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Crutch Hockey News: Worst 1st Overall Picks (Pre S50)
#1

Crutch Hockey News Presents …
The Worst 1st Overall Picks of All Time (Pre Season 50)


Please keep in mind that this is a statistical list and I’m not trying to dog anyone in this article. Just trying to say what it is as well as maybe provide some personal insight into my thoughts on some of these players (if I remember them).

1) Drayson Williams
Regular Season Career: GP: 40  G:A: 15  P: 20  +/-: -8
Playoffs Career:GP: 4 G: 1 A: 0 P: 1 +/-: -1
Drafted: 1st Overall, S2. Selected by the Hamilton Steelhawks.
Awards: None

There's not much here to say except for "ouch". This is a colossal miss for the Hamilton Steelhawks. Only playing 40 games and only registering 15 points throughout that makes this a brutal pick for such a crucial draft for the Steelhawks. Definitely the worst 1st overall player by a complete landslide.

Hamilton has to be kicking themselves for this one. But they have won their fair share of Challenge Cups so I don't think they're crying too hard about it, but if they picked a player that had longevitity in the league and was decent offensively or decently, they would have had a much better shot of racking up even more Challenge Cups.

2) Connor Blackwell
Regular Season Career: GP: 200 G: 21 A: 49 P: 70 +/-: -14
Playoffs Career: GP: 41  G: 2  A: 13  P: 15  +/-: -7
Drafted: 1st Overall, S38. Selected by the Edmonton Blizzard.
Awards: None

It actually hurts to see myself so high up on this list. I kind of went into this article knowing that I would definitely be on the list at some point, but I didn’t realize that I would be the 2nd worst 1st overall pick of all time. Jesus Christ.

Connor Blackwell was a player that was known more for the controversy he caused instead of the play that he brought to the ice. He was best known for being the player that went across in the trade for Conor Tanner. Blackwell was a promising player in the SMJHL, but that quickly faded after he got drafted when tensions between player and the Edmonton Blizzard management caused a trade that brought him to the Hamilton Steelhawks. (Maybe an article coming out regarding that soon :eyes: ).

Blackwell never ended suiting up for the Edmonton Blizzard at all, but had a poor career at best with the Steelhawks, playing 2 seasons there before going to the Winnipeg Jets for a pair of seasons and hanging up his skates after S43 concluded.

Blackwell’s best seasons were S41 with the Hamilton Steelhawks, and S42 with the Winnipeg Jets, where he posted 22 points. He was no hell in the playoffs either, as he had 15 points throughout 41 games. Overall, extremely disappointing career for me personally and I’m sure at some point when I run out of money that I’ll end up writing an article going a little more into detail about the drama from my side of things and maybe clear the air on one of SHL’s dramas.

Blackwell was a player that was hyped so much and never ended up living to that hype and was a prime example of a player getting selected for his player agency rather than the player himself. Blackwell was just another lesson to GMs that what you think is a “sure bet” is not always a sure bet.

3) Logan Court
Regular Season Career: GP: 406 G: 51 A: 56 P: 107 +/-: -39
Playoffs Career: GP: 11 G:A: 2 P: 2 +/-: -3
Drafted: 1st Overall, S15. Selected by the Toronto North Stars.
Awards: None.

Court had a great amount of longevitity in the league for how abysmal he was offensively. With 406 games played and 107 points, you have to expect more for a "sure fire" 1st Overall Pick. The Toronto North Stars haven't been a phenomenal drafting team as long as I have known them, and Logan Court doesn't help their cause. He was an okay player, but nothing compared to some of the better 1st Overall Picks, even the ones on this list.

Tough.


4) Simo Hayha
Regular Season Career: GP: 395  G: 39 A: 91 P: 130 +/-: -37
Playoffs Career: GP: ??  G: ??  A: ??  P: ??  +/-: ??
Drafted: 1st Overall, S11. Selected by the Manhattan Rage
Awards: S14 Challenge Cup, 1x 3rd Team All-Star.

Hayha actually wasn’t that bad of a player – wasn’t that great of one either. When he won a Challenge Cup with the Renegades in S14, he did pot 28 points through 46 games, but that was his best season.

He was a pretty mediocre player throughout his career and never reached the echelon of what a 1st Overall Pick should bring a team unfortunately, much to the dismay of the Manhattan Rage who drafted him to see him with a cup with the Renegades 3 seasons later. As his career went on, he turned into more of a physical edge and made himself useful. He did end up playing 395 games in the SHL, so by that standard it wasn’t a horrible career but offensively I don’t think he really lived up to the hype of being a 1st overall player.

5) Christian Bauer
Regular Season Career: GP: 247 G: 61 A: 71 P: 132  +/-: +1
Playoffs Career: GP: ?? G: ??  A: ??  P: ??  +/-: ??
Drafted: 1st Overall, S13. Selected by the Minnesota Chiefs.
Awards: S17 Challenge Cup, 1x 3rd Team All-Star.

Another player before my time with a short career, Christian Bauer had all the makings to be a superstar. It took him a long time to catch his stride in the league and begin to chip in offensively at a decent level, topping out at 38 points in Season 17, but he fell to putting up 4 points in his final season with the Los Angeles Panthers in Season 18.

He did end up winning a Challenge Cup with the Renegades in S17, but still, I don’t think that Bauer was really a great pick here honestly. But, he did have a fairly decent career for himself, retiring with a Challenge Cup and millions in his pocket so it can’t all be bad.

6) Leshaun King
Regular Season Career: GP: 250 G: 72  A: 70  P: 142  +/-: -10
Playoffs Career GP: 11  G: 0  A: 2  P: 2  +/-: -6
Drafted: 1st Overall, S43. Selected by the San Francisco Pride.
Awards: 1x Rookie All-Star Team, 1x Nomination for League Award.

Finally, our first relatively recent player.

Remember @King? Remember how much of an absolute superstar we thought this guy was going to be? King was a user that made such an effort to be a vital part of the SHL – he did graphics, he did media, like he was the definition of a power user. I think I may have been involved with GM’ing at this time, and holy shit did I want to acquire this player. I don’t think the team I was involved with had any semblance of draft capital to draft King, but in hindsight I’m glad because I probably would have made some sort of top 3 trades list.

His player, however flamed out and he went inactive. He briefly returned to the SHL but I think went inactive before the SMJHL draft.

Leshaun had a good career compared to the players above him on this list, but man this has to go down as one of the biggest disappointments in SHL history. The San Francisco Pride thought they were getting an absolute superstar, but turned out the player was actually a polished turd.

King played for a total of 5 seasons before calling it a career, putting up a total of 142 points, all with the San Francisco Pride. He did make the Rookie All-Star Team and was nominated for a league award, but

What could have been.


7) Mariusz Kwik
Regular Season Career: GP: 556  G: 16  A: 128  P: 144  +/-: -94
Playoffs Career: GP: 25  G:A:P: 10  +/-: +6
Drafted: 1st Overall, S22. Selected by the Los Angeles Panthers.
Awards: None.

Now we are getting into the players who had decent careers as a 1st Overall Pick. Kwik played for a total of 556 games, and put up 144 points. He was a solid player for both the Los Angeles Panthers and Buffalo Stampede, but never did much in the playoffs.

Kwik peaked early from an offensive standpoint, putting up his best season in Season 23, and couldn’t really do much after that. He was the definition of a Stay At Home Defenceman, who did his job. However, his career +/- was an astounding -94, but I would attribute that to playing on some pretty poor Buffalo Stampede teams.

I remember this player when I was handling Truck Stoker, and I thought the future was pretty bright for him and he seemed like a nice enough guy, but unfortunately he couldn’t quite cut it in the SHL and improve as a player.

However, even though his ceiling wasn’t as high as the Los Angeles Panthers thought he was when he was first drafted, but he carved himself out a solid SHL career.

8) Conor McGregor
Regular Season Career: GP: 401 G: 72  A: 87  P: 159  +/-: -53
Playoffs Career: GP: 38  G:A: 12 P: 15 +/-: -11
Drafted: 1st Overall, S40. Selected by the Buffalo Stampede.
Awards: S46 Challenge Cup

I think this was the user Legend. Conor McGregor came into the league after this user had another character that kind of fizzled out. He wrote great media, to the point where the Stampede felt comfortable selecting him first overall, but he wasn't a great offensive player and worth of being a first overall selection. He did carve himself out a decent career playing on some strong Stampede teams, and won a cup for them, but bounced between the Buffalo Stampede and the Minnesota Chiefs a couple of times at the end of his career.

Still, a decent career and retires with his name on a Challenge Cup, but still nothing fantastic. Still a decently valuable player, as he peaked early in his career in Season 44 at the SHL level, potting 24 points.

9) Michael Abdalla
Regular Season Career: GP: 178  G: 84  A: 79  P: 163  +/-: 17
Playoffs Career: GP:G:A:P:+/-: 0
Drafted: 1st Overall, S4. Selected by the Vancouver Nightmare.
Awards: 2x All-Star Team, 1x Jay MacDonald, 1x League Award.

Michael Abdalla actually had a pretty good career – he was almost point per game throughout his (short) career, putting up 163 points through 178 games in the Regular Season. However, he only played for a total of 4 seasons. The most impressive thing to me about Abdalla was that he put up 32 points in 37 games with only an average of 10:19 TOI. What an impressive feat.

However, Abdalla could have had a much longer career and been much more successful, but his best season was in S6 when he put 57 points up through 60 games. If he had kept this pace throughout a longer career, he might have made the opposite side of this list. However, even with these great stats through his short career, he didn’t really match up to what a 1st Overall Pick should bring you in the SHL. Or better yet, what a team would expect from a 1st Overall Pick.


10) Krysztof Kowalski
Regular Season Career: GP: 450 G: 64  A: 103  P: 167  +/-: -63
Playoffs Career: GP:G:A:P:+/-: -1
Drafted:   1st Overall, Season 27. Selected by the Portland Admirals.
Awards: None

I specifically remember the Kowalski draft because it was the first time that I actually gave a shit about the SHL (my first run with Truck Stoker was nothing memorable, I think I flamed out around 450ish TPE), and Chris Crutchfield was the new name on the block. However, the Texas Renegades were forever linked with @Banjo, as his previous player was there and I tried my ass off to get Texas to draft me because I wanted to go to the Renegades at this time because I had so many friends on the team and I loved the bad boy image that they had on the forums.

However, it wasn’t meant to be as the Admirals were dead set on this player which is completely fair. At the time, Kowalski was a player that was tearing it up in TPE and I had a bitch of a time keeping up with him. His closeness with JP, the GM of the Admirals made it a easy pick, as the two shared a locker room with the Texas Renegades.

Kowalski actually didn’t have that terrible of a career. I’m pretty sure that the teams later in his career kept him on the 4th line as a 155 inactive player for a long ass time, but that might be my memory going spotty on me (again). I’m pretty sure Banjo got super busy IRL or he wouldn’t have been on this list and I would have had to talk about Stacker Pentecost (again). However, Kowalski was a serviceable player throughout his career but it could have been a lot more had Banjo stayed active. Banjo is a dude with a great heart and a good mind for hockey imo.

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#2

Glad to see you back and pumping out media!

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RIP Dangel. See you on the other side, brother
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#3

You missed the s39 first overall pick for that list

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#4

07-23-2022, 06:10 PMAce Wrote: Glad to see you back and pumping out media!

Cheers buddy. Turns out when I don’t write media or do anything I can’t buy equipment and my players lick ass

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#5

Veli Kaalinpää

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#6

S17 cup was won by LAP not Texas HOW DARE YOU

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#7

LeShaun King the goat. He got married to Zena recently too

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#8

good shit crutch, good to see ya

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#9
(This post was last modified: 07-24-2022, 01:07 PM by Samsung virtual assistant.)

King didn't flame out as much as he was next to run off the site though eh #toxicSHL

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#10

07-24-2022, 01:07 PMSamsung virtual assistant Wrote: King didn't flame out as much as he was next to run off the site though eh #toxicSHL
I actually just didn't have time for a multi anymore.

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#11

wew da jews is lews great article glad 2 sea ur back and attim

artermis,Feb 2 2017, 04:11 PM Wrote:9gag pretty lit tho
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#12

King almost has to be #1 on this list out of notoriety.

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#13

I 2nd WBF, surprised Kaalinpaa didn't make the list from S33

He played 3 seasons but only because he was called up immediately after the draft. 150 games, and put up 2 goals and 31 points. He was a defensive defenseman, but still, yikes.

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#14

The disrespect to Robb Wind

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#15

07-25-2022, 04:26 PMSymmetrik Wrote: I 2nd WBF, surprised Kaalinpaa didn't make the list from S33

He played 3 seasons but only because he was called up immediately after the draft. 150 games, and put up 2 goals and 31 points. He was a defensive defenseman, but still, yikes.

tbh i should have just called this "top 10 worst 1st overall forward picks" ... the tool i was using didn't give me any defensemen and i realized that far too late into writing the article.

I might be misremembering but did he retire due to the Portland punishment/mass retirement or was that someone else?

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