Before they were stars.......

brianscot · 09-26-2003, 11:12 AM

What current NHL players impressed you the most at a lower level?

What convinced you they'd be stars?

For me:

Brett Hull -- Saw him in the AHL with Moncton. He played the point on the power play, had great presence and "that" shot.

Gary Roberts -- Also in Moncton. Great passer at the AHL level and possessed more hockey sense than anyone on the ice.

Paul Kariya -- During his UMaine days. A blur. The most highly skilled finesse player that I"ve seen in person. (This side of Ray Bourque.)

Keith Tkachuk -- Playing at Boston University. Tony Amonte and Shawn McEachern put up bigger stats, but Tkachuk was a 18 year old linebacker with far greater offensive skills than I imagined.

monkey_00* · 09-26-2003, 11:24 AM

Georges Laraque...Saw him play here in town for the Hamilton Bulldogs who use to be affiliated with the Edmonton Oilers...I knew even back then that Laraque would same day be the NHL's Top enforcer.

Twisted Wrister · 09-27-2003, 05:50 AM

Marty Turco. During his 4 years at Michigan he was underrated as an athlete and much of his success was credited to the great teams in front of him. But if you watched him closely you could see by the time he was a senior NOTHING rattled him and he always made the saves he needed to get the win. No way Michigan wins the 1998 NCAA title without him. Him and Ryan Miller are the only 2 NCAA goalies I've ever seen live I thought would have a shot at being a #1 NHL goaltender. Obviously Miller is still a work in progress.

Hossa · 09-27-2003, 06:07 AM

Ales Hemsky- Took over games in the QMJHL. I'd see him play, and every shift he creates a scoring chance. He was significantly better than anybody else on the ice.

Douggy · 09-27-2003, 06:09 AM

Jason Allison - Was the best player on the London Knights for a long time... I was actually surprised to see how long it took him to become a great player in the NHL; he kinda bounced around Boston and Washington before getting really good in L.A.

MHJS · 09-27-2003, 06:13 AM

Nobody, the Kingston Frontenacs suck

H-Bear · 09-27-2003, 07:48 AM

Not exactly stars, but three players who dominated in North Bay are:

Alex Auld: he backstopped a horrific Cents team to respectability.
Vitali Yachmenev: was the best player on a OHL champion Cents team. Could score almost on demand.
Igor Valeev: probably the most exciting player ever to grace North Bay Centennial colours. I'll never forget a game in which he scored three highlite reel goals, then the very next shift kicked the *blank* out some guy in a fight.