Beck Malenstyn's Goal shows us that...

[tom webster]

3 hours ago, matter2003 said:

Often hear people who are great at pickup basketball say they could take NBA players who are bench players that never play, but then get absolutely crushed by them in a "no-contest" type way when they get a chance to play them.

That reminded me of Malenstyn scoring on that play...while there are probably a lot of people that think they are way better players and scorers in their leagues than someone like Malenstyn who is a 4th line player, the truth is he would dominate them and their league and score at will, like 5-10 goals a game any game he wanted. 

The difference in offensive skill between the best "pickup" hockey players and NHL 4th liners is still night and day and I think we forget that sometimes.

It’s funny, I had almost this exact conversation yesterday at the meet up. I think we’ve all had friends who played against so and so in grade school and think they were better, or at least equal to the guy that “made it.”

[JustOneParade]

I always looked at this phenomena like a pyramid. How many high school seniors are there in a given year? What percentage of those can play varsity basketball? What percentage of those can play college basketball at any level? What percentage of those can play pro basketball at any level? That large initial base of the population whittles down to the head of a pin at the top.

To provide a first hand account, in college (DIII basketball) we went down the road to scrimmage Army (low-level DI) before our season started. It was eye-opening how different the talent and skill levels were, even within that relevant tier I mentioned above. Army had a kid who was also an all-American tight end on the football team. He was an absolute beast. 

[xzy89c1]

I helped coach a team Bill Hajt's son was on. Bill was better than anyone on the ice in his 40's.

[xzy89c1]

2 hours ago, K-9 said:

Reminds me of the time when, several years after he retired, Max Afinogenov was invited to play in a beer league game and he scored something like 15 goals. 

/Skated pick up with multiple nhl and college players in 80's and 90's. Rule one was do nothing to hurt them. Rule two was beat anyone who did not follow rule one. The skill level and power was otherworldly. just amazing. 

[Doohickie]

1 hour ago, ska-T Palmtown said:

getting a solid 4th line contributor in the 2nd round of the draft is not even guaranteed

Heck, Krebs was a first rounder, wasn't he?  Solid 4th liner, not totally out of place up higher, as much as we criticize him.

I'm sure he's someone that, at lower levels of play, looked like he had elite offensive skills.  He's got speed and is willing to do whatever he's asked, but his offensive skills aren't quite top nine level.

[Doohickie]

1 hour ago, tom webster said:

It’s funny, I had almost this exact conversation yesterday at the meet up. I think we’ve all had friends who played against so and so in grade school and think they were better, or at least equal to the guy that “made it.”

I didn't play anything more than flooded backyard hockey and street hockey with the other neighborhood kids.  I only knew of one guy who got anywhere in sports- made it into the NJ Devils farm system; never heard how far he got but it wasn't very far because he doesn't show up on any of the stats websites (granted, this would have been 40+ years ago, so prior to the stats websites themselves, but they do have some historical records).

[Scottysabres]

4 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

Heck, Krebs was a first rounder, wasn't he?  Solid 4th liner, not totally out of place up higher, as much as we criticize him.

I'm sure he's someone that, at lower levels of play, looked like he had elite offensive skills.  He's got speed and is willing to do whatever he's asked, but his offensive skills aren't quite top nine level.

krebs can do line 3, but ya, he’s not an offensive output driver…….at least as of now.

[Doohickie]

1 minute ago, Scottysabres said:

krebs can do line 3, but ya, he’s not an offensive output driver…….at least as of now.

Well he set up Malenstyn yesterday....

Edited 33 minutes ago by Doohickie

[Night Train]

It reminded me of the Brad May mayday goal. Instantly thought about it.