NHL Preview 2011-2012 : The 10 Most Enigmatic Players in the NHL

In the NHL there are a number of players that coaches, teammates and fans are trying to get their arms around.  Whether it is bizarre behavior, dirty play, inconsistent play or continuing injures, there are players in the league that leave you scratching your head.  

At a certain point you expect the unexpected and wonder which direction their game and career is headed. 

To that end, here is a list of 10 players whose play or actions baffle those that follow the game and keep all wondering what's next.  

Roberto Luongo

Why not start with the biggest question mark on one of the biggest teams?  When he’s on he’s scalding hot, when he’s off it’s the coldest day of the year in Antarctica. 

If you are a Blackhawks fan, you chuckle immediately at the thought of Bobby Lou, regardless of whether or not the Hawks were ousted by the Canucks in 2011.  Twice he was the goat in series losses to the Hawks in 2009 and 2010.  One weepy moment following a 7-5 drubbing at the hands of the Hawks in 2009 and another poor performance in a 5-1 loss in the deciding Game 6 in 2010. 

Finally in the 2011 playoffs, Luongo supporters thought he had broken through and after leading the Canucks to winning Games 1 and 2 in the Stanley Cup finals it looked like he would finally be vindicated.  

Then the bottom dropped out. He surrendered 15 goals in three games in Boston, compared to two goals allowed in the first three games in Vancouver.  After Game 5 Luongo made an ill-advised comment about Tim Thomas’ playing style which lit a fuse under Boston players.  When Patrice Bergeron scored to take a 1-0 for Boston in Game 7 there was not a soul in the building that thought the Canucks would win the Cup.  

So, what on earth are the Canucks going to do with Luongo for 10 more years, eight of which are at a $5.3 million cap hit?  

They better hope someone can figure out what goes on in that head of his as it does not look like his contract will be moved anytime soon.

Matt Cooke

What went through the mind of Matt Cooke Wednesday evening when he heard the news that Marc Savard would not play in 2011-2012?  With Savard’s career all but officially over and Cooke’s hit being the main reason, can he/will he stop dishing out speculative head-shots? 

It seemed like the NHL finally reached its boiling point with Cookie near the end of 2010-2011, suspending him for essentially the remainder of the season/playoffs.  A repeat violator, Colin Campbell and company felt, “lets just move this problem out of the way for now and wait until next year.” 

But now it is next year and Cooke will be back. 

What’s frustrating about Matt Cooke is that he has the talent and serves an immense purpose on either the second or third line with the Penguins.  He is a great in-zone player and a terrific penalty killer.  He would have a spot in the NHL regardless of his cheap shots.  Unfortunately, because of he cannot get a grip, he will be known as a dirty player instead of a close checker.     

So what is it going to take for him to get his antics under control, and if he cannot will the NHL finally make an example out of him?

Dany Heatley

Heatley entered the league with an enormous amount of promise following his standout career at the University of Wisconsin.  He wasted little time putting up significant numbers with the Atlanta Thrashers. 

In a day that changed two lives forever, Heatley was driving a car when it crashed against a wall, killing passenger and then Thrasher teammate Dan Snyder in late September of 2003.  

Heatley was subsequently traded to Ottawa and many felt that the change of scenery and the humility of a life-altering accident would result in him catapulting his career to greater heights. 

Later in his time with Ottawa Heatley he had a very public feud with management, demanding to be traded following the 2008-2009 season.  When Heatley was finally moved to the San Jose Sharks he performed well during the regular season, but his playoff performances were mixed.  In the 2010 playoffs he was solid until turning invisible in the Chicago series, and in the 2011 playoffs he had a pedestrian nine points in 18 games.  He may have been banged up a bit, but either way he was a liability to the team. 

Now after San Jose felt he was expendable and traded him to the Wild for Martin Havlat, will Heatley ever return to be the player he was or are his best days clearly behind him?  At $7.5 million for the next three years, Minnesotans better hope he has some left.

Kyle Turris

Another former Badger, Turris had the Great One drooling heading into the 2007 draft.  Since then, however, Turris has been back and forth between the Phoenix Coyotes and their AHL affiliate, the San Antonio Rampage. 

Perhaps it is a little early to be judging Turris.  He is only 22 years old and could still have a lot of hockey left in him.  Though with only 11 goals and 25 points this past season, it is hard to imagine that he is capable of reaching his originally projected superstardom.  

Time will tell with the slender Turris, but Gretzky’s track record in Phoenix may suggest that Turris may not live up to the hype.  If he is going to break out, will it come anytime soon?

Olli Jokinen

From the fall of 2005 to the end of the season in 2008 Olli Jokinen scored 251 points in 246 games (1.02 PPG).  Since leaving a non-pressure filled hockey market he has scored 161 points in 237 (0.68 PPG) games from 2008-2011 and has played for three different teams during that span (Phoenix, Calgary, New York Rangers). 

Calgary traded Jokinen at the 2010 deadline to New York and then in an odd move brought him back the following season.  I’m not sure what management sees in Jokinen. He still brings some things to the table but for whatever reason, when he needs to be counted on, there are not many more you can count on less.  With a year left on his $3 million contract you can bet he will not make that money in the NHL again and perhaps could head over to the KHL.  

Maybe he and Luongo should go grab and beer and talk about how awesome Florida was?

Alex Burrows

Alex Burrows had a career moment in the first round of the 2011 playoffs, scoring the winning goal in Game 7 against the Blackhawks.  He could have gone down as one of Vancouver’s biggest heroes in the city, but then he bit someone. 

Okay Vancouver fans, the league deemed it inconclusive and did not suspend him.  Go ahead and keep denying that it happened, but he did it.  He bit Bergeron in Game 1 of the finals and gave the Bruins extra incentive to win the series. 

For the rest of the series Burrows flopped all over the ice looking for penalties as opposed to playing hockey. 

In 2010 Burrows had quite the incident with referee Stephane Auger.  Burrows claimed Auger was out to get him for “Making him look bad” in a game against Nashville on December 8, 2009 when Burrows faked injury.  When the same two teams met on January 12, 2010 Auger called two borderline penalties on Burrows. 

Should those penalties have been called?  Maybe. Was Auger out to get Burrows?  Maybe, but Burrows made a spectacle about it by blasting Auger publicly and assumed the role of “bad guy.” 

Any team would love to have a player of Burrows' caliber (35 goals in 2009-2010) and he is very talented, but he has to mentally mature if Vancouver is going to compete again for the Cup.

Sean Avery

I was definitely spacing out on the couch in June while my wife was watching the season finale of Real Housewives of Orange County on Bravo.  That is until they announced whom was guest commentating on the after-show.  Sean Avery?  Seriously? 

Some wonder what value Sean Avery has as a hockey player and after 2010-2011, it is certainly up for debate.  Avery only scored three goals for the Rangers this season and the 31 year old does not have remotely the same impact as an agitator as he used to. 

Obnoxious comments about former girlfriend Elisha Cuthbert and then Calgary Flame Dion Phaneuf ended his time in Dallas and he has never publicly recovered from that.  Entering his last year of a $1.9 Million contract he will most likely see a pay-cut.     

It will be interesting to see where Avery’s career is two years from now.  Will he still be in the NHL?

Mike Richards

A year ago today, it would be inconceivable that Richards, then Flyer Captain, would be put in this category.  What exactly happened in Philadelphia? 

In 2010, Richards was two games away from captaining his team to a Stanley Cup.  He performed very well in the Olympics for Team Canada as well.  

At the end of this season, Richards was exiled out of the Flyer family and traded to Los Angeles.  It was then that the rumor mill spun out of control.  He had a rumored feud with Chris Pronger in the locker-room, the “Dry Island” incident and lately there have not been a lot of nice things said about the former captain. 

Richards is different from others on this list as he may not carry as much baggage.  He could very well spit in the eye of the Flyer brass with an enormous season in LA as he continues his promising career. 

We may never know what exactly happened in Philly, but few deny that Richards was in the middle of something the team did not like.  

Marian Gaborik

This is a classic example of a dynamic player that can simply not stay healthy.  For his entire career Marian Gaborik has bounced in and out of the line-up with nagging injuries and it’s a shame because he is oozing with talent.  

The last two times he has played a full season, he has scored 42 goals in each one.  Unfortunately that has only happened twice in the last five seasons (2007-2008 and 2009-2010).  

Last year Gaborik could only manage 22 goals and 48 points in 65 games played for the Blue-shirts.  Not horrible stats by any stretch, but for a guy that scored 42 goals in the previous season and carries a $7.5 million cap hit for the next three years, people will demand more. 

Inconsistent, for essentially his entire career, fans will always wonder when he will go down again.  

We may never see the best of Marian Gaborik for any consistent period of time and that's too bad. 

Dan Carcillo

Has been suspended by the NHL a few times, most notably when he sucker punched Matt Bradley in 2010.  

Nobody knows what is going to happen when “Car Bomb” steps on the ice and he may have no idea either.  He has limited talent (57GP, 4G, 2A, 6PTS, -14 in 2010-2011) and has chosen to be a menace on skates. 

In his first press conference in Chicago he openly challenged Vancouver Canuck players, two of which are no longer with the team.  He then stated:

“The way I play I'm bound to miss a few games every year. It comes with the territory. I don't like being suspended or the pay cuts, but the way I play it's tough to stay out of the principal's office." 

Whoa…man. Whoa. Look out Chicago.  Nobody, not even Carcillo himself, knows what’s going on upstairs.  

(Honorable Mention): Jonathan Cheechoo

Oh yeah….that guy. What happened to him?  Great question. 

Cheechoo technically does not qualify for this list since he has not played in the NHL for the last two seasons, but we may have never seen a bigger fall from grace in the league than this man.  

With the Sharks, a mere five years ago in 2005-2006, Jonathan Cheechoo scored 56 goals on a way to a 93-point season.   He followed that with a 37-goal season in 2006-2007 and then it just kept going down hill.  He posted 23 goals the next season, 12 the year after that and five in 2009-2010 with the Ottawa Senators. 

The last two seasons, he has played in the AHL with Binghamton and then again with the Sharks organization in Worcester.  

Now with a two-way contract heading into the 2011-2012 season with the Blues, Cheechoo looks all but done at the age of 31. 

He was the toast of the NHL in 2006, leading the Sharks in goals and points.  Clearly he peaked.