Worst Ever Playoff Performer Relative to Talent...

[Hockey Outsider]

Not sure what place Berezin has in this thread. In the 99, 2000 and 2001 seasons he had a .685 PPG, and .675 in the playoffs. These points include...

- the 1-0 goal with 1:00 remaining in game 6 versus Philly (as a result, leafs won the game and series)
- an overtime goal when trailing Pittsburgh 2-1 in the ECSF, saving them from an insurmountable deficit (leafs won every game after)
- a primary assist on Garry Valk's series winning overtime goal in game 6
- a beautiful assist on Steve Thomas' overtime goal in the pivotal game 5 versus Ottawa in 2000, when everyone in the world thought that he'd for sure shoot on the 2-on-1

Berezin was a flawed player, but the guy was highly clutch given the circumstances he was put in.

And the two consecutive Conference final trips were in 1993 and 1994, before cujo and sundin. The two that those guys had were three years apart (1999, 2002) and Berezin was only part of one of them.

Besides, Berezin once took 50% of his team's shots in a game 7! That has to be a record.

 

[seventieslord]

Besides, Berezin once took 50% of his team's shots in a game 7! That has to be a record.

I only wish that series went 7 games.

 

[Hockey Outsider]

I only wish that series went 7 games.

You're right. It was game 6 (an elimination game). I think I've tried to block the memory.

 

[VanIslander]

No one could f up an end-to-end rush like Berezin.

Think Bure doing Buster Keaton.

Warning: this will imprint on your brain cells:

 

[seventieslord]

No one could f up an end-to-end rush like Berezin.

Great. We know that. But he wasn't any worse than usual in the playoffs. He's exactly the kind of player one would stereotypically expect to have a career playoff line of 46-6-12-18. But he was excellent for Toronto.

 

[Johnny Engine]

OK, so this may be a bit off the ask in the thread, but can I ask a Berezin question that's been bugging me a bit here?

We all have this mental image of Berezin and how he played. Pond hockey individualist, not even aware he has teammates out there, living only to take 40 foot wrist shots from the same place every single shift. I remember that too, and it shows up in the statistical record in the form of hundreds of shots and very few assists.

Only his stats look very different for the first two years of his career. I'll get into that, but I want to emphasize that i have no memory of any particular Berezin plays from those seasons, only that he was there and scored like a reasonable second liner. this could be attributable to the 13-14 year old maybe girls are more interesting than hockey shift in my life at the time, but nevertheless.

In the two seasons between 1996 and 1998, Berezin played 141 games, took 2.43 shots per game, and exactly 50% of his points involved some contribution from Mats Sundin. In the 3 seasons between 1998 and 2001, he played 216 games, took 3.52 shots per game, and 6% of his 148 points had anything to do with Sundin. He couldn't have possibly been playing the same way for this to happen...does anyone else find this odd?

Like, I get why a skill guy might want to carry the mail a bit more if they're out there with 3rd liners instead of a hall of fame, and I get that the latter Leafs team was deeper at forward, but again this guy in one season went from being a player I can't picture on the ice at all, to one of the franchise's all time memorable oddities. Anyone remember Berezin version 1.0? @seventieslord ? Buehler?

 

[CrosbyIsKing87]

I don't remember Berezin that much, probably due to the gace that back then ESPN would refuse to show Leafs playoff games in favor of whoever the Red Wings were playing that night. When I think of playoff disappointments Jimmy Carson's name comes to mind. Three points in seven games for the Oilers in 1989 when he was 2C with excellent guys around him. Ditto for nine points in 18 games he put up in LA at 2C. If I remember correctly Barry Melrose scratched him in the final he was so bad.

 

[seventieslord]

OK, so this may be a bit off the ask in the thread, but can I ask a Berezin question that's been bugging me a bit here?

We all have this mental image of Berezin and how he played. Pond hockey individualist, not even aware he has teammates out there, living only to take 40 foot wrist shots from the same place every single shift. I remember that too, and it shows up in the statistical record in the form of hundreds of shots and very few assists.

Only his stats look very different for the first two years of his career. I'll get into that, but I want to emphasize that i have no memory of any particular Berezin plays from those seasons, only that he was there and scored like a reasonable second liner. this could be attributable to the 13-14 year old maybe girls are more interesting than hockey shift in my life at the time, but nevertheless.

In the two seasons between 1996 and 1998, Berezin played 141 games, took 2.43 shots per game, and exactly 50% of his points involved some contribution from Mats Sundin. In the 3 seasons between 1998 and 2001, he played 216 games, took 3.52 shots per game, and 6% of his 148 points had anything to do with Sundin. He couldn't have possibly been playing the same way for this to happen...does anyone else find this odd?

Like, I get why a skill guy might want to carry the mail a bit more if they're out there with 3rd liners instead of a hall of fame, and I get that the latter Leafs team was deeper at forward, but again this guy in one season went from being a player I can't picture on the ice at all, to one of the franchise's all time memorable oddities. Anyone remember Berezin version 1.0? @seventieslord ? Buehler?

Good question. I also don't have any specific memories of Berezin from that season. I remember being pretty excited that we were bringing him and Modin over at the same time, and both were goal scorers, but completely different styles. Modin was supposed to be an Andreychuk wannabe, and Berezin more of a Bondra.

But I did watch every single leafs game that I could (which was any Saturday, Monday or Thursday) and paid very close attention to what kind of players they both were. Mainly because I was obsessed with keeping the rosters on my NHL97 cartridge as current as possible. I created the Leaf rookies with almost caricaturist attributes: Berezin very fast, good shot, good stick handler, poor aggression, checking, defensive awareness and passing. Modin extremely slow, but with a Clark shot (super heavy and wild), not much passing, decent awareness.

So in 1996 I was apparently seeing the version of Berezin that we all knew and loved from the years we actually remember because we went a few rounds deep in the playoffs. Your numbers are interesting because I would've thought he saw a lot less of Sundin in the bin playoff years, and then a lot more of him the next three seasons (at least a lot more than 6%!) and if I'm not mistaken, I calculated him to be one of the top 3 in the NHL in goals per minute, more impressive considering the lack of help from Sundin and the lack of PP time, or at least first unit time.

But I think you're onto something. If he's playing with Perreault and Valk when he scores those OT points against Pittsburgh, that's probably a typical line situation for him. In that case, he's obviously the guy getting the puck across all three lines most of the time. And why pass to those guys when you can pass off the goalie's pads, via a shot on goal?

 

[Hobnobs]

OK, so this may be a bit off the ask in the thread, but can I ask a Berezin question that's been bugging me a bit here?

We all have this mental image of Berezin and how he played. Pond hockey individualist, not even aware he has teammates out there, living only to take 40 foot wrist shots from the same place every single shift. I remember that too, and it shows up in the statistical record in the form of hundreds of shots and very few assists.

Only his stats look very different for the first two years of his career. I'll get into that, but I want to emphasize that i have no memory of any particular Berezin plays from those seasons, only that he was there and scored like a reasonable second liner. this could be attributable to the 13-14 year old maybe girls are more interesting than hockey shift in my life at the time, but nevertheless.

In the two seasons between 1996 and 1998, Berezin played 141 games, took 2.43 shots per game, and exactly 50% of his points involved some contribution from Mats Sundin. In the 3 seasons between 1998 and 2001, he played 216 games, took 3.52 shots per game, and 6% of his 148 points had anything to do with Sundin. He couldn't have possibly been playing the same way for this to happen...does anyone else find this odd?

Like, I get why a skill guy might want to carry the mail a bit more if they're out there with 3rd liners instead of a hall of fame, and I get that the latter Leafs team was deeper at forward, but again this guy in one season went from being a player I can't picture on the ice at all, to one of the franchise's all time memorable oddities. Anyone remember Berezin version 1.0? @seventieslord ? Buehler?

As far as I remember Berezin was never much of a passer and always played the same way. Which is probably why he was taken off lines where there were more complete players to play with players that would be useless if they got a pass in front of the net. Although I do remember him playing a lot with Korolev.. Am I mistaken on that?

 

[Johnny Engine]

Good question. I also don't have any specific memories of Berezin from that season. I remember being pretty excited that we were bringing him and Modin over at the same time, and both were goal scorers, but completely different styles. Modin was supposed to be an Andreychuk wannabe, and Berezin more of a Bondra.

But I did watch every single leafs game that I could (which was any Saturday, Monday or Thursday) and paid very close attention to what kind of players they both were. Mainly because I was obsessed with keeping the rosters on my NHL97 cartridge as current as possible. I created the Leaf rookies with almost caricaturist attributes: Berezin very fast, good shot, good stick handler, poor aggression, checking, defensive awareness and passing. Modin extremely slow, but with a Clark shot (super heavy and wild), not much passing, decent awareness.

So in 1996 I was apparently seeing the version of Berezin that we all knew and loved from the years we actually remember because we went a few rounds deep in the playoffs. Your numbers are interesting because I would've thought he saw a lot less of Sundin in the bin playoff years, and then a lot more of him the next three seasons (at least a lot more than 6%!) and if I'm not mistaken, I calculated him to be one of the top 3 in the NHL in goals per minute, more impressive considering the lack of help from Sundin and the lack of PP time, or at least first unit time.

But I think you're onto something. If he's playing with Perreault and Valk when he scores those OT points against Pittsburgh, that's probably a typical line situation for him. In that case, he's obviously the guy getting the puck across all three lines most of the time. And why pass to those guys when you can pass off the goalie's pads, via a shot on goal?

As far as I remember Berezin was never much of a passer and always played the same way. Which is probably why he was taken off lines where there were more complete players to play with players that would be useless if they got a pass in front of the net. Although I do remember him playing a lot with Korolev.. Am I mistaken on that?

Of course, no one would ever suggest Berezin was a secret playmaker or two-way player. If anything, it's a question of whether he used to be a one-shot floater and then evolved into an EA Sports Be-A-Player come to life - like if a homeless man's Ovechkin aged in reverse. That's probably overstating the reality of it, but it's still kind of weird that playing on the first line with a creator like Sundin meant significantly fewer shots for a given winger.

Seventies might have tilled some interesting ground with the comment about carrying over lines. If you're Larry Murphy, or Sylvain Cote, or Tomas Kaberle, and you see Sundin and Berezin swinging by on the breakout, you probably prefer to give it to Mats. Not so much if it's Korolev, Perreault, Valk or Corson. So maybe he's getting more passes on his own side of the red line, and responding the only way he knows how.

Pat Quinn likely deserves some credit for this change, and the knock-on effect it had on his team's scoring depth.

 

[GlitchMarner]

I remember Berezin constantly being out there with guys like Perreault, Valk and Korolev (or Korolyov as it were) circa '99.

I know Sundin and Thomas played together. I guess the third player on that line varied; I'm pretty sure it was Berezin at times. The second line generally consisted of King, Johnson and Sullivan; McCauley played on it sometimes IIRC. I'm not sure Berezin really had a defined role on that team. The guy was like a one-man-rushing sniper who could score playing anywhere in the lineup. He was fairly unique, but when he was on he was electrifying and was definitely a catalyst for offense. That '99 team was fun.

 

[Hobnobs]

I remember Berezin constantly being out there with guys like Perreault, Valk and Korolev (or Korolyov as it were) circa '99.

I know Sundin and Thomas played together. I guess the third player on that line varied; I'm pretty sure it was Berezin at times. The second line generally consisted of King, Johnson and Sullivan; McCauley played on it sometimes IIRC. I'm not sure Berezin really had a defined role on that team. The guy was like a one-man-rushing sniper who could score playing anywhere in the lineup. He was fairly unique, but when he was on he was electrifying and was definitely a catalyst for offense. That '99 team was fun.

I remember in the 99 playoffs it was Bohonos - Sundin - Thomas and during the regular season I think it was Modin the most but also guys like Korolev, Sullivan and Johnson. Berezin seldom played with Sundin in 99.

In the 99 playoffs Berezin mostly played on the aformentioned line @seventieslord talked about with Valk somtimes swapped out with King.