Who had all the tools but just couldn’t make it? | Page 2 | HFBoards - NHL Message Board and Forum for National Hockey League
Toggle sidebar

Who had all the tools but just couldn’t make it?

Sadekuuro said:
He was kind of the ultimate 4th liner even as-is, though.
Click to expand...
That's a fair assessment. He likely could have stuck around much longer if he wanted to, but I suspect he preferred to play overseas. I do wonder if perhaps he could he been more though. Certainly in the pre-lockout Lindros-arms-race era he'd have had teams salivating.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sadekuuro
You’d have to define what you mean by a “tool”. There are very few players who have all the tools that don’t make it. Only injuries would really hold someone back. Even then, is durability a tool?

Lots of people mentioned in this thread have all the physical tools but not hockey IQ.
 
  • Like
Reactions: bebl
joestevens29 said:
No brain

Such and odd thread inly guys that should be mentioned are injury prone guys. Otherwise if you had all the tools you’d be in the show
Click to expand...
Is being durable a tool? If it isn’t for you, size shouldn’t be a tool either if it’s something you cannot train or get better.

I would say Brannstrom, has all the tools in that case then, I don’t know why he can’t put it together. His compete is high and I don’t see him losing board battles THAT often.
 
Madap said:
Lots of people mentioned in this thread have all the physical tools but not hockey IQ.
Click to expand...

This is true. Thus my contribution to the thread is gonna be Erik Christensen. He had all the tools. Good hands. Good passing. Good shot. Good size. Good skating. And while he didn't have some super star level hockey IQ, I think he had good enough hockey IQ.

What he was lacking seemed to be confidence, unfortunately. Except for in the shootout where he had a couple of moves he was obviously super confident he could pull off.

I heard him in a podcast (was a great listen by the way) talking about how he never actually enjoyed his time in the NHL, because of how he would mostly always just worry about what his coaches thought of him.

Still, he did play nearly 400 NHL games and was half PPG a couple of times in his career. So maybe he doesn't fit OP's idea of a player who 'didn't make it'.

Anyway, I think he could have had an even longer/better NHL career. Even more so in today's league, where skill players are more accepted in bottom six roles.

 
  • Like
Reactions: MarkusNaslund19, pi314, Our Lady Peace and 3 others
Jake Virtanen

One of the fastest skaters I’ve ever seen at his size, kid was gifted with a rare blend of blazing speed, size, physicality. Went #1 in the WHL bantam draft, had an NHL shot at 15 years old, and at age 16 had the strength of a grown ass adult. And he was skilled.

Unfortunately he had nothing between his eyes and ears. He was entitled, lazy, showed poor work ethic, had a cement head, and was easily distracted off ice. This was a player who never once faced adversity in his life, essentially gifted an NHL spot despite not being ready, and thought he was entitled to everything that came with being an NHL player.
 
  • Like
  • Wow
Reactions: drax0s, OgeeOgelthorpe, TheDawnOfANewTage and 11 others
MessierII said:
I don’t think so. He carved out a pretty great career.
Click to expand...

He's had a long career and I'm happy that he got his life back on track and stuck around as long as he has, but he never really lived up to his potential. Dude had some seriously underrated vision and passing ability but was never able to string it together for more than a few games at a time.
 
LemonSauceD said:
Jake Virtanen

One of the fastest skaters I’ve ever seen at his size, kid was gifted with a rare blend of blazing speed, size, physicality. Went #1 in the WHL bantam draft, had an NHL shot at 15 years old, and at age 16 had the strength of a grown ass adult. And he was skilled.

Unfortunately he had nothing between his eyes and ears. He was entitled, lazy, showed poor work ethic, had a cement head, and was easily distracted off ice. This was a player who never once faced adversity in his life, essentially gifted an NHL spot despite not being ready, and thought he was entitled to everything that came with being an NHL player.
Click to expand...

he's made up for it though dating the bombshell chick rn
 
In the 90's i played EA NHL (forgot which year) and i think the NYR had a guy named "Dube" who was super young but turned into a stud every playthrough. Like 120 point, MPV mofo.
I imagine whoever that was, he had all the 'goods' on paper
 
Jack Skille. Even when he came to the Avs he could flat out fly, was physical, battled hard, had a real solid shot. Not the best hands but also not something that would cost him a long term NHL career.

Maybe he lacked brains? Who knows, but man I could not for the life of me figure out why this guy was not a consistent 20-25-45 middle six winger.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Murzu, The Zetterberg Era, LV Knight Life and 1 other person
Bankerguy said:
In the 90's i played EA NHL (forgot which year) and i think the NYR had a guy named "Dube" who was super young but turned into a stud every playthrough. Like 120 point, MPV mofo.
I imagine whoever that was, he had all the 'goods' on paper
Click to expand...

Christian Dube (b.1977) Hockey Stats and Profile at hockeydb.com

Statistics and Records of Christian Dube, a hockey player and coach from Quebec, PQ born Apr 25 1977 who was active from 1993 to 2015.
www.hockeydb.com

Christian Dube, 2nd rounder NYR 95.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Leafshater67, TheDawnOfANewTage, MarkusNaslund19 and 5 others
  • Like
Reactions: TheDawnOfANewTage and Colorado Avalanche
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 1 (members: 0, guests: 1)

Latest posts

Ad

Ad

Top Bottom