The Vancouver Media Thread | Part VIII

F A N

Registered User
Aug 12, 2005
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Garett has been providing excellent analysis. I thought his analysis of DeSmith last night was spot on.
 

MarkusNaslund19

Registered User
Dec 28, 2005
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Eldebrink should have been. Probably the most poorly-handled player in franchise history. Swedes consider him to be one of their greatest defenders ever.
Can you expand on this?

As someone who has studied a lot of hockey's history I know nothing about Eldebrink. Curious to learn more.
 

F A N

Registered User
Aug 12, 2005
18,761
5,975
Eldebrink should have been. Probably the most poorly-handled player in franchise history. Swedes consider him to be one of their greatest defenders ever.

I thought Gaudette was your pick for most poorly-handled player in franchise history.
 

Grip it N RYP it

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Apr 20, 2017
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Brooklyn, NY
Botch would have been having a hell of a time covering this season.



Screenshot_20240426-001955.png
 

MS

1%er
Mar 18, 2002
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Vancouver, BC
Can you expand on this?

As someone who has studied a lot of hockey's history I know nothing about Eldebrink. Curious to learn more.

His time in Vancouver is a bit before my time but he's a guy who has been talked about a fair bit on the HOH board.

Basically he was a top prospect who joined the team in 1981 at age 20. Very young, not a lot of support. Garth Butcher was the team's 1st pick in the 1981 draft and apparently viewed Eldebrink as his competition to make the team and openly attacked/bullied him throughout training camp to intimidate him, and it sounds like this was encouraged by the team. As a smallish Euro defender, it sounds like the team really didn't know what to make of Eldebrink either - lots of stereotypes then.

Anyhow he played about 40 games over a season and a half with decent-but-unspectacular results, was traded for John Garrett, and went back to Europe. Was younger than Aatu Raty is now when we dealt him.

And then he absolutely dominated European hockey for the next decade. Was the SHL MVP on several occasions, led the 1988 Olympics in scoring, was outstanding at the 1984 and 1987 Canada Cups, dominated in both the SHL and the Swiss league. Swedish fans consider him an absolute superstar and the 2nd best Swedish defenseman in history pre-Lidstrom, behind only Borje Salming.
 

MarkusNaslund19

Registered User
Dec 28, 2005
5,478
7,855
His time in Vancouver is a bit before my time but he's a guy who has been talked about a fair bit on the HOH board.

Basically he was a top prospect who joined the team in 1981 at age 20. Very young, not a lot of support. Garth Butcher was the team's 1st pick in the 1981 draft and apparently viewed Eldebrink as his competition to make the team and openly attacked/bullied him throughout training camp to intimidate him, and it sounds like this was encouraged by the team. As a smallish Euro defender, it sounds like the team really didn't know what to make of Eldebrink either - lots of stereotypes then.

Anyhow he played about 40 games over a season and a half with decent-but-unspectacular results, was traded for John Garrett, and went back to Europe. Was younger than Aatu Raty is now when we dealt him.

And then he absolutely dominated European hockey for the next decade. Was the SHL MVP on several occasions, led the 1988 Olympics in scoring, was outstanding at the 1984 and 1987 Canada Cups, dominated in both the SHL and the Swiss league. Swedish fans consider him an absolute superstar and the 2nd best Swedish defenseman in history pre-Lidstrom, behind only Borje Salming.
Wow, I had no idea.

Yeah, stereotypes in the 80's around Europeans were so reductive, stupid, and self-sabotaging for teams.

Thanks for sharing.
 
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HairyKneel

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Jun 5, 2023
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Why does Rick Dhaliwal need to shout and scream during his puscast with DT? Then the idiot Ryan Henderson still giggles w for no reason in the background. Like there’s zero reason to shout like that? What a bloody pinhead.
 

HairyKneel

Registered User
Jun 5, 2023
1,098
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I had no idea!
Neither did anyone else except the drunken Swedes that said it. Ulf Samuelsson, kjell Samuelsson, Freddie Ollassson, Stefan Persson , Lars Lindgren, Ohlund, Edler, Hedman,,Karlsson etc all much better and I’m just scratching the surface. If he got bullied by Garth which is questionable considering the other Swedes on the team, he didn’t deserve to make it. Butcher was a league wide punching bag.

Eldebrink was a good prospect but he wasn’t suited to play here. Someone had too much Ackevic
 

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