I admit, I was wrong...

[BobMarleyNYR]

believe it or not, i don't think i've ever been wrong on any noteable prospects.

Did you start watching hockey last year?

 

[rival]

Larry Courville and Lonny Bohonos. I thought Lonny would wind up as a 30 goal scorer and Larry would be a decent third liner along the lines of how Matt Cooke is now.

 

[Mat]

High on, but disappointed me:
Mario Lemieux's comeback

what was disappointing? his 76 points in 43 games, or the fact that he kept getting injured?

 

[MS]

Dan Hamhuis is one guy I missed the boat on, probably more than anyone else I can think of.

In his draft year, I just didn't see the projection. He looked to me to be the classic tweener - I didn't think he was big enough to play his style in the NHL, didn't think he was skilled enough to be a quality PP guy, and wasn't sold on his hockey sense and thought he threw himself out of position way too often looking for the big hit.

Even a year after he was picked, I knew I screwed up in my take on him - he came back the next year having added 10-15 lbs, really toned down his over-aggressive play and showed a level of positional smarts I didn't know he had, and you could tell he was the real deal.

Hainsey and Jillson are others whom I expected to succeed.

Brendl is a guy I thought was a lock to be a 30-goal scorer in the NHL, and I'm still not writing him off yet although he's really been a letdown.

 

[tiredman]

I was really high on Eric Chouinard

 

[colonel_korn]

believe it or not, i don't think i've ever been wrong on any noteable prospects.

Sure thing go pierre hedin

 

[nomorekids]

Sure thing go pierre hedin

That was my thought, as well.

 

[Mess]

After all the Flames 1st round busts (Tkaczuk, Fata ect) and dissapointments (Saprykin, so far) I would have to say Sergei Varlamov. The guy had elite offensive awareness and goalden hands, and thought he would be a offensive juggernaught, but other aspects of his game were lacking.

Saprykin may take off in Phoenix now ..

 

[borro]

3 Big ones...

Eric Fehr-I wanted Mark Stuart. Fehr turned out to be an inspired pick.
Mike Green-I thought his skills would not translate. I think he is our best d prospect now
Chris Bourque-I thought he was taken high. So far, it has been an inspired pick.

 

[BobMarleyNYR]

what was disappointing? his 76 points in 43 games, or the fact that he kept getting injured?

Yeah it was the injuries... such a shame it's been a career-long problem that's out of his control. It'd be nice if he could put in another season, but at 40 I don't know.

As a side note, I was also disappointed with Chouinard.

 

[BackToTheBrierePatch]

I remember the Who? and WTF? when the Flyers selected Jeff Carter over Zach Parise.

 

[BurgoShark]

I thought both Cameron Mann and Jonathan Girard would be good players for the Bruins.

Girard is a good player for the Bruins. He missed all of last year because of a car accident but he'll be in the lineup this year.

 

[Hasbro]

I pegged Vaclav nederost as a 2-way center for the Avs by now.

I didn't think he was going to be a Norris winner, but I thought Rick Berry would be a good bottom pair D-man. He showed some great flashes on call ups in 2000-01.

I'd have wager Peter Sejna would be a 2nd line forward by now.

 

[Rangerfan*]

Same here, same with Beech, but that was my Hitmen bias at work mostly, I was a bit younger when they were stars here, I figured both would be perrenial All-Stars and laughed at Atlanta and Vancouver when they passed on him in the draft.

And because I was in my blindly patriotic phase around the time, I figured Ilya Kovalchuck would bust, just because of his antics against Canada at the WJCs. Nobody does that to Canada and gets away with it

seems to me like someone did it and got away with it

 

[GB]

I don't get it either. There are many more guys in that 1999 draft that dissapointed. THe Sedins are good 2nd liners. That's better than most of the other 1999 draftees.

I don't think they're busts, but I remember some people comparing their upside to Forsberg, Daniel being like Forsberg with more scoring instinct, the hype was pretty huge, and they never lived up to that. So I can see why they would be included on this list.

I always thought Matheiu Chouinard would be starting for the Sens by now, I don't know why it never worked out for him. I also thought Milan Hnlinka and J-M Pelletier would make it as starting goalies. I thought Colin Shields would have a decent AHL career as well.

As for players I under-rated, I was never keen on Theo, until he had the season basically splitting time with Hackett, I always thought he'd just be keeping things ticking along until Garon developed.

 

[The HW]

Igor Radulov came on so strong that I thought he'd settle right into an NHL spot. He's not a write-off yet, but the early indications aren't good. Same thing goes for Petr Schastlivy. I was convinced that he'd make an effective sniper with that incredible wrist shot, a shooter to fit in with Ottawa's passers... turns out he's a pansy.

Marian Cisar was going to be awesome (and now he kinda is, in Germany). Lubos Bartecko. Pavel Rosa. And I was a big believer in Milan Hnilicka, as well.

 

[Stammer Time*]

Brendl
Martin Vagner
Pascal Leclaire
Kiel McLeod
Scott Wells
Scott Kelman

 

[All Star United]

One name that comes to mind is Denis Shvidki. I really thought he could become a good first liner. I even read somewhere that he was compared to Bure.

Lundmark... the next Yzerman!

 

[Leetchie]

Players I was wrong on: Brendl, Lundmark, Afinogenov, Thornton (I didn't think he'd be as dominant as he is), Kovalev (thought he was going to be the best player in the NHL), Connolly (thought he could become a highly skilled offensive #1 center)

Players I was right on: Havlat (extremely high on this kid), Demitra (liked his name lol), Drury, Hejduk (the last two I called before they played a regular season NHL game), Datsyuk (called that one before he ever played in the NHL)

 

[West]

I thought Hugh Jessiman would but all the peices together and turn into something (Daze?, Allison? Andreychuk?), but I'm getting close to writing him off.

Also I'm one of the bigger supports of Wes O'Neill around here although I still think he's a safe bet for a top 4 D.

 

[Evilo]

Players I was high on and wrong :
I thought Kraft would be a premium forward in the NHL.
He might turn into a good player, but nowhere near a superstar.
Other notables : Lupaschuk, Dome.

Players I was down on and wrong :
As all Pens fans, I didn't expect Malone to play like he has.
Others : Primeau

Players I was high on and right :
Lang. Some said he was getting points from his teammates, I said he had major talent. That was back in his third line work in Pittsburgh.
Others : Kovalev, Ference, Jackman

Players I was down on and right :
Holzinger : he started strong, but was quickly his old sucky safe.

 

[mazmin]

I was wrong about Evgeny Davydov. I thought he'd be the next big talent young gun on the Jets along with Selanne, Zhamnov, Tkachuk & Khabby.

Speaking of Khabby, I was right about him all along. He never got much respect from the hockey world playing in Winnipeg but is now regarded as an elite tender.

Pat Faloon really duped a lot of us. I remember buying his mint condition rookie card for $15 before his first NHL season. I think it maxed out at value of $20, now it's in the spokes of a bike I eventually traded for a 6-pack of Moosehead.

 

[Hyped]

Pat Faloon really duped a lot of us. I remember buying his mint condition rookie card for $15 before his first NHL season. I think it maxed out at value of $20, now it's in the spokes of a bike I eventually traded for a 6-pack of Moosehead.

Sounds like you still got good value for that Falloon card. Who was the smart guy to go for that?

 

[bigjags*]

I thought Chuck Kobasew would have been a sniper.

 

[Barnaby]

I thought Hugh Jessiman would but all the peices together and turn into something (Daze?, Allison? Andreychuk?), but I'm getting close to writing him off.

Also I'm one of the bigger supports of Wes O'Neill around here although I still think he's a safe bet for a top 4 D.

Little early? He was coming in at terrific shape, but then was injured all year. I wouldn't write the guy off yet until we see what he does the next couple seasons...

BTW I was wrong on Daigle, Lundmark, and Salo if he counts... I thought Salo would be a top 10 goalie for years...

I was right about Brendl after I saw him, Torres, Fichaud (not an NHL goalie), and Tanguay.