A Non-Superstar You Loved (or Love) to Watch

[CBJWerenski8]

Derek Dorsett

 

[aufheben]

Antoine Vermette.

He had jets and he was scrappy and he toiled in the bottom six without complaint until he finally made the move into the top six.

Great PKer.

Great hockey name as well.

 

[agent082]

Young Saku Koivu

 

[Perfect_Drug]

Love the high-skill pests

Esa Tikkanen
Claude Lemieux
Ken Linsmen



I f***ing hate Ratface Tkachuk, but if he were an Oiler he'd probably be my fave player.

 

[IPS]

Prime Milan Lucic was a forechecking menace.

 

[TMLeafer]

In recent memory, Joffrey Lupul

The guy had good size, hands, shot and bite, but couldn't stay healthy. There were a few flashes of that potential though, and it was great to watch when he was on.

Edit: I thought he was taller. But anyway, he wasn't small.

 

[AvsFan29]

Nichushkin is an animal on the forecheck and is a great skater for a big guy. Plus he went from bust status to a top 6 player.

 

[Harvey Birdman]

Max Talbot

 

[ForumNamePending]

Somewhat surprised this thread didn't turn into a debate on who is and isn't superstar.

Mats Zuccarello

This was the first guy I thought of when reading the thread title.

Mikhail Grabovski. That guy had absolutely no regard for his own safety. Dude was like a human weeble -- wobbles but doesn't fall down. Would randomly pull out some f***ing crazy Robbie Schremp dangles twice a year. "Fire burn the ice." Then there's a photo set of him just casually stabbing a pineapple in a turtleneck. That guy was a different kinda dude lmao.

Should have thought of this guy when reading the thread title.

 

[TomasHertlsRooster]

Raffi Torres.

 

[Bring Bak Damphousse]

Alexei Emelin was throwing hits like it was nobody's business

Emelin for me too, I remember one game against the Panthers and the hits were something like

Florida 9
Emelin 15

might be a bit exaggerated but I don’t remember the actual number.

 

[JoeCool16]

As a non-Islanders fan, I really enjoyed seeing Josh Ho-Sang play, especially live. He could just be so silky smooth, wheeling and dangling... didn't often result in much, but it was a lot of fun to watch. I imagine it would've been frustrating as a NYI fan, though.

 

[bukwas]

Tonelli

 

[Just Linda]

I remember the time I saw Avery realizing he was beat so he pushed an opponent offside to prevent an odd man rush. The man was the master of (on ice) subtly

 

[Plante]

Arturs irbe all the way.

zednick a close second.

 

[BrettM]

Sergei Berezin

 

[BrettM]

Sergei Berezin

After perusing through the thread I stumbled on someone else already referencing Berezin so to provide an alternative answer, I'll go with Marcus Ragnarsson

 

[JianYang]

I kind of preferred the dangers. Not all of them would reach superstar status.

Arturs irbe all the way.

zednick a close second.

Zednik was a good player who I think never really hit his stride.

When I hear his name, the first two things that come to my mind were the two sickening injuries he received.

I thought zednik was really breaking through in the 02 playoffs, before Mclaren delivered a gruesome headshot. He eventually came back from it, and while he was still a useful player, I think he lost something after that play.

Then there was his throat being slit by a skate while playing Florida.

 

[Kalamazoo Wings]

In a time where watching big blocking goalies has made the position almost boring, a sub 6 foot Khudobin is still a lot of fun to watch.

 

[HyPnOtiK]

Afinogenov
Simmonds
Comrie
Oshie
Rafalski
Cechmanek
Barnaby
Letang
Skinner
Byfuglien
Bryz
Biznasty
Mike Richards
Kesler
Sami Kapanen
Grabner
Ghost
Subban
Sharp

 

[Chimpradamus]

Dan Girardi when he was a Ranger.

But sure, I get it. Without the puck, in the defensive zone, he had his spot and blocked a ton of shots. It was just that his puckhandling and outlet passes were absolutely atrocious, which guaranteed he would block a ton of shots.

 

[LiveeviL]

Mention superstar of opposing team
Wait for reaction
Profit


I go for Jarkko Ruutu

 

[Dijock94]

Nikolay Zherdev

 

[Reality Czech]

Pre-KHL Sobotka was one of my favorite Blues, brought it every game, didn't back down from anyone and was very strong on the puck.
Geoff Courtnall - super pest with sneaky good scoring ability
Tony Twist - for obvious reasons
Scott Hartnell - seems like a funny guy and was always in the middle of things

 

[untouchable21]

Chris Drury especially his time with the Avalanche and Sabres. He was so clutch, making big plays at crucial times of important games.

Like Game4 of the 2001 Stanley Cup Final.