Karlis Skrastins

[Eye of Ra]

Do any of you guys remember him?

How good was he?

What playing-style did he have?

Would he be good enough to grab a spot in todays Predators (if in prime)?

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[jwhouk]

*SIGH*

I... I can't.

This should answer the question:

I'm the schmoe on the right.

I no longer wear my SKRASTINS 3 jersey. Nor do I wear my SKRASTINSH 7 Latvia jersey.

I miss him.

 

[Drake744]

I was surprised to find out that he played more games with the Preds than any other team. I seem to look back and associate him with the Avs, but he played 305 games with us and about 30 less for Colorado. I also remember him scoring a 3 on 5 shorty for us one time. I was pretty young back in the day when he played for us but I do remember liking him a lot.

Do any of you guys remember him?

How good was he?

What playing-style did he have?

Would he be good enough to grab a spot in todays Predators (if in prime)?

Definitely. He'd play on our third pair immediately.

 

[nomorekids]

I don't know whether he would or not, especially at the age he would be now. Stylistically he was a pure defensive, shutdown style defenseman (although as mentioned, he did score a breakaway 3-on-5 shorthanded goal vs the Isles in 2002, the year we only won two of our first 20 games and Trotz very nearly got fired).

It's tough to say how he would fare in the league today...the game has generally changed in such a way that his weaknesses would be tough to shield, but man, was he a warrior in his time. I remember the justified outrage when he was traded, here at HF.

 

[Drake744]

I don't know whether he would or not, especially at the age he would be now. Stylistically he was a pure defensive, shutdown style defenseman (although as mentioned, he did score a breakaway 3-on-5 shorthanded goal vs the Isles in 2002, the year we only won two of our first 20 games and Trotz very nearly got fired).

It's tough to say how he would fare in the league today...the game has generally changed in such a way that his weaknesses would be tough to shield, but man, was he a warrior in his time. I remember the justified outrage when he was traded, here at HF.

Yeah that's true. I said he would definitely make our team but now that I think about the style of play right now I'd change it to probably.

 

[Gnashville]

Didn't he score the only 3-5 short handed goal in team history?
A Hard working lunch pail type that never took a game off. He will always be an original Predator to me.

 

[Legionnaire11]

In his prime? He's probably at worst a 4/5 on any team in the league. Super underrated defender, very solid in his end, physical, consistent. He was never any sort of flashy, but it was a good thing for him.

 

[adsfan]

Skratch could play for any NHL team today. He was a poor man's Bobby Orr, just not as flashy. He had 36 assists in 75 games one season in Milwaukee. He played 832 NHL games. Not a bad career!

 

[Armourboy]

I remember him being on of my favorites very early on, and was rather unhappy when he was traded. Was sad to hear what happened and always think back to him from time to time. I'll defer to others on how good he was or could be, I was pretty new to hockey then so that kind of stuff was beyond me at the time.

 

[braindead]

Guy was a rock. Just completely solid, absolutely consistent, never injured.... Severely underrated. Loved him. Hated the trade. I still honestly get queasy when I see his name and remember hearing the news. Could he play today? Yes, drop an "in his prime" Karlis into today5th/6th for sure but speed and mobility probably hamper his being a 3/4 for us.

 

[Adz]

I saw him after a game one time. He was wearing a tweed jacket with patches and had on his wire rim glasses. He looked so much like a professor that I had to do a double take to make sure it was really him.

 

[PredsV82]

In his prime there is no doubt he'd be on our third pair at ES and our top PK unit.

He was durable too. At one point he was the NHL Iron man with the most consecutive games played.

Just a damn shame some NHL team didn't pick him up and he ended up in the KHL on that plane.

 

[jwhouk]

I'd poke EriksT if he still had his HF account.

 

[Adz]

I'd poke EriksT if he still had his HF account.

Well, ask him to comment and then you post what he says (with permission of course). I'd love to hear his take since they were buddies.

 

[BigFatCat999]

That was heartbreaking summer. In the same summer Lokomotiv and Wade. It was a summer of suck.

 

[Drake744]

That was heartbreaking summer. In the same summer Lokomotiv and Wade. It was a summer of suck.

For some reason I'll always remember where I was and what I was doing when I got a text saying Belak died. I couldn't believe it and I was crushed to be honest.

The Lokomotiv thing is still one of the saddest things in sports. Imagine if that was an NHL team.

 

[Enoch]

I loved Skrastins. Just a true role player and key cog to those teams. His brand of defense is dying. I hatedddddd the trade for a third round pick. He is missed.