The Jack Johnson Curse

[Vagrant]

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.

it's great. i remember you being one of the more adamant defenders of jack johnson when i was speaking truth about his scenario and his first few years of play in the league. glad the time has given you some clarity on his shortcomings.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

it's great. i remember you being one of the more adamant defenders of jack johnson when i was speaking truth about his scenario and his first few years of play in the league. glad the time has given you some clarity on his shortcomings.

He used to be a productive player who played one one of the stingiest bluelines in the league. Guess that time away from LA really showed how much he benefitted from playing behind Doughty’s shadow.

 

[Bixby Snyder]

If only he had signed a long term contract in Vancouver.

 

[ricky0034]

not a good trend,keeps moving east and losing in less games

at this pace he's gonna lead SC Bern to a 3 game loss in the first round in 2022

 

[KCbus]

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.

Without reading the rest of the thread... Jack Johnson was the best player in that series. And it wasn't even close. Crosby, Malkin, neither of the goaltenders -- no one matched his intensity or his performance.

Also, weren't people talking about a curse of Matt Duchene before too? Didn't his team just sweep the Tampa Bay Lightning in a huge upset?

 

[Satastic]

Also, weren't people talking about a curse of Matt Duchene before too? Didn't his team just sweep the Tampa Bay Lightning in a huge upset?

Or the Ryan O’Reilly curse before the Blues got good the second half of the season

 

[DudeWhereIsMakar]

It would be funny if Columbus won because Carolina won with him in the NCAA and not on the main roster. Kings won after trading him to Columbus for Carter.

 

[3074326]

Why do some people want so much to prove they were "right" about Jack Johnson? Dude was trash in the playoffs, and the beginning of the season. Serviceable for the end of the season. He had some solid days in Columbus and has had some really good playoff performances.

Literally nobody says he's a top pair guy, nobody has said that for a long time. He seems like a good dude off the ice. I guess I don't get the drama surrounding him on HFBoards at this point.

 

[Mickey Marner]

It's not a curse that he's bad at hockey.

His friendship with Sidney Crosby is a curse.

 

[Butch 19]

He's bad at hockey, but I'm honestly happy for him for every contract he gets given what happened with his parents.

Jack's mom is one of the most selfish people I have ever seen.

During a Kings/Redwings broadcast in L.A., the camera was scanning thru the Kings suite. The Kings broadcast crew made small talk about Jack's parents. The thing is, Mrs. Johnson was wearing a Redwings jersey, in the Kings suite. Jack's dad was wearing a Kings jersey.

"Hey Mrs. Johnson, your son's team bought you that jersey! One would think you would have a bit more respect for your son's boss, the one that is paying him the big bucks (bucks you will eventually steal from him). Your allegiance to your favorite team trumps the team you son is on?? Seriously?! How selfish can you get"! (well, we found out in the not-to-distant future just how selfish she was toward Jack's paychecks)

If by some stroke of serious luck my son made it to the NHL, I would proudly wear any jersey of the team that my son was on - even if it was one of the 3 or 4 teams I totally despise.

 

[Cardiac Jerks]

Jack's mom is one of the most selfish people I have ever seen.

During a Kings/Redwings broadcast in L.A., the camera was scanning thru the Kings suite. The Kings broadcast crew made small talk about Jack's parents. The thing is, Mrs. Johnson was wearing a Redwings jersey, in the Kings suite. Jack's dad was wearing a Kings jersey.

"Hey Mrs. Johnson, your son's team bought you that jersey! One would think you would have a bit more respect for your son's boss, the one that is paying him the big bucks (bucks you will eventually steal from him). Your allegiance to your favorite team trumps the team you son is on?? Seriously?! How selfish can you get"! (well, we found out in the not-to-distant future just how selfish she was toward Jack's paychecks)

If by some stroke of serious luck my son made it to the NHL, I would proudly wear any jersey of the team that my son was on - even if it was one of the 3 or 4 teams I totally despise.

Wearing a red wings jersey in the kings suite isn’t even close to the worst thing they did to him.

 

[Luigi Lemieux]

He was bad. But he didn’t play in game 1. Bad luck from him and where his career path has taken him.

Game 1 was probably the best the pens looked.

Pens failure goes way beyond JJ. But he is terrible.

 

[Ahoy there]

He was bad. But he didn’t play in game 1. Bad luck from him and where his career path has taken him.

Especially seeing he passed on what ended up being a Cup winning rookie deal.

 

[Viqsi]

Sure, he looks beyond awful now and was never great...

But we are just gonna ignore him having 21 points in 26 playoff games? Pretty sure that is strong enough to DQ him from the playoff curse mantra.

This. The guy's been a legit playoff warrior in the past. But for whatever reason it's trendy for folks to play this We Knew Better Than Everybody All Along game with JJ.