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1991 Draft and Eric Lindros

DoobeeDoobeeDoo said:
He had a pretty good rookie year, but that was his peak. Maybe he got injured, I'll have to check up on his career, but that pick baffles me.
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60 goal scorer in whl. I remember his 92-93 upper deck card saying "how many 50 goal seasons are ahead for him?" Answer: none.
 
Falloon was a week away from being eligible for the 1990 draft. Had he been eligible, Quebec probably takes him first overall ahead of Nolan. At least Falloon had better numbers than Nolan. He was pretty highly touted.

I think there might have been a problem with his conditioning causing him to never reach his potential. I believe instead of calling him by his name, Pat Falloon, people were calling him "Fat Balloon" instead.
 
whatname said:
60 goal scorer in whl. I remember his 92-93 upper deck card saying "how many 50 goal seasons are ahead for him?" Answer: none.
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Good info, I was a bit young to remember the hype going into that draft. I knew that Falloon was the 1st draft pick on San Jose Sharks history, but seeing him drafted ahead of some future HOFers really put things into perspective.
 
Sticks and Pucks said:
Falloon was a week away from being eligible for the 1990 draft. Had he been eligible, Quebec probably takes him first overall ahead of Nolan. At least Falloon had better numbers than Nolan. He was pretty highly touted.

I think there might have been a problem with his conditioning causing him to never reach his potential. I believe instead of calling him by his name, Pat Falloon, people were calling him "Fat Balloon" instead.
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Makes sense, he seemed to actually decline as his career progressed.
 
I don´t know if SJ picking Falloon was such a surprise. In my researches from this draft many were guessing that SJ would pick Lachance, Falloon or Niedermayer. To be honest I don´t remember seeing any predictions were Niedermayer would have been higher than Lachance.

Here is Central Scouting top 12 prior to draft.
1) Eric Lindros,
2) Scott Lachanc
3) Pat Falloon
4) Scott Niedermayer
5) Aaron Ward
6) Phillipe Boucher
7) Patrick Poulin
8) Brent Bilodeau
9) Richard Matvichuk
10) Darcy Werenka
11) Martin Lapointe
12) Glen Murray

Here is Pittsburgh Post-Gazettes prediction (you need to move the page bit left)
https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=k9IwAAAAIBAJ&sjid=b24DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6428%2C5804452

Democrat and Chronicle had this prediction

1. Eric Lindros, C, Oshawa (OHL)
2. Scott Lachance, D, Boston U.
3. Scott Niedermayer. D, Kamloops (WHL)
4. Aaron Ward. D. Michigan
5. Pat Falloon, C, Spokane (WHL)
6. Philippe Boucher. D, Granby (QMJHL)
7. Richard Matvichuk, D, Saskatoon (WHL)
8. Patrick Poulin, LW, Hyacinthe (QMJHL)
9. Jeff Nelson, C, Prince Albert (WHL)
10. Brent Bilodeau, D. Seattle (WHL)
 
Pat Falloon was a serious prospect back in the day though:

4887-CC3Bk.jpg


8814-90TBk.jpg
 
That's funny about Falloon. I remember the hype over him. He actually had a decent rookie season (4th Calder), but then only scored 40+ points twice more in his career. And I don't recall him bringing much in terms of 'intangibles' -- he wasn't a very valuable player when not scoring.

It kind of says it all when, looking at his stats, I was amazed to see that he played a full season for the Oilers, something of which I have no memory. I am an Oilers fan.

I think the reason some of these Junior stars don't continue developing in the NHL is speed. Some athletes get faster as the competition does, and some don't. There's also a limit to speed of some players' "hockey IQ". Certain players have a higher threshold for speed processing, and some lower.

This is another reason why I think it's beneficial to bring young players into the NHL slowly, like ideally for 12-18 games per season as a kind of "try-out", rather than forcing a full season on them at 18 when they probably aren't ready. Some young players need to realize early that the speed of the NHL is way beyond what their excelling in in Junior.
 
Sticks and Pucks said:
Falloon was a week away from being eligible for the 1990 draft. Had he been eligible, Quebec probably takes him first overall ahead of Nolan. At least Falloon had better numbers than Nolan. He was pretty highly touted.

I think there might have been a problem with his conditioning causing him to never reach his potential. I believe instead of calling him by his name, Pat Falloon, people were calling him "Fat Balloon" instead.
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i can't imagine that pat falloon, who was slow, not physical, and on the smaller side, could ever be picked in one of the best drafts of all time over owen nolan, who was a force of nature, or petr nedved, who had every tool you could want (and scored more in the WHL than falloon did in either of his years), or primeau, who was 6'5 and scored more than falloon did while playing in a tougher lower scoring league.

but who knows? brett hull was scoring 86 goals then so maybe an out of shape slow guy who can't play defense with a killer shot was in higher demand back then.
 
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Sanf said:
I don´t know if SJ picking Falloon was such a surprise. In my researches from this draft many were guessing that SJ would pick Lachance, Falloon or Niedermayer. To be honest I don´t remember seeing any predictions were Niedermayer would have been higher than Lachance.

Here is Central Scouting top 12 prior to draft.
1) Eric Lindros,
2) Scott Lachanc
3) Pat Falloon
4) Scott Niedermayer
5) Aaron Ward
6) Phillipe Boucher
7) Patrick Poulin
8) Brent Bilodeau
9) Richard Matvichuk
10) Darcy Werenka
11) Martin Lapointe
12) Glen Murray

Here is Pittsburgh Post-Gazettes prediction (you need to move the page bit left)
https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=k9IwAAAAIBAJ&sjid=b24DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6428%2C5804452

Democrat and Chronicle had this prediction

1. Eric Lindros, C, Oshawa (OHL)
2. Scott Lachance, D, Boston U.
3. Scott Niedermayer. D, Kamloops (WHL)
4. Aaron Ward. D. Michigan
5. Pat Falloon, C, Spokane (WHL)
6. Philippe Boucher. D, Granby (QMJHL)
7. Richard Matvichuk, D, Saskatoon (WHL)
8. Patrick Poulin, LW, Hyacinthe (QMJHL)
9. Jeff Nelson, C, Prince Albert (WHL)
10. Brent Bilodeau, D. Seattle (WHL)
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wow, was scott lachance a late riser? i remember niedermayer as the guy they talked about as the consensus best non-lindros prospect all year.
 
vadim sharifijanov said:
i can't imagine that pat falloon, who was slow, not physical, and on the smaller side, could ever be picked in one of the best drafts of all time over owen nolan, who was a force of nature, or petr nedved, who had every tool you could want (and scored more in the WHL than falloon did in either of his years), or primeau, who was 6'5 and scored more than falloon did while playing in a tougher lower scoring league.

but who knows? brett hull was scoring 86 goals then so maybe an out of shape slow guy who can't play defense with a killer shot was in higher demand back then.
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Falloon actually outscored Nolan in Nolan's draft year but Nolan definitely plays more physical so it's possible that that was the factor that made the Nordiques pick him first overall.

Nedved, Primeau, and Ricci were all a year older than Falloon. Even today, late birthday 18 year olds are held to a higher standard than 17 year olds in their draft year because of that extra year of development they have had. This was probably one of the reasons Nolan got picked ahead of the others despite not having as good a draft year.
 
Sticks and Pucks said:
Falloon actually outscored Nolan in Nolan's draft year but Nolan definitely plays more physical so it's possible that that was the factor that made the Nordiques pick him first overall.

Nedved, Primeau, and Ricci were all a year older than Falloon. Even today, late birthday 18 year olds are held to a higher standard than 17 year olds in their draft year because of that extra year of development they have had. This was probably one of the reasons Nolan got picked ahead of the others despite not having as good a draft year.
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fair points. and true that we only know in hindsight that falloon in his 18 year wouldn't score as much as nedved.

but the tools on nolan, nedved, and primeau. they all passed ricci, who was so well rounded and NHL ready, because how do you turn down that potential in those packages? i look at falloon and don't see so many tools other than his shot.

also, i think falloon's stock rose a lot with his good showing at the wjc and then his memorial cup mvp. he doesn't have any of that in '90.
 
Never saw him as a junior, but the idea of picking Pat Falloon instead, for any reason is unfathomable to me. Even in his 'big' seasons in SJ, he flunked the 'eye test' bad. It would be like selecting Devin Setoguchi instead of McDavid, but worse.

Nords only realistic options were to take 88 or trade the pick.
 
vadim sharifijanov said:
i can't imagine that pat falloon, who was slow, not physical, and on the smaller side, could ever be picked in one of the best drafts of all time over owen nolan, who was a force of nature, or petr nedved, who had every tool you could want (and scored more in the WHL than falloon did in either of his years), or primeau, who was 6'5 and scored more than falloon did while playing in a tougher lower scoring league.

but who knows? brett hull was scoring 86 goals then so maybe an out of shape slow guy who can't play defense with a killer shot was in higher demand back then.
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Hull has to be why Falloon was so overregarded. Falloon couldn't do much, but he had the same sort of really hard half slap shot. Scouts must have looked at Falloon and thought they saw an echo of Hull (who was peaking right around that time).
 
The Panther said:
That's funny about Falloon. I remember the hype over him. He actually had a decent rookie season (4th Calder), but then only scored 40+ points twice more in his career. And I don't recall him bringing much in terms of 'intangibles' -- he wasn't a very valuable player when not scoring.

It kind of says it all when, looking at his stats, I was amazed to see that he played a full season for the Oilers, something of which I have no memory. I am an Oilers fan.

I think the reason some of these Junior stars don't continue developing in the NHL is speed. Some athletes get faster as the competition does, and some don't. There's also a limit to speed of some players' "hockey IQ". Certain players have a higher threshold for speed processing, and some lower.

This is another reason why I think it's beneficial to bring young players into the NHL slowly, like ideally for 12-18 games per season as a kind of "try-out", rather than forcing a full season on them at 18 when they probably aren't ready. Some young players need to realize early that the speed of the NHL is way beyond what their excelling in in Junior.
Click to expand...
Just checked out the Calder voting for that year...
1) Pavel Bure
2) Nicklas Lidstrom
3) Tony Amonte
Good company for Falloon.

Also,
5) Kevin Todd
6) Donald Audette
7) Benoit Brunet
8) Derian Hatcher
Hatcher went on to be a great dman (although very dirty) & captained a Stanley Cup winning team in 1999. Audette quietly had a pretty solid career as well. I didn't realize how consistently good he was throughout his career.
 
billybudd said:
Hull has to be why Falloon was so overregarded. Falloon couldn't do much, but he had the same sort of really hard half slap shot. Scouts must have looked at Falloon and thought they saw an echo of Hull (who was peaking right around that time).
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i can't say i really know, and i'm just spitballing here, but the sharks did also reach to draft falloon's "adam oates" with the first pick of the second round. obviously whitney was a very good NHLer and played forever but due to size and concerns that he was being carried by a balloon i don't think anyone really had him that high did they?
 
vadim sharifijanov said:
wow, was scott lachance a late riser? i remember niedermayer as the guy they talked about as the consensus best non-lindros prospect all year.
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I took a quick look and Central scouting midseason ranking had Lindros first, Lachance second followed by Niedermayer.

Of course this is all based on newspaper research. I don´t really know what kind of talks there were going in other media.

Bilodeau seemed to fall quite a bit. Post-Gazette mentions that early in the season he was (edit. candidate to be) second. Midyear ranking puts him in around 6. Predraft ranking put him somewhere around ten. He was drafted 17. and never played in NHL.
 
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Oh, geez. Good ole Fat Balloon.

Clarke really raided the dumpster bin of failing prospects to try to add some depth to those bare Flyers squads with Fallon & Daigle, who were traded for each other, with another struggling Flyers prospect by the name of Vinny Prospal thrown-in for good measure. Of course, out of those 3 guys it's Prospal that carves out the long productive NHL career. Sigh.
 
mja said:
Oh, geez. Good ole Fat Balloon.

Clarke really raided the dumpster bin of failing prospects to try to add some depth to those bare Flyers squads with Fallon & Daigle, who were traded for each other, with another struggling Flyers prospect by the name of Vinny Prospal thrown-in for good measure. Of course, out of those 3 guys it's Prospal that carves out the long productive NHL career. Sigh.
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Urgh. Don't bring up all three names like that, back to back. I just ate.
 
mja said:
Oh, geez. Good ole Fat Balloon.

Clarke really raided the dumpster bin of failing prospects to try to add some depth to those bare Flyers squads with Fallon & Daigle, who were traded for each other, with another struggling Flyers prospect by the name of Vinny Prospal thrown-in for good measure. Of course, out of those 3 guys it's Prospal that carves out the long productive NHL career. Sigh.
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I had a relative who was a Flyers fan that didn't really understand hockey at a very deep level, and was pumped by those deals (and a few others) because the Flyers were getting the biggest "name" player from a bunch of different teams.
 
The Lindros trade was a good one for Philadelphia at the time in my opinion.Lindros was a dream prospect for every team, but even more so for the Flyers given their reputation in the 70s and how he fitted into that Broad Street Bullies mold.

Let's not forget that they came close to winning a championship with him but they faced a superior Detroit squad.He gave them a lot of strong years despite the injuries.

If Peter Forsberg doesn't become who he became nobody is talking about that trade in that way.Forsberg exceeded expectations and Lindros somewhat under-delivered (a severe judgement on my part).I think if we were to repeat trades with similar pieces none-stop the team in Philadelphia's spot would win that trade 4 times out of 5.
 
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