Chris Snell

After being introduced to him at the 1991 World Junior Hockey Championships, I became a big fan of Chris Snell. He struck me as a brilliant offensive defenseman, controlling the play with his uncanny passing ability and superior understanding of the offensive game. I always enjoy a defenseman who relies on intelligence more so than physicality or slap shots, and Snell's smarts were immediately noticeable.

Snell was an amazing passer, both in terms of breaking the transition offense and quarterbacking a power play. While he could lead a rush, he was at his best springing it. He could marshall the offense, knowing exactly where every player on the ice was and how to knife the puck through the heart of the defenders.

Everywhere he went he was an offensive force and amongst the best defenseman. From novice to midget all the way to the Ottawa 67's of the OHL he was honored as the best blue liner. He was a gold medal champion with Team Canada at the '91 WJC, and a fantastic minor league player. He actually set the AHL record for most points by a defenseman when he scored 96 points for St. John's in 1993-94.

Yet he never stuck in the NHL.

Drafted by Buffalo, he was released after two years in the minors. He signed for one year with the Toronto Maple Leafs, enjoying the big 96 point season with their farm team while getting his first cup of NHL coffee, playing two games with the Leafs. His big break came in 1994-95 when he signed on with Wayne Gretzky's Los Angeles Kings. With the Kings' blueline decimated by injury, Snell played much of the lockout-shortened season with the Kings, appearing in 32 games and scoring 2 goals and 7 assists. He often played with none other than Marty McSorley.

So why did this fantastic defenseman struggle at the NHL level? At 5'11" and generously listed at 200lbs, he was below average size of NHL defensemen in the 1990s. Back then especially the NHL definitely favored big, physical defenders, and undersized d-men were rare. Snell, with little upper body strength, tried to play a positional game of defense, relying on an active stick. He avoided the corners and slot, leaving these duties to better suited partners like McSorley. And as gifted as he was at reading the play offensively, he struggled with defensive reads, and often ended up running around the defensive zone.

At every level below the NHL Chris Snell was one of the best defensemen on the ice. After his season in Los Angeles he signed on with Chicago, playing one season strictly with their farm team. He would then move on to Germany for several seasons, retiring in 2003 after blowing out a knee.

Nowadays Snell teaches elite youth hockey players at Beyond The Pond Hockey.

Todd Elik

This is Todd Elik. He was a late bloomer, never drafted after an uninspiring OHL junior career. But his blazing speed got him a shot at the pros and eventually into the NHL.

Elik actually gave up on his NHL dream after junior, heading to Regina to enroll in university classes. But after one season he signed as a free agent with the New York Rangers, and immediately placed with their IHL farm team in Colorado. He exploded for 100 points, catching the eyes of scouts everywhere.

The Kings were looking for an injection of youth when they traded veteran defenseman Dean Kennedy to the Rangers. Included in the package was Elik, who would spend the first year and a half in the Kings' organization with their AHL farm team.

Elik got the call up to the NHL in 1989-90 season, impressing many. I vividly remember Don Cherry raving about the Brampton, Ontario underdog. With most eyes on new Kings' star Wayne Gretzky, the unknown Elik was an eye catching player, too. He was an exciting skater with blistering speed. He provided some timely offense while shoehorned into the role as the team's second line center.

That kind of sums up Elik's career. He would move from team to team to team, often as a short term solution at center. His speed created offense, but his hands were not quite up to speed. At times he looked off balance, unable to handle the puck at his breakneck pace. He was often unable to muster much of a shot from the high speed either. But every once in a while he would have a dazzling game, attracting a new team.

As a result he would bounce around the NHL. From Los Angeles he went to Minnesota, Edmonton, San Jose, St. Louis and Boston, never spending more than a couple of seasons with any team.

Bottom line? He was not a great offensive player, relying on his speed to create it, even though ironically his speed hindered him, too. He could not effectively play any role outside of second line center. He was willing to play physically, but he was too lean and weak to win many battles in traffic or along the boards.

Todd Elik played in 448 NHL games, scoring 110 goals, 219 assists and 329 points, respectable numbers all around. He would parlay his NHL career into a lengthy stay in Europe, playing in Switzerland and Austria for well over a decade beyond his last NHL game. In addition to supplying offense over in Europe, he has found the nasty side of his game, putting up some surprisingly high penalty minute totals, leading his entire league in PIMs 5 times.

Markus Mattsson

Trivia Time - Who surrendered Wayne Gretzky's first goal as an Edmonton Oiler? Here's a hint - it happened in the WHA. Here's another hint, his name is in big bold lettering at the top of this page.

Winnipeg's Finnish goalie Markus Mattsson yielded the first goal to Wayne as a Oiler. Gretzky scored 14 seconds into the 2nd period on November 2, 1978, his first game as an Oiler. Gretzky had just been acquired from the Indianapolis Racers who had to sell the junior phenom due to financial problems occured by owner Nelson Skalbania.

Mattsson got his revenge on Wayne in the NHL more then five years later when he was a goalie for the Los Angeles Kings. Mattson was in the nets for the game on January 28, 1984. That was the night that Gretzky's incredible record 51 point scoring streak came to an end.

Other than those two moments involving The Great One, Mattsson is all but forgotten about other than being the answer to a couple of good trivia questions.

Mattsson was a solid goalie in his native Finland. He represented his country between the pipes at such glorious events as the European Junior Championships, World Junior Championships and even the 1976 Canada Cup.

A draft pick of the New York Islander in 1977, he was also drafted by Houston of the WHA though his WHA rights were traded to Quebec days later. Mattsson took the unconventional route to join the North American pro circuit with the Nordiques in 1977. European goalies struggled for years to establish themselves in the North American game. The stereotypical European goalie wasn't used to being peppered with so many hard and frequent shots and struggled as a result of this. Mattsson fell into this stereotype.

After just 6 games with the Nords (1-3 record, 6.77 GAA) he was traded to the Winnipeg Jets. The 1978-79 season would prove to be his best statistically as he backstopped the Jets in their final WHA season. In 52 games he won 25, lost 21 and tied 3 with a GAA of 3.63.

Upon the merger of the remaining WHA teams into the NHL, the Jets managed to select Mattsson's NHL rights away from the Islanders. Mattsson was then named as a priority selection, thus protecting him from being dispersed to another team upon the Jets merger.

Mattsson struggled in his first NHL season, and spent as much time in the minors as he did in Winnipege. He won only 5 of the 21 games he appeared in, but had a respectable 3.25 GAA with an awful Jets team. Two of his five wins were shutouts.

Unfortunately for Mattsson, the Jets only got worse the next year. Mattsson was a lame duck goalie on perhaps the worst team in NHL history. He finished the year with just 3 wins in 31 games. One of his wins was by a shutout.

The Minnesota North Stars signed Mattsson for the 1982-83 season. After representing Finland in his second Canada Cup tournament, Mattsson spent all but two games in the minors. He was 1-1 as a North Star, including a shutout. Mattsson then was moved to Los Angeles where he finished the year with a 5-5-4 record in 19 games.

Mattsson would play another 19 games in what proved to be his final season in North American hockey in 1983-84. However he spent most his final season in the minors.

Mattsson returned to Finland in the summer of 1984 and continued to play pro hockey over there until 1986.

Gene Carr

Gene Carr's most obvious hockey skill was his superior skating ability. He was one of the flashiest skaters around in the 1970s.

Gene is the son of Red Carr, who was a minor league player for many years and also played briefly with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Red was also a hockey coach in Nanaimo. One would think Gene got his skating abilities from his father. But Gene, always the witty joker, insisted he got it from his mother.

Gene will forever be known as a high draft pick who never panned out. Picked 4th overall by the St. Louis Blues in 1971, Gene only played in 15 games with the Blues before being part of a big package heading to Broadway. The Rangers acquired Gene along with Jim Lorentz and Wayne Connelly for Jack Egers, Andre Dupont and Mike Murphy. For the next two seasons he was rarely used on the Rangers, although he gained a measure of fame in 1972 when he shadowed and shut down Montreal's Yvan Cournoyer during a playoff series.

The Rangers moved Gene to Los Angeles for a 1st round draft pick halfway through the 1973-74 season. That draft pick turned out to be Ron Duguay. Gene however continued to be cast in a minor role, mostly penalty killing, for the following 4 years in Los Angeles. He was better known as a friend of Eagles Glenn Frey than for his on ice accomplishments. Frey sometimes wore Carr's #12 jersey while on stage.

Just 5 games into the 1977-78 season Gene was moved with Dave Schultz and a draft pick to Pittsburgh in exchange for Syl Apps and Hartland Monahan. Gene welcomed the move.

"All I want is some ice time and a fair shake" he said.

Gene finally got the break he wanted in Pittsburgh. He finished the year as a regular player, and chipped in with 17 goals (plus 2 more previously with LA) and 56 points.

Gene became a free agent at the conclusion of that season and signed on with the Atlanta Flames. He probably should have stayed in Pittsburgh, as he really struggled in Atlanta. He had just 3 goals and 11 points in 30 games, and spent half of the season in the minor leagues. That proved to be his final professional season.

Carr may be remembered as a draft bust, but his career really was derailed by injuries. In 1973 he suffered serious injuries in a taxi cab accident. He also missed much of the 1975-76 season due to surgery to remove fluid build up on his spine. The back pain would ultimately claim his career.