NHL History

Meh Rushmore: Central Division

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Everyone and their mother can do a Mount Rushmore of greatest players. Pick a generation and go and the stats tell their tale. So why not do a Rushmore of guys who just existed on their teams?? It’s not as if their tenure was the worst, but it wasn’t all that big or memorable. Which is why we’re here right now. Here’s my look at the four guys in each franchise that had a less than memorable tenure with those clubs. We’ll continue on with the Central Division and here are the guidelines I’m going by: 

RULES
200 Skater/75 Goalie minimum GP with team
At least one goalie on the list
No individual performance awards
Transplanted teams CAN use previous location for players
*Colorado can pull from Quebec
*Dallas can pull from Minnesota North Stars
*Utah will pull from Arizona/Phoenix/Winnipeg 1.0
*Winnipeg 2.0 can pull from Atlanta
Not known for designated role on team (Enforcer, Shot Blocker, Face-offs)
No current NHL players
“Meh” Status based on time with team they’re represented on

CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS: Cam Barker (200 GP, 17g, 63a); Steve Ludzik (413 GP, 46g, 92a); Rick Paterson (430 GP, 50g, 43a); Harry Lumley (134 GP, 29-85-18, 3.63 GAA)

Barker was a former 3rd overall pick with a dynamic junior career. Aside from one year, Barker’s tenure in Chicago got overshadowed by the likes of Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith’s production. Ludzik set franchise records in juniors, but the offensive side didn’t come as easily for him in the pros. Ludzik was used in a more bottom six role with Chicago having plenty of top production already in their line-up. Paterson had one season of 14 goals, but he was another player where success offensively in lower leagues didn’t translate to the NHL. Lumley went from the Cup champions in Detroit to a sad-sack Chicago team in 1950, hitting the 40-loss mark in both seasons in Chicago. Despite being a Hall of Famer, Lumley’s time in Chicago was a forgettable mark on his resume. 

COLORADO AVALANCHE: Dan Hinote (353 GP, 27g, 38a), Rene Corbet (230 GP, 39g, 47a), Shjon Podein (239 GP, 34g, 37a), Mario Gosselin (192 GP, 79-82-12, 3.67 GAA, .871 Sv%)

Hinote had two solid years at Army before moving to major juniors and saw a regression. Hinote was able to carve out a role as a grinder and get his name on the Cup. Corbet was a better than point-per-game player coming into the NHL, however a deep line-up didn’t allow Corbet to shine as much as he did in his junior and minor league years. Podein had solid years in the NHL before coming to Colorado where the depth got the best of his ability and his adaptation to a bottom-six role allowed him to walk around in full-gear with the Cup after the 2001 win. Gosselin was in a back-up role for most his time, which suited him well. Gosselin’s lone year with starter minutes was his most disappointing year in his tenure. 

DALLAS STARS: Niko Kapanen (239 GP, 20g, 56a), Toby Petersen (243 GP, 17g, 23a), Brett Ritchie (241 GP, 33g, 21a); Kari Takko (131 GP, 33-67-14, 3,88 GAA,.879 Sv%)

Kapanen spent time in Finland before the jump to the NHL, but the point total didn’t come with. Kapanen got 14 of his 20 goals with Dallas in the post-lockout season. Petersen made a long trek through the minors before heading over to Dallas. With Dallas, Petersen got bottom-six time, which didn’t allow him to find much of an offensive punch. Ritchie had a bit of a physical game, but injuries would take its toll on him. Ritchie’s biggest season was his 16-goal campaign, which was also his career-high in games played in a season. Takko was a back-up supreme, but couldn’t seem to get the bounces to go his way. One of the memorable contributions was the Takko-Bell trade when he was dealt to Edmonton for Bruce Bell. 

MINNESOTA WILD: Antti Laaksonen (323 GP, 55g, 63a), Stephane Veilleux (428 GP, 47g, 50a), Richard Park (217 GP, 37g, 37a), Josh Harding (151 GP, 60-59-11, 2.45 GAA, .918 Sv%)

Laaksonen was a consistent player for the first years of the Wild, but couldn’t replicate his output from college. Laaksonen was highly underrated in the grand scheme in a very defensive Wild line-up. Veilleux had a big year in his draft year, but through his NHL career, he couldn’t reach that peak. Veilleux bounced between the AHL and NHL post-lockout. Park was also part of the early teams who didn’t score all too much, but his consistency kept him as a viable bottom-six source. Harding is only here because his numbers were slightly less than Dwayne Roloson’s and Manny Fernandez won an individual stat award– that’s all. 

NASHVILLE PREDATORS: Adam Hall (234 GP, 43g, 42a), Nick Spaling (297 GP, 40g, 44a), Yannick Weber (223 GP, 6g, 18a), Mike Dunham (217 GP, 81-104-24, 2.74 GAA, .910 Sv%)

Hall had a consistent college career that moved onto the NHL ranks. Hall started to be a special teams threat in his last season in Nashville with 10 of his 14 goals coming on the power play. Spaling had a decent junior career, but it wasn’t until his last year in Nashville when he was moved to wing where he had an offensive breakout. Weber was in his last NHL years when he got to Nashville and was kind of there. Weber was in and out of the line-up in his four seasons with the Preds. Dunham was the first starter for the Preds and got shelled as a reward. Dunham’s 2000-01 season allowed his numbers not be as terrible as he had a 2.2.8 GAA and .923 save percentage. 

ST. LOUIS BLUES: Ralph Klassen (225 GP, 18g, 37a), Dmitri Jaskin (266 GP, 25g, 36a), Dave Lowry (311 GP, 53g, 51a), Vincent Riendeau (122 GP, 58-45-16, 3.34 GAA, .883 Sv%)

Klassen had a solid junior career, but couldn’t make it transfer in his years in the NHL. Klassen bounced in and out of the line-up through his Blues tenure. Jaskin came out of juniors looking like an offensive dynamo. However, Jaskin’s physical game would be his calling card in his six years with the Blues. Lowry’s highest single-season goals and points total came with the Blues, but it was under 20 goals and exactly 40 points. Lowry’s hockey IQ helped him keep a constant role in the NHL. Riendeau had a great 1990-91 season, but even still he never had a season under a 3.00 or above a .900 save percentage in his tenure with the Blues. 

UTAH “ARIZONA COYOTES” MAMMOTH: Mike Sullivan (256 GP, 13g, 20a), Lauri Korpikoski (401 GP, 62g, 83a), Radoslav Suchy (372 GP, 13g, 50a), Brian Boucher (96 GP, 28-45-18, 2.98 GAA, .898 Sv%)

Sullivan’s last stop was in Phoenix, where he played a bottom-six role. Sullivan only registered one season with double-digit points with the Coyotes. Korpikoski hit his career-high in points in his second Coyotes season, but declined in the NHL from there. Korpikoski was able to get back on track once he went back to Finland. Suchy was offensively talented in juniors and the AHL, but didn’t find that spark in the NHL. Suchy was able to transition to a more defensive role to round out his game. Boucher was in net for most of the harder times for the mid-00s Coyotes, but could not get the goal support needed. Boucher’s lone bright spot was his consecutive shutout record with five shutouts in a row in 2004. 

WINNIPEG JETS: Alexander Burmistrov (298 GP, 30g, 51a), Chris Thorburn (709 GP, 49g, 72a), JP Vigier (213 GP, 23g, 23a), Milan Hnilicka (117 GP, 29-65-13, 3.31 GAA, .901 Sv%)

Burmistrov never flourished as a top-ten pick with Atlanipeg or the rest of his time in North America. Burmistrov’s hockey IQ has gotten him a roster spot in Russia since leaving. Thorburn was a consistent scorer in junior, but his role jumping to the NHL changed. Thorburn did adapt, but never brought the scoring touch he had in the OHL. Vigier was an AHL stalwart who put up decent numbers, but couldn’t translate that into the NHL. Vigier found his touch again in Switzerland after his NHL time was up. Hnilicka took some time to get to the NHL, but his first full season was a respectable one in Atlanta. Unfortunately, Hnilicka’s second and third seasons left plenty to desire.

Summer Reading: Heritage Jerseys, History, and the Forcing of Both

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I think I’m tired of the “Heritage Jersey” scheme that Adidas is going on about. The NHL has gone into the NBA territory by having fancy names for their alternate jerseys. While the idea of nostalgia is a great one and one that is a proven moneymaker; the fact we’ve seen some of these jerseys in the recent past proves that the NHL is all about the retread– as if you haven’t figured that out by who participates in the outdoor games. Already, we’ve seen the St. Louis Blues, New Jersey Devils, Arizona Coyotes, and the Anaheim Ducks (…kind of) that have put out their “heritage” jerseys. I’m sure we can expect the Capitals, Maple Leafs, and possibly Flames to join this trend.

While it’s nice to have this retro flare– it’s really all fake. If the NHL really cared about the “heritage” aspect of these jerseys; why wouldn’t they want to show off the Colorado Rockies or Kansas City Scouts jerseys that are the actual heritage of the New Jersey Devils instead of their white “Christmas color’ jersey motif.

Therein lies the problem with the NHL and the way they present their history. Sure, it’s the whole “to the victor goes the spoils,” but at the same time– you can’t bury the history of team’s past. Hell, those are the jerseys and logos that it seems that people crave. However, the NHL doesn’t want you to remember the past as it was. They want you to remember the history as they present– which is a raw deal for everyone involved.

Rarely do you hear about the Cleveland Barons, Kansas City Scouts, Hamilton Tigers, or St. Louis Eagles due to those teams not making any kind of positive impact in their few years in the NHL proper. People get force fed the “original” six forever and day, but that’s not really the history. Hell, they’re more like the surviving six over anything else. But that’s not what the NHL wants to portray, which I can understand. With the exception of the NBA, you don’t see many leagues touting the teams that have fallen off their radar. You might get fans talking about those teams, but rare to see the leagues promote the dead teams that relocated.

You rarely hear about players from the old days either. The lack of publicity that Joe Malone gets from the NHL is sickening, especially when you have baseball still hold up things that Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig did. Malone was one of the greatest players and the greatest goal-scorer of his generation, but the NHL really doesn’t do much to profile their players before 1950. Newsy Lalonde is really talked about for his name, but his goal-scoring prowess was up there with Malone, but you only get his nickname of Newsy as something to remember him by rather than the 124 NHL goals in 99 games over his career and 288 goals in 207 games if you combine the NHA and NHL totals. But the NHL doesn’t even give them a passing glance unless they have to– which is rarely.

The idea of having a team historian is a thing that seems to be a hot topic amongst fans with some teams putting it to use. Granted, some of them have put in the work and then were unceremoniously shown the door after the fact, but the team got what they wanted. In all honesty, it seems that the need for a historian could be a “flavor of the month” for some teams and the league itself. With the NHL Centennial over, you have to wonder how much they’ll promote Dave Stubbs’ work since the history isn’t something they need at the forefront anymore.

Jen Conway (AKA NHL History Girl) and I discussed this on the FOHS Overtime on Patreon, so if you want to shell out of few duckets to hear it– then by all means. All the money goes back into the Media Faction for shows and stuff like that.

You can bet we’ll see more “heritage” jerseys– many of which we have seen in the past, many of which won’t be the real heritage of the team. It’s this idea of history that’s great in theory– but when you put it into practice and you dig up things that aren’t all rosy; that’s stuff people don’t want to hear or pay attention to– so they turn it and it becomes a waste for many. Here’s hoping that many hockey fans can take the good with the bad, but with how things work in this social media era– it’s unlikely to happen.