Off the mark scouting reports.

[Felidae]

What are some notable off the mark scouting reports?

I'm not talking about one's that in hindsight were incorrect. For example, scouts saying *insert skill* was a players weakness, and it was at the time, but said player developed the skill and turned it into a strength. Not really what I'm looking for.

Moreso ones that were just plain incorrect when you actually watched the player, and would continue to be proven wrong.

The first one that comes to mind was the Jagr's THN draft report.

"Not real flashy, he doesn't attract you with his finesse so much as his overall performance in all areas of the game".

I mean, admittedly I never watched Jagr back when he was a prospect so perhaps Jagr did actually play like that. But it's such a polar opposite to how his game actually was that it seems far fetched.

Click to read more...

 

[Michael Farkas]

Most media scouting reports, to be honest...everyone can score goals (but folks have trouble separating translatable goals from junior goals), everyone is a two-way player (Malkin, Stamkos, Yakupov), everyone has hockey sense (but you need hockey sense to detect it)...

I mean, read these things and then look at the data. Most guys don't pan out. You'd never guess that watching a draft...you'd never guess that reading some stat watcher's recap...

Just randomly...
THN Draft Preview '05:

Jack Johnson:

Johnson is a solid two-way defenseman who plays a physical style and a strong positional game.

Reality: He was a puck rushing, power forward on defense. More like NCAA Wendel Clark than a two-way player with positional integrity.

Carey Price:

There’s no one part of his game that is exceptional.

Reality: His whole game is exceptional. He's one of the few all time A+ elite talents in goal for me. Extremely good with very little weaknesses. (They probably don't have someone that can scout goalies, it's a different world).

Martin Hanzal:

He’s an offensive star who does the little things around the net to score. Good hands, great foot speed and sound hockey sense makes him appealing, but his desire has been questioned.

Reality: Look, I don't mind getting duped on the offensive star stuff...players fail down. But "great foot speed" - on Martin Hanzal? He took three strides his entire NHL career - they're long enough that they covered the whole rink, so it's fine...but come on, Hanzal's hip stiffness and lack of three-point flexion in his stride, how is it physically possible for him to have foot churn of any regard?

##

No scout is perfect. But the worst scouts get the pieces wrong, they get the process wrong. That's where you get problems. The writers that do these things rarely have a process for this because there isn't much on the line. Your goal isn't to find NHLers, it's to get folks to read your thing. So, the stakes are different and you get varied results...and there's parroting and the ol' game of telephone because no one is out there watching 200, 300, 400 guys...so you get folks putting out these "lists" with hundreds of players...that's an immediate red flag that that's nothing.

 

[MadLuke]

Your goal isn't to find NHLers, it's to get folks to read your thing.

I imagine there is a significant difference between the actual one and those we read, for one, you do not want to be mean on the public one

 

[I am Bettman]

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins:
From NHL Central Scouting’s Peter Sullivan:

“A couple of people high up -- and not naming names -- said Hopkins has the best vision since No. 99 (Wayne Gretzky).“

 

[Michael Farkas]

I imagine there is a significant difference between the actual one and those we read, for one, you do not want to be mean on the public one

Correct. NHL teams buy my and my teammates' work. And even then sometimes I get a note, "hey, don't kill that guy..." for various reasons that I won't go into. But the public ones, yeah, you're not allowed really to have a negative opinion on a guy...and folks get scared of having a non-conformist opinion because...whatever, it's uncomfortable, or whatever the reason...so you get a lot of garbage, unfortunately.

And again, I'm not immune to it either. When I was a teenager or whatever, I was that too. It took me a while to develop a process of my own and develop skills and it's still evolving and it always will...

 

[MarkusNaslund19]

Most media scouting reports, to be honest...everyone can score goals (but folks have trouble separating translatable goals from junior goals), everyone is a two-way player (Malkin, Stamkos, Yakupov), everyone has hockey sense (but you need hockey sense to detect it)...

I mean, read these things and then look at the data. Most guys don't pan out. You'd never guess that watching a draft...you'd never guess that reading some stat watcher's recap...

Just randomly...
THN Draft Preview '05:

Jack Johnson:

Reality: He was a puck rushing, power forward on defense. More like NCAA Wendel Clark than a two-way player with positional integrity.

Carey Price:
Reality: His whole game is exceptional. He's one of the few all time A+ elite talents in goal for me. Extremely good with very little weaknesses. (They probably don't have someone that can scout goalies, it's a different world).

Martin Hanzal:

Reality: Look, I don't mind getting duped on the offensive star stuff...players fail down. But "great foot speed" - on Martin Hanzal? He took three strides his entire NHL career - they're long enough that they covered the whole rink, so it's fine...but come on, Hanzal's hip stiffness and lack of three-point flexion in his stride, how is it physically possible for him to have foot churn of any regard?

##

No scout is perfect. But the worst scouts get the pieces wrong, they get the process wrong. That's where you get problems. The writers that do these things rarely have a process for this because there isn't much on the line. Your goal isn't to find NHLers, it's to get folks to read your thing. So, the stakes are different and you get varied results...and there's parroting and the ol' game of telephone because no one is out there watching 200, 300, 400 guys...so you get folks putting out these "lists" with hundreds of players...that's an immediate red flag that that's nothing.

To add to that, Hanzal's desire has been questioned? One thing about Hanzal was that he was a beast out there. Sort of a lower rent Bobby Holik. He was never going through the motions. That scouting report sounds like it's describing someone like Ladislav Nagy, not Hanzal.