Radulov, Kovalev >> Markov
For Russia, i love Markov, but Kovalev was fricking good too.
I mean, if we're going career wise including other teams:
Kovalchuk
Gonchar
Kovalev
Markov
Semin
Radulov
Malakhov
Samsonov
Dadonov
Radulov, Kovalev >> Markov
For Russia, i love Markov, but Kovalev was fricking good too.
Olaf Kolzig was born in South AfricaChartraw and Langway are like a cheat code in a video game.
Chartraw I had no idea, up there with Owen Nolan as Irish, and Regher as a Brazilian.
I mean, if we're going career wise including other teams:
Kovalchuk
Gonchar
Kovalev
Markov
Semin
Radulov
Malakhov
Samsonov
Dadonov
Naslund is the runaway winner is his category, the rest is an embarrassment to 35 years of ineptitude of scouting that country.
Pleky would be number 1 for Czechia but I would put Svoboda ahead of Hamrlik for number 2Ahh man, how could I forget pleky. I agree.
You can actually make a thesis that the downfall of the Habs in the 90s was to miss the boat on the European scouting of Scandinavia and the east block when others started to scour them.Yeah, it's weird. The most impactful swedes after naslund were like popovic, sundstorm and Dackell. It's just really strange.
The Habs have rarely used high picks on swedes though. DLR was a second rounder. I can't recall any first round selections from that country.
Pleky would be number 1 for Czechia but I would put Svoboda ahead of Hamrlik for number 2
You can actually make a thesis that the downfall of the Habs in the 90s was to miss the boat on the European scouting of Scandinavia and the east block when others started to scour them.
We were late to the party and it clashed with the Habs as being THE trendsetters of the league to become a monolith stuck in conservatism when it came to forming a team and paying them what the market became. We were the team that didn’t go outside our NA rear view and we didn’t use our pockets to our advantage… meaning we were stuck in place. Geezzzzzus don’t get me started
Tretiak yes, trendsetters we were! But we stopped… and cash was the reason why…Svoboda definitely crossed my mind. Admittedly, I'm a bit biased because I barely remember Svoboda as a hab.
I think the Habs were perhaps too far ahead of the curve. Didn't they offer contracts to tretiak and fetisov back when those guys were in their prime?
But yeah, once the soviet union actually fell, Montreal was noticeably void of Russians except for Petrov.
The Habs by far best 1st round pick in 1990's was Koivu and all the Canadians and Americans they picked in the 1990's, range from fairly underwhelming to brutalYou can actually make a thesis that the downfall of the Habs in the 90s was to miss the boat on the European scouting of Scandinavia and the east block when others started to scour them.
We were late to the party and it clashed with the Habs as being THE trendsetters of the league to become a monolith stuck in conservatism when it came to forming a team and paying them what the market became. We were the team that didn’t go outside our NA rear view and we didn’t use our pockets to our advantage… meaning we were stuck in place. Geezzzzzus don’t get me started
Kjell DahlinYeah, it's weird. The most impactful swedes after naslund were like popovic, sundstorm and Dackell. It's just really strange.
The Habs have rarely used high picks on swedes though. DLR was a second rounder. I can't recall any first round selections from that country.
Kjell Dahlin
The Habs by far best 1st round pick in 1990's was Koivu and all the Canadians and Americans they picked in the 1990's, range from fairly underwhelming to brutal
If markov were Canadian or American he’d be in the hall of fameRadulov, Kovalev >> Markov
Absolutely disagreeRadulov, Kovalev >> Markov
Markov would clearly be the right choice. Not just his talent but his tenure as well.Radulov, Kovalev >> Markov
Yeah, it's weird. The most impactful swedes after naslund were like popovic, sundstorm and Dackell. It's just really strange.
The Habs have rarely used high picks on swedes though. DLR was a second rounder. I can't recall any first round selections from that country.
BC : Carey Price
Alberta : Brendan Gallagher
Saskatchewan : Elmer Lach
Manitoba : Tom Johnson
Ontario : Larry Robinson/Ken Dryden
Québec : Béliveau/Richard/Lafleur
NB : Jake Allen
NS : Bobby Smith
PEI : John Chabot
Alaska : Scott Gomez
Arizona : Jesse Ylonen
California : Craig Ferguson
Connecticut : Max Pacioretty
Florida : Blake Geoffrion
Georgia : Éric Chouinard???
Illinois : Chris Chelios
Indiana : Alfie Turcotte
Maryland : Jeff Halpern
Massachusetts : Chris Nilan
Michigan : Jeff Petry
Minnesota : Tom Kurvers
Missouri : Chris Wideman
Nebraska : Johnny Matz
New Hampshire : Kent Carlson
New Jersey : Paul Mara
New York : Mathieu Schneider
North Dakota : Fern Headley
Ohio : Bryan Smolinski
Oklahoma : Jon Merrill
Pennsylvania : George Parros
Rhode Island : Jayden Struble
Vermont : John LeClair
Virginia : Eric Weinrich
Washington : David Wilkie
Wisconsin : Caufield/Galchenyuk
BC : Carey Price
Alberta : Brendan Gallagher
Saskatchewan : Elmer Lach
Manitoba : Tom Johnson
Ontario : Larry Robinson/Ken Dryden
Québec : Béliveau/Richard/Lafleur
NB : Jake Allen
NS : Bobby Smith
PEI : John Chabot
Alaska : Scott Gomez
Arizona : Jesse Ylonen
California : Craig Ferguson
Connecticut : Max Pacioretty
Florida : Blake Geoffrion
Georgia : Éric Chouinard???
Illinois : Chris Chelios
Indiana : Alfie Turcotte
Maryland : Jeff Halpern
Massachusetts : Chris Nilan
Michigan : Jeff Petry
Minnesota : Tom Kurvers
Missouri : Chris Wideman
Nebraska : Johnny Matz
New Hampshire : Kent Carlson
New Jersey : Paul Mara
New York : Mathieu Schneider
North Dakota : Fern Headley
Ohio : Bryan Smolinski
Oklahoma : Jon Merrill
Pennsylvania : George Parros
Rhode Island : Jayden Struble
Vermont : John LeClair
Virginia : Eric Weinrich
Washington : David Wilkie
Wisconsin : Caufield/Galchenyuk
John Ferguson was from BC and it is definitely a possibility for his tenureGallagher is more of a BC guy. He identifies himself from delta, B.C. I think he moved to BC at an early age. His dad was was employed by the Vancouver giants as a strength and conditioning guy.
Off the top of my head, the Alberta name that comes to mind is Sheldon Souray, but now we are getting into a realm where I don't know much about if we are splitting into provinces.
For Ohio, I'd go James wisniewski over smolinski.
Wisniewski was dynamite for thr Habs in a year where the Habs lost Markov long term. He played a bigger role than smoke, and he was a primary part of a powerplay that finished 7th in the league despite not having Markov.
Wisniewski got a big contract off of that year. I wish the Habs would have kept him but with Markov coming back, and the cap restraints, it just wasn't going to work.