How good are professionals?

[JFA87-66-99]

Jay Caufield showed up to an exhibitition game a few years ago, and he was quite impressive . He scored 4 goals.

 

[SouthpawTRK]

Years ago, my brother and I went to a CCM Hockey clinic that was hosted by Jamie Baker and Drew Remenda. There was a point were Jamie asked the entire group (approximately 40 people) to take away the puck from him as he skated from goal to goal. He skated with the puck from goal to goal and not one person was able to take away the puck, let alone put a stick on it. He skated his way through all the defenders like a hot knife through butter.

 

[Gino 14]

I've played against several ECHL players that will show up at drop-ins. One of the guys, a center, used to show up the most. I played on his team once and hated it. His skill with the puck was amazing, and his speed was intimidating. He was so quick that by the end of the night I decided that I would rather play against him, rather than with him. I was worried all night that I would run in to him when he had the puck because I couldn't get out the way quick enough, it never happened but I worried about it all night. I figured if I played against him I would never get near him so I had less to worry about.

This guy was great to have out there, if you played him like the rest of the players out there, he would always pass it off, never shoot. If you just left him alone because he was too good, he'd score all night long until someone started covering him again. He didn't care that no one could cover him, he just wanted to be part of the game.

 

[Cousin Eddie]

Being from Newfoundland, the NHL guy's from here come home all the time. I've played with/against Ryane Clowe, Michael Ryder, and even enforcers like Darren Langdon and Terry Ryan, and they completely blow by everybody. They way the execute everything is just so much different than any of the amateur guys, from their strides to passing. It's a great experience to play with them though, but like Hrad said, it's kind of depressing.

played against terry ryan in an annual recreation tournament which is just as intense than the junior league i am playing in. he was simply amazing, unstoppable. hard to believe he was only a tough guy in his few nhl games. Also played with luke adam, also another great player who is just so much better than everybody else. I know a guy who got into a fight with zdeno chara in the ahl, whenever anybody asks him about it he just says he doesnt wanna talk about it haha

 

[MikeC44]

I've played pick up with (and in a summer tournament against) AHL/Euro journeyman Yves Sarault and another guy who played in the UHL/CHL.
Sarault made the UHLer look as bad as the UHLer made the rest of us look.

Reminds me of that part in "Wedding Crashers" when Owen Wilson asks Vince Vaughn if he can throw an interception to Rachel MacAdams and he answers:
"John, I was first team All-State. I can put the ball anywhere I want to. I'll make it rain out here."

Sarault could put the puck anywhere he wanted.

 

[Webernaut]

Not going to read the whole thread but rather reply to OP.

The pros are damn good. I play in the highest rec division here in Tampa, FL and have played against Chris Dingman who was a grinder and fighter. He leads the league in scoring. Not saying that Tampa is hockey hot bed but there are some pretty skilled players in the league and former AHLers and Dingman still dominates. He is just good...

 

[mazzinov]

To put it into a minor perspective, of just how good you have to be to play professional hockey. According to Wikipedia there are 499, 695 registered hockey players in Canada alone. There are 700, or so, players in the NHL right now. Obviously not all 500,000 are of elite skill level, but the percentage of NHL players, to just the number of players registered in Canada alone, it's 0.14%.

Obviously not the best measurement, but less than 1% of hockey players make it to the NHL. That is just how good these guys are. It's just crazy to think to be in the best 1% of any profession!

 

[Gunnar Stahl 30]

in my mens league game last night i played against Sebastian Caron

he skated out though he didnt play in net.....he cant skate very well, he would just stand still and stickhandle or my knee high saucer passes across the ice.....

 

[canuck44]

I've had a chance to play against a couple of current ECHL guys and a former euro-pro guy (he blew out his knee so he doesn't have the speed anymore, but jeez the hands... lol). I play defence so I found more than 50% of the time I could stop them from getting past me but once in a while I'd look like a complete idiot. And the thing was, a couple of these guys were defencemen playing up. So I could stop them most of the time but when it was going the other way, I got by them ONCE I think and that was just because the guy made a mistake and lunged for the puck - I'm not gonna take credit for trying to bait him into it because I wasn't .

I know these guys are a far cry from NHL'ers. I might be wrong but it seems like the NHL is the biggest jump from its lower level (AHL, WHL, CHL, whatever) than any two level differences (Jr. A vs Jr. B or something).

 

[Ragss]

I wonder what psychology is at play...cause when I watch my Oilers screw up a very basic, unchallenged pass over and over, how is it that if they showed up to a rec league game they could saucer a breakaway pass without even trying?

 

[BigBadBread]

Played ball hockey last summer against Adam Pardy, Michael and Dan Ryder, and Andrew Sweetland. It was just for fun but what a game it was.

Pardy was litterally impossible to get the ball from, his control and body positioning was amazing, Dan Ryder was the fastest player there by a long shot but didn't score, Sweetland was like alot like Pardy but not as good, he made a few giveaways that resulted on my teams only 2 goals. Mike Ryder was in net for them and was absolutly lights out, he has one of the quickest gloves I've seen.


The game was back and forth, we had some of the better ball hockey players in thr city playing. The pace was unreal to me and those guys just looked like they were practicing.
We almost beat them but Pardy ripped a laser top corner with like 1:30 left. We played 3 minutes overtime and nobody scored so we had a shootout for fun. Dan Ryder scored the only goal and his brother Mike robbed me blind on my attempt. i went backhand-forehand deke and he bit on the first move but got a piece when he fell back and kept it out.

Easily the most fun game of hockey I have played in my life though....i will always remember it. Even though it would be nice to say we beat em haha.

 

[raygunpk]

played with a junior A guy who just ran through everyone and had the best shot i've ever seen, cannot imagine an NHLer.

 

[Synergy27]

I wonder what psychology is at play...cause when I watch my Oilers screw up a very basic, unchallenged pass over and over, how is it that if they showed up to a rec league game they could saucer a breakaway pass without even trying?

Because that saucered breakaway pass is happening at probably 1/8th NHL speed.

 

[Granlund2Pulkkinen*]

Isn't it pretty cool to realize that you use to know somebody who's now famous?

My mom's friend's neighbour used to be Jason Spezza's mom. (not sure if he lived with her or not)

Wait... What.

 

[Heat McManus]

Because that saucered breakaway pass is happening at probably 1/8th NHL speed.

lol, if that. I saw Ryan Hollweg play high-level men's league a few summers ago. he was unstoppable. Ryan effin Hollweg.

 

[Ajax02]

^lol step-mom maybe?

 

[rinkrat22]

^^^^I was thinking maybe he stayed with them when he played Jrs? so she was his "mom" ?

 

[Hrad]

Wait... What.

Lol let me break it down for you.

A friend of my mother's used to live next door to Jason Spezza's mother.

Now I'm not sure if that was his biological mom, but I'm assuming that she had some sort of relation to Jason, because she was referred to as his "mom".

Hopefully that clears things up a bit.

 

[Hyperkookeez*]

Lol let me break it down for you.

A friend of my mother's used to live next door to Jason Spezza's mother.

Now I'm not sure if that was his biological mom, but I'm assuming that she had some sort of relation to Jason, because she was referred to as his "mom".

Hopefully that clears things up a bit.

Are you sure she just wasn't his really cool neighbor

 

[raygunpk]

she disowned him after she heard his laugh

 

[HowToHockey]

she disowned him after she heard his laugh

 

[qwertysac]

How good are pros?

This good:
http://blog.al.com/ray-melick/2010/04/melick_fed_cup_lures_mad_max_t.html

The first name on the sign-in sheet for Tuesday night's adult pick-up hockey at the Pelham Ice Rink had to be a joke, right?

Turns out, the "idiot" actually was Afinogenov, the 30-year-old right-winger for the NHL Atlanta Thrashers, three-time Russian Olympian, and seven-time member of the Russian National Team that is competing in the IIHF World Championships next month in Germany.

Jeff Cheeseman, director of hockey for the Pelham Civic Center, couldn't believe it when he got the call from Afinogenov's agent.

"His agent said he wanted to skate," Cheeseman said. "So I told her we had an adult pick-up game on Tuesday nights, and (Afinogenov) showed up. We limit the number of players, so you have to sign in and pay $10. I made sure his name was first on the list."

But no, he didn't make Afinogenov pay the $10.

"He was very professional, sharing the puck and everything," Cheeseman said. "Then I told him we have a little better level of competition on Thursday nights with BASH (Birmingham Area Select Hockey). These are guys who played college or minor league, a few of the old Birmingham Bulls.

"As a general rule, we don't allow drop-ins. We made an exception."

The biggest problem Thursday turned out to be which team Afinogenov played with. He started out on the Black team and within 10 minutes the score was 7-2, with Afinogenov scoring all seven goals -- "the quickest paced 10 minutes we've ever played," Cheeseman said.

At that point he was "traded" to the White team, which wound up winning, 16-13.

"Of the 29 goals, Maxim scored 17, including the last three after it was tied, 13-13," Cheeseman said. "And he didn't come off the ice in either the second or third periods. He told us he was looking for conditioning. And besides, who was going to tell him to come off?"

Afinogenov, attending the Fed Cup pairings announcement at the Botanical Gardens on Friday, smiled when asked about the game and said, "It was a lot of fun."

This being hockey, you know someone had to try to take the Russian on.

"Not one guy walked away without saying they went after him," Cheeseman said.

"One of the guys asked me, 'What do you think would happen if I give him a shoulder?' I said, 'The guy plays in the same league with (well known NHL tough guy) Chris Pronger. I think he can take a shoulder from you."'

Afterward, Afinogenov hung around in the locker room talking. Word got out and kids started showing up with jerseys, sticks, and pictures hastily downloaded off the Internet.

Afinogenov signed them all, and went out of his way to thank the guys for letting him play.

Any time, they told him. Any time at all.

 

[BadHammy*]

NHL players are effing insane, but everything else can be hit or miss. A couple buddies of mine playing high level 4-5 years ago. One played Junior A and one apparently played major junior. Both are really good, one is an insanely good dangler, one is very fast, but both have big holes in their games. One is small and pretty weak, the other doesn't shoot that well.

I've played against ECHL, AHL and Euro leaguers. It's very much random, I've been very impressed and completely unimpressed. I've played a little with a couple retired NHL players, in their late 40s and 50s, still outplayed me. Insane with the puck. But I can't imagine playing against an actual present NHL'er, I'd probably not even bother.

 

[Badger36]

They're good, thats why they're pros. The average weekend/beer league player couldnt keep up with them.

 

[RobertKron]

They get paid a lot of money to do something we pay to do.