So skilled...and blessed with such terrific offensive flare. So why is he only getting about half a point a game? With his talent...he should be getting very close to a point a game. Thoughts?
Million dollar talent, ten cent head. He has poor hockey sense, and has played on some poor teams. All the talent in the world, but he makes a lot of bad decisions on the ice imo.
There's a ton of guys like that around the league. There are some guys out of the league who are like that. There are a ton of barriers preventing the majority of players from reaching their potential. O'Sullivan is frustrating but there's one guy on every team who could be a star and is instead fully mediocre.
There's a ton of guys like that around the league. There are some guys out of the league who are like that. There are a ton of barriers preventing the majority of players from reaching their potential. O'Sullivan is frustrating but there's one guy on every team who could be a star and is instead fully mediocre.
That's how I felt about Tanguay when he was in MTL last year. The guy could do everything defensively but still didn't do crap because he just never took the right decision
Rod Brind'amour doesn't appreciate Mr. O'Sullivan stealing away the negative +/- title from him. He worked so hard for his -20, then some young whippersnapper comes along and shows him up.
Rod Brind'amour doesn't appreciate Mr. O'Sullivan stealing away the negative +/- title from him. He worked so hard for his -20, then some young whippersnapper comes along and shows him up.
He, like many talented underachievers, would benefit greatly from simultaneously playing under a good system and having good players around him. He has never had both during his career.
O'Sullivan strikes me as the kind of player that would excel on a winning team, but plays terrible on a losing team.
Put him on Chicago or San Jose, and I think he could put up a PPG.
I do actually agree here.
O'Sullivan has so much talent that it does pain me to watch his invisibleness some nights.
I think a trade would benefit him, and a trade to a team that could put a little more talent around him. There have been games this year that O'Sullivan looked like a one man show, but then he doesn't follow it up with any consistency.
I hate to bring up Robbie Schremp in this thread, but you have to wonder if a nice change and a new team that gives him that opportunity to run with would benefit him as it has so far with Schremp?
O'Sullivan should be doing much more then he is right now, I think we all can agree to that.
Has O'Sullivan ever played for a >0.500 team in his career? I know playing on that many bad teams would be a ridiculous grind on confidence, passion, and desire.
Patrick O'Sullivan has all the talent in the world. I honestly believe he's suffering because he didn't learn to use his teammates properly in his junior years because of the weak supporting cast he had. Unfortunately, he still hasn't figured it out to this day...
Check out the stats from his last year in Mississauga, compared to those of the next highest scorers on the team, for example:
Patrick O'Sullivan 57 31 59 90
Tom Zanoski 65 20 30 50
Anthony Butera 60 16 32 48
He had almost double the number of points as the next guy. I watched him play maybe 10 times in junior and he had nothing to work with... Now that he does, he doesn't know how to be effective. I guess it comes down to what he's got between the ears.
He has all kinds of skill, but it boils down to the fact that he is a dumb hockey player. Not dumb as in an idiot, but dumb in terms of his positioning and instinct on the ice.
He doesn't make good decisions, and that leads to him never being in proper position for the pass. When he picks up the puck, he often takes the "fire and forget" mentality; this leads to him firing the puck right into the goalies breadbasket. The play truely dies on his stick.
Patrick O'Sullivan has all the talent in the world. I honestly believe he's suffering because he didn't learn to use his teammates properly in his junior years because of the weak supporting cast he had. Unfortunately, he still hasn't figured it out to this day...
Check out the stats from his last year in Mississauga, compared to those of the next highest scorers on the team, for example:
Patrick O'Sullivan 57 31 59 90
Tom Zanoski 65 20 30 50
Anthony Butera 60 16 32 48
He had almost double the number of points as the next guy. I watched him play maybe 10 times in junior and he had nothing to work with... Now that he does, he doesn't know how to be effective. I guess it comes down to what he's got between the ears.
Dude, have you seen the Oilers this year? O'Sullivan had more to work with in juniors than he does playing in Edmonton. Shawn Horcoff, JF Jacques and Ryan Stone have been the three pukes he's spent most of the season playing with. I bet he wishes Anthony Butera was around.....
Patrick O'Sullivan has all the talent in the world. I honestly believe he's suffering because he didn't learn to use his teammates properly in his junior years because of the weak supporting cast he had. Unfortunately, he still hasn't figured it out to this day...
Check out the stats from his last year in Mississauga, compared to those of the next highest scorers on the team, for example:
Patrick O'Sullivan 57 31 59 90
Tom Zanoski 65 20 30 50
Anthony Butera 60 16 32 48
He had almost double the number of points as the next guy. I watched him play maybe 10 times in junior and he had nothing to work with... Now that he does, he doesn't know how to be effective. I guess it comes down to what he's got between the ears.
I tend to think his 59 assists that year would indicate he did utilize his teammates, arguably to their fullest.
I tend to think his 59 assists that year would indicate he did utilize his teammates, arguably to their fullest.
Like I said, I watched the guy about 10 times, and during those 10 games, he basically did EVERYTHING himself. Sure, he passed the puck off when he was double teamed and opened up the ice for his teammates that way (and got his share of assists, of course), but a typical Mississauga goal went one of two ways:
1. O'Sullivan gets the puck at his own blue line, skates, weaves around a couple opposition skaters, makes a move, fires the puck and scores.
OR
2. O'Sullivan gets the puck at his own blue line, skates, weaves around a couple opposition skaters, makes a move, runs out of room because he's being double-teamed, makes a pass or just gets the puck to some open ice, one of his teammates picks it up and puts it in.
There was hardly any give-and-go or good passing plays that involved moving the puck. He did everything until he ran out of room, at which point some of his linemates had some room to score a goal. Players who open up the ice for their linemates are great, and Patty O' did so in juniors, but he plays in the NHL now, and it isn't happening.
I am not bashing O'Sullivan at all, by the way. I really like him and was awed by the one-man show he put on consistently when he dominated my Sudbury Wolves. I am also an Oilers fan and want to see him put on a show in the NHL. He had a good night last night and let's hope it continues.
All I am saying is that his development was stunted by the fact he had to (or chose to???) do it all himself for almost all of his junior career.
Last edited by Yosemite Sam: 01-15-2010 at 12:39 PM.
Dude, have you seen the Oilers this year? O'Sullivan had more to work with in juniors than he does playing in Edmonton. Shawn Horcoff, JF Jacques and Ryan Stone have been the three pukes he's spent most of the season playing with. I bet he wishes Anthony Butera was around.....
I have Centre Ice just so I can watch the Oilers. We can keep harping about how the entire lineup should be in the ECHL as much as we want, but the fact is each of these guys made it to the NHL and has some degree of skill. Sure he doesn't have any elite players to play with, but let's not compare his teammates in junior to NHLers.
If your point is that he'd do much better with better linemates, I'm with you on that. Who wouldn't? I still believe he's got 60-70 points in him, but only time will tell.
So skilled...and blessed with such terrific offensive flare. So why is he only getting about half a point a game? With his talent...he should be getting very close to a point a game. Thoughts?
