Surprising Playoff Heroics...

GlitchMarner

Typical malevolent, devious & vile Maple Leafs fan
Jul 21, 2017
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Brampton, ON
Everyone knows about the tremendous playoff runs Kontos, Druce and Pisani had that seemingly came out of nowhere... are there other such examples?

Ruslan Fedotenko had a very odd playoff career. He basically did next to nothing in most of his playoff runs but managed to tie for the playoff goal-scoring lead in '04 with 12 goals and he had seven goals in the '09 playoffs.

His playoff stats are as follows:

2004 + 2009: 19 G, 9 A, 28 P in 46 GP

Rest of career: 3 G, 9 A, 12 P in 62 GP
 
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DeysArena

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Oct 5, 2020
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Lonny Bohonos's NHL career lasted 83 games, but in the 1999 playoffs, injuries to Korolev and Modin put him on a line with Sundin.

Bohonos averaged a point per game as Toronto advanced to the conference finals.
 
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quoipourquoi

Goaltender
Jan 26, 2009
10,123
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Hockeytown, MI
Rick MacLeish, despite being a sub-point-per-game player in 1974 and 1975, led both playoffs in scoring and had a combined statline of 24 goals, 42 points, and a +17 in 34 games. Just 65 points in 80 playoff games and a -11 otherwise.

Krecji has never scored more than 73 points in a season, but across the Bruins’ 2011 and 2013 Finals runs, he led both playoffs in scoring with a combined 49 points in 47 games. Only 66 points in the other 98 playoff games, with no individual run exceeding a point-per-game.
 

The Panther

Registered User
Mar 25, 2014
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Oilers fans will remember Mark Lamb, a diminutive center who was a borderline NHL/AHL player for many seasons -- 7 years after his draft, he had appeared in 45 NHL games (he eventually found regular, full-time NHL work with expansion Ottawa, one of the worst teams ever). But in the Oilers' 1990 Cup run, he scored 14 points in the first 12 games, including the overtime winner in their first playoff victory. Overall, 17 points in 22 games, and a +12. He was a real factor in that Cup win.
 

vadim sharifijanov

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Oct 10, 2007
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this screams 2004 keith primeau. thirteen years into his career, one of the worst playoff performers of his generation and boom he turns into ryan o’reilly, carries his team to within a goal of the finals, and doubles his career playoff goals total in one run.

then concussions do him in and that’s the end of his career.
 

buffalowing88

Registered User
Aug 11, 2008
4,276
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Charlotte, NC
this screams 2004 keith primeau. thirteen years into his career, one of the worst playoff performers of his generation and boom he turns into ryan o’reilly, carries his team to within a goal of the finals, and doubles his career playoff goals total in one run.

then concussions do him in and that’s the end of his career.

Yeah, that playoff run was actually getting national media attention all the time, even down here in NC. I personally dislike Primeau as a player and as an individual, but he showed up there. Not sure how in the world that happened, but he deserves credit.
 

GMR

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Jul 27, 2013
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Ville Leino is a good one.

He was a total dud in Detroit. In 2010, he scored 7 points in 42 games, and was subsequently shipped to the Flyers for a small return. Several months later, he's scoring 21 points in 19 playoff games. It looked like Detroit made a big mistake. He was pretty good the following regular season. After that, he fell fast. In hindsight, he just got hot in the playoffs playing on a line with Briere and Hartnell.
 

GMR

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Jul 27, 2013
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Deadmarsh a.k.a. "Deader" "The Wings killer".

Whether in L.A. or Colorado, Deadmarsh came up huge in the biggest games against Detroit.


Thanks for the memories. Deadmarsh was a good power forward for several seasons. I don't remember his playoff numbers being way different than his regular season, though.
 
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bucks_oil

Registered User
Aug 25, 2005
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Oilers fans will remember Mark Lamb, a diminutive center who was a borderline NHL/AHL player for many seasons -- 7 years after his draft, he had appeared in 45 NHL games (he eventually found regular, full-time NHL work with expansion Ottawa, one of the worst teams ever). But in the Oilers' 1990 Cup run, he scored 14 points in the first 12 games, including the overtime winner in their first playoff victory. Overall, 17 points in 22 games, and a +12. He was a real factor in that Cup win.

Yeah... sorta helped that he was centering (still) prime Kurri and Tikkanen. But yeah, definitely remember that team and his role. I remember that #13 zipping around the ice in EA's first version of NHL (see avatar)
 

GMR

Registered User
Jul 27, 2013
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10 goals and 24 points in 23 games throughout his four series wins against Detroit - and in the other 82 playoff games, just 16 goals and 42 points.
So he blew his wad against Osgood, Vernon, and Ranford? Funny there was a thread recently about Detroit's playoff failures during the 90's. The thread didn't include 1999-2001, but goaltending was a similar issue in those years.
 

Bluesguru

Registered User
Aug 10, 2014
1,957
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St. Louis
Rick MacLeish, despite being a sub-point-per-game player in 1974 and 1975, led both playoffs in scoring and had a combined statline of 24 goals, 42 points, and a +17 in 34 games. Just 65 points in 80 playoff games and a -11 otherwise.

Krecji has never scored more than 73 points in a season, but across the Bruins’ 2011 and 2013 Finals runs, he led both playoffs in scoring with a combined 49 points in 47 games. Only 66 points in the other 98 playoff games, with no individual run exceeding a point-per-game.

I wouldn’t say Rick MacLeish was a surprising playoff performer. I believe he scored 50 goals 1 year. Even Bobby Clarke said he was their most talented player. MacLeish was a heck of a player and a gifted skater.
 
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BigBadBruins7708

Registered User
Dec 11, 2017
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Las Vegas
Given that he was a rookie college UFA, you gotta have Krug against Lundqvist up there.

Kid defenseman comes in and lights Lundqvist up for 4 goals in 5 games
 

ted2019

History of Hockey
Oct 3, 2008
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I wouldn’t say Rick MacLeish was a surprising playoff performer. I believe he scored 50 goals 1 year. Even Bobby Clarke said he was their most talented player. MacLeish was a heck of a player and a gifted skater.

Clarke has said in the past that MacLeish had all the talent in the world, but he was a bit lazy at times.
 

Albatros

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Aug 19, 2017
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Ville Leino is a good one.

He was a total dud in Detroit. In 2010, he scored 7 points in 42 games, and was subsequently shipped to the Flyers for a small return. Several months later, he's scoring 21 points in 19 playoff games. It looked like Detroit made a big mistake. He was pretty good the following regular season. After that, he fell fast. In hindsight, he just got hot in the playoffs playing on a line with Briere and Hartnell.

I don't think that's entirely fair as he indeed played at a comparably high level for the rest of his time in Philadelphia outscoring Hartnell and getting Selke votes. It's only in Buffalo that things didn't click at all and things went downhill.
 

GlitchMarner

Typical malevolent, devious & vile Maple Leafs fan
Jul 21, 2017
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Brampton, ON
I have to mention Dave Lowry in '96!

Playing for the Cinderella Panthers, he scored 10 goals and 17 points in 22 playoff games. This is a guy who had 16 playoff goals in his entire career (in 111 games) and never scored 20 goals in a season (he did score 19 twice).

Excluding the '96 playoffs, he had six goals in 89 NHL playoff games.
 
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c9777666

Registered User
Aug 31, 2016
19,892
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Oilers fans will remember Mark Lamb, a diminutive center who was a borderline NHL/AHL player for many seasons -- 7 years after his draft, he had appeared in 45 NHL games (he eventually found regular, full-time NHL work with expansion Ottawa, one of the worst teams ever). But in the Oilers' 1990 Cup run, he scored 14 points in the first 12 games, including the overtime winner in their first playoff victory. Overall, 17 points in 22 games, and a +12. He was a real factor in that Cup win.

that OT goal was big because it prevented them from going down 0-2 to Winnipeg
 

ted2019

History of Hockey
Oct 3, 2008
5,492
1,882
pittsgrove nj
I could be confusing him with Leach, but I think he was also drinking extremely heavily during those years

They all drank a lot as their favorite hangout was Rexy's pub in a small town called Mt. Epharim ( right over the Walt Whitman & Ben Franklin Bridge's that lead into Philly). Bobby Clarke use to live about 5 minutes from there and my aunt lived about 4 doors down from him when he first came to the Flyers. Leach was more of a drinker then Rick was.
 

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