Guys who should've had long and successful careers in the NHL

Freddy The Fog

Don't live in the fast lane. Live on the off ramp
Aug 3, 2005
458
287
Pelle Lindbergh
upload_2018-7-13_10-49-36.jpeg
 

brachyrynchos

Registered User
Apr 10, 2017
1,472
997
Gord Kluzak- battled knee injuries, was a pretty good dman.
Kenny jonsson- another dman that had to retire too early due to injuries
 
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Tarantula

Hanging around the web
Aug 31, 2017
4,451
2,863
GTA
Gord Kluzak- battled knee injuries, was a pretty good dman.
Kenny jonsson- another dman that had to retire too early due to injuries

Gord Kluzak for sure, always annoying when people who don't know his story call him a bust.
Brian Berard would have played longer without the eye injury, not a allstar though.

How about Bryan Fogerty? Social anxiety and alcohol ran his career down.
 

Nick Hansen

Registered User
Sep 28, 2017
3,119
2,649
Jörgen Jönsson.

180-Jo%CC%88rgen-Jo%CC%88nsson-320x440.png


I always felt he could've been the perfect #3C for some team - very smart, a leader, pretty good skater, great two-way player, could score. He was with the Islanders and the Ducks for a short but decent stint. Don't know why he gave up the NHL so quickly. Probably homesickness, both he and his brother Kenny are very family-oriented men I think.

Interesting that Johan Davidsson was playing for the same NHL teams at the same time as Jönsson. He was more limited, though, I'd say. He needed to have a top 6 role or it wouldn't work out. Great playmaker.
 

BigBadBruins7708

Registered User
Dec 11, 2017
13,579
18,345
Las Vegas
Gord Kluzak for sure, always annoying when people who don't know his story call him a bust.
Brian Berard would have played longer without the eye injury, not a allstar though.

How about Bryan Fogerty? Social anxiety and alcohol ran his career down.

another medical reason...Normand Leveille

14-19-33 in 66 as an 19 yr old rookie
3-6-9 in 9 games to start his sophomore season

during that 9th game, he suffered a brain aneurysm that put him in a coma for 3 weeks. Paralyzed him for years and has still left him disabled.
 

Chili

En boca cerrada no entran moscas
Jun 10, 2004
8,440
4,269
The first names who came to mind were Kluzak and Briere so I'll add some others.

I believe injuries did in both Mickey Redmond and Barry Beck.

Don Murdoch scored 8 goals in his first three NHL games, 30 in his first 43 games. He got injured and later into trouble off the ice and was suspended for a year (later reduced to 40 games). Never regained his form afterwards.
 
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Laphroaig

Registered User
Aug 26, 2011
3,707
1,809
The Town Fun Forgot
Real Cloutier...…. one of the most skillful players I ever saw. Injuries and the WHA kept his NHL career short.

Hakan Loob……..Returned to Sweden far too soon.
 
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Jim MacDonald

Registered User
Oct 7, 2017
703
180
I don't know much about this guy in that he played a few years before I really started LOVING hockey, but John Kordic on the Nordiques and Canadiens....heard he was a tough guy....was his head ever on straight here and there where he had a bit of a hockey sense to go with the fisticuffs? Would he be a good one for this OP?
 

Troubadour

Registered User
Feb 23, 2018
1,157
842
Marian Stastny? Without all the Iron Curtain rubbish, he could have come over in his late teens/early twenties. Came at 28 instead. Adapted well for his age, made a decent mark, but soon went the way of injuries/decline.

As far as talent goes, he could have been sitting in the HHoF with his bro.
 

brachyrynchos

Registered User
Apr 10, 2017
1,472
997
Ulf Nilsson
Pat Peake (WSH)- shattered his heel trying to beat out an icing, wasn't able to fully come back and retired after 134 games, could've been a good 2nd liner.
Always curious why Ken Hodge Jr, Chris Kontos, and Stephane Lebeau didn't stick around longer.
 

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