Players who functioned as "Shadows"

[Helistin]

One of the best ever 'shadow' stories ever is from either the '89 or '90 playoffs when the Oilers were playing LA.

Sather gave Tikkanen instructions not to let Gretzky leave his side - or something to that effect - so he took it to heart and on their first morning the teams were in LA together Gretzky woke up, went into his kitchen, and found Tikkanen eating cereal at his kitchen table with Janet.

Haha I would love to read more of these.

Tiki-talk comments from other players are also pretty funny.

Wayne Gretzky once commented, "He brings something special. I don't know what it is, but if you ask him, you couldn't understand his answer." Former Edmonton Oiler coach and teammate Craig MacTavish said, "Esa talks twice as much as anybody else. That's because you can understand just half what he says."

Even fellow Finn Jari Kurri was not immune from the confusing language. During their tenure with the Oilers, Tikkanen let go with a particularly colorful pronouncement, after which another player turned to Kurri and asked, "What did he just say?" Kurri simply shook his head; "I have no idea."

 

[BadgerBruce]

Scotty Bowman began using Jimmy Roberts as a shadow back in his days with the Blues, most famously on Bobby Orr during the '70 finals. To deal with Roberts, Orr used a technique I still teach youth players: he shadowed a different Blues' player, creating a bizarre situation where Orr and 2 opponents were stuck together like glue. Oh, and Orr also punched Roberts in the mouth.

The other interesting shadow job that comes to mind involved Habs Bert Olmstead holding Gordie Howe off the score sheet in 1953s final regular season game, which preserved the Rocket's record of 50 goals in a season. Howe finished with 49 goals.

 

[DJ Man]

Cases I remember from 'way back:

The Red Wings used a guy named Bryan Watson exclusively to hang onto Bobby Hull of the Black Hawks.

Eric Nesterenko was a right wing for the Hawks, but played left wing against Detroit to shadow Gordie Howe.

 

[Doctor Coffin]

Rick Meagher in the 2nd half of the 80's, after he resurrected his career in St. Louis.