I've got a personal story about Johnny Gaudreau. I got to watch him several times with the WJC and before his rookie year in the NHL. After watching him hurt us at the juniors while leading that team to gold I came away thinking man................this kids a talent, he's got ridiculous skill and offensive hockey I.Q.
Still at that size almost everybody is gonna wonder and have doubts, I mean...........the guy looked like he was 15 years old. His draft position reflected that thinking too, 4th rounder. The guy clearly had top line skill but would he be able to make that work in mostly a big mans game where you can get manhandled pretty easily at that size and lose all confidence or just not be able to overcome that disadvantage despite high end skill
Then the WHC came and he was picked to be on that U.S team and I got a serious revelation. He was driving play almost every shift and this was against MENS professionals, he was eating these guys alive. But there was one play that cinched it for me and convinced me that despite his very small physical stature he was going to make it in the NHL and be a star.
I forget what game it was but he took the puck and wheeled behind the net and without looking he goes behind his body and passes it out to put the puck take to tape on his teammates stick for just a very sweet goal. He sold me once and for all right there.
So, I'm in a hockey pool that year and I'm determined that I i'll grab him if nobody else is onto him later in the draft. I forget what pick it as now of course but it was in the later quarter and I still needed a winger and I stepped up to the mike lol...............and made my pick and chose Gaudreau.
Most of the guys went.."" johnny who?" and the ones that did know of him said that was an off the board pick for sure, they questioned whether he would even turn into an nhl player and if he even did make it it was probably going to be a year or 2 before he even solidified himself as a player in that league let alone prove he was worth taking as a pick in a deep draft in amount of teams where every single pick counts so much.
No question it was a risky pick but you see..............I was convinced, I had seen the special quality in him with my own eyes, I just knew it.
It didn't start out well as his production was very spotty and low for the first 13-15 games or so maybe longer, I can't remember. Now People in the draft were really questioning me and asking why I was holding on to him. But I kept watching Calgary's games and I could see the sparks of play that I knew he had in him and I said to myself..." nope it's gonna happen, he is just still getting his feel for the play here and the league, I can tell he is gonna bust out sooner or later"
It wasn't but a few games after that he started to take off and boy did he ever.........he was fantastic the rest of the season and we all know what he became after that.
No one was asking me who he was after that season and later on people were praising me saying that was some catch you made there man. I didn't get him in next years draft i'll tell you that !! lol
He was that kind of player, special skill...................................you couldn't take your eyes off him, he just popped as a player.
This is all so tragic.