Top 15 smartest players in the NHL

[Brainiac]

Yeah, pretty lame list.

I've spent quite some time in academia at all levels and one constant is that I was always disappointed by how much people can be dumb despite having degrees. And I mean dumb-kinda-dumb. Not dumb-but-good-at-something.

He's retired, but Joe Juneau was one smart fellow. Got a very difficult degree (aeronautical engineering) from a good US university... in three years... with perfect scores... and had to learn English when he got there! Also, that's while playing hockey at a very good level.

 

[ThrowDemTongs]

Not sure if all these sociology and political science degrees are anything to brag about.

 

[Benedict Kovalchuk]

Garth Snow had a master's degree while playing. Anyone else do something like that?

(besides Randy Gregg I mean)

 

[Jumptheshark]

There's Dr.Randy Gregg

5 Stanley Cups, and still working as a Family Practitioner in Edmonton.


http://www.coppernblue.com/2009/12/2/1182047/edmontons-greatest-hockey-hero-and

My late father used to date his older sister and on a few dates it was a baby sitting date because the parents has her looking after the kid "Better then birth control" is how my dad put--two hours of looking after baby Randy Gregg--procreation was the last thing on my dads mind

 

[Ogopogo*]

Education does not equal intelligence. Some of the most highly educated people I know are dimwits. Anyone can pass a few classes.

 

[Rodgerwilco]

Can we please stop with the advertisement-heavy, click baiting slideshow articles with little-to-no real content?

 

[Leafs87]

I'm a pretty huge hockey fan but drew a complete blank when I saw the name Bradley mills

 

[PatriceBergeronFan]

Acrobello graduated from Yale with a degree in Political science.

The guy is smart.

Political science. At a school he probably got into for hockey not smarts. Good for him.

 

[bigdog16]

I bet:

70% of these posters have attended college.
50% graduated college.
34% got above a 3.0 while in college.
10% got above a 3.5 in college.
.1% graduated from an Ivy League institution.

 

[PatriceBergeronFan]

That couldn't be further from the truth, and shows you have no idea what you're talking about. It *absolutely* has to do with the subject matter. The percentage of the population capable of obtaining a degree in something like theoretical physics is much smaller than the percentage capable of obtaining a degree in history, to pick two examples, and assuming reputable universities.

This has been studied to death already. This is a sample of the average IQ of new PhD students in the various fields based on the GRE:

130.0 Physics
129.0 Mathematics
128.5 Computer Science
125.5 Mechanical engineering
121.5 Biology
119.8 Political science
119.7 History
116.0 Business
115.0 Sociology
112.0 Communication

Of course IQ isn't everything there is to being "smart", as it doesn't really take into account knowledge, but it's a pretty good indicator. And it's definitely a good indication of program difficulty as it correlates strongly with "fraction of the populace capable of this".

Just because a few more idiots sneak through in those bottom ones and lowers the 'average IQ' means nothing.

The other guy was right, it all depends on where you go. A school that takes something seriously will make it a challenge regardless of what you study.

Average college Joe may elect to take history and get by with a 3.0 and get absolutely nothing out of it... but that's part of the process. Those that apply themselves and earn the 4.0 are on a different level. A highly sophisticated level that the engineers and mathematicians et al. are on as well.

Poor Durkheim's final thought in life was 'if only I had been smart enough to be a civil engineer'.

 

[Machinehead]

That couldn't be further from the truth, and shows you have no idea what you're talking about. It *absolutely* has to do with the subject matter. The percentage of the population capable of obtaining a degree in something like theoretical physics is much smaller than the percentage capable of obtaining a degree in history, to pick two examples, and assuming reputable universities.

This has been studied to death already. This is a sample of the average IQ of new PhD students in the various fields based on the GRE:

130.0 Physics
129.0 Mathematics
128.5 Computer Science
125.5 Mechanical engineering
121.5 Biology
119.8 Political science
119.7 History
116.0 Business
115.0 Sociology
112.0 Communication

Of course IQ isn't everything there is to being "smart", as it doesn't really take into account knowledge, but it's a pretty good indicator. And it's definitely a good indication of program difficulty as it correlates strongly with "fraction of the populace capable of this".

IQ doesn't take into account curriculum, requirements, or quality of professor, which are much more significant influences on grades than intelligence.

 

[Beville]

So this is basically who has bachelor degrees from good colleges, colleges that they got into on the basis of their hockey talent and not their intelligence. A lot of useless degrees too. History? Sociology? Most useless article I've looked at in awhile.

A degree in history is useless? Pull your head out.

Go on, please enlighten all of HF Boards with your clearly superior education...

 

[nmbr_24]

Hey all,

I made a list of the 15 smartest players in the league right now (book smarts, not hockey smarts). There are some well-educated players in the league today!

http://www.thesportster.com/hockey/top-15-smartest-nhl-players/

There are no more annoying websites than list websites that make you click on 20 different ad heavy links to read a list of 15.

It is just a way to generate revenue and the articles are not usually worth the time it takes to go through them. Maybe yours is, but I will never know because I refuse to read clickbait pages.

 

[supsens]

I'm not saying anything about these guys or that they were involved but have you ever googled anything on athletes in school or perhaps saw the in news about fake classes and cheating and fake grades and all that so they could keep good teams in the school and make money off athletes?
They have found university sports grads that read at the same level as young kids

 

[Uber Coca]

Intelligence =/= college degree.

Also let's quit on the clickbait sites. The article would need to be rich in content for me to endure so much publicity, and that's not the case with this one.

 

[Patmac40]

Political science. At a school he probably got into for hockey not smarts. Good for him.

That's false. All athletes must get into Ivy League schools based upon their academics. There are no scholarships or anything too favourable done for athletes.

 

[jdatb]

That's false. All athletes must get into Ivy League schools based upon their academics. There are no scholarships or anything too favourable done for athletes.

Completely and laughably untrue.

 

[blinds]

If this was the list I was expecting/hoping (which guys are smartest hockey players) I think it would make a good thread. Who would be on it?

Crosby
Girioux
Suter
Datysuk
Bergeron/Kopitar/Toews (all Selke guys)
Homer vote for Spurgeon
Getzlaf
Stralman
Hjalmarrsson

Many more I didn't list.

Yeah, I was hoping this list would be about hockey IQ with some actual analysis. Instead we get a list of nobody players with degrees. Useless clickbait.

 

[BackhandToeyJoey]

If this was the list I was expecting/hoping (which guys are smartest hockey players) I think it would make a good thread. Who would be on it?

Crosby
Girioux
Suter
Datysuk
Bergeron/Kopitar/Toews (all Selke guys)
Homer vote for Spurgeon
Getzlaf
Stralman
Hjalmarrsson

Many more I didn't list.

i think RNH has a decent chance to crack this.

 

[PSUhockey34]

That's false. All athletes must get into Ivy League schools based upon their academics. There are no scholarships or anything too favourable done for athletes.

Aside from qualifying academically for an Ivy League school, admissions heavily considers athletics, arts, and volunteering. Academics is what gets your foot in the door but those three are what separates you from the rest.

Great gawker article on the admissions process
Admissions

Who the hell takes hotel management at an Ivy League school? What a waste of money and time, at the very least graduate from Cornell with a B.A. in business. There's so much more you could do with that.

 

[Fire Sweeney]

Political Science, Sociology and History are difficult programs to go through. I always found them more of a challenge than biology.

All these soft fields are strongholds of the far-left. The real challenge is avoiding indoctrination.

 

[Shaman464]

I bet:

70% of these posters have attended college.
50% graduated college.
34% got above a 3.0 while in college.
10% got above a 3.5 in college.
.1% graduated from an Ivy League institution.

Why does this matter? I am working on my PhD with the (literal) top professor in my field. I will be better off than any of my competitors from any of the Ivy Leagues schools for the same reason why they would have been better off compared to most others. Name recognition and networking. My future employers will see my PI's name on all my publications and will know who he is instantly and I will, regardless of my actual ability, be given preferential treatment compared to other candidates. I know for a fact this doesn't make me better than anyone else, and for a lot of people they are actually worse for it, as they don't work as hard because they don't have to. Just like me, who earned a masters in the lab of my current PI's best friend, I got to my position not just because I was a great student (I am), but also because of who I was lucky enough to know. Again, the same as a lot of Ivy League students. So I, personally, don't like this troupe, as I personally know how much undue benefit that these students get.

/end rant.

 

[Kobe Armstrong]

That's false. All athletes must get into Ivy League schools based upon their academics. There are no scholarships or anything too favourable done for athletes.

Wow, that is very far off.

 

[IWD]

All these soft fields are strongholds of the far-left. The real challenge is avoiding indoctrination.

It's true. Generally, you're more likely to buy into indoctrination without these fields.

 

[r0bert8841]

This was extremely disappointing.

On a side note, I find doing well in the hard sciences/engineering has more to do with passion than intelligence. I have a degree in Math and one in Physics, and I find I get lower grades in many of the soft science courses than graduate physics courses because I enjoy physics enough to put in the necessary work while the soft sciences are boring to me and I don't put in the necessary effort. Although, an argument can be made its easier to get away with less effort in the soft sciences.

Also, I personally believe that many of the top schools are easier than lesser known schools, at least in my experience. When you have the brightest minds in your field teaching you, it's a lot easier to grasp the concepts, instead of being taught by professors that barely speak English that can't explain anything clearly and asking questions is pointless. Not to mention, your peers, on average, are far less intelligent so study groups are less useful. You are kind of on your own at lesser schools and if it wasn't for the textbooks, and Stanfords (amongst others) free online video lectures, idk how I would have graduated. So while I believe at the end of the day, the students at the better schools will be a bit more educated, an argument can be made that it requires a bit more intelligence to figure things out at lesser universities where things aren't spoon fed to you. But like many arguments in this thread, I don't have much to base this theory off of except my own classes and the online lectures at a couple top end universities.