Has a "soft" player ever toughened up and played hard?

[Ivan13]

The Rocket?

He was never soft. He was a boxer growing up, after all, his issues early on in his career were with injuries, he broke his ankle so bad is was permanently deformed and broke his leg as well.

Haha. Often times the opposite will happen. As guys age, if they have offensive skills, they may shy away from physical contact a little more in order to avoid gassing themselves too badly (Iginla is the most obvious example I can think of; he went from a pure power forward to more of a sniper, albeit one who does still lay a hit or two occasionally).

Mikael Backlund was accused of being too soft earlier in his career, and he definitely plays with some stank these days.

Can't remember the last time Iginla won a board battle. Another ex-Flame did the same, Glenncross became a very good middle 6 winger because he played hard and did everything to win, then Iginla got traded, he got into his head that he is a skill player and quickly faded away into oblivion.

 

[Ivan13]

Not really.

When the Wings kept disappointing in the playoffs in the mid 90s there started to be whispers about Yzerman, but I wouldn't say he was considered a bad leader. Yzerman also performed at a PPG or better in the playoffs early in his career.

To me Yzerman's leadership was really on display in the wake of what happened to Konstantinov in 97 and then how he and the Wings handled the next year.

I'm not sure where soft comes from. He wasn't the most physical player but didn't need to be. He was the franchise player and had Gallant and Probert nearby most of the time. Yet he was still involved in scrums, and people may not remember but his knee problems started back in 1988.

Then you should go back and read some of the stuff that was written about him, he was most definitely considered a poor leader and as someone who won't be able to lead them over the hump.

 

[Lazlo Hollyfeld]

Then you should go back and read some of the stuff that was written about him, he was most definitely considered a poor leader and as someone who won't be able to lead them over the hump.

Don't need to. I lived through it.

As I said, when the Wings kept disappointing in the playoffs everything was being questioned, including Yzerman. It was "we like him but maybe he doesn't have what it takes to get his team there."

Prior to that though, he wasn't considered a bad leader. He was well respected, though he obviously didn't have the reputation as a leader he does now.

 

[LaP]

Of course, the opposite can also happen. Some kid comes into the league throwing the body at everybody, and a few years later he's learned that he needs to dial it back if he wants to play past 30.

Travis Moen.

 

[g00n]

Maybe not a huge swing but Eric Fehr. Hits twice as much as he used to and plays with some snarl compared to early years.

 

[creg78*]

Then you should go back and read some of the stuff that was written about him, he was most definitely considered a poor leader and as someone who won't be able to lead them over the hump.

He was still never a soft player, Yzerman always gave 100% at both ends in the 80's even if he cheated the play a little bit.


He got better defensively but he was never BAD defensively or even below average, I'd say he was one of the best first line centers in his own end in the 80's.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

Dean Youngblood.

 

[Mubiki]

Granlund. He needs to relax though. He's already injured himself once playing tougher than he is.

 

[Bounces R Way]

Sven Baertschi was next to useless until he started getting more involved physically. His second half of last season was night and day.

Absolutely allergic to physicality with the Flames, was actually kind of glad to see him start to compete like he can.

Same story with Hamilton last season.

 

[CharlesHabsFan]

Wouldn't Sidney Crosby be somewhat of an example of that ?

I've always saw him in the beginning of his career whining to the refs every time he was roughed up a little or tripped.

And now he's fighting his own battles, playing rough.

He's always been intense and played hard, but now he plays rougher than when he first started, it seems to me.

 

[Kalus]

I was thinking of adding him to the list. The guy played with an edge in his final years before Cooke scrambled his brains.

Those were some tough Bruins teams those years. Marc bought into and embraced it.

A guy like him could get away with more when he knows Lucic, Chara, and McQuaid were ready to put a beating on anyone. And then there were a bunch of other guys that threw their weight around and would sometimes stick up for a teammate when needed (Boychuk, Hnidy, Seidenberg, Horton, Ferrence etc.).

 

[Perfect_Drug]

I don't know if this counts, but when Martin St.Louis entered the league as a Flame, he wasn't so much soft, but maybe too small and incapable.

Then he started filling out like a tank and turned into an absolute wrecking ball. By the time he went to Tampa he rarely lost a board battle, hit like a truck, turned into a demonic pittbull and started winning Art Ross Trophies.

 

[Number 57]

I always considered Nazem Kadri to be a random soft playmaker with good hands ala Mike Ribeiro.

Then all of a sudden he is laying guys out left and right and being great defensively.

 

[Seanaconda]

Kovalchuk on the Devils. Sorry if already said.

 

[sr edler]

Yzerman's career was defined by two completely different paths; one of the most polarizing hall of famers in terms of how different his halves were.

Ya, I can almost hear you, it's like it's almost a difference playing with, and getting help from, Lidström and The Russian Five, and not doing so, in terms of team success....

 

[Hisch13r]

Kovalchuk on the Devils. Sorry if already said.

Was he ever actually soft with Atlanta though?

Ya, I can almost hear you, it's like it's almost a difference playing with, and getting help from, Lidström and The Russian Five, and not doing so, in terms of team success....

No he was a selfish one dimensional scorer who could never get it done when it mattered most

 

[Wolfpuck]

Not to say that he's playing "hard" now, but Elias Lindholm has definitely added some sandpaper to his game. It's probably due in part to him putting on more muscle this past offseason.

 

[nmbr_24]

Tyler Myers has got more physical with age IIRC.

I remember Myers playing pretty tough in his rookie season. In the playoffs he was a monster. That was his peak I think.

 

[NyQuil]

Daniel Alfredsson really evolved his physical game as he aged.

 

[Beukeboom]

A common complaint about players is that they shy away from contact or won't hit. If that player is also big it can be especially frustrating. That got me thinking: has a soft player ever turned things around? It seems like every time I've ever hoped that a particularly soft player would start hitting and going to the dirty areas it never happened. Any good examples?

Can't believe no one has mentioned Austin Watson. He was a pretty soft player with 6 fighting majors in his previous 8 years. That has to be considered pretty soft especially since all of them were against non fighters too.

During last summer he must have become possessed, because this season he had 16 fighting majors (NHL+AHL) and some of them against the toughest in the league such as Shawn Thornton, Engelland, Christ Stewart. I can't remember a single case where someone has gone from 0 fights against any kind of even semi-tough opposition to being in the NHL FM major top 5.

 

[Seanaconda]

Was he ever actually soft with Atlanta though?



No he was a selfish one dimensional scorer who could never get it done when it mattered most

Maybe not soft but not the 2 way monster he was for the Devils

 

[Bjornar Moxnes]

Not to say that he's playing "hard" now, but Elias Lindholm has definitely added some sandpaper to his game. It's probably due in part to him putting on more muscle this past offseason.

Elias Lindholm is the best winger in the league at suppressing an upcoming hit and delivering it right back. Lindholm and Forsberg are both elites in that category haha.

 

[JD1]

Hossa

he's had a very celebrated career. won some cups. is regarded as a tough 200 foot player.

his first career stop was Ottawa and he was an offensive leader on those playoff teams that lost to Toronto several times. Lack of toughness amongst the top 6 in ottawa was a huge part of those losses. Hossa was a part of that. As was Alfie who was mentioned a few posts ago

 

[vandymeer13]

Some of the names people have said are quite laughable mike Modano never played with grit. Blake Wheeler is the first name I could think of. Once he went to Winnipeg and got the a he played physical. Ryan malone was a guy that was soft and couldn't fight a pick when he came into the nhl but got better.

 

[Josepho]

Pretty sure the Sedin's are in the Joe Thornton phase of their career now. Old with no ****s left to give, started a couple brawls this year.

They've definitely gotten more feisty in the past few years but I firmly believe that they haven't been "soft" players for the past decade. Can't really speak for their play in the early 2000s.

Of course they're not Canadian so that narrative will always exist.