Chuck Norris Trophy
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- Jan 22, 2015
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glovesave_35
Name
Read the words provided for you and bolded for convenience in the very first post of this thread. Haha.
That was all pre-draft stuff. I was more curious what happened after he was drafted and was put into a NHL franchise with a lot invested in him. Was there more to it or was it just that that stuff continued on and on.
Anyone who can give some actual info on this would be great.
glovesave_35
Name
Rabid Ranger
2 is better than one
You look at all the pre draft stuff, see that he was useless in the NHL, and wonder why? It should be pretty obvious. He didn't have good work ethic as a junior player, seems clear to me that this didn't change in the pros
almostawake
Registered User
Thanks for posting, that was a hell of a read!
I'd love to read a Player's Tribune article from him
From the sounds of it, he'd be too lazy to write it
What a head shaker. . . Talent to be one of the best in the game and make millions of dollars but zero work ethic to get there. . . I'd love to get an idea about his upbringing, reeks of the spoiled kid whose parents and coaches never demanded anything of him . . Or maybe just a mental block or fear or failure
Brendl sounds like the poster boy for one of my favourite sayings, "work beats talent every day unless talent decides to work"
TheStroker
Registered User
Thanks for posting that OP. Genuinely enjoyed it! I knew Brendl had issues, but never like that. Learned his english from Phoebe and Friends 
. Sprinkle in some MASH quotes. Funny stuff.
His biography reads like a comedy show. Most of the stuff bolded is pretty darn funny. I'll be book marking this for later when I need a good laugh!
. Sprinkle in some MASH quotes. Funny stuff.His biography reads like a comedy show. Most of the stuff bolded is pretty darn funny. I'll be book marking this for later when I need a good laugh!
BobbyClarkeFan16
Registered User
A great example of what happens when coaches and agents cater to an individual with God given talent. If coaches would have benched him for not back checking and playing defense and if his agents would have been on him to train and keep himself great shape, he works have had career. Instead, he became a self entitled brat that didnt want to work, train or eat properly and didn't believe team play. He's gay example to kids of what never to do if you want to be a hockey player.
TheStroker
Registered User
Montreal Shadow
Registered User
These guys don't tend to be successful in the NBA either. Guys like Demarcus Cousins while great players in their own right will never commend the respect of the Lebron James and Stephen Curry of this world.
At 43 years of age I have one nightmare a month about Neil Smith, Pavel Brendl, Jamie Lundmark and 1,000 hotdogs.
No, nothing sexual...just pure sick, angering flashes....
A team was destroyed in a matter of 2 hours...
NIGHTMARE.
No, nothing sexual...just pure sick, angering flashes....
A team was destroyed in a matter of 2 hours...
NIGHTMARE.
I think he was more referring to laziness as a component of the Eastern European and Russian game. Swedish and Finnish players have never had that stereotype.
Oscar Acosta
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- Mar 19, 2011
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Remember buying tickets in Red Deer every time they came to play because he was worth the price of admission and I felt like I was watching a true NHL superstar in the making.
BobColesNasalCavity
Registered User
Vagrant
The Czech Condor
Cool post, OP. Thanks for quoting one of my posts in it. The kid could shoot the puck like Mike Bossy and do nothing else. Hockey scouting was such a different animal back then. People relied heavily upon urban legend and hearsay and most of the European players were ridiculously underscouted unless they came to North America in their draft season. Patrik Stefan did this and suffered 3 concussions basically playing in the AHL equivalent of today as a 16-17 year old player. This was a time in hockey history where concussions were also injuries that most players didn't even leave the game upon suffering unless they went out cold and even then it was 50/50. Kariya in the '03 Finals comes to mind. It was an underrated aspect of why Stefan failed as a prospect.
Now, every level of hockey around the world is pretty integrated. The internet opened a path for broader communication and the training habits that were most successful were almost universally adopted by countries that wanted to stay competitive. Certain types of players, like players with extremely poor work ethic, are identified early. Most Junior coaches now are guys that are well-connected, respected, and are forward minded enough to give scouts the real deal about their players without fear of reprisal. In some ways, the hockey world has gotten smaller in that respect. Back in this time, the impression was that most hockey executives were in business for themselves and weren't concerned with anything but winning games and utilized players like Brendl to achieve that goal. Back then, the jump from the CHL to the NHL was massive because everything changed. The stars that were allowed free reign now had to play inside a system and not everyone adjusted. It used to be that a player's D+1 season if he was promoted to the NHL was usually considered a lost season from a production standpoint. 18 year old players were never given the keys the way they are now. Joe Thornton skated his entire first season on the 4th line for the Bruins despite being the 1st overall pick.
In that sense, we rarely see players like Pavel Brendl go in the Top 5 anymore. Guys who get listed for character concerns usually drop precipitously because of how publicized those events are now. I think this has made the draft a more accurate representation of who the real players are and why we see such a lower percentage in bust rate for guys taken in the Top 5 picks. In a way, Pavel Brendl was a posterboy for that change in philosophy.
Now, every level of hockey around the world is pretty integrated. The internet opened a path for broader communication and the training habits that were most successful were almost universally adopted by countries that wanted to stay competitive. Certain types of players, like players with extremely poor work ethic, are identified early. Most Junior coaches now are guys that are well-connected, respected, and are forward minded enough to give scouts the real deal about their players without fear of reprisal. In some ways, the hockey world has gotten smaller in that respect. Back in this time, the impression was that most hockey executives were in business for themselves and weren't concerned with anything but winning games and utilized players like Brendl to achieve that goal. Back then, the jump from the CHL to the NHL was massive because everything changed. The stars that were allowed free reign now had to play inside a system and not everyone adjusted. It used to be that a player's D+1 season if he was promoted to the NHL was usually considered a lost season from a production standpoint. 18 year old players were never given the keys the way they are now. Joe Thornton skated his entire first season on the 4th line for the Bruins despite being the 1st overall pick.
In that sense, we rarely see players like Pavel Brendl go in the Top 5 anymore. Guys who get listed for character concerns usually drop precipitously because of how publicized those events are now. I think this has made the draft a more accurate representation of who the real players are and why we see such a lower percentage in bust rate for guys taken in the Top 5 picks. In a way, Pavel Brendl was a posterboy for that change in philosophy.
It's more than just pre-draft reports, there are articles there that go up to three years after he was drafted, including why he was part of the Lindros trade in 2001 (seems the Rangers got tired of trying to change his mindset), and the Flyers opinion of him after said trade (guess they thought they could straighten him out; evidently not). Overall it does give the impression that Brendl seemed to think he could go at it with minimal work, and sounds like someone who had never had to work to get anything in life, and once he had to put some effort in refused to do it, giving up any hope of an NHL career.
I remember watching him play for the Hitman. At the post season wrap up he'd have to be reintroduced to the goalies and defensemen.
He literally sat at the red line for the whole game. He had an amazing shot, but refused to go into the corners. I didn't think he was a great skater, he tended to rumble down the ice, but maybe that was his lungs trying to pump o2 to his hotdog infected fat body.
He literally sat at the red line for the whole game. He had an amazing shot, but refused to go into the corners. I didn't think he was a great skater, he tended to rumble down the ice, but maybe that was his lungs trying to pump o2 to his hotdog infected fat body.
Uncle Scrooge
Hockey Bettor
Brendl sounds like something Laine could've become if he only ate wieners and bagels and he wasn't born in Finland where work ethic is everything
Vagrant
The Czech Condor
Brendl sounds like something Laine could've become if he only ate wieners and bagels and he wasn't born in Finland where work ethic is everything
I would say his story reads a lot more like Brett Hull's before he decided he would be willing to get his act together. That moment never arrived for Brendl.
mja
Everything was beautiful, and nothing hurt
In the few brief flashes of being an NHL player he had on the Flyers, he reminded me of Hull.
BrindamoursNose
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- Oct 14, 2008
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I hated him so much in Philly.
It's exactly as the article said: just lazy. Took so much time off.
It's exactly as the article said: just lazy. Took so much time off.
