The curious case of Wojtek Wolski

[Hunter Gathers]

Tawnos and I were having a discussion about this and I figured it was an interesting enough topic to see if anyone else wanted to weigh in on it.

He's such a weird/interesting hockey player if you follow his progression (or lack thereof).

I wrote: "I'm not sure whether I feel bad for him or whether I blame [Wolski for his lack of drive]. I mean, some guys just are not born with the drive and some actively dog it. I never felt he was actively dogging it, so I really don't know. He's a curious case if there ever was one."

It's really strange to watch a hockey player fall on his face like he did after the seasons he had in Colorado to start his career. He started his career off well enough and seemed to have a bit of a resurgence in Phoenix during the first 18 games he played there (in fact, the trade of him for Peter Mueller looked mutually beneficial at the time).

Anyone have any thoughts that could add to this? I wonder if bobop could add something from what he may have seen in Phoenix.

Click to read more...

 

[PlamsUnlimited]

I could see how some aren't inclined or made to have a smuch drive. But I think it's a huge mental thing where it seemed like he would expect everything to fall to him.

 

[Hunter Gathers]

I could see how some aren't inclined or made to have a smuch drive. But I think it's a huge mental thing where it seemed like he would expect everything to fall to him.

Yeah, he was just a weird player. I wonder if he's weird in real life, too.

 

[PlamsUnlimited]

He seems quirky. But I'd have to think droves of players are like that all over the world. I know I do. I get lazy and cheat in the crease when I'm goalie sometimes.

 

[Hunter Gathers]

He seems quirky. But I'd have to think droves of players are like that all over the world. I know I do. I get lazy and cheat in the crease when I'm goalie sometimes.

But goalies are normally weird.

 

[I Am Chariot]

That 20 goal season seems like a long time ago

 

[eco's bones]

He's in the KHL these days--I know because perusing hockeyfights.com about a week or so ago he happened to get into a tussle with of all people Mikhail Pashnin. It didn't amount to a lot.

Wolski was a skill guy and more than less a perimeter player when he was with us. Not sure exactly how he was with Colorado or Phoenix but he just did not seem to be willing to pay the price when he was a Ranger. The other things are he never really established any kind of long term chemistry with anybody and he had injuries here. For the offense he put up in Colorado there had to be some serious chemistry with somebody of note.

 

[Player big P]

He was NHL 09's very favorite player

 

[stan the caddy]

Offensive player that really didn't provide enough offense.

 

[NoQuitInNewMexico]

I just like that we had Petr Prucha, Wojtek Wolski and P.A. Parenteau all come through our doors at around the same time. Three bizarre career trajectories, three awesome names.

 

[Mikos87]

Wolski is a guy that won't pay a price to help his team win. This ranges from and to taking a hit to get the puck out, blocking a shot, finishing his check on the forecheck, backchecking, defending without taking a hooking penalty, taking the puck towards the net instead of away from it, using his body to shield the puck from a defender, joining his teammates in a board battle, and skating away from scrums.

Can someone show me how to do bullet points on here?

 

[Carlos Ranger]

almost as curious as Petr Prucha.

 

[redfzn]

I just like that we had Petr Prucha, Wojtek Wolski and P.A. Parenteau all come through our doors at around the same time. Three bizarre career trajectories, three awesome names.

but PAP does his thing on mediocre/good teams where he can get good minutes. minutes that he was not going to get here.

 

[Fanned On It]

but PAP does his thing on mediocre/good teams where he can get good minutes. minutes that he was not going to get here.

PA would certainly get good minutes on this current Ranger team. I wish he could've been the player he is now with us. He's nasty.

 

[1Gold Standard]

According to a Russian website his KHL has him on the trading block and will soon be dispatched to Vladivostok.

 

[haohmaru]

Zherdev is even more confounding to me.

 

[alkurtz]

When drafting a player the most difficult factor to evaluate is internal drive and motivation.

Why do some players like Cally, not drafted highly, become overachievers and succeed while others drafted much higher fail?

Why does someone like Girardi, undrafted, become 1st pair D, while others, even 1st rounders, crash and burn?

I'm sure all of us, in our work situations, see people who work harder than others whether it is just to get ahead, or just seem to have that internal disposition to do well.

Athletes may be supremely gifted physically, but are really no different than any of us with more "normal" lives.

Let's face it, to become a highly successful professional athlete, with all the perks many of us would sacrifice much for, takes an enormous amount of dedication, focus, sacrifice of time, hard work, and the risk of pain and injuries.

Not everyone is willing to do it. Does it come from upbringing? From parents? From teachers? From like experiences? Is there a genetic component to it? (I bet there is).

If we knew, predicting the path that young 18 year old possible draftees are going to take would be much easier.

It does seem, thought, that many scouts are so taken with natural skillsets, that they downplay personal personality factors. Or they believe that somehow a young player will change or that coaches can change them. And sometimes they can....but most often they can't.

So, we'll always have Pavel Brendls, Wolskis, Christensens on one hand and Callahan and Girardis on the other.

But if sports were predictable, some of the fun would be gone. The random nature of its keeps us coming back.

With Wolski, it has to be all in his head. But after all, even if we see him as a failure, he has made some good money, played in the NHL, and gotten to play in Europe. Not to shabby a life even if we think he could have been much more. Maybe he's happy with all that.

 

[Hunter Gathers]

almost as curious as Petr Prucha.

Prucha is more hobbit-y.

 

[eco's bones]

Wolski is a guy that won't pay a price to help his team win. This ranges from and to taking a hit to get the puck out, blocking a shot, finishing his check on the forecheck, backchecking, defending without taking a hooking penalty, taking the puck towards the net instead of away from it, using his body to shield the puck from a defender, joining his teammates in a board battle, and skating away from scrums.

Can someone show me how to do bullet points on here?

Bullet points or not--a very good synopsis.

When drafting a player the most difficult factor to evaluate is internal drive and motivation.

Why do some players like Cally, not drafted highly, become overachievers and succeed while others drafted much higher fail?

Why does someone like Girardi, undrafted, become 1st pair D, while others, even 1st rounders, crash and burn?

I'm sure all of us, in our work situations, see people who work harder than others whether it is just to get ahead, or just seem to have that internal disposition to do well.

Athletes may be supremely gifted physically, but are really no different than any of us with more "normal" lives.

Let's face it, to become a highly successful professional athlete, with all the perks many of us would sacrifice much for, takes an enormous amount of dedication, focus, sacrifice of time, hard work, and the risk of pain and injuries.

Not everyone is willing to do it. Does it come from upbringing? From parents? From teachers? From like experiences? Is there a genetic component to it? (I bet there is).

If we knew, predicting the path that young 18 year old possible draftees are going to take would be much easier.

It does seem, thought, that many scouts are so taken with natural skillsets, that they downplay personal personality factors. Or they believe that somehow a young player will change or that coaches can change them. And sometimes they can....but most often they can't.

So, we'll always have Pavel Brendls, Wolskis, Christensens on one hand and Callahan and Girardis on the other.

But if sports were predictable, some of the fun would be gone. The random nature of its keeps us coming back.

With Wolski, it has to be all in his head. But after all, even if we see him as a failure, he has made some good money, played in the NHL, and gotten to play in Europe. Not to shabby a life even if we think he could have been much more. Maybe he's happy with all that.

Which is to say talent is only going to take any player so far. That it is not the final word on how good a player can be--witness Alexandre Daigle.

Guys like Girardi and Callahan really aren't that amazing. There's a realization on the player's part that want they want can only be reached by a maximum sustained effort. It's more of a blue collar work ethic--that you're going to have to be willing to go to all the dirty areas and do all the dirty jobs and be successful doing them. Hockey is a balls to the wall game--skill certainly helps but willingness is just as important. And every team has guys like this. A guy like Matt Carkner for instance fought and clawed his way for years in the minors. He's not a great player by any stretch but he eventually made it because of dedication.

 

[Bleed Ranger Blue]

almost as curious as Petr Prucha.

Nothing really curious about Petr Prucha -- he lived a charmed life for about a year consisting of:

1. a post-lockout league still finding its way (and calling a ton of penalties)
2. plenty of PP time with a super human Jagr
3. an unsustainable shooting %

Prucha didnt have the physical tools to play in the NHL and that eventually shined through.

Wolski, on the other hand, had all the physical attributes and a 10 cent head.

 

[Clown Fiesta]

Mental midget.

 

[SingnBluesOnBroadway]

Nothing really curious about Petr Prucha -- he lived a charmed life for about a year consisting of:

1. a post-lockout league still finding its way (and calling a ton of penalties)
2. plenty of PP time with a super human Jagr
3. an unsustainable shooting %

Prucha didnt have the physical tools to play in the NHL and that eventually shined through.

I thought he was ruined by Tom Renney and Brendan Shanahan.

 

[OverTheCap]

Wolski is still in the tub and never came out.

In all seriousness, Wolski was a one-dimensional player that didn't produce enough in his last few years in the league. Those types are being weeded out of the NHL. If you can't score consistently in the NHL, you need to bring something else to table... defensive play, forechecking ability, speed, toughness, etc. In addition to not possessing any of those traits, Wolski also lacked intensity, so I'm not surprised he could no longer hack it in the NHL.

 

[silverfish]

almost as curious as Petr Prucha.

Don't think Prucha's case is all that curious.

Somewhat inflated stats by getting some PP time with Jagr. Stats go down because Shanahan takes his minutes. Progression stalls, and takes his NHL career with it.

AV does like his right-hand shots on the PP though

 

[Tawnos]

Zherdev is even more confounding to me.

Zherdev is actually a pretty similar case. A guy putting up good numbers in his first few years, then his game drops off.

All of you people talking about Wolski not making it in the NHL are ignoring that he isn't putting up great numbers in the KHL. His problem goes beyond "not being able to hack it in the NHL." It definitely is strange.