Unfufilled potential ...

[crobro]

jimmy carson
charlie simmer
gary nylund
dan marois
gord kluzak
tom lysiak
moe lemay

 

[plusandminus]

Tomi Kallio. Had skill and a will to get his nose dirty. Got a concussion and turned into a hilarious worse skating, less skilled and much more scared player... Hardly ever went into the corners after it (even though he won the puck 9 times out of 10 when he did).

He could've been a perennial 25-30 goal scorer with some grit.

When I did some research during the season Forsberg won Art Ross, Tomi Kallio ended up as one of the worst players in the league, like bottom five in the whole league. (I did all kind of measuring, including per minute, team mates, etc. Forsberg was best that particular year, especially in ES.)

On the other hand, Kallio has been a leading player in the Swedish league, being among the best scorers. My assumption was that he was that kind of player (not seldom offensively skilled) that could do very well at one high level, while having trouble on the next level. In Kallio's case, he also may have been better on larger ice surface than on NHL rinks..?

It's just an impression I've got, not validated, that a certain kind of players seems to excel at one level but not the next. This kind of players usually may appear "flashy", technically skilled, etc., but don't have it all to be successful at NHL level.
The opposite would perhaps be guys who are not very successful at step(s) below NHL, but still - once in the NHL - manage to do well.
Perhaps work ethic is one of the major factors contributing.

 

[mattihp]

When I did some research during the season Forsberg won Art Ross, Tomi Kallio ended up as one of the worst players in the league, like bottom five in the whole league. (I did all kind of measuring, including per minute, team mates, etc. Forsberg was best that particular year, especially in ES.)

On the other hand, Kallio has been a leading player in the Swedish league, being among the best scorers. My assumption was that he was that kind of player (not seldom offensively skilled) that could do very well at one high level, while having trouble on the next level. In Kallio's case, he also may have been better on larger ice surface than on NHL rinks..?

It's just an impression I've got, not validated, that a certain kind of players seems to excel at one level but not the next. This kind of players usually may appear "flashy", technically skilled, etc., but don't have it all to be successful at NHL level.
The opposite would perhaps be guys who are not very successful at step(s) below NHL, but still - once in the NHL - manage to do well.
Perhaps work ethic is one of the major factors contributing.

The Tomi Kallio we saw in the SEL, while a good offensive producer in a low-intense league was not the player he could've been. He was a gritty, smart, fast and good team player with lots of tools. Had he gotten a full year or two more adjusting to the NHL before the concussion he would've been a 30 goal scorer who wins every battle along the boards. On paper he was one of those guys who should've been made for the NHL.

The player he was in the SEL was not a better player than pre-concussion. He was just a coward who shied away from high-traffic areas alot more and just dipsy-doodled around like a poor man's Kimmo Rintanen.

 

[Passchendaele]

charlie simmer

Huh?

The guy was a 3rd round pick and ended up with two seasons of 56 goals (in 64 and 65 games on top of that!).

 

[VanIslander]

Jeff Friesen: a scoring line skater who couldn't do what he was expected to do: score a lot. He could skate and skate and skate though.

Dmitri Yushkevich was an offensive star before and after playing in the NHL but a defensive defenseman in the NHL because that's the style he did so well that coaches expected from him. He himself has lamented not being more offensive oriented in his decision making, playing instead a conservative game that belied his true potential.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

Jeff Friesen: a scoring line skater who couldn't do what he was expected to do: score a lot. He could skate and skate and skate though.

Dmitri Yushkevich was an offensive star before and after playing in the NHL but a defensive defenseman in the NHL because that's the style he did so well that coaches expected from him. He himself has lamented not being more offensive oriented in his decision making, playing instead a conservative game that belied his true potential.

re: friesen, i wasn't too impressed by the 25 goal scorer on the sharks (classic inflated numbers on a weak team), but i liked him a lot as a speedy forechecker who could pot some goals on the '03 devils. if he wasn't so streaky, he might have prolonged his career as a post-vancouver gelinas type.

yushkevich had some offensive skills from what i remember of the '91 and '92 WJC tournaments. but damn if i didn't love him as a tough as nails defensive guy on the leafs. they haven't had a guy like that since they traded him for svehla. (i mentioned yushkie in the "players who turned out different than expected" thread.)

 

[VanIslander]

yushkevich had some offensive skills from what i remember of the '91 and '92 WJC tournaments. but damn if i didn't love him as a tough as nails defensive guy on the leafs.

So did I. He was a stay at home beast and handled both Jagr and Lindros effectively in the playoffs. I didn't even like the Leafs but I loved Yush.

After he went back to Russia he again became an offensive defenseman and won a playoff MVP award and set a couple of offensive scoring records.

Metallurg's defenceman Dmitry Yushkevich became a first defenceman who scored a hat-trick in Russian playoff. Besides, he made an assist as well. After all, Yushkevich set a new record of the hockey club from Magnitogorsk among defencemen ' 36 points in one season.

Did you know that you might break Metallurg's record?
D. Yushkevich: Of course, I didn't. Actually, I don't keep a record of my scoring points for a long time. When I was young, I followed my stats closer. But now, more important to me team's wins, especially in playoff. Everyone in our team doesn't care who scores as long as Metallurg keep winning. I'm just happy to be in such a team, and make something useful in the first season here.

Have you ever scored so many points in one game in the NHL?
D. Yushkevich: I don't even remember now; not often anyway. Playing overseas, most of the time I played in a second special powerplay team, so I had not much time to play in powerplay.

http://www.rushockey.com/index.php?l=eng&t=1&s=2&st=25

 

[seventieslord]

I'm drawing a blank here. When did Yushkevich "handle" Lindros in the playoffs?

 

[dennilfloss]

Réal 'Buddy' Cloutier. He lost interest in the game at such a young age. I still think he could have sniped 50 a few times if the heart had been there. Such unfulfilled potential.

Also Jacques Richard. All the drugs and partying. My dad was coaching midget hockey in Quebec City at the time and says he was already hanging out with a bad crowd even before playing for the Remparts.