"Good" Players that were disappointing on Cup Winners

[The Panther]

What do ya got for good / notable / All-Star players that won the Cup on a particular team, but were surprisingly sub-par in doing so?

1986 Canadiens -- Kjell Dahlin surprised everybody in Montreal with a 32-goal, 71-point rookie season in 1985-86, where he finished 3rd in Calder voting. He was second on the Habs in goals.

Montreal then surprisingly won the Cup, with Dahlin scoring... twice.

1993 Canadiens -- Denis Savard was injured and dressed for only 14 games, but still his stat-line of 0 goals and 5 assists is incredibly paltry for a guy who was getting 5 points per 6 games in the regular season and who'd been a 100-point guy just three years earlier. Maybe "disappointing" is too strong as nobody really expected Savard to carry the load at this point, but that stat-line looks fugly...

2009 Penguins -- Where players like Max Talbot and old-Bill Guerin perhaps exceeded expectations, I'd have to say Chris Kunitz (1 goal in 24 games) didn't. (Jordan Staal also slumped and went -5.)

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[Passchendaele]

Alexander Mogilny in 2000.. 4 goals, 7 points in 23 games, are you kidding me?

 

[The Panther]

Alexander Mogilny in 2000.. 4 goals, 7 points in 23 games, are you kidding me?

Oh, good one! I forgot that. And he had 43 goals the next season, so that is brutal. I guess his contract wasn't up for renewal until a year later.

 

[c9777666]

Coffey on the '87 Oilers?

11 points in 17 games. In the other EDM Cup winners he was on- 22 points in 19 games (1984), and the memorable 37 points in 18 games spree in '85

 

[Nerowoy nora tolad]

Coffey on the '87 Oilers?

11 points in 17 games. In the other EDM Cup winners he was on- 22 points in 19 games (1984), and the memorable 37 points in 18 games spree in '85

Might be the role change that Sather forced him into. Coffey was basically a rover from 1981 to 1986, but the loss to Calgary in 86 changed the team strategy to much more conservative, defence focused game

 

[Ishdul]

In 2004 Cory Stillman was 7th in scoring in the regular season with 80 points, ahead of Brad Richards, for the Lightning but had a pretty miserable playoffs with 2 goals and 7 points in 24 games with . It seemed as if he and Lightning management did not get along and he was not expected to return. He followed that up with a very strong playoffs the next season winning a Cup with Carolina. It was pretty bizarre that the Lightning seemed to lose faith in him overnight.

 

[Normand Lacombe]

Joe Nieuwendyk with the 1989 Flames. 14 points in 22 playoff games. In the regular season, he posted 82 points in 77 games.

 

[Albatros]

Oh, good one! I forgot that. And he had 43 goals the next season, so that is brutal. I guess his contract wasn't up for renewal until a year later.

More so constant injuries than anything else, likewise the 43 goals were the product of a relatively healthy year.

 

[sr edler]

Joe Nieuwendyk with the 1989 Flames. 14 points in 22 playoff games. In the regular season, he posted 82 points in 77 games.

Nieuwendyk with the Devils is probably a better answer, it's not like 10 goals and 14 points in 22 games on a deep team in the playoffs is trash.

 

[Hobnobs]

Shanahan in 98. 9 points in 20 games.

 

[Herby]

Kunitz also had 1 goal in 13 games on Anaheim's 2007 team, after being a 25 goal guy in the regular season. Kunitz as a whole, I actually didn't know he struggled so much to score goals in the postseason.

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

Kaberle 2011

1-8-9 in 24 games after the trade

0-11-11 in the playoffs.

He ended up the 6th d man and was invisible. Didn't have any stand out plays, didn't wow, just kinda ate some ice time.

 

[sr edler]

2009 Penguins -- Where players like Max Talbot and old-Bill Guerin perhaps exceeded expectations, I'd have to say Chris Kunitz (1 goal in 24 games) didn't. (Jordan Staal also slumped and went -5.)

Staal scored a key shorthanded goal that playoffs against the Red Wings and both him and everyone's favorite Matt Cooke (1 goal and 6 assists in 24 games) were pretty valuable as depth guys defensively from what I remember. Not everything is in the numbers.

 

[feffan]

1993 Canadiens -- Denis Savard was injured and dressed for only 14 games, but still his stat-line of 0 goals and 5 assists is incredibly paltry for a guy who was getting 5 points per 6 games in the regular season and who'd been a 100-point guy just three years earlier. Maybe "disappointing" is too strong as nobody really expected Savard to carry the load at this point, but that stat-line looks fugly...

Kaberle 2011

1-8-9 in 24 games after the trade

0-11-11 in the playoffs.

He ended up the 6th d man and was invisible. Didn't have any stand out plays, didn't wow, just kinda ate some ice time.

To be honest, I completley forgotten that Savard was on the 93 Montreal team and Kaberle on the Bruins team... So I guess I can only agree with these. So dissappointing that I even forgot they where on thoose teams.

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

I've heard Frank Mahovlich was terrible on all (6) of his Cup winning teams.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Hossa's goal totals in two of the three Cup winning Blackhawks teams were underwhelming. Only 3 goals in 22 games in 2010 and just 4 goals in 23 games in 2015.

 

[Sadekuuro]

Shanahan in 98. 9 points in 20 games.

Fortunately for him, he had Martin Lapointe helping him carry the mail in a similar role.

 

[GMR]

Tomas Sandstrom in 1997. Had zero goals and 4 assists in 20 playoff games. He played that playoff with Yzerman and McCarty. In that regular season, he scored 42 points in 74 games with Detroit and Pittsburgh. Not sure what happened with him in the playoffs.

 

[Hobnobs]

Tomas Sandstrom in 1997. Had zero goals and 4 assists in 20 playoff games. He played that playoff with Yzerman and McCarty. In that regular season, he scored 42 points in 74 games with Detroit and Pittsburgh. Not sure what happened with him in the playoffs.

He wasnt a regular on that line though. Sandström was a match up kinda guy for Bowman. Veteran presence to irritate and harrass tthe opposing stars. He averaged less than two shots on net that spring iirc. I need to watch some 1997 playoff games again.

 

[GreatGonzo]

Maybe Selanne in ‘07? 5 goals and 15 points in 21 games after a 48 goal and 94 point season.

Corey Stillman had 80 points in ‘04 to only have 2 goals and 7 points in 21 playoffs games.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

In 2004 Cory Stillman was 7th in scoring in the regular season with 80 points, ahead of Brad Richards, for the Lightning but had a pretty miserable playoffs with 2 goals and 7 points in 24 games with . It seemed as if he and Lightning management did not get along and he was not expected to return. He followed that up with a very strong playoffs the next season winning a Cup with Carolina. It was pretty bizarre that the Lightning seemed to lose faith in him overnight.

the lightning didn't lose faith in him. they couldn't afford his arbitration award after the cup year so he became a UFA. iirc, MSL, richards, lecavalier, and khabibulin were all due contracts at the same time so stillman and khabi were the ones who had to go.

it's an interesting turn of events, though. they originally got stillman for a 2nd round pick (david backes) because vinny prospal earned what was at the time early UFA status immediately after a career year. they didn't want to lose prospal in the first place, because he and lecavalier were like soulmates on the ice, but prospal got a crazy UFA contract from anaheim. then stillman has a career year and gets this big arbitration award, so they have to let him go. but prospal was magically on the market because anaheim was gutting the team so they could sell it. he also cost a 2nd rounder (used to pick some guy i've never heard of). and tampa was able to fit prospal back in because his deal was super front-loaded and tampa ended up paying him less over the rest of his contract than they had offered him in the first place.

also interesting, stillman wins the cup with tampa in '04 and carolina in '06.

poor prospal misses the '04 cup with tampa and the '07 cup with anaheim.

both guys only moved twice because they'd gotten too expensive for their teams, but stillman moved into two better situations, while prospal moved into two worse ones.

 

[Normand Lacombe]

Derek Sanderson with the 1972 Bruins? 2 points in 11 playoff games following a 25 goal, 58 point regular season.

 

[Big Phil]

I've heard Frank Mahovlich was terrible on all (6) of his Cup winning teams.

This can't be real can it? 12 points in 1962, 2 points in 1963 (9 games and had to have been some sort of injury nagging him), 15 points in 1964 and 10 points in 1967. These are all in two rounds. Other than 1963 that's pretty much what you would expect out of him. Maybe he wins the Conn Smythe in 1964 if it exists.

Then with the Habs even better. 1971 he had 27 points and in 1973 he had 23 points. Both times Conn Smythe caliber but someone else on his team (Dryden, Cournoyer) beat him. His name just looks completely out of context on this list.

Kaberle 2011

1-8-9 in 24 games after the trade

0-11-11 in the playoffs.

He ended up the 6th d man and was invisible. Didn't have any stand out plays, didn't wow, just kinda ate some ice time.

He was tied for the Bruins lead in points by defensemen with Seidenberg though. I mean, we all knew how Kaberle was as a Leaf. First 5-6 seasons he literally no word of a lie averaged a shot per game and that was it. It was frustrating because you always felt he could do so much more offensively but the joke was that he had a "no shoot" clause in his contract. So I get his totals in Boston, they add up. But 11 points is still quite the nice contribution for a defenseman in a playoff run.

 

[Big Phil]

No one likes to remember Scott Niedermayer this way but prior to 2003 his career was basically like he was an ugly duckling that was the only person that didn't realize he could skate faster than anyone else and ought to use it. Honestly, it took him 10 years to figure that out.

Either way, don't ever let people tell you Stevens wasn't the core of that defense because he was. Niedermayer in 2000 had 5 goals and 2 assists and while they didn't win in 2001 he had a surprising 0 goals and 6 assists.

Bossy, Trottier and Potvin all had their numbers go south in the 1984 playoffs. To be fair, 4 straight Cups with those guys never taking a series off probably weighed into them being drained for the drive for 5 attempt in 1984.

I guess he is getting older at this time and it wasn't as if he didn't still have use but Glenn Anderson's 6 points in the 1994 Cup winning Rangers seems off considering he had 18 in three rounds the year before in Toronto.

 

[sr edler]

This can't be real can it? 12 points in 1962, 2 points in 1963 (9 games and had to have been some sort of injury nagging him), 15 points in 1964 and 10 points in 1967. These are all in two rounds. Other than 1963 that's pretty much what you would expect out of him. Maybe he wins the Conn Smythe in 1964 if it exists.

Then with the Habs even better. 1971 he had 27 points and in 1973 he had 23 points. Both times Conn Smythe caliber but someone else on his team (Dryden, Cournoyer) beat him. His name just looks completely out of context on this list.

I think Dennis comment is a sarcastic carry over reply from the ongoing Top 100 Players of All-Time project, and the knock there is not about points, I think, but the fact that he bled goals against or something.