NHLers you were better than...

[Heat McManus]

Wayne Gretzky, he was just a sharp hit away from playing in the minors.

That could be said about any player in history.

I'd ask some of the guys I know who played with and/or against #99 if he was not all he has been made out to be, but it would be a waste of time. Your bias against him is pathetic.

 

[justsomeguy]

That's pretty cool. Were you guys teammates or opponents? He was one of my favourite players as a kid when he was with the 67s. Everybody thought he would end up being a superstar in the NHL.

Both I suppose. He was a year or so older than me and we'd play pickup hockey at the outdoor rink while I was growing up in northern Quebec. Sticks in the middle stuff. Both his parents were teachers. Had his father occasionally for phys ed.

At that point he'd already won the Quebec PeeWee tourney, virtually by himself if local legends are to be believed and was a can't miss NHLer in the eyes of most of us kids.

Family moved to Ottawa when his older bother, David got closer to junior age.

Peter's now a big wheel in German hockey as well as serving as the Swiss team's assistant coach. Got quite a surprise when I saw him behind the bench in Torino.

 

[Jumptheshark]

I played junior with both Dan Kordic and Brent Hughes--How the hell they got the show and not me---oh yeah--blew my knew one week into the saints camp---the rest is history

 

[007madden007]

If you people believe that there aren't very talented players who could be or could have played in the NHL but aren't or didn't, give your head a shake. There are any number of reasons why a person wouldn't end up there. Talent isn't always one of them.

That's not the argument that is being made. There are, of course, many talented players who never made the NHL, and even more guys who had the potential to make the NHL but never pursued the "dream". We probably all played against kids in PeeWee who had star player written all over them but, for whatever reason, drifted away from the sport or never realized their potential. Heck, I've coached kids who looked awesome at age seven but were peripheral players by ten.

But showing skill at 6, 12, or even 18 doesn't mean that you have what it takes to become a professional, or even semi-pro player.

Anyway, the argument being made here isn't that there aren't great hockey players who don't make the NHL, its simply that the OP (and others) are seriously delusional about the skill level of even borderline NHL players.

 

[Dr Love]

The answer simple: PJ Stock.

 

[Steelhead16]

I can't skate, but, I still feel confident saying I'm better than Link Gaetz...

You forgot to put a "smilie wink wink " after that post. As silly as I think this whole thread is, before his car accident Link Gaetz was a pretty decent player. At least as good a forward as Probert and he could play defense too. After the accident I think tying his own skates was an accomplishment so then your statement may be true. (Insert smilie wink wink here).

 

[Stonefly]

That's not the argument that is being made. There are, of course, many talented players who never made the NHL, and even more guys who had the potential to make the NHL but never pursued the "dream". We probably all played against kids in PeeWee who had star player written all over them but, for whatever reason, drifted away from the sport or never realized their potential. Heck, I've coached kids who looked awesome at age seven but were peripheral players by ten.

But showing skill at 6, 12, or even 18 doesn't mean that you have what it takes to become a professional, or even semi-pro player.

Anyway, the argument being made here isn't that there aren't great hockey players who don't make the NHL, its simply that the OP (and others) are seriously delusional about the skill level of even borderline NHL players.

My point was you have no idea how good a player anyone posting on here is or was. To assume the OP or any other poster on here couldn't be better than some NHL players is silly.

 

[Bear of Bad News]

My point was you have no idea how good a player anyone posting on here is or was. To assume the OP or any other poster on here couldn't be better than some NHL players is silly.

It's not really that silly to assume that - in fact, it's a pretty good bet.

 

[BNHL]

After the Bruins released Jeff Odgers in 1996 he showed up at a stick practice in Reading,Ma. I attended regularly. Also attending were some ex Div 1 college players and some ECHL players,Odgers was better than them all and it was obvious.

 

[WalterSobchak]

I can't skate, but, I still feel confident saying I'm better than Link Gaetz...

quoted ftw!

 

[Stonefly]

It's not really that silly to assume that - in fact, it's a pretty good bet.

Ok, to wright it off as an impossibility is silly.

 

[Ti-girl]

Personally, none for me.

But my brother played with a bunch of NHL draft picks. Too bad my brother has "no killer instinct" and is "too nice of a kid" to play in the NHL.

To read his scouting reports from when he was a walk on tryout for juniors are astounding.

"At 6'6 has great size and reach. Figure skated at the highest level so is a tremendous skater. Great slapshot and quick release. Is hard to knock off the puck and covers a lot of ice with his skating.
Doesn't use his size. Doesn't like giving a hit in fear of "hurting someone." Passes the puck instead of shooting."

Then my YOUNGEST brother, who if he liked hockey the way he loves lacrosse, would be in the Dub right now.

"At 5'8 plays way beyond his size. Hard worker, never shys away from a hit. Loves to muck it up and play along the boards. Carries a chip on his shoulder and will never back down from anyone. Strong on his skates with a great wrist shot."

He got offered spots on about 5-6 different teams (he finally grew, he's 6'2 now) but told them he was committed to a NCAA school for lacrosse.

 

[JerseyMike]

I've heard a lot of knocks on Darren Rumble....

So I'll say him.

 

[MadArcand]

Tomas Slovak, at street hockey way back on highschool (tho he was just drafted and played in WHL, AHL and ECHL). But at real, ice hockey... let's just say he can really skate, unlike me.

Thinking back on it, not learning to skate properly when I was a kid was one of the biggest mistakes I made (I got offered a tryout for local junior club at 15... told the coach I can't skate worth squat, tho. Never thought before you can impress a coach at street hockey tournament. Bah).

 

[007madden007]

Ok, to wright it off as an impossibility is silly.

I never once said that it was impossible. I pointed out that:

a) the OP (and others) were significantly underestimating the skill of even marginal NHL players; and

b) that even mediocre pro's (or even someone playing senior AAA hockey) are more skilled than 99% of any of the people who have ever picked up a hockey stick.

 

[Crossfire Hurricane]

I've played a little bit of hockey with Karlis Skrastins, and not only was the man impossible to skate the puck past, he was on offensive BEAST. When he wound up, he was Fulton Reed, we were scared children. That should pretty much sum everything up.

 

[One Day A Lion]

The sports that I'm the best at are golf and soccer (although I was pretty good at soccer until I lost interest and stopped trying....huge regret in my life ) and I'm not anywhere near the professionals in those sports so I don't even want to go into hockey. If I was better than the pros (in any sport) I think it's a safe bet that I would have at least played at the college level.

 

[85highlander]

I think most people on these boards are better than anyone who played before 1970, cuz the equipment was terrible and everyone was out of breath - they didn't know how to train back then....

And, of course, even your aunt mille could play goalie, because they all sucked and didn't wear masks or do the butterfly...

 

[Hank Chinaski]

I can say with confidence that 99.9% of the posters on this board couldn't knock even a marginal NHLer off the puck if they were given a whole hour to do so. I can't believe the number of people who claim marginal NHLers are "only in the league because they can [insert skill] ". They make the NHL because they are elite hockey players who can [insert skill] EXCEPTIONALLY well. Colton Orr, who I watched growing up, would dominate anyone on this board, probably even those here who were good enough to play college or Jr. A.

I think most people on these boards are better than anyone who played before 1970, cuz the equipment was terrible and everyone was out of breath - they didn't know how to train back then....

And, of course, even your aunt mille could play goalie, because they all sucked and didn't wear masks or do the butterfly...

There are already many trolls in this thread, you win for being the least original and amusing.

 

[Heat McManus]

I think most people on these boards are better than anyone who played before 1970, cuz the equipment was terrible and everyone was out of breath - they didn't know how to train back then....

And, of course, even your aunt mille could play goalie, because they all sucked and didn't wear masks or do the butterfly...

If you put Tyson Nash with today's equipment and training into a game in 1969, yes, he would dominate. I don't think that means he was more talented than Stan Mikita and Bobby Hull.

It's like saying that George Washington was a bad general because those old muskets sucked compared to today's weapons.

 

[NYRSinceBirth]

You're right: it's not like he took quite a sharp hit from Gary Suter or anything.
Wayne Gretzky in 20 years would embarrass you in hockey.

Fixed

 

[85highlander]

If you put Tyson Nash with today's equipment and training into a game in 1969, yes, he would dominate. I don't think that means he was more talented than Stan Mikita and Bobby Hull.

It's like saying that George Washington was a bad general because those old muskets sucked compared to today's weapons.

I get what your saying, but it's a bad analogy for the following reason -- the weapons today are light years ahead of those at the time of Washington. Two hundred years plus and counting....

Evolution in hockey doesn't happen that quickly, regardless of what anyone here disputes --

Yes, today's players have a few advantages over their predecessors, but give those predecessors the same advantages (i.e skates) and their import is quickly negated.

And training regiments are vastly overated -- the old timers were near as fit as today's players -- look at Bobby Hull's physique -- even though they smoked, drank, etc... -that stuff catches up with you mostly after the prime years, but younger bodies can process that stuff and not be much worse for it.

Bottom line, even the suckiest NHL'r has been an all-star at every level, including the old-timers, and even the worst of them on their worst day would dominate anyone on these boards (unless you happen to be an NHL'r).

 

[Hawksfan2828]

I can say with confidence that 99.9% of the posters on this board couldn't knock even a marginal NHLer off the puck if they were given a whole hour to do so. I can't believe the number of people who claim marginal NHLers are "only in the league because they can [insert skill] ". They make the NHL because they are elite hockey players who can [insert skill] EXCEPTIONALLY well. Colton Orr, who I watched growing up, would dominate anyone on this board, probably even those here who were good enough to play college or Jr. A.



There are already many trolls in this thread, you win for being the least original and amusing.

There is a show called "Pros vs Joes" on Spike TV and one of the goals was to pick the puck up, skate past Claude Lemieux and put it into an empty net, with Claude trying to knock you off the puck. They all did it, took em a couple of minutes but they did it.

There was another episode where you had to put a puck past grant fuhr in 30 shots and one guy did it, but those guys couldnt even skate and just shot weak snap shots at him.

-------------------


As far as me? I dont really know. I could skate with the best of them, had deadly and accurate snap and wrist shot, I couldnt shoot a slap shot for a 1,000,000 bucks and when I got older I had no size at all (im about as big a Theo Fleury, just 145-150 lbs)

When I was younger I was at a hockey camp with a few former NHL'ers as the camp directors (Murray Bannerman, Troy Murray and a few other guys) and they were really impressed with my skating at 11-12, they told me I was a good 5-6 years ahead for my age and I had a specal talent and urged me not to play goalie because it would be a waste of talent, I was doing spin-o-ramas and such (I wanted to be like Denis Savard, I think i did pretty well as far as skating).

Well, I was fantastic by the time I was 15 but again I couldnt shoot a slap shot for anything but that was fine with me because I could skate circles around the D and goalies. That was pretty much the end of it for me as a player. I bet skill wise I could play AHL hockey excpet for the fact I still cant shoot a slap shot for anything and the fact if I was hit I would fly or slide 6 feet. So in the long run, I have no size and cant shoot a slap shot, BUT I have phenominal skating, passing and stick handling ablility with over average hockey sense. Not to mention Im from Chicago and we had almost no hockey programs around here when I was younger to even get better at what I lacked as a player. It wouldnt havent matterd anyways because they cant teach size anywhere.

On the other side of the coin I was quite good at baseball and I was even offered a minor league contract, which I turned down because I could make more money working then playing ball. Besides I didnt want to spend my early adult life riding around on a bus with big leauge dreams. I was good but I knew I was never going to the show, Maybe if everything went as projected I would be a good AAA player, that might have seen an emergency call up a couple time in my life in the pros.

 

[Bear of Bad News]

I get what your saying, but it's a bad analogy for the following reason -- the weapons today are light years ahead of those at the time of Washington. Two hundred years plus and counting....

Evolution in hockey doesn't happen that quickly, regardless of what anyone here disputes --

Yes, today's players have a few advantages over their predecessors, but give those predecessors the same advantages (i.e skates) and their import is quickly negated.

And training regiments are vastly overated -- the old timers were near as fit as today's players -- look at Bobby Hull's physique -- even though they smoked, drank, etc... -that stuff catches up with you mostly after the prime years, but younger bodies can process that stuff and not be much worse for it.

Bottom line, even the suckiest NHL'r has been an all-star at every level, including the old-timers, and even the worst of them on their worst day would dominate anyone on these boards (unless you happen to be an NHL'r).

This is impressive. You appear to be arguing against both sides here. Even bilros wouldn't try that.

 

[Slapshooter]

boogard

Boogard is actually a decent hockey player. There are no fighters left in the NHL who can't play some hockey.

Tony Twist and Dave Brown were worthless outside of intimidation and fighting. I still like them, though, and the latter is one of my all time favorites. Stu Grimson was probably the last specialist.