"Good" Players that were disappointing on Cup Winners

[Sentinel]

Crosby isn't cheating on faceoffs, he's just better

"That's a real f***ing accomplishment" ("Analyze This")

 

[scott clam]

Crosby averaged ten seconds per game on the PK in those playoffs.

where'd you find that statistic?

 

[scott clam]

"That's a real f***ing accomplishment" ("Analyzed This")

did you read the link? Pretty sure Crosby was 100 per cent against Couture, the playoff's leading scorer that game. He was so dominant Couture criticized him of cheating.

 

[Sentinel]

did you read the link? Pretty sure Crosby was 100 per cent against Couture, the playoff's leading scorer that game. He was so dominant Couture criticized him of cheating.

No, I didn't read the link because this is one stat that I utterly don't care about. Somehow I don't remember a prize issued to a best faceoff performer.

 

[GlitchMarner]

where'd you find that statistic?

NHL.com

NHL.com Stats

 

[scott clam]

No, I didn't read the link because this is one stat that I utterly don't care about. Somehow I don't remember a prize issued to a best faceoff performer.

No, just an award for best defensive forward, of which the best face-off guy in the league has four.

But it's not surprising you don't value faceoff stats, seeing as Russians are typically terrible at them, for some reason.

 

[Sentinel]

No, just an award for best defensive forward, of which the best face-off guy in the league has four.

But it's not surprising you don't value faceoff stats, seeing as Russians are typically terrible at them, for some reason.

Was I asleep when Crosby was awarded a Selke?

That's correct. They are terrible at it, and I don't care.

 

[scott clam]

NHL.com

NHL.com Stats

Dang. That's actually kind of surprising.

 

[scott clam]

Was I asleep when Crosby was awarded a Selke?

That's correct. They are terrible at it, and I don't care.

No, he wasn't awarded a Selke, just a Conn Smythe. I mean if you think Kessel should've got it that's fine.

 

[Stephen]

Also seem to remember Vincent Lecavalier being overshadowed by Marty St. Louis and Conn Smythe winning Brad Richards in 2004 when Tampa Bay won. Though I suppose in the long run he was overshadowed more often than not during his career by others on the Lightning even if he had that reputation as the big franchise Center.

 

[GlitchMarner]

Hossa has pretty meh stats in the 2010 playoffs. Only three goals in 22 games (15 points overall).

 

[Air Budd Dwyer]

Luk Robitaille

Came here to post Robitaille in 2002. He had a good regular season, scored over 30 goals. Played with Larionov and Holmstrom in the playoffs and didn’t do a whole lot.

It pains me to say it because, along with Stone Cold Steve Austin, he was the hero of my youth, but Yzerman’s stats in the 1997 playoffs don’t wow me. 13 points in 20 games. He scored some big goals that postseason but still.

 

[BadgerBruce]

Dutch Reibel was an extremely important player on the Red Wings of the mid-50s and was on 2 Stanley Cup winners during the dynasty years.

In his first 3 NHL regular seasons, he finished 7th, 4th and 8th in the points race. He either centred Howe and Lindsay or played behind the versatile Delvecchio on the second line, and was counted on to put up points.

But he had just 1 good playoff run, 1955, when he put up 12 points in 11 games on the championship Wings.


After that, he didn’t score a single goal in a combined 15 Red Wings’ playoff games in 1956 and 1957, and he finished his career posting another playoff “0” over 4 games with the Bruins in 1959.

I didn’t expect him to put up Howe-like playoff points, but the guy really crashed.

 

[The Panther]

Came here to post Robitaille in 2002. He had a good regular season, scored over 30 goals. Played with Larionov and Holmstrom in the playoffs and didn’t do a whole lot.

I might give Robitaille a pass for the 2002 playoffs, because (a) it was 18 years (!) since his draft year, and (b) he was getting only 13 minutes per game ice-time. Also, he showed up for game 7 vs. Colorado. But yeah, it was kinda meh overall.

Robitaille's playoff resume is a difficult one to gauge. It's not terrible by any means, but maybe the best word is "underwhelming". There are certain years (1991 L.A., 1995 Pittsburgh) where the stats are quite impressive, but overall 127 points in 159 games, with half his games in the higher-scoring period, is just "good" but far from impressive considering he was the top-scoring left wing of his era. He had some big moments in the playoffs (L.A.'s three straight wins in the '89 comeback vs. Edmonton; OT winner in game on vs. Edmonton in 1991 and natural hat-trick in game five; game six vs. Toronto in 1993 incl. setting up Gretzky's OT winner; game five vs. Colorado in 2001; game 7, as mentioned above, vs. Colorado in 2002 while with Detroit), but I'm still left thinking he could have done a bit better.

The Kings' run in 1993 is the quintessential Robitaille playoff example. He scored 22 points in 24 games, which is rather good (although not great considering he had 125 in the regular season). On the other hand, of his 9 goals, he didn't really score any huge ones. He was great in game 1 of the Finals vs. Montreal, but kind of faded quickly after that. It would have been nice if Robitaille could have banged in an overtime goal in game two... or game three... or game four.... I mean, nobody else scored either, but when you got 63 in the regular season, you need to stand up in the big moments. Then, of the Kings' top-sixteen scorers in the playoffs, nobody was lower than a minus 4... except Robitaille, who inexplicably went minus 13. (Of the top eight Kings' scorers in the Finals, only Robitaille was a minus.)

But, anyway, yeah... 2002. He was 36 years old and getting 13 minutes a game.

 

[vikash1987]

I wish I could remember the interview/podcast, but I remember listening to Craig Button say how Dallas actually focused more on how to play against Niedermayer than they did Stevens. Button said something along the lines of how "they had no answer" for Niedermayer. Niedermayer also averaged a smidge more ice time than Stevens to lead the team that postseason. So even though he wasn't necessarily used in an offensive role, he could still had an effect on the game.

And maybe not as pretty as the '95 goal, but this one was big:

There was a whole thread on Niedermayer and this very subject, so I won't get into this here, but I completely agree that he had a sizeable impact in 1995 and 2000. Ken Hitchcock coached Niedermayer in juniors, and I'm pretty sure he said that nobody on the Devils kept him up at night in 2000 more than Niedermayer.

 

[Big Phil]

Up until about 2003, Scott Niedermayer was pretty disappointing in terms of potential to individual accomplishment.

He could do this, which he was famous for, but really wasn't the future Hall of Famer he became after 2003.

The first 10 years of his career Niedermayer teased you once in a blue moon with what he was capable of being. Maybe he never had it in him and his 3 or so great seasons at the end of his career was all he was capable of doing, but it always seemed as if he could have had another gear much earlier in his career. Stevens was always the guy in New Jersey. Niedermayer even in the Rafalski years I am not sure would even be the Devils next best defenseman.

 

[Merya]

Teemu Selänne 2007 in Ducks cup final series. Luckily others found a new tiger from themselves while Teemu shat his pants from nervousness. He really lost it in the final series.

 

[Nerowoy nora tolad]

Hossa has pretty meh stats in the 2010 playoffs. Only three goals in 22 games (15 points overall).

One of them was pretty big though

 

[MarkusNaslund19]

No, I didn't read the link because this is one stat that I utterly don't care about. Somehow I don't remember a prize issued to a best faceoff performer.

With advanced stats, people now see the importance of puck possession.
Yet this site is full of people who don't understand the importance of faceoff wins. Can I guess that you never played?

 

[seventieslord]

No one's said Kent Nilsson yet??

 

[seventieslord]

... And the following year, Geoff Courtnall

 

[scott clam]

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

He did score 10 goals though. And assist on Lanny's last goal.

The Gilmour-Mullen-Patterson line was the real top line those playoffs.