ScottM Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 I thought it might be fun to start the conversation in this forum by discussing some players that had short but impressive careers. I'm going to start it off with two players: Mike Bossy and Ken Dryden. Mike Bossy's career was cut short due to injuries, and his playing days ended at age 30. In spite of his early exit, he still managed to score 573 career goals, and his goals per game average is the highest in league history. He is tied with Gretzky for the most 50 and 60 goal seasons, and holds he league record for most consecutive 50 goal seasons. If he had stayed healthy, I can't help but wonder if he might have challenged for the all-time goals record. Ken Dryden only played 7 full seasons in the NHL, but few have accomplished as much as he did in such a short period of time. He managed 258 career wins in his short career, was a 5-time Vezina winner, and was a key part of the Canadiens dynasty of the 70's, winning 6 Stanley Cups with the Habs. To date, he holds the distinction of being the only player in league history to win the Conn Smythe before winning the Calder, which he accomplished by leading Montreal to an unlikely title in 1971, charging through the heavily-favored Bruins en route to the Finals. One has to wonder how many wins and awards he could have amassed in a "full" career. Who else would you have liked to have seen play longer, and what do you think they might have accomplished if they had? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jammer2 Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 Bernie Parent....that damn eye injury robbed us of years and years of greatness!! edit...and of course, the late Pelle Lindburgh, gone before he could really show us the star that he truly was!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottM Posted August 21, 2014 Author Share Posted August 21, 2014 edit...and of course, the late Pelle Lindburgh, gone before he could really show us the star that he truly was!! I had to read up on Lindbergh. I wasn't very familiar with him. Looking at his stats, it looks like he had a start to the 85-86 season that might've been ever better than his Vezina season the year before. What a tragedy... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jammer2 Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 @ScottM Lindburgh was a gem of a goalie, taken from us far to quickly. He made stops that left you with your mouth agape and speechless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mojo1917 Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 Mario Lemiuex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottM Posted August 21, 2014 Author Share Posted August 21, 2014 I just had one of those "I can't believe I didn't mention him" moments: Bobby Orr! He played 12 seasons, but because of injuries, he played only 26 games in the last 3 combined. He had 915 points in 657 as a defenseman and revolutionized the position. In his final full season, he amassed 46 goals, a then-record for a blue-liner, and held the record for assists in a season until a couple of guys named Gretzky and Lemieux came along. On top of that, he's the subject of one of the most iconic photos in sports history. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jammer2 Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 @ScottM How "unCanadian" of me to not mention Bobby Orr right off the hop! How did that even happen....LOL! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottM Posted August 21, 2014 Author Share Posted August 21, 2014 @ScottM How "unCanadian" of me to not mention Bobby Orr right off the hop! How did that even happen....LOL! We can feel like idiots together if you want. Lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jammer2 Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 @ScottM Sindey Crosby...oh wait, that's next year....ha ha. Seriously though, we would be remiss in not mentioning the premier power forwards of their era....Eric Lindros and Cam Neeley. Those two had TONS left in the tank, but Eric could not keep his head up and Cam was cut down by the worst cheap shot artist ever...Ulf Samulesson. A serious honourable mention to Vladimir Konstatinov. At age 30, he was just starting to show how dominant he was when that fateful Limo accident robbed us of years and years of one of the meanest SOB's to EVER lace up skates. Leaf fans around these parts actually wore shirts that said "Vlad the Impaler and it was crossed to to read Vlad the IMPALED....one of the most horrid t-shirts I've ever seen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samifan Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 Brett Lindros Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mojo1917 Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 @ScottMYeah, 5 Bobby Orrs beats five of any of the other greats easily, any day . I said Mario because I thought he would win many more championships and score many more points , maybe catch up with Gretzky 's totals. But a wonky back and Leukemia made sure that didn't happen. They took time from his prime and shortened his career. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hf101 Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 I found this an interesting read thus I copied it in entirety.http://www.greatesthockeylegends.com/2008/05/hockey-players-who-died-in-car.html Hockey Players Who Died In Car Accidents During Their Careers Following the tragic death of Luc Bourdon, I have tried to compile a list of hockey players who died as the result of vehicular accidents while still playing. Here's what I found: On September 29, 2003, Dan Snyder was critically injured after teammate Dany Heatley's Ferrari struck a wall in Atlanta. Both players were ejected from the car, which was split in half by the force of the impact. Snyder suffered a fractured skull and internal brain injuries. He lapsed into a coma following emergency surgery, and died six days later. Heatley pleaded guilty to second-degree vehicular homicide, driving too fast for conditions, failure to maintain a lane, and speeding. He was sentenced to three years probation. On November 10, 1985, Pelle Lindbergh drove his Porsche into a wall. Lindbergh died the next day. The blood alcohol level of the NHL's reigning Vezina trophy winner was 2 1/2 times the legal limit. Tim Horton, the Hall of Fame defenseman and donut king, never lived to see the immense success of the coffee shop that adorns his name. With a blood-alcohol level twice the legal limit, Horton crashed his sports car while returning to Buffalo following a game in Toronto. Horton smacked into a cement culvert at a speed of 160 km/h. He was not wearing a seat belt. Bill Barilko died in a plane crash just weeks after scoring the winning goal in the 1951 Stanley Cup. His body was not found for 11 years. Don Ashby played in 188 NHL games with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Colorado Rockies and Edmonton Oilers over 6 seasons in the late 1970s/early 1980s. Ashby and his wife, Terry, were involved in an automobile accident in which their vehicle was hit head-on by a pick up truck and he died a few hours later from massive internal injuries. Long before Mario Lemieux and Sidney Crosby, the Pittsburgh Penguins were excited by the talents of Quebec League graduate Michel Briere. He was even compared favorably to a young Bobby Clarke. But Briere would only play in one NHL season. During the off season a car accident left him in a coma for about a year. He died in 1971 at the age of 21. Following a team party after elimination from the playoffs, Carolina Hurricane's defenseman Steve Chiasson died instantly when he crashed his truck on the way home. Chiasson was found to have a blood-alcohol level over three times the legal limit in North Carolina. On Memorial Day weekend, 1977, the Blues team gathered for a post-season party at Garry Unger’s farm near Gray Summit, Missouri. Rugged defenseman Bob Gassoff was riding one of the farm's motorcycles and collided with a vehicle on a road near the far. Not wearing a helmet, Gassoff died instantly. Dmitri Tertyshny was a promising young defenseman for the Philadelphia Flyers. In the summer of 1999 Tertyshny attended a popular power skating school in Kelowna, British Columbia. One night Tertyshny, Francis Belanger and Mikhail Chernov headed out on popular Okanagan Lake. Unfortunately, the boat hit a strong wave, surprising Tertyshny who fell out of the boat. The propeller of the boat's motor sliced Tertyshny's jugular vein. B. J. Young only got into play in one NHL game with Detroit back in the 1999-2000 season. The middle-range prospect was killed in a single vehicle accident in Vancouver in 2005. Jonathan Delisle was another decent prospect who only got into one NHL game, that coming in 1998-99 with Montreal. He died in a vehicle accident in 2006 in Beauce, Quebec. Jeff Batters appeared in 16 games with the St. Louis Blues between 1993 and 1995. In 1996 the rugged rearguard died from injuries sustained in a car crash. In 1986-87 season, the Swift Current Broncos' team bus crashed on the wintery roads of western Canada. Four players died, include Scott Kruger, Chris Mantyka, Trent Kresse and Brent Ruff, the younger brother of NHL player/coach Lindy Ruff. A similar bus accident happened in 1974 involving Sherbrooke of the QMJHL. Gaetan Paradis lost his life as he was pinned under the bus. George Pelawa, Calgary's 16th overall pick of the 1986 NHL Entry Draft, also died in a car accident before having a chance to play in the NHL. Same can be said about San Jose prospect Zoltan Batovsky, who died in 2001. Other prospects to die in car crashes include Scott Brower, Brent Leavins, Stefan Blaho, Gary Crosby, Neil Carnes, and Jarmo Wasama. Players who were seriously but not fatally injured in car accidents at some point in their playing career include Slava Kozlov, Pierre Lacroix, Mitch Messier, Craig MacTavish, Fern Leblanc, Tomas Jonsson, Joe Reekie, Randy Holt, Guy Lafleur, Tom McCarthy, Gene Carr, Greg Neeld, Joe Noris, Blair Stewart, Bill Lochead, Brent Loney, Bruce Affleck, Jim Kyte, Don Jackson, Reed Larson, Doug Smith, Robyn Regehr and Mike Velluci. Russian Automobile Jinx? What is it with Russian hockey players and car crashes? Red Wings fans need no reminder of Russian players and car accidents. Just six days after capturing the 1997 Stanley Cup, a limousine escorting three Russians to a celebratory dinner and golf outing crashed. Star defenseman Vladimir Konstantinov, along with team masseur Sergei Mnatsakanov suffered serious head injuries, drastically altering their lives. Neither person was wearing a seat belt. Viacheslav Fetisov was also a passenger in that doomed limousine, but he escaped with non-serious chest and lung injuries. For Fetisov, it was his third serious car accident. He was involved in an accident in the late 1970s, but it was his accident in 1984 that haunted him for the longest time. Fetisov suffered a broken leg and missed the 1984 Canada, but more damning was the fact that the accident claimed the life of Anatoli Fetisov, Viacheslav’s brother. Anatoli was destined to become a star defenseman with the Soviet national team himself. In 2003 another Russian Red Wing had his career dramatically altered by a car accident. Can’t-miss prospect Igor Grigorenko was injured in a serious car accident on May 16th, 2003 near the city of Togliatti. Grigorenko suffered a badly broken left hip and fibia. Even more concerning was an embolism in his left lung which created life-threatening complications. He was never the same player after the accident. Perhaps the greatest Russian hockey player of all time died in a car crash. Valeri Kharlamov was the most electrifying Soviet hockey player of the 1970s, becoming a legend in both Canada and Russia following the 1972 Summit Series. In 1976 he escaped a bad car crash with a broken leg and ribs, but was not so lucky in 1981 when he died of injuries sustained in another accident. The list grows, though NHL fans might not be familiar with most of the names. In the 1990s a car accident claimed the life of good hockey prospect Taras Kirillov. In the same accident another prospect, Slava Kozlov, a former Red Wing now with the Atlanta Thrashers, was seriously injured and required facial reconstruction. Pittsburgh prospect Artiom Kopot (drafted in 1992) died in 1992. Toronto Maple Leafs draft pick Vladimir Antipov was in a car accident that claimed his wife's life in 2003. Antipov recovered and returned to the ice. The couple's infant was unharmed in the accident. History suggests that perhaps Russian hockey players are jinxed when behind the wheel of a vehicle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaGreatGazoo Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 I just had one of those "I can't believe I didn't mention him" moments: Bobby Orr! He played 12 seasons, but because of injuries, he played only 26 games in the last 3 combined. He had 915 points in 657 as a defenseman and revolutionized the position. In his final full season, he amassed 46 goals, a then-record for a blue-liner, and held the record for assists in a season until a couple of guys named Gretzky and Lemieux came along. On top of that, he's the subject of one of the most iconic photos in sports history. First guy I thought of too...Orr. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaGreatGazoo Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 Brett Lindros HOLY CRAP, this made me bust out laughing! Well done, Sami!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TropicalFruitGirl26 Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 Hmm...you know what is VERY surprising to me, seeing as how there are lots of Philly fans here and Brett Lindros was mentioned (even if in jest), that NO ONE has said the name Eric Lindros. Ok, so technically, Lindros was in the NHL for most of 14 seasons, however, I say Lindros CAN be considered to have had a short career because of "The Hit", and I think everyone knows what I am talking about, but for those that don't, the hit Scott Stevens put on Lindros that marked, what...about his 5th or 6th concussion if I am not mistaken....and effectively "ended" his career. Sure, Lindros went on to play for the Rangers, Leafs, and ended his playing days on the Stars, but I think everyone will agree that the Eric Lindros that played on those teams was not anywhere near the same guy who played so dominantly on the Flyers.So, for all intents and purposes, Eric Lindros played in the NHL AS Eric Lindros from 1992 to about 1999-2000, when the Stevens hit put Lindros out of hockey for the following season. Only about 8 good seasons from #88, and given the guy's talents, that is WAY too short.....one can only wonder how Eric Lindros would fare in today's game with less 'clutching and grabbing' and more awareness to player safety....I think if he was dominant then, he would be super dominant in today's game with no one being able to grab and try to haul him down every chance they got. You think Milan Lucic is one bad jammer on the ice?IMO, Eric Lindros would chew him up and spit him out as far as dominant power forwards on the ice goes. And yea, I get that many Philly fans were extremely hard on the guy (some rightly so), but sometimes, I thought the guy got some undo blame for things that DIDN'T go right with the Flyers.And that is saying something coming from me, because as a young Lightning fan just becoming familiar with the NHL as a whole, I absolutely HATED the guy, but that was only because he tortured my team (and other teams as well) so badly, and quite frankly, the guy scared me....when I saw him in full flight on the ice, I didn't see a man, I saw a monster wearing orange and black! But looking back as a more mature adult now, I see that the guy really was a great on-ice talent, a dominant force, and had he not accumulated the array of concussions he did, ending with the Stevens hit, he probably would have gone on to put up ridiculous all time offensive numbers....as well as put up some great Real Time numbers (hits, PIMS, possession numbers, etc) to go along with his outstanding offense, and there probably would not have been ANY question as to whether he belongs in the HOF or not. So, he did have a hockey career post-Flyers and post 2000....but can anyone REALLY say that was Eric Lindros skating around in that jersey after Philly? I wouldn't.Eric Lindros lived and died wearing the orange and black and as far as I am concerned, those 8 seasons or so were the only ones in his career that truly mattered. That Ranger, Maple Leaf, and Stars version of Lindros was just a shell, a holographic image if you will, of a guy who just got hit way too many times in the head and definitely had a career that was way too short. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samifan Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 So, he did have a hockey career post-Flyers and post 2000....but can anyone REALLY say that was Eric Lindros skating around in that jersey after Philly? I wouldn't.Eric Lindros lived and died wearing the orange and black and as far as I am concerned, those 8 seasons or so were the only ones in his career that truly mattered.That Ranger, Maple Leaf, and Stars version of Lindros was just a shell, a holographic image if you will, of a guy who just got hit way too many times in the head and definitely had a career that was way too short. Well said TFG! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yave1964 Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 Gotta be Orr, first and foremost. Forsberg comes to mind, just a brilliant player that his damn feet cost him a career. Pavel Bure as well. Cam Neely. Lindros. That is my list, goalie would be Ken Dryden, of course his was not injury related, he just called it a career after 8 seasons and 6 cups. So if you go by injuries, although he gets ragged on because of the absurd contract I would go with Rick Dipietro. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatrik98 Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 I definitely would go with Orr.Pelle Lindbergh comes to mind for goalies.I think Cam Neely status would of been greater if it wasn't for his injuries.I think Forsberg accomplished a lot for his short career but I think his name would of been up there with the Gretzky, Lemieux etc, if he had a longer career. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Polaris922 Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 Damnit! @hf101 stole my thunder with Michel Briere! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hf101 Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 I definitely would go with Orr.Pelle Lindbergh comes to mind for goalies.I think Cam Neely status would of been greater if it wasn't for his injuries.I think Forsberg accomplished a lot for his short career but I think his name would of been up there with the Gretzky, Lemieux etc, if he had a longer career. Welcome! Glad to have a another Jet's fan in the forums.and Yeah, and had those extra years been with the Flyers... who knows how many more cups he may have won! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatrik98 Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 Welcome! Glad to have a another Jet's fan in the forums.and Yeah, and had those extra years been with the Flyers... who knows how many more cups he may have won!Thanks. Jet Fans are very rare here in the States. Especially in the Pacific NW. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jammer2 Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 @Hatrik98 Welcome Hatty, great to have a Jets fan in here! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jammer2 Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 @TropicalFruitGirl26 I did mention Eric, but regardless....EXCELLENT post TFG!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottM Posted August 22, 2014 Author Share Posted August 22, 2014 Thanks. Jet Fans are very rare here in the States. Especially in the Pacific NW. I know the feeling as a Senators fan in Deep South! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatrik98 Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 I know the feeling as a Senators fan in Deep South!Oh yeah. Good luck finding any Sens Fans down there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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