Players who never made it?

Which player or players would you say had the potential to be really good or great players but never made it?

When you say "never made it", do you mean never played in the NHL or never was considered a good player despite their potential?

When you say "never made it", do you mean never played in the NHL or never was considered a good player despite their potential?

I meant a player who had lots of potential and hype coming into the nhl but never became a great player.

Alexandre Daigle fits that bill. He was a major bust, although he is actually starting to play some good hockey now. He had as much hype around him then as Sidney Crosby is getting now.

Pat Falloon, Alex daigle, Doug Wickenheiser, Martin Skoula :lol

Daniel Cleary, Daigle, Gratton, Brett Lindros?

Turner Stevenson was a first round pick but now he's a 4th line winger.

whats with jason dawe and patrick poulin...

Bryan Fogerty. Shattered Orr's scoring records in junior.

Daniel Cleary, Daigle, Gratton, Brett Lindros?

Dan cleary is definitely the one that baffles me the most.
he posts 81 pts in 62 games in the OHL as a 15 year old!!!
he then finishes 2nd in scoring in the O as a 16year old!!! By all rights he should have been an all-star player by now. What happened?

Daniel Cleary, Daigle, Gratton, Brett Lindros?

I'd give Lindros a pass on this one... he probably could've fulfilled his potential if he didn't have to retire early because of his concussions.

Turner Stevenson was a first round pick but now he's a 4th line winger.
I know where your coming from but at the same time I would have to say he has made it as a NHL hockey player, when the Devils won the cup in 2003 he was a BIG part of that run even if he was hurt in the finals. He has limited offenive skills but what he has he has utilized to their potential, sometimes you can't blame a player for getting drafted as high as they did and he's a prime example of that. Just because the Habs mistakenly thought he had the potential to be a great or even very good player doesn't mean that he did.

I know where your coming from but at the same time I would have to say he has made it as a NHL hockey player, when the Devils won the cup in 2003 he was a BIG part of that run even if he was hurt in the finals. He has limited offenive skills but what he has he has utilized to their potential, sometimes you can't blame a player for getting drafted as high as they did and he's a prime example of that. Just because the Habs mistakenly thought he had the potential to be a great or even very good player doesn't mean that he did.

I have no problem with Stevenson but I think that he could of been better. But I know he was a big part of the last Cup the Devils won. I saw him play against Ottawa and he played very well. He's been a realy effective player and had a nice career overall.

i'll go by 1st round picks who underachieved up until now, starting at 1999, cause you have to factor some development time into the equation

1999 - Patrick Stefan, Pavel Brendl, Brian Finley
1998 - Manny Malhotra, Rico Fata
1997 - Dan Tzachuk, JF Damphousse, Matt Zultek, Dan Cleary
1996 - Boyd Deveraux, Dan Focht
1995 - chad kilger, aki berg
1994 - Jason Boterill, Chris Dingman, Brett Lindros, Eric Fichaud, Jamie Storr, Jason Bonsignor
1993 - Alexandre Daigle, Todd Harvey

some guys i see becoming disappointments, or at least not living up to expectations

2000 - Jeff Taeffe, Krys Kolanos, Raffi Torres
2001 - Alexander Svitov, Carlo Colaiacovo, RJ Umberger, Jason Bacashihua
2002 - Jakob Koreis, Dan Paille, Martin Vagner, Scott Upshall
2003 - Braydon Coburn, Steve Bernier, Marc-Antoine Pouliot
2004 - Evgeny Malkin, Andrew Ladd, Al Montoya, Alexandre Picard, Rob Schremp

ok let me have it :)

Bryan Fogerty. Shattered Orr's scoring records in junior.
Yeah,what a shame about him,he could have been a really good player.

Greg Joly, No. 1 over-all by Washington in 1974
Gord Kluzak No. 1 over-all by Boston in 1982
Brian Lawton No. 1 over-all by Minnesota in 1983 (Yzerman was picked No. 4 that year)
Patrik Stefan No. 1 over-all by Atlanta in 1999 (the next three did not live up to their hype as well being the Sedin sisters and Pavel Brendl)

Martin Skoula :lol

I figure by the smilie you're joking about Skoula, but regardless. He was solid for Anaheim, change of scenary did him well. A + player on a very weak 03-04 team.

The Preds had two guys recently(2002-03) that I could scarcely believe were former first rounders...Todd Warriner and Denis Pederson.

As for recent...

2005- Sidney Crosby

;)

I keed, I keed...

What about Chris Phillips?

2004 - Evgeny Malkin, Andrew Ladd, Al Montoya, Alexandre Picard, Rob Schremp

ok let me have it :)


I'm not letting you have it but why do you think Malkin is not gonna live up to expectations?

Anna Kournikova!!!

:lol:

Yeah, Fogarty comes to mind first. He even put up some pretty good short-term numbers, but he could have been one of the best. Terrible story, personally and professionally.

Daniel Dore, what a talent in juniors, Craig hillier, robert dome, Chris Wells

Fogerty, Daigle, Clearly all come to mind.

As for me, the biggest name that comes to mind is Ryan Sittler.

Taken #7 overall by the Flyers in 1992, played a total of about a full season in the AHL and a handful of ECHL games and just gave it up in 1998-99. Never played 1 game in the show.

Season Team Lge GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1992-93 U. of Michigan NCAA 35 9 24 33 43
1993-94 U. of Michigan NCAA 26 9 9 18 14
1994-95 Johnstown Chiefs ECHL 1 1 1 2 0 -- -- -- -- --
1994-95 Hershey Bears AHL 42 2 7 9 48 -- -- -- -- --
1995-96 Raleigh Icecaps ECHL 12 2 8 10 8 -- -- -- -- --
1995-96 Mobile Mysticks ECHL 21 3 11 14 30 -- -- -- -- --
1995-96 Hershey Bears AHL 7 0 1 1 6 -- -- -- -- --
1995-96 St. John's Maple Leafs AHL 6 1 2 3 18 4 0 0 0 4
1996-97 Baltimore Bandits AHL 66 4 22 26 167 3 1 0 1 0
1997-98 South Carolina Stingra ECHL 44 12 15 27 66 4 0 0 0 8
1998-99 Charlotte Checkers ECHL 33 3 9 12 112

Comes to mind:

Bryan Fogerty
Alex Diagle
Alex Svitov
RJ Umberger
Pavel Brendl
Aki Berg
Patrick Stephan
Brett Lindros

I'm sure i can think of more

Comes to mind:

Bryan Fogerty
Alex Diagle
Alex Svitov
RJ Umberger
Pavel Brendl
Aki Berg
Patrick Stephan
Brett Lindros

I'm sure i can think of more
RJ Umberger is a rookie in th AHL, which means first year of pro hockey, how would you classify him in this group?:

Mikko Koivu
Volchkolv 3rd overall pick in 96
Bryen Allen.
Aki Berg.

Bryan Fogarty was an excellent defencemen in the OHL who broke Bobby Orr's scoring records in junior hockey........but he was an alcoholic and the booze killed his stellar hockey career..........I believe he was drafted by the Quebec Nordiques as well.

i'll go by 1st round picks who underachieved up until now, starting at 1999, cause you have to factor some development time into the equation

1999 - Patrick Stefan, Pavel Brendl, Brian Finley
1998 - Manny Malhotra, Rico Fata
1997 - Dan Tzachuk, JF Damphousse, Matt Zultek, Dan Cleary
1996 - Boyd Deveraux, Dan Focht
1995 - chad kilger, aki berg
1994 - Jason Boterill, Chris Dingman, Brett Lindros, Eric Fichaud, Jamie Storr, Jason Bonsignor
1993 - Alexandre Daigle, Todd Harvey

some guys i see becoming disappointments, or at least not living up to expectations

2000 - Jeff Taeffe, Krys Kolanos, Raffi Torres
2001 - Alexander Svitov, Carlo Colaiacovo, RJ Umberger, Jason Bacashihua
2002 - Jakob Koreis, Dan Paille, Martin Vagner, Scott Upshall
2003 - Braydon Coburn, Steve Bernier, Marc-Antoine Pouliot
2004 - Evgeny Malkin, Andrew Ladd, Al Montoya, Alexandre Picard, Rob Schremp

ok let me have it :)

Nice list you got there.........too much booze and drugs with alot of those players.........they should have just stayed clean and focused.

Bryan Fogarty stats:

http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php3?pid=1725

Bryan Fogarty stats:

http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php3?pid=1725
He had 31 points in 45 games, which would in a 80 game schedule mean 55 points in his sophomore season, whilst playing on a HORRIBLE team. Hrkac was the teams 3rd best scorer. Sakic had 50 points more than Sundin, who was the 2nd best scorer.

Too bad he had those problems.

Craig Hillier is one of the biggest busts of the last 10 years. He couldn't even cut it as a ECHL backup.

I think it was Mats Sundin, in his time with the Nords, that said something along the line of "The guy was coming to the morning practice hangover and still drunk, but he could still skate faster, shoot harder and deke better than all of us" ...

The guys had an immense talent, he could have been an HoF and pretty highly regarded one.

Apparently he was a pretty shy guy, with a tons of pression as a kid, and he feeled he needed to be drunk to stand it.

Sad ...

R.I.P Bryan Fogarty

I think it was Mats Sundin, in his time with the Nords, that said something along the line of "The guy was coming to the morning practice hangover and still drunk, but he could still skate faster, shoot harder and deke better than all of us" ...

The guys had an immense talent, he could have been an HoF and pretty highly regarded one.

Apparently he was a pretty shy guy, with a tons of pression as a kid, and he feeled he needed to be drunk to stand it.

Sad ...

R.I.P Bryan Fogarty
I read that story, He died last year didnt he? A sad story. He also had psychological problems too, didnt he?

I think it was Mats Sundin, in his time with the Nords, that said something along the line of "The guy was coming to the morning practice hangover and still drunk, but he could still skate faster, shoot harder and deke better than all of us" ...

The guys had an immense talent, he could have been an HoF and pretty highly regarded one.

Apparently he was a pretty shy guy, with a tons of pression as a kid, and he feeled he needed to be drunk to stand it.

Sad ...

R.I.P Bryan Fogarty

Coupe Stanley...........

I wonder...........I wonder what type of numbers Fogarty would have posted up in the NHL if he had stayed sober?........I wonder if he would have even broke Bobby Orr's NHL scoring records?

Bryan Fogarty is not dead, not that I know of.

Bryan Fogarty is not dead, not that I know of.

Bryan Fogarty passed away March 6, 2002 in Myrtle Beach, SC. He died of a heart attack while on vacation.

Allow me to be the first Oiler fan to offer up the name of Jason Bonsignore. Chosen higher than any player in franchise history, his was compared to the very best as a prospect.

Sadly, he never got close to being the player thought he would become. Honorable mention to Steve Kelly.

Bryan Fogarty passed away March 6, 2002 in Myrtle Beach, SC. He died of a heart attack while on vacation.
Damn, what a shame.

Christian Dube
Eric Fichaud
Jason Botterill
Nolan Baumgartner
Boyd Devereaux
Chad Kilger

Here are some players who looked like they were going to be superstars early in their careers but have had fairly disappointing careers considering their early success/hype:

Felix Potvin
Jason Arnott
Alexei Yashin
Chris Gratton
Bryan Berard
Oleg Tverdovsky
Pierre Turgeon
Saku Koivu

Here are some players who looked like they were going to be superstars early in their careers but have had fairly disappointing careers considering their early success/hype:

Felix Potvin -> Agree
Jason Arnott -> Early carrer number was boosted by the era, IMO
Alexei Yashin -> Off-ice problem, lack of motivation..
Chris Gratton -> Major Bust
Bryan Berard -> The guy lost a freakin eye dude.
Oleg Tverdovsky -> Agree
Pierre Turgeon -> In 1215 NHL games, Turgeon did score 495 goals, 779 assists for 1274 points. I see nothing wrong with that, do you?
Saku Koivu -> Could have went better for little Saku, but he's still one of the best in the game when it counts. He just cant bring his A++ game every night because of his fragile body.

Coupe Stanley...........

I wonder...........I wonder what type of numbers Fogarty would have posted up in the NHL if he had stayed sober?........I wonder if he would have even broke Bobby Orr's NHL scoring records?


Thats pretty big shoes to fill.

We'll never really know but he got some good PPG for a young drunk defenseman who didnt really put any effort into rounding out his skill level.

1990-91 - 45 GM 9G 22A 31PTS
1991-92 - 20 GM 3G 12A 15PTS

I went a lot to the Colisee de Quebec in those years, and I can tell you something. Some night he looked like he could take over a game by himself, other nights it was braincramp after braincramp.

If he would have been able to stay focused and sobre in his developpement process, IMO, he's a guy that would have earned 8-10 millions bucks a season and have a couple of Norris Trophy, no doubt. He was that good.

Here's some quote I found on him on the web


He had everything. He could skate like the wind. He could see anybody on the ice. He could make the perfect pass. He was as talented as anybody I've seen in junior hockey. He broke all of Bobby Orr's records. Everybody was telling me you can't go wrong with him.

- Maurice Filion, former Quebec GM, who drafted Bryan Fogarty with the Nordiques' first pick in 1987, six picks ahead of Quebec's second selection, Joe Sakic

He needed the beer, but it was his demise. The profession, the lifestyle -- he couldn't handle it. He wanted the hockey, but it was so hard the way he was. The inside of Bryan and the world around him didn't seem to meet.

- Virginia Fogarty

Mats Sundin told me this: "Bryan Fogarty could skate faster, shoot harder and pass crisper drunk than the rest of us could sober."

- Max Offenberger

He was the best player I have ever seen. He had a heart of gold. He'd never hurt a fly. He'd do anything for you. He just couldn't help himself.

-Marc Laforge


We've got the real version of the quote now :yo:

Greg Joly, No. 1 over-all by Washington in 1974
Gord Kluzak No. 1 over-all by Boston in 1982
Brian Lawton No. 1 over-all by Minnesota in 1983 (Yzerman was picked No. 4 that year)
Patrik Stefan No. 1 over-all by Atlanta in 1999 (the next three did not live up to their hype as well being the Sedin sisters and Pavel Brendl)

Tough to blame Kluzak for being a bust when it was his knee that did him in. Seven surgeries in two years if I remember correctly.

First name that came to my mind was Jamie Storr. Drafted #4 overall wasn't he? Corey Hirsh would be another one.

2003 - Braydon Coburn, Steve Bernier, Marc-Antoine Pouliot
2004 - Evgeny Malkin, Andrew Ladd, Al Montoya, Alexandre Picard, Rob Schremp

ok let me have it :)

If you HAVE to take a dig at the Oilers, at least point your finger in the right direction. Schremp and MAP are progressing as well as could be expected (MAP finally getting over his injuries, Schremp being caught in the depth charts of a Knights team loaded with senior forwards).

Niinimaki. Now there's a thought. He has struggled to even crack the line-up of the Road Runners. Even he has struggled with injuries (reconstructed shoulders, still has limited mobility in those joints), and I think that they're enough to significantly limit his pro-hockey career.

I keep seeing the name Brett Lindros, but I wonder if some posters are basing his ""potential greatness" on his draft number or his last name. I can't see anyone who ever saw him play believing he could be great, I thought he looked absolutely terrible. Don Maloney must have been delusional when he indicated time would tell that he had "gotten the better Lindros" :shakehead

alfie turcotte

Here are some players who looked like they were going to be superstars early in their careers but have had fairly disappointing careers considering their early success/hype:

Felix Potvin -> Agree
Jason Arnott -> Early carrer number was boosted by the era, IMO
Alexei Yashin -> Off-ice problem, lack of motivation..
Chris Gratton -> Major Bust
Bryan Berard -> The guy lost a freakin eye dude.
Oleg Tverdovsky -> Agree
Pierre Turgeon -> In 1215 NHL games, Turgeon did score 495 goals, 779 assists for 1274 points. I see nothing wrong with that, do you?
Saku Koivu -> Could have went better for little Saku, but he's still one of the best in the game when it counts. He just cant bring his A++ game every night because of his fragile body.

Jason Arnott was projected to be a lesser Eric Lindros after his Calder worthy rookie season in 1994.

Berard would have become much more if he hadn't been hurt.

Pierre Turgeon probably has scored more meaningless points in the NHL than any other player in league history.

Koivu just could have been much more of an impact player if he hadn't been hurt so much.

I keep seeing the name Brett Lindros, but I wonder if some posters are basing his ""potential greatness" on his draft number or his last name. I can't see anyone who ever saw him play believing he could be great, I thought he looked absolutely terrible. Don Maloney must have been delusional when he indicated time would tell that he had "gotten the better Lindros" :shakehead

He dominated the OHL after he was drafted, scoring 47 points in 26 games. He definitely showed flashes.

Normand Leveille

I still shake my head at what could have been ...this kid has all the tools.

http://www.bruins-legends.com/L/leveille.htm

Most of you will be too young to remember this player, but in 1972 the #2 pick in the draft was Jacques Richard; ahead of future stars like Shutt and Barber. He was the leading scorer in the Q that year and some speculated he might turn out better than his highly regarded teammate the year before- Guy Lafleur. Unfortunately he picked up several bad habits (drinking, gambling,cocaine) and things went downhill quickly and his career was a total bust-except for 1980-81. For whatever reason that season he had 103 points that year with Quebec (his previous career high was 43). Maybe playing in his hometown inspired him to clean up his act. Regardless,it was short-lived and he fell back in the dumps the following year. After his career ended, he did time in jail for cocaine smuggling. After his release he looked like he was trying to change (i.e. giving speeches at schools), but a couple of years ago he died in a car crash and police found cocaine in his car.

Another can`t-miss prospect from the 70s was Peter Lee. Here in Ottawa, he was a star with the 67s. In fact his retired jersey still hangs from the rafters in the Civic Centre. He was drafted by the Montreal Canadiens, who were so strong back then that making the team was practically impossible, so he played with their minor-league team in Nova Scotia (back then it was often said that that AHL team was better than some of the lower NHL teams.) He got his chance to play in the NHL when he was traded to Pittsburgh for Pierre Larouche, and had a few not bad years for Pittsburgh, but was never considered a top player. Being a small player, he was never able to adapt to the rough style of the NHL, so at 27 he moved to Germany and had a lengthy and successful career over there.

The other guy i could mention was Tom Edur. He joined the WHA as an underage and played there for three years before going to the NHL, where he played for Colorado and Pittsburgh. Even though those teams were horrible back then, he was by far their best defenseman and gained a reputation as a future star. However, he was deeply disturbed by some of the off-ice activities of his teammates (i.e. drinking,adultery) and decided to quit at 23 years old to become a Jehovah`s Witness and dedicate his life to that faith. Pittsburgh thought it was a ploy to get more money, which they offered him, but he said he had no desire to play again. Even so, a year later, Edmonton used one of their picks in the 1979 expansion draft on him, just in case.

very interesting

sounds like robin sadler or even billy nyrop