Cam Barker retires

Blackhawkswincup

RIP Fugu
Jun 24, 2007
186,842
20,299
Chicagoland
Nah he was lousy player

The only unlucky aspect for him was that he entered post trap/interference plagued league.. Pre 2006 NHL he would have had some success given the way they mucked up game and slow players could get away with grabbing guys and generally slowing down skilled players

Rule changes meant you had to be able to skate and think both of which Barker was dreadful at.. He had one asset and that was a pretty good shot that he rarely used
 
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vadim sharifijanov

Registered User
Oct 10, 2007
28,585
15,948
chris joseph, drake berehowsky, nolan baumgartner, steve mccarthy, ryan parent, cam barker, luca sbisa, adam clendening, andrey pedan, eric gudbranson, derrick pouliot

congratulations barker, time for your jersey to go up in the rafters of our former high pick reclamation project dmen who turned out to be total garbage like we all expected hall of fame

cam-barker.jpg
 

WarriorofTime

Registered User
Jul 3, 2010
27,690
15,637
Looking at his stats I forgot he had a 40pt season with the Hawks.

Congrats to him on a career.
Pretty solid powerplay guy for that one season. Just became so bad defensively that they had to boot him off the eventual Cup winning team, for good measure. He would not have been playable in the playoffs.
 

BLNY

Registered User
Aug 3, 2004
6,597
4,528
Dartmouth, NS
I'm not sure what luck had to do with not living up to his draft selection. I remember his interviews around the draft and he seemed like the most disengaged person there. I don't know if it was a case of all the tools and no tool box, or being a person who was dreading playing in the NHL because he was good at a game he actually didn't like to play. I waited for him to prove me wrong, but I was never surprised that he didn't live up to things.
 
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WarriorofTime

Registered User
Jul 3, 2010
27,690
15,637
I'm not sure what luck had to do with not living up to his draft selection. I remember his interviews around the draft and he seemed like the most disengaged person there. I don't know if it was a case of all the tools and no tool box, or being a person who was dreading playing in the NHL because he was good at a game he actually didn't like to play. I waited for him to prove me wrong, but I was never surprised that he didn't live up to things.
Big bodied, good puck skills but not a good skater (had ankle injuries so maybe those contributed, maybe he was a good skater when he got drafted) and dumb as a bag of hammers so had very little positional or situational awareness. If he didn't like playing I'm not so sure why he would have kept going all these years after flaming out of the NHL. The last two years he was playing in the French League so I can't imagine he was making very much money, especially for a guy who should have some NHL money banked. He's also becoming an Assistant Coach for a Junior A team now that his playing days are over. I don't think he hates hockey, the nonchalant demeanor is likely just his personality.
 
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BLNY

Registered User
Aug 3, 2004
6,597
4,528
Dartmouth, NS
Big bodied, good puck skills but not a good skater (had ankle injuries so maybe those contributed, maybe he was a good skater when he got drafted) and dumb as a bag of hammers so had very little positional or situational awareness. If he didn't like playing I'm not so sure why he would have kept going all these years after flaming out of the NHL. The last two years he was playing in the French League so I can't imagine he was making very much money, especially for a guy who should have some NHL money banked. He's also becoming an Assistant Coach for a Junior A team now that his playing days are over. I don't think he hates hockey, the nonchalant demeanor is likely just his personality.

Some people are suckers for punishment. They do what they dislike out of fear of the unknown. Regardless, wish him the best in coaching.
 

WarriorofTime

Registered User
Jul 3, 2010
27,690
15,637
Some people are suckers for punishment. They do what they dislike out of fear of the unknown. Regardless, wish him the best in coaching.
It's possible he hates Hockey, just not necessarily the vibe I got, but who knows.
 

belair

Jay Woodcroft Unemployment Stance
Apr 9, 2010
38,541
21,721
Canada
Scored a goal in Gagner's eight-point game.


Best of luck in his future career.
 

Alexander the Gr8

Registered User
May 2, 2013
31,602
12,666
Toronto
Number 3 overall at the 2004 draft, picked after two Russian scrubs named Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin.

I can’t imagine how ridiculous a draft day picture of these 3 together would look like.
 
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