RobertKron
Registered User
- Sep 1, 2007
- 15,516
- 8,652
Critiquing Ryan Johnson as a hockey player doesn't really have any impact on Ryan Johnson the "Player Development Consultant". It's been mentioned but some of the least accomplished players have gone on to become very good coaches.
John Tortorella - the highest level he played at was the ACHL (which would later become the ECHL). He played a bit in Sweden in Division 1 (2 levels below the SEL).
Alain Vigneault - was drafted and played 42 NHL games over 2 seasons. He played another 2 seasons in the AHL.
Marc Crawford - bounced between the AHL and NHL for 9 years before retiring as a player.
Scotty Bowman - played junior hockey in the Montreal system, but a fractured skull ended his playing career.
Don Cherry - had a long and storied minor pro career but never got the call to the NHL.
Tim Hunter - had a long NHL career, but he was primarily an enforcer. He's one of the better regarded assistant coaches and will likely get a head coaching gig some day if he wants it.
Al Arbour - had a long playing career as a defenseman, but in over 600 games played, he scored 12 goals (70 points). He won 4 Stanley Cups as a player and another 4 as a coach. But he was never a high skilled player and his NHL playing career was punctuated with spells in the WHL - a minor pro league in those days, and the AHL.
This is bang on - especially considering that we don't even really have a clear idea of what the position even entails.