Quote:
Originally Posted by Rasmuth
hey TigerFan...thanks for these, enjoying your write ups immensely.
How about:
Tiger Williams
Paul Coffey
Rob Ray
Alexander Ovechkin
Maxim Afinogenov
Michael Peca
Curtis Brown
and how about Jason Bonsignore....one of the biggest draft busts in NHL history...he's from my area and I actually met him a few times just after being picked 4th overall in the 1993 draft I believe. Did he ever make the NHL in your replay?
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TIGER WILLIAMS
One of my favourites from my days as a 10-15 year watching the Leafs in the late 1970s. Unfortunately, Tiger never got much of a shot with the Leafs in this sim. He played just 2 games for the Leafs as a 20 year old in 1974-75, but scored his first NHL goal and had his first fight. He would spend most the next three years in the minors but did get called up for 27 games (1-3-4 with 104pims) in 1976-77 and 2 games (1 assist, no pim's) the following season.
In December of 1976 the Leafs put him on waivers and he was claimed by the New York Rangers but spent the rest of the season in New Haven. In 1977-78 he got some time in with the Rangers, playing 16 games with 2 goals and 68 pims, and he would get 9 more games the following season.
Now 25 years old the Rangers decided to give up on Williams and placed him on waivers at the end of the season. The Minnesota North Stars, one of the worst teams in the league at this point as they missed the playoffs each of the previous 7 seasons, claimed Williams and he finally got a chance to be an NHL regular.
Williams would play 6 full seasons with the North Stars and part of a seventh before being sent back to the minors where he would end his career. 518 of Williams 574 career NHL games where played in Minnesota and he finished his career with 77 goals, 185 points and 1653 penalty minutes including a 304 minute season in 1983-84 when he also scored a career best 20 goals.
PAUL COFFEY
Coffey spent his entire career in Edmonton, joining the Oilers as a 19 year old in 1980-81 and ending his career after the 1997-98 campaign. He played 1229 games and had 396 goals and 1459 points. A solid offensive defenseman but he was overshadowed by Denis Potvin and Mark Howe early in his career and Nik Lidstrom late so Coffey managed to win just 1 Norris Trophy. He was a first time all-star just once and made two appearances on the second all-star team. Like Gretzky, he will be best remembered for failing to win a Stanley Cup- although they did come close on a couple of occassions.
ROB RAY
Ray failed to make the NHL but did play 591 minor league games, scoring 105 goals and earning 754 pims. He spent 4 years with the Sabres farm team in Rochester before being dealt to New Jersey in the summer of 1993 in exchange for Peter Statsny and Murray Eaves. The deal was no where near as lobsided as it might sound - Statsny was at the end of his career and spent his only season in the Buffalo organization playing for Rochester. Eaves was also just a minor leaguer at that point in his career. Ray would play 5 seasons in Albany before retiring, having never been called up to the NHL.
ALEX OVECHKIN
He had a long career, 16 seasons and 1205 games, entirely in Washington but was never a dominant scorer. No 50 goal seasons and he topped 40 only 3 times in his career so Ovechkin finished with 457 goals and 918 points. The Capitals were a bad team through much of his career, which was a factor - making the playoffs just 5 times in his career and advancing past the second round just once. No all-star selections and the only awards he won was the Mark Messier Leadership Award in 2020 and the Maurice Richard Trophy when he led the NHL with 47 goals in 2007-08.
MAXIM AFINOGENOV
Afinogenov was no stranger to the Battle of Alberta as all of his 752 career NHL games were played for either the Flames or the Oilers. He started with the Sabres in Rochester but after scoring 19 goals and 41 points as a 20 year old for the Amerks the Sabres decided not to renew his contract and let him sign with Calgry. After a year in Saint John he made his NHL debut at the age of 22 in 2001-02, playing 75 games and scoring 6 goals and 18 points for Calgary. He had a slow start the following season, going scoreless in 8 games and the Flames dealt him to Edmonton where he would finish out the 02-03 season playing for the Hamilton Bulldogs of the AHL.
He made the Oilers out of camp in 2003-04 and played the next 9 seasons with Edmonton before ending his career with 3 years in Oklahoma City and Bakersfield. His career high was a 15 goal season in 2009-10 and in all Afinogenov scored just 90 goals in 752 NHL games. No Cups for Afinogenov but he did help the Oilers to the conference finals in 2011-12 before they fell to eventual champion Chicago.
MICHAEL PECA
Peca had a nice NHL career, playing 1036 games for Vancouver, Washington and Colorado. He won a Cup late in his career with Avs, when he scored 6 goals and 10 points in 22 playoff games in 2005. He never played a day in the minors, finishing his NHL career with 185 goals and 560 points.
Peca broke in with Vancouver as an 18 year in 1992-93 and scored 12 goals and 27 points that season. His best offensive year was a 22 goal season with the Canucks in 96-97 and his career high in points was 54 which he accomplished twice in back to back seasons with the Avalanche.
The Canucks dealt him to Washington when he was 23 in the summer of 1997 in exchange for defenseman Scott Stevens. Stevens was near the end of his career so it seemed like a dumb move on Vancouver's side, but the Canucks I guess were hoping to make a Cup run but this was in the era of Detroit's dominance so they were much less than successful in that regard.
Stevens lasted just 2 seasons in Vancouver but that was one more than Peca played in Washington as he was dispatched to Colorado the following summer. The deal sent Peca and minor leaguer Hnat Domenichelli to the Avs in exchange for goaltender Ron Tugnutt. Peca would enjoy 8 solid seasons in Colorado to end his career.
CURTIS BROWN
Spent a decade in Buffalo, playing 574 NHL games. Brown finished with 100-139-239 for his numbers and retired shortly after being sent down to the minors in 2005 as a 28 year old. Career best season was 1999-2000 when he scored 21 goals in 64 games despite missing substantial time with a broken wrist.
JASON BONSIGNORE
A real bust in the game. In fact he never played anywhere, NHL or minors. The Oilers had his rights but he never played anywhere with them and was released in 1999. No one else signed him.