You can have your own predispositions towards "professional gaming", but the one thing it has in common with sports is the amazing lexicon of terms that contribute to our overall culture of competition.
Bonjwa comes from the game StarCraft, a game I am sure you are familiar with.
The professional scene for the StarCraft RTS series is one of the most rich and storied of any video game.
It's one of the first video games you could make a true living by being at the top.
Despite being only 25 years old, there have been many "greats" (and pretenders), and over time a term has percolated to describe the best player for an extended (but somewhat vague!) period of time.
Sometimes it's just a year or so, but for that time there is a consensus No. 1 ranked player.
It's a term I started using recently as I think it applies to most sports (tennis, golf are self-evident, but also team sports like hockey in its own way).
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In the NHL I feel like this translates as a player who is the top of their particular position for a period of time.
So while Crosby has been bonjwa due to his individual and team success, I'd contend that someone like Connor McDavid is bonjwa now despite the (current) lack of title wins.
Using an example from another sport, Michael Jordan was bonjwa, but likewise I believe Steve Nash was bonjwa too,
The term differentiates from "generational" as it typically describes a player who is at the absolute top of their class rather than a unique and special talent that is once-in-a-era. Generational talents will almost always spend time being bonjwa, but not all bonjwa players are generational talents.
Some players are bonjwa for shorter periods of time than others.
The individual hardware is usually a good basis, but you may find that some players are a bit more suspect - was Naslund truly bonjwa when he won the Lindsay? Was Henrik Sedin truly bonjwa when he won the Hart/Art Ross? Something to think about carefully when applying this term.
Fleshing the idea out a bit further, there are some Hall of Fame locks who go their entire careers without being bonjwa.
Draisaitl stands a chance of never being considered bonjwa, despite being one of the best players in his era, but on the flip side, Eric Lindros was definitely bonjwa.
Kris Letang was never bonjwa defenseman. Roberto Luongo, and to a greater extent, Marc-Andre Fleury will struggle with this problem as we look back on their careers as well.
I made a thread about Dan Boyle's chances at the HHoFm, and feedback gleamed from that thread was that lacking bonjwa status is a key element which keep some players locked in the Hall of Very Good for eternity.
In today's NHL, as an exercise, who is bonjwa right now in these categories?
1. Forward -
2. Defenseman -
3. Goalie -
4. Drafted Prospect -
edit: I am a Canucks follower so that's why I leaned heavily on Canucks examples. Please don't come @ me Vancouver.
Bonjwa comes from the game StarCraft, a game I am sure you are familiar with.
The professional scene for the StarCraft RTS series is one of the most rich and storied of any video game.
It's one of the first video games you could make a true living by being at the top.
Despite being only 25 years old, there have been many "greats" (and pretenders), and over time a term has percolated to describe the best player for an extended (but somewhat vague!) period of time.
Sometimes it's just a year or so, but for that time there is a consensus No. 1 ranked player.
It's a term I started using recently as I think it applies to most sports (tennis, golf are self-evident, but also team sports like hockey in its own way).
Bonjwa
Bonjwa is a term used to describe a player who dominates the StarCraft scene for a long period of time. A bonjwa has a very high winning percentage and successive title wins. However, a bonjwa is not defined by his statistics or records. Rather, a general consensus is reached that he is the most...
bonjwa Meaning | Translations by Dictionary.com
Bonjwa is a Korean-language gaming term referring to elite or professional players of StarCraft, a popular video game.
www.dictionary.com
In the NHL I feel like this translates as a player who is the top of their particular position for a period of time.
So while Crosby has been bonjwa due to his individual and team success, I'd contend that someone like Connor McDavid is bonjwa now despite the (current) lack of title wins.
Using an example from another sport, Michael Jordan was bonjwa, but likewise I believe Steve Nash was bonjwa too,
The term differentiates from "generational" as it typically describes a player who is at the absolute top of their class rather than a unique and special talent that is once-in-a-era. Generational talents will almost always spend time being bonjwa, but not all bonjwa players are generational talents.
Some players are bonjwa for shorter periods of time than others.
The individual hardware is usually a good basis, but you may find that some players are a bit more suspect - was Naslund truly bonjwa when he won the Lindsay? Was Henrik Sedin truly bonjwa when he won the Hart/Art Ross? Something to think about carefully when applying this term.
Fleshing the idea out a bit further, there are some Hall of Fame locks who go their entire careers without being bonjwa.
Draisaitl stands a chance of never being considered bonjwa, despite being one of the best players in his era, but on the flip side, Eric Lindros was definitely bonjwa.
Kris Letang was never bonjwa defenseman. Roberto Luongo, and to a greater extent, Marc-Andre Fleury will struggle with this problem as we look back on their careers as well.
I made a thread about Dan Boyle's chances at the HHoFm, and feedback gleamed from that thread was that lacking bonjwa status is a key element which keep some players locked in the Hall of Very Good for eternity.
In today's NHL, as an exercise, who is bonjwa right now in these categories?
1. Forward -
2. Defenseman -
3. Goalie -
4. Drafted Prospect -
edit: I am a Canucks follower so that's why I leaned heavily on Canucks examples. Please don't come @ me Vancouver.
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