I used to watch him when he was with the hitmen and honestly he was one of the most impressive WHL players I have ever seen. I thought he would be a 40+ goal scorer in the NHL.
He should have at least been able to stick as a one dimensional 2nd line goal scorer. That he wasn't able to stick says quite a lot about his lack of work ethic.
Thought he was going to go number 1 in the 99 draft. Should have been able to find a PP-specialist job on the point or left circle based on his shot alone. Great realease, rather good instincts on where to bee and always seemed to get the shot off on the onetimer. Also had quite a good backhand-shot when in close. Really thoght he would be a constant 30+ scorer. A place on a second line with a decent playmaker and a cleaning lady + 1PP-dutie seemed like his low bar when drafted.
Somewhat "proved" for 4 seasons 06-07/09-10 that he can produce in high talented leauges. At least in Sweden he was "protected" on two teams with great team work ethic, letting Brendl play his game. His own work ethic on the other hand was to low for the NHL I suppose. Haven´t seened him play in a couple of years, but 2 goals in 19 games i the NLA is just terrible.
Pavel Brendl had the best release of any prospect drafted during the dead puck era for my money. Including all the names you're thinking about right now. What he did not have was elite skating, elite conditioning, or a desire to work on any of his weaknesses provided he was filling the net. He was consistently overweight at the start of camp, disinterested unless he was playing with the NHL club, and a borderline pariah in the dressing room considering his skill level to work ethic. I remember when Carolina gave him a chance and watching him compared to Jeff O'Neill it was like ..... one of these guys scores 30 every year and and hit 40 once and it's not the guy you'd think from watching them practice. Brendl is still one of the few guys that I can say I have seen beat goaltenders consistently with unscreened wrist shots. There was just no way to tell when the puck was coming off because his release was so sneaky. There exists zero doubt in my mind that Brendl would have had the ability to score 40 goals a season even in a time when that meant a lot more. The 2003-2004 Carolina Hurricanes were literally one of the worst offensive hockey teams in the history of the sport and he posted 5 goals in 18 games when given his only legit shot to stick around in Carolina. Sadly, he would suffer an injury on a hit from Bryan McCabe if I remember and separate his shoulder and ending his season and effectively his NHL career.
The poster boy for talent vs. work ethic. He should have been great.
Somewhat "proved" for 4 seasons 06-07/09-10 that he can produce in high talented leauges.
I just googled an interview with him in native language. He is very proud, because he scored 30+ three times and he "needn't explain anything to anybody".
He said talks about his laziness or fitness level are just rumors and he firmly believes, that if he had 2 or 3 injuries less or there was no lockout he would play NHL now.
I just googled an interview with him in native language. He is very proud, because he scored 30+ three times and he "needn't explain anything to anybody".
He said talks about his laziness or fitness level are just rumors and he firmly believes, that if he had 2 or 3 injuries less or there was no lockout he would play NHL now.
Seen the guy in practice many times and I wouldn't call him lazy but he doesn't give 100% everytime he is on the ice. If we are going to talk lazy we need to discuss players like Fabian Brunnström, Mario Lemieux or Alexandre Daigle.
I think of him as the Brett Hull who didn't catch fire.
I was actually going to use Brett as an example here. SO many people forget what Brett was like in his Calgary days regarding his conditioning level and sense of entitlement. Not entirely sure who he credits for helping him turn that around, but Brendl never found his version of that guy and that's pretty much the difference there.
I was actually going to use Brett as an example here. SO many people forget what Brett was like in his Calgary days regarding his conditioning level and sense of entitlement. Not entirely sure who he credits for helping him turn that around, but Brendl never found his version of that guy and that's pretty much the difference there.
terry crisp picked on hull to no end. young gary roberts too, who was also in poor shape back then (weird thinking about it now, but roberts the fitness freak didn't come until after his first retirement when he had to really fix his body to ever play again). but the point, or at least the point hull liked to make, is that hard-***** like crisp and keenan never worked on him. i guess maybe hitchcock and bowman at least met him halfway? (i have no idea)
in st. louis, hull credited brian sutter most of all. hull said sutter just let him go out there and do his thing without having to think about his defensive assignment. the idea was to maximize what hull was good at (scoring goals) and minimize what he was bad at (everything else). with the success came more attention to the little things, including conditioning. he wouldn't become defensively responsible until hitchcock got him though.
then there were hull's centers. first was bernie federko. longtime captain, hall of famer, knows what it takes to be a star in the league. hull said, "bernie taught me about the pride of the blue note," which i always took as hull starting to get the idea that he had to start taking pride in his craft as a hockey player and work on things other than his snap shot.
peter zezel was another great influence. hard-working two-way guy, super-strong and really well-conditioned, and he was an underrated playmaker. was paired with hull when he was traded to st. louis, midway through hull's first st. louis year, and stayed with him for much of the year he scored 72 goals.
but hull had adam oates on the PP, and oates would of course become his full-time center for the bulk of the two 50 in 50 years, until the janney trade. what else needs to be said? it was magic.
maybe if brendl had gotten to play with jason allison or someone like that, things could have turned out differently. but on the other hand, hull was notoriously a bad skater, especially in his early days, and even he looked a lot more like an NHL-level skater than brendl.
btw, the hull anecdotes are half-remembered from his autobiography, which i read over twenty years ago.
Those are pretty familiar sounding anecdotes about Hull, and I especially like the idea of letting a player contribute what they are good at and working out the details out later. I'm surprised this doesn't happen more and you see teams burning guys like Nikita Filatov out over their weaknesses (two way play for example) when in fact they live and die by something else entirely (offensive production). If I had highly skilled kids coming up, I think I'd let them contribute what they're good at first and foremost before grilling them over their flaws.
Perhaps Brendl could have caught on better if he had played with a great playmaker like Allison in Boston, though the footspeed on that line would have been pretty awful.
Interesting to see Hull mentioned because, yeah, Brendl is the best pure shooter I've ever seen aside from Hull.
There should have been a place for him in the NHL, even if just as a PP specialist. It's absolutely bizarre to me that teams will still carry a useless goon to play for 3 shifts/night for 30 games, but not a world-class talent that can actually win games.
How many goals would Brendl have scored on the Pittsburgh PP alongside Crosby/Malkin if he'd been given a chance there instead of the endless rotation of stiffs for the last 5 years?
He has to take much of the blame for his failures, but he was really mishandled as well. Philly carried him on their roster for an entire season, but played him on the 4th line and didn't use him on the PP. Horrible use of his talent.
wow! This is literally frustrating to read. I only knew his name, and, after reading all this, had to db him. His numbers, even recently, in the SEL and KHL were still gigantic. Very frustrating.
I can see why some guys would rather play closer to home rather than in the NHL, but he came to the W, so that doesn't explain anything.
I have heard on tv, and read a lot, in the last 5 years about how no one gets away with defensive irresponsibilty, or buying into a team first approach. All 4 lines play, everybody works, everybody backchecks. You get some that don't in the bigs, still, but it might be like the old helmet rule - the old school players like Kovalev are slowly getting phased out, but coaches still want them because they are proven producers. Probably no one wants a 20 year punk setting a bad example, with zero proof in the pudding that he can even snipe on a PP at the NHL level - better to just tell him to hit the road?
I wonder, as I read the Hull comparos, would Brendl have found a home, and developed 'enough', had he come around 10 years earlier...
It's a shame, anyways - i've gotta go find some footage of this wrister of his now!
Interesting to see Hull mentioned because, yeah, Brendl is the best pure shooter I've ever seen aside from Hull.
There should have been a place for him in the NHL, even if just as a PP specialist. It's absolutely bizarre to me that teams will still carry a useless goon to play for 3 shifts/night for 30 games, but not a world-class talent that can actually win games.
How many goals would Brendl have scored on the Pittsburgh PP alongside Crosby/Malkin if he'd been given a chance there instead of the endless rotation of stiffs for the last 5 years?
He has to take much of the blame for his failures, but he was really mishandled as well. Philly carried him on their roster for an entire season, but played him on the 4th line and didn't use him on the PP. Horrible use of his talent.
nice. PP specialist was my first thought, too. Then I went on my tangent trying to guess why that didn't happen!
I wonder, too - about copycat GM's. They say the Oilers inspired other teams to produce the same blueprint in the 80's... and I wonder if the success of the Wings and Devils approach hasn't done the same more recently. When was the last time there was a 100 point getter on either of those teams? I think it's Fedorov with 107, from memory... more than 15 years ago. There might be a dozen future Hall of Fame forwards on those teams since then, and tons of team success, but nothing close to an Art Ross or Richard.
I wonder, too - about copycat GM's. They say the Oilers inspired other teams to produce the same blueprint in the 80's... and I wonder if the success of the Wings and Devils approach hasn't done the same more recently. When was the last time there was a 100 point getter on either of those teams? I think it's Fedorov with 107, from memory... more than 15 years ago. There might be a dozen future Hall of Fame forwards on those teams since then, and tons of team success, but nothing close to an Art Ross or Richard.
For the Wings it is definitely Fedorov in '96 (the year before they finally broke through). Datsyuk should have done it the year he had 97 points with three games left to play, but got blanked.
Those are pretty familiar sounding anecdotes about Hull, and I especially like the idea of letting a player contribute what they are good at and working out the details out later. I'm surprised this doesn't happen more and you see teams burning guys like Nikita Filatov out over their weaknesses (two way play for example) when in fact they live and die by something else entirely (offensive production). If I had highly skilled kids coming up, I think I'd let them contribute what they're good at first and foremost before grilling them over their flaws.
Perhaps Brendl could have caught on better if he had played with a great playmaker like Allison in Boston, though the footspeed on that line would have been pretty awful.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MS
Interesting to see Hull mentioned because, yeah, Brendl is the best pure shooter I've ever seen aside from Hull.
There should have been a place for him in the NHL, even if just as a PP specialist. It's absolutely bizarre to me that teams will still carry a useless goon to play for 3 shifts/night for 30 games, but not a world-class talent that can actually win games.
How many goals would Brendl have scored on the Pittsburgh PP alongside Crosby/Malkin if he'd been given a chance there instead of the endless rotation of stiffs for the last 5 years?
He has to take much of the blame for his failures, but he was really mishandled as well. Philly carried him on their roster for an entire season, but played him on the 4th line and didn't use him on the PP. Horrible use of his talent.
I just googled an interview with him in native language. He is very proud, because he scored 30+ three times and he "needn't explain anything to anybody".
He said talks about his laziness or fitness level are just rumors and he firmly believes, that if he had 2 or 3 injuries less or there was no lockout he would play NHL now.
He seems quite lofty in the interview.
Great read. Thanks! Even if google translate can be truly misinterpeted, that interwiev oozes why he didn´t suceed in the NHL. Seemes more interested in making excuses and telling people about his great achivemenst than progressing his weaknesses. Also the comment about that he isn´t ashamed about saying that he´s playing in the KHL for money and that he couldn´t get that in NA is interesting. Don´t blame him, he would have had too settle for much less in the NHL for at least a couple of seasons. Should also thank Mora (especially...) and Brynäs for his KHL-millions as he wouldn´t have got them without them giving him a chance. Also, he´s got a point that his NHL-ship somewhat sailed with the lockout. The NHL speeding up afterwards sure didn´t help him. People seemed more interested in finding a new Afinogenov than a Hull kind of player for a couple of years. Would have been better for him arriving now after Stamkos last years.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stephen
I think of him as the Brett Hull who didn't catch fire.
My thougt exactly. He sould have been able to find a job on his shot alone. Especially as he had pretty good instincts as well.
Honestly, even when he is closer to the retirement than to juniors, he is still worthy of a tryout contract IMO. Teams like Blue Jackets can't miss with him. Wouldnt be surprised if he scores decent 20+.
Interesting to see Hull mentioned because, yeah, Brendl is the best pure shooter I've ever seen aside from Hull.
There should have been a place for him in the NHL, even if just as a PP specialist. It's absolutely bizarre to me that teams will still carry a useless goon to play for 3 shifts/night for 30 games, but not a world-class talent that can actually win games.
How many goals would Brendl have scored on the Pittsburgh PP alongside Crosby/Malkin if he'd been given a chance there instead of the endless rotation of stiffs for the last 5 years?
He has to take much of the blame for his failures, but he was really mishandled as well. Philly carried him on their roster for an entire season, but played him on the 4th line and didn't use him on the PP. Horrible use of his talent.
Sure what you say is true but how would using Brendl as a PP affect team unity?
"Look coach is always preaching that we must give 100% and buy into the system and there is Pavel the hotdog because he scores on the PP" might be jsut one comment from a team mate.
Maybe Brendl could have played in the 70's or 80's with his attitude towards the game but post early 90's forget about it.
There simply is too much focus on team goals and everyone buying into the system now.
Sure what you say is true but how would using Brendl as a PP affect team unity?
"Look coach is always preaching that we must give 100% and buy into the system and there is Pavel the hotdog because he scores on the PP" might be jsut one comment from a team mate.
Maybe Brendl could have played in the 70's or 80's with his attitude towards the game but post early 90's forget about it.
There simply is too much focus on team goals and everyone buying into the system now.
agreed. probably the same reason rob schrempf, who has looked serviceable as a specialist in his brief NHL stints, is in the SEL.
it would take a special veteran-heavy team that knows exactly what it is, with an excellent captain and coach, to accomodate a guy like brendl or schrempf as the exception. but usually, these specialist guys aren't good enough for a team like the quasi-dynasty devils or red wings.
on a crappy team that routinely ruins their high draft picks with a fat lazy captain and no winning culture where nobody listens to the coach (i.e., columbus), a guy like brendl would only do harm, no matter how much he scores.
When he was with the Flyers, you could see the talent. But you could also see that he didn't want to work for it. He also had to play for Ken Hitchcock here, who refused to play him anywhere but the 4th line. He also didn't want to play in the AHL.
agreed. probably the same reason rob schrempf, who has looked serviceable as a specialist in his brief NHL stints, is in the SEL.
it would take a special veteran-heavy team that knows exactly what it is, with an excellent captain and coach, to accomodate a guy like brendl or schrempf as the exception. but usually, these specialist guys aren't good enough for a team like the quasi-dynasty devils or red wings.
on a crappy team that routinely ruins their high draft picks with a fat lazy captain and no winning culture where nobody listens to the coach (i.e., columbus), a guy like brendl would only do harm, no matter how much he scores.
Can I go out on a limb and say that the only teams that would fit Brendl's game would be a talentless expansion-type team that went out and signed every 32-year-old grinder they could get their hands on?
As in, have him playing Straka's role for the 96 Panthers, or like a rookie Gaborik for the Wild?
