mariusz czerkawski

[Eye of Ra]

One of the few poles to ever play in NHL. What are you guys memories of him? What did he bring to the ice?

 

[Islander Class]

I was a Czerchawski guy. About our only credible offensive threat for a couple years (which is crazy when you consider he was basically a borderline 2nd liner)- and still somehow managed to produce (guess shutdown lines took the night off against us 98-01, don't blame them). My recollection is that Milbury called him out a few times, and he always seemed to respond/bounce back too. Lastly, married to a Bond girl for a time- and generally seemed to enjoy succes with the ladies (FWIW). Definite "Islander" in my book. Hope life is good for him...

 

[Sparksrus3]

He brought us Arron Asham . This guy used to beat up Barbaby every time . Priceless

 

[MarsTBOW]

Yes, he was not bad, always pressed to do more by Mildew. He was the Whipping Boy and to be honest, did not deserve the criticism. They kinda scapegoated him for the Failings in the front office and ownership. Hope he is well.....

 

[BelovedIsles]

I liked him. Poor man's Palffy. Good agility and good shot.

 

[xECK29x]

One of my favorite players growing up

 

[PJGooch]

Scored a goal that iced Game 6 vs Toronto in '02 and it sounded like the Coliseum roof was going to blow.

 

[scott99]

He was a good player on some bad Islander’s teams. Scored 30+ goals twice and had 3 other seasons with 20+ goals for the Isles. Led the team in scoring for 2 seasons in a row.

 

[Isles Junkie]

As others have said, he was a solid player who was unfairly asked to shoulder most of the offense for the Isles for several years. kind of hard when your most talented linemate is Brad Isbister or Oleg Kvasha though (that was just a guess, I really don't remember who he played on a line with)

 

[Richie Daggers Crime]

As others have said, he was a solid player who was unfairly asked to shoulder most of the offense for the Isles for several years. kind of hard when your most talented linemate is Brad Isbister or Oleg Kvasha though

He went to other teams and could barely crack their lineup.

 

[saintunspecified]

Here's what I think of Czerkawski: I think the total lack of offensive talent around him for so long resulted in him developing a habit of holding on to the puck way too long. He was not able to adapt to playing with better teammates, and he'd turn over the puck rather than use them effectively. I wonder whether he would have been able to adapt if he played with better players earlier in his career.

 

[Doshell Propivo]

Pretty soft player but good offensive skills. Criticized for being one dimensional but those teams were starved for offense so not surprising that he focused on that.

 

[Seph]

He went to other teams and could barely crack their lineup.

He never learned how to be useful when he didn't have the puck. He could only put up offense if the puck was on his stick a lot, but never put up enough offense where a good team would want the puck on his stick that much. This made him the kind of player that could look good on a bad team, and who would fall out of the lineup on a good one.

 

[Sparksrus3]

Here's what I think of Czerkawski: I think the total lack of offensive talent around him for so long resulted in him developing a habit of holding on to the puck way too long. He was not able to adapt to playing with better teammates, and he'd turn over the puck rather than use them effectively. I wonder whether he would have been able to adapt if he played with better players earlier in his career.

Insert the name Mathew Barzal