Chris Kontos

[crobro]

Looking at his stats he seemed to be natural consistent goal scorer wherever he played but couldn’t stick in the NHL even with semi decent scoring

Was he horrible defensively ?
Uncoachable?

 

[Hobnobs]

Looking at his stats he seemed to be natural consistent goal scorer wherever he played but couldn’t stick in the NHL even with semi decent scoring

Was he horrible defensively ?
Uncoachable?

He's a weird guy. During that Tampa season he scored like 19 goals in 20 games or something. So he slowed down in the second half but you would think that, that plus his legendary perforamnce fo rthe kings in the playoffs would earn him at least another contract... But then again iirc his contract demands were rather high and he seem to have a bad rep in the league. Ducks didn't want him in the expansion draft for example. He did sign with Florida but I think he was cut after camp in 95.

Basically super streaky scorer who was a minor leaguer when he wasnt.

 

[quietbruinfan]

He was talented offensively. He could stick handle while at fairly high speed, which was unusual for a journeyman. However, backchecking was not a thing he did. I have no evidence for it, but just watching I suspected he was not in good shape. (He would have been better in the 70s and early 80s I think.)

 

[Hobnobs]

He was talented offensively. He could stick handle while at fairly high speed, which was unusual for a journeyman. However, backchecking was not a thing he did. I have no evidence for it, but just watching I suspected he was not in good shape. (He would have been better in the 70s and early 80s I think.)

I will say this though. While he did seem to have a bad rep around the league it was just management. I don't think he was in bad shape at least not by late 80s-early 90s standards. He was well liked. Hell even his former teammates in sweden still likes him and I think thats also the reason why his son plays in Sweden (besides not being good enough for the NHL).

 

[brachyrynchos]

Wherever he was Kontos seemed to go through a bunch of coaching/ management changes before finally getting a regular shift for Terry Crisp in Tampa. After his big year him and Lightning G.M. Phil Esposito couldn't find some halfway point in terms of salary.
Interestingly (or not), it was then Ranger G.M. Phil Esposito who traded Kontos to the Pens for his former blueshirt teammate Ron Duguay.
I kinda think he should've had a better NHL career with his talent but at the same time Left Wing had some stiff competition when he played.

 

[The Panther]

It's obscene to me that the Edmonton - L.A. 1989 playoff series---one of the most memorable of all time---is not highlighted in full on YouTube yet (or is it?). There's always highlights from game seven, but never the rest of the series. It was a humdinger for sure. Kontos was a PP machine in that series, banging in Gretzky & Nicholls' passes / rebounds for goals. In round two vs. Calgary, he scored again in game one but then went cold.

I remember Terry Crisp saying in 1993 that he had spoken to Kontos prior to the season, and he said (I paraphrase): "Chris, you're known as a streak scorer. If you're a streak scorer for us, that's fine, as long as you work hard each night." Crisp should have been careful what he wished for, as Kontos proceeded to score 4 goals on opening night, 18 goals in the first 18 games of the season, and then 9 goals in the next 48 games. Was still in his twenties at season's end, and never played in the NHL again.

 

[The Pale King]

Chris Kontos, Nick Kypreos and Lonny Bohonos walk into a bar in Toronto. Bartender says "That's the worst line I've ever seen."

 

[MS]

Kontos was the greatest boom-or-bust streak scorer in NHL history.

He was either on a goal-a-game run or a 30-game goalless streak, and there was no real in-between.

Had great hands and finishing skills when he was feeling it and could get on big runs if he was confident playing with talented linemates ... but then the bubble would always burst and when he wasn't confident and scoring he brought nothing else to the table and he'd drift to the 4th line and then the pressbox.