Traits that made Milan Hejduk effective with Sakic/Forsberg

[Ziostilon]

Milan Hejduk was still in Pardubice at age 21

But when he stepped into the Avs lineup at 22, from what i can tell he was on a line with Sakic and Theo Fleury

and later on you have your combo of Tanguay, Forsberg, Hejduk

Basically he was mostly paired with either Forsberg or Sakic, maybe even Chris Drury correct me if I'm wrong.

It's easy to say that Sakic and Forsberg did 90% of the work.

But there's just certain traits that made him effective to be on a line like that. You look at Pascal Dupuis with Crosby, it's not like I can throw Andrew Ebbett up there and hope for similar results

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[Rob Nieds work ethic]

I wouldn't use Dupuis as a comparison, since Hejduk was a significantly better player than Dupuis has ever been.

 

[WarriorofTime]

Being good at hockey.

 

[avsfan09]

He had real quick hands, a great shot and was agile. Also he had great hockey sense and was very calm.

 

[DoubleDouble*]

Hejduk was a fantastically skilled player. You don't hit 98 points only because of your linemates. They covered up his weaknesses, but he was still very good. I would compare him top Voracek - great hands, can see the game at speed, good instincts.

 

[Freudian]

High hockey IQ and a quick good shot. His shot was almost all wrists without any big windup.

 

[donutz0r]

Being good at hockey.

There are a lot of players that are good at hockey. Why did he excel as much as he did?

 

[Colorado Avalanche]

He was very good player even without Foppa or Sakic. He shouldnt be compared with Dupuis. Hejduk had slick hands, good skating and very accurate shot.

 

[hototogisu]

I wouldn't use Dupuis as a comparison, since Hejduk was a significantly better player than Dupuis has ever been.

Yeah, I think there's an interesting discussion to be had on how some grinders/seemingly average players have success with elite players instead of others (a la Dupuis) but I'm not sure Hejduk is the best jumping off point. Maybe playing with stars inflated his stats a bit but he was a very good player in his own right.

 

[Wrath]

Hejduk was a fantastically skilled player. You don't hit 98 points only because of your linemates. They covered up his weaknesses, but he was still very good. I would compare him top Voracek - great hands, can see the game at speed, good instincts.

This^^

Some people seem to think that you can truly be carried to stardom by superstar linemates, but that's usually not how it works. As good as say, Kunitz and Dupuis might mesh with Crosby, neither of them have even scored 70 points in a season.

One of the most common things I hear on HFB is that Thornton propelled Cheechoo to his Rocket Richard, turning a AHLer into an elite goalscorer. However he was quite a promising player before, IIRC, either injury or family issues started to affect his career. I mean, I'm sure Thornton padded his totals a bit, and maybe he wouldn't have won the Rocket without Thornton, but by no means was he just an AHL player.

Meanwhile we have plenty of examples of elite or superstar players performing head and shoulders above their linemates (and the rest of their team for that matter). For example, early Yzerman and Sakic, or 1981-1982 Wayne Gretzky, doubling his nearest teammate with 212 points (Glenn Anderson 2nd at 105 points).

 

[AvsGuy]

A good comparable today might be Patrick Sharp - team is stacked elsewhere, but he's still a high-level talent in his own right. Maybe I'm being generous to Sharp.

 

[rumrokh]

There are a lot of players that are good at hockey. Why did he excel as much as he did?

Great wrister, very slick hands, very smart. I assume this question is from/for new fans who didn't see him play? The best modern comparable I can think of is Daniel Sedin, maybe with like 15% Hossa mixed in.

 

[ForumNamePending]

Milan Hejduk was still in Pardubice at age 21

It might just be me but it looks like you are pointing this out as if it's a strike against him. Forseberg wasn't much younger when he made his NHL debut. I could be wrong but I don't think there was the same rush back then by NHL teams to get European talent over to NA ASAP.

There are a lot of players that are good at hockey. Why did he excel as much as he did?

Because he was really good at hockey. Certainly significantly better than Dupuis.

 

[Kronwalled8*]

Hejduk had amazing chemistry with both Sakic and Forsberg, the guy was an incredibly versatile player.

Sakic said that Hejduk had the best hands on the team, thats quite the compliment.

The Avs had some elite top lines during their cup years. I remember Hartley would just roll them out back to back and teams couldnt handle one line, let alone two back to back lol.

Tanguay-Sakic-Hejduk
Tanguay-Forsberg-Hejduk (put together when Sakic got injured)
Deadmarsh-Forsberg-Drury

Even one year when both Sakic and Forsberg were out and missed most of the year, the Avs had Tanguay-Drury-Hejduk as their top line.

 

[elsubz]

Hejduk was a freaking beast on nhl 2002. Best sniper on the team I think.

 

[Gene Parmesan]

He was a damn good player.