The best players NOT picked of all time?

[ZombieMatt]

Steve Bernier

I agree.

In 10 years people are going to look back and wonder how the hell Bernier was not on this team.

 

[Ri hards]

I'm guessing if he wasn't drafted he wasn't on the radar to play for Canada so
how about Martin St.Louis.

Damn you....beat me to it!

 

[Brock]

for good reason

Maybe they something in Cleary at NHL teams weren't seing at the time eh?

It was quite a big thing at the time though. Cleary was an outstanding junior player and they cut him every single time, and the final two times he was thought to be a relative certainty for a spot on the team, especially the final time he was cut. I remember TSN making a huge deal about it.

But in all seriousness, I think Cleary has turned the corner in his NHL career. He seemed to become a different player in Phoenix last year. Instead of being a scorer, he worked as a 3rd liner who pushed hard and was one of their top penalty killers. He's realized what it takes at the NHL level to compete FINALLY. And now he's off to an excellent start in the SEL, statistically that is. Maybe when he comes back, we'll see him put together his new found work ethic with the offensive skills he's always had.

 

[Roughneck]

Yeah Kugs, I remember Beech spoating off at the coaching staff the morning he got cut. Something like they feel he has a bad rep, and that's why he was cut. I think Stan Butler was the one who cut him (not 100% sure though)

I remember seeing him on TV that day too. He was probably the most visibly angry cut player of all time (or at least recent memory). He really didn't like being cut.

 

[MrMastodonFarm*]

Why is it a suprise that one of the best power forwards of all time never got picked for the WJC?

What...? Do you honestly beleive that?

Todd Bertuzzi has had 2 seasons as a top player, and now he is one of the best power forwards of all time? Holy moly.

Todd Bertuzzi isn't even the best power forward in the game today, much less one of the best all time. Give your head a shake.

 

[MrMastodonFarm*]

I agree.

In 10 years people are going to look back and wonder how the hell Bernier was not on this team.

Probably not, people don't look back on these things and wonder why they weren't on the team. If team Canada wins the only person who will still be wondering why Steve Bernier wasn't on the team is you.

 

[ZombieMatt]

Apparently people do look back on these things and wonder why so and so wasn't on the team because there is a thread about it right now.

 

[markov`]

Brad Richards for now, and Alexandre Picard (forward) will likely be a star in the NHL, never picked by Canada.

 

[Lexicon Devil]

For Canada, some names who never played:

Ray Bourque
Paul Coffey
Al Macinnis
Cam Neely
Patrick Roy
Martin Brodeur

 

[ZombieMatt]

Brad Richards for now, and Alexandre Picard (forward) will likely be a star in the NHL, never picked by Canada.

I really like Picard's game, and he is a genuinely down to earth guy, but I doubt he's really star material, especially because he's going to be overshadowed by Nash and Zherdev his entire career, but he's the type of foot soldier with skill that Calgary would have LOVED to have. He's a grinder who will be able to produce offensively in the NHL, very much like (as the comparison goes) Ryan Smyth, but probably not AS good offensively as Smyth has been able to be in some of his years. Picard is going to be a good player, and he has very low risk in terms of MAKING the show, its just a matter of how his offensive game develops around his all around play, and if he is able to avoid injuries.

 

[Doomsday Device]

Brad Richards for now, and Alexandre Picard (forward) will likely be a star in the NHL, never picked by Canada.

Richards played in 2000.

 

[markov`]

Richards played in 2000.

Hehe, wrong I was.

 

[MrMastodonFarm*]

Apparently people do look back on these things and wonder why so and so wasn't on the team because there is a thread about it right now.

Meh, it still doesn't prove anything.

No one really cares about Steve Bernier besides you. Alot of good players don't make team Canada, and he certainly is a "good" player. This isn't like Dion Phaneuf or Sidney Crosby was cut. It was a bubble player who alot of people didn't think would be on the list anyways.

 

[Mathletic]

Mario Lemieux

 

[Form and Substance]

Meh, it still doesn't prove anything.

No one really cares about Steve Bernier besides you. Alot of good players don't make team Canada, and he certainly is a "good" player. This isn't like Dion Phaneuf or Sidney Crosby was cut. It was a bubble player who alot of people didn't think would be on the list anyways.

Well you're pretty wrong on that, have you ever been on the Q boards? They've all gone mad because Bernier and Picard didn't even make the list of invited players. He's not a bubble player at all, do you expect me to believe that someone picked in the first round of an extremely deep draft is a bubble player? Well the only one whi could possibly think that is you.

 

[MrMastodonFarm*]

Well you're pretty wrong on that, have you ever been on the Q boards? They've all gone mad because Bernier and Picard didn't even make the list of invited players. He's not a bubble player at all, do you expect me to believe that someone picked in the first round of an extremely deep draft is a bubble player? Well the only one whi could possibly think that is you.

Bernier had a piss poor evaluation camp, and didn't do much to impress Sutter after that. He also wasn't a returning player like so many of his 2003 cohorts. He most certainly was a bubble player on this 2005 World Junior team.

 

[Form and Substance]

Bernier had a piss poor evaluation camp, and didn't do much to impress Sutter after that. He also wasn't a returning player like so many of his 2003 cohorts. He most certainly was a bubble player on this 2005 World Junior team.

And by impressing Sutter did he also have to lindy hop and sing? I'm sorry but Bernier is better than a lot of the guys chosen, maybe he's not in best shape, but he's proven countless times that he's willing to work on his rough spots and I for one have seen the results firsthand and they are impressive. Many players have had piss poor evaluation camps and then turned the corner during actual gametime, I don't think camp is the only basis used for evaluating a player.

 

[sunb]

What...? Do you honestly beleive that?

Todd Bertuzzi has had 2 seasons as a top player, and now he is one of the best power forwards of all time? Holy moly.

Todd Bertuzzi isn't even the best power forward in the game today, much less one of the best all time. Give your head a shake.

Many people would agree with both statements.
I'd agree that Bertuzzi is a top 10 powerforward of all time.
I'd also agree that Bertuzzi is the best powerforward in the league right now.

 

[LadyByngJeanRatelle]

Many people would agree with both statements.
I'd agree that Bertuzzi is a top 10 powerforward of all time.
I'd also agree that Bertuzzi is the best powerforward in the league right now.

Iginla is the best powerforward right now.

 

[ZombieMatt]

Bernier had a piss poor evaluation camp, and didn't do much to impress Sutter after that. He also wasn't a returning player like so many of his 2003 cohorts. He most certainly was a bubble player on this 2005 World Junior team.

Steve Bernier has also been one of the most dominant players in the major junior hockey this season. In ALL aspects of the game, Steve Bernier is one of the main reasons the Moncton Wildcats are the second best team in the nation. Bernier may have had a poor camp, but frankly, that was in the middle of the summer when most players are not in anything remotely close to international playing condition.

You should not select a team based on how a guy played in the summer months when the tournament is in December. If you think Bernier has been unimpressive this season I think you need to sit yourself down and actually watch him play. People get caught up in this BS about him being out of shape, and being inconsistent, and this and that. That was 18 months ago. Bernier is logging 25 minutes of ice time as a forward, and people who have never seen a QMJHL game are still calling him this and that because they vaguely remember reading a report a long time ago.

There are a number of professional scouts and individuals with NHL teams who I have had the priveledge of speaking to, and nearly every single one that I have spoken to has talked about how impressive Bernier is this year BEFORE even mentioning the guy they're there to see.

I'm not questionning Hockey Canada's entire unwillingness to acknowledge Bernier's stand-out play based solely on my own opinion, because I know that seeing a player a great deal is going to create a natural bias that you can't help. I'm simply echoing the sentiments of professionals whose job it is to identify talent.


EDIT: That said, all that matters is that the teams wins.