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The Jack Johnson Curse

Ziggy Stardust

Ziggy Stardust

Master Debater
Jul 25, 2002
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Not to pile on the guy or pin a team's failures on one person, but his career history of failure in the playoffs stands out due to this one constant occurrence: every team he has played for has never advanced further than the first round.

In 2010 and 2011, the Kings were eliminated in the first round in six games.
In 2014, the Blue Jackets were out of the first round in six, and they were out in five games in 2017.

And this season, the Penguins were swept. In 26 playoff games, he is a -14, but his individual statistics are actually pretty solid with 5 goals and 21 points in those 26 games. He was also averaging a ton of ice time on his previous clubs, but only saw a little over 15 mins per game with the Penguins.

Over time, his numbers have gradually gotten worse, yet somehow, Jim Rutherford thought it was a good idea to give him a 5-year deal.

Will the 32-year-old dman eventually break out of this curse, and will he even complete that contract in Pittsburgh? One quick glance at the front page of capfriendly.com shows that he is one of the most popular names when it comes to the buyout calculator.
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SI90

SI90

Registered User
Jul 25, 2011
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StrongIsland
He was bad. But he didn’t play in game 1. Bad luck from him and where his career path has taken him.
 

Seanaconda

Registered User
May 6, 2016
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3,330
Ziggy Stardust said:
Not to pile on the guy or pin a team's failures on one person, but his career history of failure in the playoffs stands out due to this one constant occurrence: every team he has played for has never advanced further than the first round.

In 2010 and 2011, the Kings were eliminated in the first round in six games.
In 2014, the Blue Jackets were out of the first round in six, and they were out in five games in 2017.

And this season, the Penguins were swept. In 26 playoff games, he is a -14, but his individual statistics are actually pretty solid with 5 goals and 21 points in those 26 games. He was also averaging a ton of ice time on his previous clubs, but only saw a little over 15 mins per game with the Penguins.

Over time, his numbers have gradually gotten worse, yet somehow, Jim Rutherford thought it was a good idea to give him a 5-year deal.

Will the 32-year-old dman eventually break out of this curse, and will he even complete that contract in Pittsburgh? One quick glance at the front page of capfriendly.com shows that he is one of the most popular names when it comes to the buyout calculator.
Click to expand...
Wasn't hainsey the previous holder of the team sucks curse ?
 
Ziggy Stardust

Ziggy Stardust

Master Debater
Jul 25, 2002
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Seanaconda said:
Wasn't hainsey the previous holder of the team sucks curse ?
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Hainsey never saw a playoff game until he was 35, with the Cup winning Penguins. Quite the number of years to go without a playoff game. Like Olli Jokinen, who appeared in over 1,200 NHL games but only made the playoffs once, and only got as far as the first round as well.
 
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Seanaconda

Registered User
May 6, 2016
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Ziggy Stardust said:
Hainsey never saw a playoff game until he was 35, with the Cup winning Penguins. Quite the number of years to go without a playoff game. Like Olli Jokinen, who appeared in over 1,200 NHL games but only made the playoffs once, and only got as far as the first round as well.
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Anyways doubt it's a real curse. Bad contract I'll agree but not a curse. The pens playing bad as a team is why they got swept .
 
Viqsi

Viqsi

"that chick from Ohio"
Oct 5, 2007
53,776
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Ziggy Stardust said:
Not to pile on the guy or pin a team's failures on one person, but his career history of failure in the playoffs stands out due to this one constant occurrence: every team he has played for has never advanced further than the first round.

In 2010 and 2011, the Kings were eliminated in the first round in six games.
In 2014, the Blue Jackets were out of the first round in six, and they were out in five games in 2017.
Click to expand...
You forgot the Jackets being out in six games in 2018.

Incidentally, while I can't speak to his Kings playoff appearances, he tended to seriously raise his game while in the playoffs for the Jackets. His 2014 performance in particular had me convinced he'd be in the running for the Conn Smythe if we went all the way. And yet we still lost. :dunno:
 
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smd333

smd333

Registered User
May 2, 2012
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The 5 year deal he has is the killer. Jim Rutherford will be haunted by this move
 
Super Hans

Super Hans

Stats Evangelist
Oct 9, 2016
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I'm pretty sure having vampires as parents is a curse. Like that Alucard guy from the Castlevania game series. Kinda ironic his team was swept by a team building an arena at Belmont Park.
 
Empoleon8771

Empoleon8771

Registered User
Aug 25, 2015
81,226
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Redmond, WA
I think the "Jack Johnson curse" is a fancy way of saying "Jack Johnson sucks".

Anyway, they won't buy him out because his contract is small enough to be tradeable. You can find a taker for Johnson by throwing a 2nd rounder or something like that on top of him. The Penguins weren't the only team in on him last off-season, Jason Mackey (Penguins beat writer with some questionable connections) said that Detroit and Anaheim also offered Johnson a multi-year deal last off-season, with a little higher AAV and fewer years.
 
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VEGASKING

VEGASKING

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Dec 23, 2002
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It's funny as I watched the last few minutes of that game yesterday and saw him on the ice I thought the exact same thing. Kings trade him away and immediately win 2 cups. Never gets out of the first round with Columbus, first year with him gone they sweep historic opponent in first round while he goes to cup contender which proceeds to get swept themselves.

At least in 16/17 he ended his 10 year streak of minus play. People can poopoo the +/- stat all they want but look at Johnson compared to the other defenseman on his own team the last few years in LA and you'll begin to understand how truly bad his +/- stats have been.

10/11: Doughty +13, Martinez +11, Mitchell +4, Greene +3, Scuderi +1, Johnson -21. How is this even possible?
09/10: Doughty +20, Scuderi +16, O'Donnell +14, Greene +4, Johnson -15.
08/09: O'Donnell +2, Greene +1, Quincey -5, Doughty -17, Johnson -18. Bonus points for doing this in 41 games compared to 81 for Doughty.

Haven't followed him since the trade but looking at the Columbus stats it looks to be the same story outside the outlier 16/17 season.
 
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Zarathustra

Zarathustra

This is not my hat.
Nov 21, 2007
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Salzburg
Viqsi said:
You forgot the Jackets being out in six games in 2018.

Incidentally, while I can't speak to his Kings playoff appearances, he tended to seriously raise his game while in the playoffs for the Jackets. His 2014 performance in particular had me convinced he'd be in the running for the Conn Smythe if we went all the way. And yet we still lost. :dunno:
Click to expand...


I don't believe he ever dressed for the 2018 series.
 
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