don't get me wrong. All his highlights will show his great shot. The reality is that he never had a season with more than 200 shots. His career shot/goal is at around 12.5% (which is good). If he would have been a natural goal scorer/shooter first mentality he would have had easily hitted that mark mutliple time +200 shots. It's sad that although his shot was amazing he could not get it through the net more often.

As far as comparison, Galchenyuk got himself 2 seasons of more than 200 shots on net and also I would consider had hard time to get his shot on net.

 

[417]

I wouldn't say his talent was overrated, it's that he didn't progress. Only 8 U-17 players in the OHL's history have had more points then him, and since Tavares/Stamkos's U-17 season back in '06-'07 only McDavid and Hall had more points.

Elite Prospects - OHL Stats All-time season

Yeah agreed - I brought that up earlier.

There was no progression in his game, almost like he plateaued fairly early in his career and never found another gear.

 

[Le Barron de HF]

Don't get me wrong. All his highlights will show his great shot. The reality is that he never had a season with more than 200 shots. His career shot/goal is at around 12.5% (which is good). If he would have been a natural goal scorer/shooter first mentality he would have had easily hitted that mark mutliple time +200 shots. It's sad that although his shot was amazing he could not get it through the net more often.

As far as comparison, Galchenyuk got himself 2 seasons of more than 200 shots on net and also I would consider had hard time to get his shot on net.

Could have something to do with ice time though. He rarely ever topped 16 minutes of time on ice. His linemates also shot the puck at a higher or similar rate than him.

 

[Catanddogguitarrr]

Some shots were heavy but some were quick. Look at

is not bad too.

I was undecided because I disliked both, for different reasons. But I have to go with A. Kost. Sometimes he showed what we expected from him as his #10 draft, chosen before Carter, Parisé, Getzlaf and Perry. If both have been disapointment, Galchy was a bigger one. At least Kost gave us some good years and some regularity. Kost could have done 75% more if he had the heart of Gallagher.

 

[Catanddogguitarrr]

Both had high end talent. In some skills they are 10 on 10. More with A. Kost because he was built like a tank. True he never was the same after that hit. He seemed not willing to do just a bit more. He was like a fat lazy cat, sleeping 80% of time and 20% awake. In videos we don't have his very average ice presence, a Ferrari Tank with his gaz pedal half to the floor. He didn't want it enough.

 

[JeffreyLFC]

Could have something to do with ice time though. He rarely ever topped 16 minutes of time on ice. His linemates also shot the puck at a higher or similar rate than him.

I think, in the end, it was all on him. Everybody on the coaching staff and the team knew he had a lethal shot. He did try to shoot more often but he was always getting his shot deflected or blocked. He was simply put not a natural goal scorer but weirdly enough with an amazing shot.

I would say that if Kostitsyn had a bit more of a scorer mentality with higher volume shot he would have scored way more possibly even 40+

Anyway, for the record, having a great shot is not a gauge of guaranteed success to score goals. The most important is to get it on net!

 

[attachetatuque]

I think it's a good question! Took me a few minutes to come up with an answer.

I was super hyped up on Galchenyuk. Love him while he was in the O and his rookie season was so exciting. He was super young and made the US world cup team (right?). Had the slickest hands, a great shot, and a good pass and despite average skating ability, had me thinking he was going to be a special player. And then it was all downhill from there.

On the other hand, maybe it was because I was super young but I don't remember the same level of hype for AK46. Probably due to the different level of accessibility of information back then. Quickly fell in love with him. I wish he had been willing to bang more bodies but whenever he did it made me so happy. Amazing shot. I will forever remember the Lucic hit mentioned above.
Also, my favorite hockey memory is definitely spring 2008.
I am in the final half of my 2nd semester of CEGEP, studying hard at the public library on a Saturday morning, I get a phone call from my dad. I don't pick up cause I'm trying to crunch for this psychology test I have on the following Tuesday morning. He calls again, and sends me a text message: "call me now!". So I'm somewhat anxious...is someone sick? did something happen? he knows i'm at the library, I left the house 2 hours ago...

"What's up?
"When is your test?"
"Tuesday morning..."
"ok..so CEGEP is important...you're doing good in your classes right? Almost ready for the test?"
"I'm pretty stressed out to be honest and I have to get back to it."
"You'll have to study in the car, we're going to Boston for game 6, I'm picking you up in 15 minutes"

Tell you what...I did not study in the car ride there! we got to Boston a couple hours before the game. We saw dozens of cars with Habs flags on our way down there.
Of course I was crushed by the result of the game...We lost in overtime, 5-4 I think? After the game, we went to a restaurant next to the TD Garden, to eat before going to the hotel. Guess what? 30 minutes in half the Bruins team walked in. Chara, Lucic, side by side...massive guys. I'm 6 ft 5 and 200lbs (230 now unfortunately haha) and was completely taken aback by their frames. My father asked if I wanted to try and get a picture with them, which I refused.

"You'll regret that later on, regardless of what team they play for, it would be pretty cool"
"I ****ing hate them"

I've changed since then. Much less a Habs fanatic and more of an NHL fanatic nowadays.

The next day, back in Montreal, my father knocks on my bedroom door...

"When is your exam?"
"Tomorrow morning..."
"Start studying now cause we're going to the game tonight"

I've never felt so much electricity at the Bell Centre for a game. AK46 rocked my world that game.



My vote goes to AK46. In part for the memories but I do think he was a more important player than Galchenyuk ever was.

//Sorry for the long post! Brought back some great memories.

 

[Kobe Armstrong]

I remember when AK scored 2 goals against the Caps in the playoffs... great shot

 

[frapp10]

Think about how different our teams could’ve been over the last 15 years if these two were the elite talents we hoped they could’ve been

 

[montreal]

Yeah agreed - I brought that up earlier.

There was no progression in his game, almost like he plateaued fairly early in his career and never found another gear.

it's a shame but it's also why I don't fault Timmins as it's not uncommon to see kids peak at 16/17/18/19/20. Collberg, Leblanc, etc.. Although with Galchenyuk I do think a part of it was due to shitty development, of course I'm a big believer in development and coaching vs others around here you don't put much stock into it. When he had that 30 goal season I thought he would at least be able to be consistently around that level for us for some time.

 

[THE HOFF]

Andrei K AINEC

hahah so pathetic to see a player like Lucic and the bruins in general not being able to take a hit in those years. Emelin would make me burst of laughter when he randomly decided to do some bear crushing. They'd be the dirtiest team in the league at that time, throwing hits and cheap shots ALL the time. Yet everytime they got caught by a clean hit, looked to fight. Says a lot when Dale Weise has taken full control over your mind.

as far as this topic is concerned, Andrei made things happened when it mattered.

 

[Boris Le Tigre]

• Who was the most talented in your opinion?
  • Galchenyuk.
• Which one you considered the best, at their peak?
  • Kostitsyn but close.
• If you could bring one back, which one would it be? You dont have to.
  • Kostitsyn. He would give the PP a different look and provide some size on the top lines.
• Which one was the biggest disappointment for you? Why?
  • Galchenyuk. Because he was picked so high and started so well. Thought we had something there.

I think Kostitsyn was a good pick given our recent history with 1st round picks.

Galchenyuk although not an awful result is the more disappointing player.

 

[417]

it's a shame but it's also why I don't fault Timmins as it's not uncommon to see kids peak at 16/17/18/19/20. Collberg, Leblanc, etc.. Although with Galchenyuk I do think a part of it was due to shitty development, of course I'm a big believer in development and coaching vs others around here you don't put much stock into it. When he had that 30 goal season I thought he would at least be able to be consistently around that level for us for some time.

It's not that I don't put much stock into it...

It would be silly for me to say coaching and development don't matter, which is not something I've ever said, to be fair....

IMO, I think we as fans tend to conflate what development is.

The player will always dictate how far coaching and development can bring him...if a player isn't receptive, it doesn't matter how good your development system is, it won't make a difference.

Meanwhile other players don't need that type of structure, they're just self starters.

Again, I'd never suggest coaching and development don't matter...

Just that it's a concept alot more complex and with more variables then we tend to think, at least IMO.

 

[JeffreyLFC]

It's not that I don't put much stock into it...

It would be silly for me to say coaching and development don't matter, which is not something I've ever said, to be fair....

IMO, I think we as fans tend to conflate what development is.

The player will always dictate how far coaching and development can bring him...if a player isn't receptive, it doesn't matter how good your development system is, it won't make a difference.

Meanwhile other players don't need that type of structure, they're just self starters.

Again, I'd never suggest coaching and development don't matter...

Just that it's a concept alot more complex and with more variables then we tend to think, at least IMO.

Development is the key. Especially for NHL prospects, this is not the NFL or the NBA when the prospect are signed already for the 1st team and to deliver results instantly.

The young draftee need a plan of development and the time to develop (physically and mentally).

There is no doubt in my mind that Galchenyuk was poorly developed and the same now can be said for Kotkaniemi. Both were good enough for the NHL but were not good enough to dominate from the get go.

I think the habs have been one of the worst talent development team of the past 2 decades. Our best prospect over the years have been developed progressively (Koivu, Markov, Plekanec, Subban, Price). We almost ruined Pacioretty until we realized that it would be better for him to develop his offensive game in the AHL and hopefully we can salvage Kotkaniemi in the same way.

I am very happy that we decided to be patient with Caufield and I hope we will do the same with whoever we draft in 2020 (unless it's Lafrenière)

We have around 5 years of development ahead of each of our draft pick and you cannot go back in time when you realize you were wrong. Take it step by step and don't be afraid to demote if something is going wrong (like with Jesperi)

The other concern I have with our development team is that we hire so many people around Bergevin (Lapointe, Bouillon, Mellanby, Timmins, Other?) but we cannot hire one proper top skating coach/trainer to help our top prospect in that aspect that is now the key asset to be successful in the NHL? I always find it hilarious that Bergevin always talk about building through the draft while screwing up all aspect of the word "building" other than acquiring draft picks.

 

[montreal]

It's not that I don't put much stock into it...

It would be silly for me to say coaching and development don't matter, which is not something I've ever said, to be fair....

IMO, I think we as fans tend to conflate what development is.

The player will always dictate how far coaching and development can bring him...if a player isn't receptive, it doesn't matter how good your development system is, it won't make a difference.

Meanwhile other players don't need that type of structure, they're just self starters.

Again, I'd never suggest coaching and development don't matter...

Just that it's a concept alot more complex and with more variables then we tend to think, at least IMO.

wasn't suggesting that you were of the opinion that coaching/development don't matter, just saying in general on this board there have been several posters that think that way.

From my years of watching our AHL team so closely along with the decisions MB has made, I don't think I've ever seen a worse organization at developing talent. Just so many mistakes and bad moves. The problem with that imo is that others feel that's letting Timmins off the hook but it's not it's more about looking at the picks at the time they were made and how much help did these prospects get in the years to follow. Clearly under MB many prospects have been helped but rather hurt by the decisions from this management team but that doesn't mean the scouts don't own their share of the blame in this and need to do a better job which hopefully over the past few years they have.

 

[MrNasty]

They both had warts. I have some fond memories of AK but I can't really think of many with Chucky so I go with AK.

 

[the]

I remember when AK scored 2 goals against the Caps in the playoffs... great shot

It was a hat-trick!