The exact moment a career came to an end

[The Zetterberg Era]

Not an on ice incident, but Konstantinov's limo accident was devastating.

 

[Laveuglette]

 

[Patrik Barkov]

Joni Pitkanen. He was only 29 when this happened, 40pt d-man, he might still be playing in the NHL if not for this incident.

Pitkänen had such a "what if" career. Special talent just riddled with injuries throughout his career and then this horrible one ending it ten years too soon.

 

[Terry Yake]

this hit ended lydman's career

 

[SabresSharks]

Can you post the quote where I said "devil incarnate"? Listen, people knew he was a dangerous player at the time. The fans, the players and even the announcers. How you feel about that is up to you.

There were lots of "dangerous" players then, and always had been.

Portraying Stevens as a uniquely dirty "headhunter" is fanciful and revisionist. He was a uniquely gifted practitioner of the vicious brand of hockey that has only recently been deemed unacceptable.

Did he lay out one of your favorites? I sense a personal, rather than purely objective, take.

 

[Mulletman]

Yakupov was pretty much done when the media turned on him after this:

 

[Kaeften]

Yes...definitely yes.

Man, Salo turned into a walking meme here in Sweden after this incident.

The one that comes to my mind right away is DiPietro. Most players have career ending injuries, but those who drop off THIS MUCH after signing a big contracts are rare.

 

[Pay Carl]

Not sure if it’s been said yet, didn’t see it on a few pages I read

Hertl’s goal between the legs was the end of Marty Biron, I don’t think he played another game after

 

[aufheben]

Not sure if it’s been said yet, didn’t see it on a few pages I read

Hertl’s goal between the legs was the end of Marty Biron, I don’t think he played another game after

He played 1 more game, 30-40 min. I don’t know if he was pulled or put in, but yeah.

 

[the_fan]

Nail Yakupov got drafted

 

[McShogun99]

July 1st for a bunch of players.

 

[FissionFire]

Last shift of Dale Hawerchuk’s career, courtesy of Konstantinov.


Last shift of Jiri Fischer’s career


Clint Malarchuk was never the same after his injury

 

[Kevs Security]

Andy McDonald head first into boards. Can't remember if he played after that, but man was it a nasty injury.

 

[Jeremy Hronek]

Scott Foster skating off the ice at United Center.

 

[SwaggySpungo]

There were lots of "dangerous" players then, and always had been.

Portraying Stevens as a uniquely dirty "headhunter" is fanciful and revisionist. He was a uniquely gifted practitioner of the vicious brand of hockey that has only recently been deemed unacceptable.

Did he lay out one of your favorites? I sense a personal, rather than purely objective, take.

Not to mention Lindros was every bit as vicious a hitter, if not more. His hitting was 50% of the reason he was considered one of the greatest prospects ever.

 

[TheDawnOfANewTage]

Just to clarify- Biron was 36 and complete trash that year. That 4th goal mighta been the straw that broke his back, but it's not really the same as one moment ending a career that woulda otherwise kept going. Also, someone mentioned Thomas declining the White House- didn't the dude play after that and just turned to suck? Oh, and someone else mentioned Stevens/Kariya- guys, come on. Kariya continued long enough to have his shit ended by friggin Kaleta, you can argue Stevens being dirty if ya like but if the subject is "career ended" and the dude plays another 10 years.. well, you're wrong.

 

[SwaggySpungo]

I never thought this hit was that dirty and still don't.

Do us all a favor and don’t ever think about being a referee in a hockey game.

 

[SwaggySpungo]

The post I responded to was about you talking about "revisionism". I'm simply correcting you. Watch the Paul Kariya clip again. The announcers were talking about how dangerous it was to cut across the ice to Stevens' side. Everyone at the time knew that he was dangerous and would take your head off. It was common knowledge. That's the point I was making. Move the goalposts all you want.

The announcers were saying that because Stevens was known as the best hitter in the league, not because he was “dirty”.

It is total revisionism to claim Stevens was known as a “headhunter”, firstly because there was no such thing as “hits to the head” at that time - they were called “hits”.

 

[TheDawnOfANewTage]

..can we start a new thread if ya guys want to endlessly go back-and-forth on the irrelevant, unwinnable argument over whether Stevens was dirty or not? Just not relevant and really kind of a moot argument- some will call him dirty, others will say it was the times, let it go mates.

Anyways, Pitkanen's is rough, such a crap way to end a promising career, and I gotta think modern medicine coulda helped Neely out a bit more.

Hearing Mike Ribeiro fell off the wagon was a pretty "whelp, he's done" moment. Don't like the guy but that's still a sad way to bow out.

 

[vippe]

Man this game hurt. Ivanans never played another NHL game.

This is disturbing,

 

[TheDawnOfANewTage]

I will never, EVER understand why the media decided to selectively crucify Bertuzzi for the Moore incident, but nobody ever made a big deal out of this which is easily worse.

Eh, different media focus in a different age? They didn't unfairly selectively crucify Bertuzzi, knocking a guy out with a cheap shot from behind should always deserve scorn- Johnson just didn't get enough of it. Maybe not knowing as much about concussions as well?

 

[TheDawnOfANewTage]

Man this game hurt. Ivanans never played another NHL game.

1) WHY IS HE JUST EATING PUNCHES!? I feel bad for the guy, but Jesus, almost seems like he had a mentality of "hit me with your best shot, I can take it." Bad move.
2) Guess that ended his NHL career, but his stats make him seem non-NHL material anyways- played in the AHL and KHL afterwards.

 

[96]

Kurtis foster breaking his femur

 

[AustonsNostrils]

Man what a sad thread. Not so much for the guys who had long careers and made a lot of money but the guys whose careers were ended before they could put away much money and never even reached the required number of games to get an NHL pension, plus being denied playing the game at the highest level and the pride and joy that comes with that.

i hope insurance kicked in for them.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

The moment James Neal decided he wanted another pay day, rather than a chance to be a top 6 forward again on a team that he was better suited for.

He's on pace for 16pts.

Or $359, 375 per point, lol.