Really sucked growing up and hearing all my life “you’re too small to make it anywhere in hockey” and I listened to them. Fast forward 10 years and half the new superstars are close to my size. This is why you should never give up or listen to doubters, hard work and talent will always prevail
@@AverageCanadian7 men grow until theyre 21, sometimes older. look at david robinson, he went from 5 foot 7 to 6 foot 7 when he was 17, and then to 7 foot 1 when he was 18/19. never give up on what you enjoy. eat good and you may still have hope.
its the same as someone who stops moving in a line. the line is still moving, it wont take any longer to get to the front, yet as human we need the illusion of progress. The difference between 5'11" and 6'0 is the same illusion, just with numbers
They did this study on women where they considered 6 feet and above to be considered tall for a man and 5'11 was not tall. In the end, it was just the number they cared about because you can't really tell the difference between the 2 heights.
It’s not necessarily Hughes height that’s small. He also appears to just have an overall small frame for being 5’11 or 5’10 and weighs like 170 which is small if your 5’11
Of the couple of popular little NHL mini-breakdown channels that have caught steam over the past year on YT, yours is the one I get most excited to see new episodes drop for. I love the way you prepare a script with really insightful takes, while keeping a sense of brevity of bite-sized content perfect for this medium. Just wanna say thanks.
i appreciate that your channel is called "Hockey Psychology," and that you marry the concepts of the mental game with the actual skillsets and knowhow of hockey itself. not just always about "wanting it more" but how the mental game influences players' improvement and success.
I’ve been thinking about his torrid start and I think having his little brother on the team definitely makes a huge impact like mentally it takes a lot of pressure off him
He's a center. He doesn't have to be big. He's not a winger so he's not in the corners. The NHL has had small centers for a century. The game hasn't changed.
You can just run this video again in a few years and just change the name to Connor Bedard. Same will happen to him. Too much expectation and he will also need the time to grow into the game.
It’s frustrating to me that guys get overlooked or discarded simply because of size. I know it’s not the same game but we need more guys like Marty St Louis who are like 5’7”-5’8”. The fact that people are going to rip on guys like Jack Hughes for being small at 5’10”-5’11” is laughable to me. Reasonable considering the average in the league, but laughable in the context of athletes across the board.
Great video. I hope to see more of this "debunking" of hockey myths (in a reasonable way) as you provide it. This was thoughtful and without hyperbole. The hockey world desperately needs more of this.
it was never about height. Jack Hughes & Sidney Crosby are about the same height and no one ever questioned whether Crosby was big enough because of the way he was built. He's listed at 200 lbs, 25 lbs more than Hughes. I think it's similar with DeBrincat. He's short but built like a fire plug. Hughes, especially as a rookie, or someone like Johnny Gaudreau, just looked so small compared to other players because of their build. They looked like little kids playing against grown men and you wondered how they could get by physically. That's where they require an extra level of skill. If a smaller player doesn't have that, he won't be an NHL player while a bigger player can get by without that higher skill level.
As someone who is 5'8 and whose last year of competitive hockey was in 2013, its nice to see smaller guys get given opportunities after having always been given the "you are really good, but you are too small to go to the next level" talk my whole "career"
I agree. It’s good to see smaller players get a chance especially cause they do have certain skills you can’t teach, just like bigger guys do. I played around the same time and was a “short” for a goalie despite being a 1/2” under 6’1”.
I don't understand there are only 61k subscribers here. I'm sure that will blow up in time. Way more detailed than watching the traditional sport channels. Just subscribed but have watched your videos before.
Unlike the NBA taller isn't better, that's just 1 of many reasons why I like the NHL. My 3 top fav players under avg height of 5'9. Theo Flurry 5'6: won Stanley cup and plus points award. The Pocket rocket 🚀 Richard won 11 Stanley cups and served as Capt. Martin St.Louis 5'8 won Stanley cup, Hart trophy and art Ross trophy and served as Capt.
As a smaller guy I always smile when "little" guys thrive in the NHL. I'm also glad hockey is changing, because in the 90s you could be a massive dude who could barely play hockey and still be part of an NHL roster which to me is mind blowing.
one of the travel teams my brother played on as a kid were basically all undersized players. they could never compete physically, so they focused on developing speed and positioning. it made them a nightmare to play against for other teams, bc they could never be pinned down. but they did have to work twice as hard to keep other teams from just bull rushing their way to the net.
I was thinking about Marchand in comparison the entire time. He's only 5'9. I'm glad the game has evolved to allow the fast and squirrely players to be successful. Honestly, I think hockey is moving in the right direction. I want to see fast, smart, and skillful players more than brute force these days.
@@TheVTRainMan Exactly . I like the code being followed , you'll always have Tom Wilson's and things like that BUT they get dealt with . The skill level always trumps "pointless" fights . I don't want to watch boxing on ice , unless it someone being taught a quick lesson . Know what I mean ?
Patrice bergeron & Brad marchand played the majority of their careers with zdeno Chara watching their backs. That'll be the biggest difference for Marchand. Or he would've been flattened like a pancake a decade ago The lil ratt comes from another era and he was drafted @ #71, third round, where you'll find the little guys. But Sweeney went big, hungry & cheap this season on who he's brought in That's why some B's forward line numbers are going to go up like Marchand's - because for the first time since Nick Richie left, we have size and enforcers Our lil ratt can stick to the business of scoring instead of trying to play enforcer or spend time in the sin bin. As we've seen him the past coupla years. Somebody else can do that But I think that makes a difference on some of these new younger rookies like hughes, bedard - they need someone watching their backs while they go through their learning curves. Why this would be the perfect season for Matt Poitras to join the Bruins, that amount of talent for pennies on the dollar while we have the likes of Milan lucic, Geekie, & Beecher's size & grit watching his back. You can get as fast and skilled as you want - it's still hockey 🤕 But I'm going to go with what I've heard directly out of players mouths, what I think doesn't matter. In early Patrice bergeron interviews, talking about the Selkie, he makes a direct correlation to Zdeno Chara. So there is some concern over the size of these players, not just being ineffective but seriously getting injured.
Excellent video. As a Devils fan, you could see the elite skating and elite vision, he just needed to get better adjusted to the time and space playing in the NHL and needed to improve his shot, which I remember was really bad his first 2 years. Year 3 is when you truly started to see him break out, but he missed almost half the season with injury and the team was lousy so he didn’t really put the league on notice. I really like this format you use and the 6-10 minute breakdowns as opposed to the 3 minute daily videos.
Yvan Cournoyer was listed as 5'7" 178 lbs. and played for sixteen seasons with the Montreal Canadians. He won the Hart Trophy three times, the Lady Bing once and the Conn Smythe once. He was an essential part of eight teams that won Stanley Cup Championships for the Habs. Used rarely for penalty killing, he was a potent goal scorer in clutch situations and seemed to play a few feet taller during his legendary career. 8 Cups!
Cournoyer was also the fastest player in the league, which I think is another requirement for small players. You don't see too many players who are small and slow, or even average speed. For example, two younger (and smaller) brothers of famous players who were great up to just below the NHL level, but couldn't stick in the NHL: Steve Kariya and Brent Gretzky.
Jonathan Marchessault current Stanley Cup champion and Conn Smythe winner with VGK is also an exception to the rule @ 5'9" 185 lbs. His up and down journey through pro hockey levels is indicative of your point. He struggled with objections to his size throughout his early years. However, he learned to have a chip on his shoulder about it and tapped into that to play with even more grit and intensity. He has all the pro ingredients IMO but size; high hockey IQ, tremendous puck handling skills, deceptive speed and quickness, a devastatingly accurate hard shot and great play making skills.@@RRaquello
It’s about the small playing fierce. When they do that, they’ll succeed, and be respected. Grit. Think Theo Fleury from the past and Marchand at present and many in between
you need crazy talent to play in the NHL as a smaller player, also if you are hit its devastating, and the smaller players can get more head shots from elbows, so Jack has crazy talent, and I hope it helps him avoid injuries too
I too remember the time when St Louis was the number one draft pick. The argument wasn't that Hughes was too small, the argument was whether or not Devils were concerned with making him the first overall due to his size and thereby potential for his skills to translate on the pro level. I used to play, a couple of years back and smaller players are really handicapped by their size (I used to be a big defensive d-man). However if a smaller player was skilled and quick enough he would be a pain in the ass. But it takes a whole lot more for a smaller player to be that good than for an average sized player. I remember the talk was the same thing here at home about Elias Pettersson before he was drafted and I remember the first game I played against him I told some guys in the locker room after the first period "why the fuck are people raving about Jonathan Dahlen when this kid is miles ahead of him already?" And then throughout the year when talking to ppl they were all saying he was too small but I always said that the he's too skillfull to be too small for the NHL, much like the theo fleurys, st Louis, Kariya etc. However when drafting smaller players you're still taking a huge risk even though some turn out to become really good.
Wayne Gretzky's original rookie card lists him as Age: 18 Height: 5'11" Weight: 165. The back of the card says "Wayne is considered the best prospect to turn professional since Guy Lafleur".At his peak he apparently was 6 ft flat, 185. Though I'm pretty sure I heard him say in a interview once the heaviest he got was 175, but that may be his signature humility talking. Point is this man played during the the enforcer, clutch & grab and trap eras. I don't think the NHL's changed as far as who can make a great player (your video proves it). I think that fans and some hockey talking heads either have short memories or don't know they're history. And or the way we view players has changed.
I don't understand any of this attitude/thinking after the career of the Great One. The vid also mentions P. Kane. Speed and intelligence are what I see winning hockey games in the last 15 years.
Can you make a video on how to analyze hockey on the fly while watching a game? Also how did you Get into making video essays on hockey? How did you get so good at analyzing hockey?
Marchey weighs 190 and is two or three inches shorter than Hughes. Hughes needs to bulk up or surround himself with big guys if he wants to win the cup. The average height for the Golden Knights is 6'2.
Very insightful video from someone who knows hockey and how spacing and timing can be very important especially for undersized players. As a Devils fan I was happy the day we drafted him and now I am even happier.
After all the lockouts, the game changed dramatically every time. It used to be bruiser league, almost rugby on ice. You had to battle for every inch of space on the ice and size was important to fight the size of the opposing team. If you had size AND speed, you were a dream player. The game is so focused on hands, speed and skill now that the old time hockey physicality doesn't show up until the end of the season when battling is necessary. This is why you see playoff games with two to three times the number of hits as a regular season. These guys like hughes will get beat up in these scenarios sure, but with the modern day equipment and helmets, they're at a much lower risk of injury which previously would have kept them out of the league
I was always too small growing up in an era where athletes were regularly picked based on size, especially for hockey defensemen, so I was forced to play winger. I've been playing defense since my early 20s and very rarely find anyone who can out battle me in the corners or in front of the net! I've always had more of a protective nature and playing defense was my calling. Unfortunately I grew up 1 generation too early and the NHL dream is certainly over. That said I love being a short pain in the ass to play against to this day and will for as long as I can. Go short kings!
Lack of size is less of a concern in the NHL these days. We have transitioned away from the goon era, so hockey today is more skill oriented. Every team has undersized player who excel. They have the ability to avoid the heavy traffic. The concern still remains that a slighter player may not wear well over an entire season but this is losing air as well. These smaller players know where to go and what will not work for them. Any team will work to create good chemistry in their lineup and balance on all lines. There is still a role for the physical player but the skilled players are proving their value more and more.
idk whats with some smaller guys but i am 5'9 63kg which is pretty small but i can beat people way bigger than i am around the boards, sometimes overpowering them.
jxmmy highroller said something interesting about this, if they're bigger they wont need to go that far into their skill set in order to become a force. its a lot different in basketball except its the same idea. jack hughes had to work harder and get more from his natural talent and abilities in order to become competitive which is why not every player needs to be bigger. rempe is massive but his skills on the ice are ahl level. thats because at that size he wouldnt need to be that skilled to make an nhl spot and he could become a naturally good enforcer if he just stuck to his game and relied more heavily on his size.
Being undersized can be viewed as a flaw when evaluating prospects, but if its the only flaw like in the case of guys likes Hughes, its probably not going to have a noticeable effect on his game. Small and skilled will beat out big and unskilled almost every time.
I grew up watching Don Cherry style rock'em sock'em goon hockey with huge players like Lindros and Stevens as the ideal sized player. Don't get me wrong, it was fun to watch but I'll take this modern era of skilled players over that all day everyday. Hughes is already great and he hasn't even his prime or potential yet. By the way, one of my favourite players is Doug Gilmour. Not a big guy by any means but he had no quit in him and never took guff from anyone.
My favorite “undersized” player of all time is Paul Kariya. Some of these smaller guys just have that perfect mix of grit and skill that’s just fascinating to watch
I think it's fair to say Hughes is one of the many that belong in the league despite his small size. But it's disingenuous to suggest that you can just fill your lineup with this same type of player. It's a player mold: small and skilled. The majority of smallish draftees are not skilled enough to make up for their size. You don't need to be huge but big enough to deal with physicality - which is a big reason I think it was a long road for Hughes to get to a point where he's considered elite.
Too small is just left overs from old hockey. The real big move that let smaller players compete is when the league told the refs to actually call obstruction in the mid 2000's. Players used to get absolutely mugged going to the net. They started calling it right after Kane was in the league a year or two. We are slowly going back to "old time hockey," the way it was before Philly and Boston made it a bullying game.
As far as the coach or management goes, I would think that they would be more concerned about weight than height. 170 lbs. is pretty light @ 5’11”, but if the player is only 18, you know he is going to grow with more muscle added over time. On the other hand, if they have the skill set to be a starter at 18, management may be concerned if their frame is too light. I think of someone like a RNH who got injured quite a bit at first.
Surprised Brad Marchand didn’t get a mention in this video. I know he doesn’t have the draft pedigree of Bedard or Hughes, but he is closing in on 900 career points while being (generously) listed as 5’9”.
I think Jack just needs to add some muscle to protect his body more, he's gonna get targeted as the franchise player and as we've seen, his shoulder is stopping him from having more consistent seasons, and yet he'll still pump out big numbers
Bedard is already 185 pounds, the only thing he REALLY needs is a more talented team, otherwise once he's truely comfortable with the pace and overall skill level in the league( I give him about 45-50 games) his production is gonna start shooting up.
When players are being forced to fight over clean hits 24/7 nowadays it seems thats opening up a lot of space for smaller guys because game is getting closer to an awkward thing where its almost no-contact except for fights
As a 5'6" beer leaguer... I kind of have to say, I miss the old school physicality of the game. I'm very overweight in my mid-life, but if I really wanted to, I can shave off a bit of fat and settle in around 200 or 190lbs. There's absolutely no reason these superstar youngin's can't put on a little more weight. Scrappy guys like Theo Fleury (5'6" 190lbs) were awesome. No contact hockey just isn't the same and I think that the NHL is being way too liberal with calling too many penalties especially slashes, trips, and hooks. Literally, if someone decides to skate over an opposing players stick held in one hand and falls the refs will call tripping. It's nonsense. Then we have perfectly clean hits where a player quickly turns their back towards the hit at the last minute to increase the likelihood of injury being called boarding or sometimes checking from behind. We need more power forwards that are quick and skilled and just as capable of putting the body on people. That's what hockey is truly about. If you want nothing but finesse and skating around there's always roller hockey.
People still say Pettersson is too small... Yet he dominates both offensively and defensively, and semi-regularly throws a big hit out there. There are too many examples now of ELITE smaller sized guys. Sure, you don't want your entire time to be small, as some general size in your lineup can be valuable, but that shouldn't be the job of your top draft pick, to be "big". It should be to be skillfully elite.
Wish I could have been a forward, or a defenceman, who is at least sometimes allowed to be given the chance to prove themselves. But when you are a 5'10" goaltender you don't even get considered in this era of the 6'2" goalie. ;u;
I'm 5 foot 10, intermediate skilled player, and all I can say is I'm glad I play non contact, some of the guys I play with are around 6 foot 4 and beef cakes.
This has become my favorite hockey channel. Been watching over a year now and commentary is consistently top notch. Cheers! 👍
Glad to have you since the start!
Really sucked growing up and hearing all my life “you’re too small to make it anywhere in hockey” and I listened to them. Fast forward 10 years and half the new superstars are close to my size. This is why you should never give up or listen to doubters, hard work and talent will always prevail
Yep you didn’t have that mamba mentality
I got told I’m too short and I am. (5’2 most likely done growing) I don’t know if I should keep trying…
@@AverageCanadian7 how old are you?
@@23mylo60 13 my bones fully matured and grew to fast according to the doctor
@@AverageCanadian7 men grow until theyre 21, sometimes older. look at david robinson, he went from 5 foot 7 to 6 foot 7 when he was 17, and then to 7 foot 1 when he was 18/19. never give up on what you enjoy. eat good and you may still have hope.
No one ever says someone who is 6’0 is small when it’s literally 1 inch difference from 5’11 😂
Depends on what position they play. Being a 6'0" goalie is enough to get you on the do-not-draft list for most teams.
Which is exactly why Hughes responded that way… yet everyone seemed concerned due to his weight.
its the same as someone who stops moving in a line. the line is still moving, it wont take any longer to get to the front, yet as human we need the illusion of progress.
The difference between 5'11" and 6'0 is the same illusion, just with numbers
They did this study on women where they considered 6 feet and above to be considered tall for a man and 5'11 was not tall. In the end, it was just the number they cared about because you can't really tell the difference between the 2 heights.
It’s not necessarily Hughes height that’s small. He also appears to just have an overall small frame for being 5’11 or 5’10 and weighs like 170 which is small if your 5’11
Of the couple of popular little NHL mini-breakdown channels that have caught steam over the past year on YT, yours is the one I get most excited to see new episodes drop for. I love the way you prepare a script with really insightful takes, while keeping a sense of brevity of bite-sized content perfect for this medium.
Just wanna say thanks.
Thanks for watching & supporting!
What are some other ones?
@@Semaj2326 The Hockey Guy, Johnny Hawkey, and OhNyquist are some good channels I can think of off the top of my head
i appreciate that your channel is called "Hockey Psychology," and that you marry the concepts of the mental game with the actual skillsets and knowhow of hockey itself. not just always about "wanting it more" but how the mental game influences players' improvement and success.
I’ve been thinking about his torrid start and I think having his little brother on the team definitely makes a huge impact like mentally it takes a lot of pressure off him
He's a center. He doesn't have to be big. He's not a winger so he's not in the corners. The NHL has had small centers for a century. The game hasn't changed.
Yeah but defensively his brother puts a lot of pressure on my heart
Why are we acting like he didn’t have a 99 point season last year?
You can just run this video again in a few years and just change the name to Connor Bedard. Same will happen to him. Too much expectation and he will also need the time to grow into the game.
Nah. Bedard's talents are suited to the minors. He simply doesn't have what it takes to make it in the NHL. Never did.@@trvman1
It’s frustrating to me that guys get overlooked or discarded simply because of size. I know it’s not the same game but we need more guys like Marty St Louis who are like 5’7”-5’8”. The fact that people are going to rip on guys like Jack Hughes for being small at 5’10”-5’11” is laughable to me. Reasonable considering the average in the league, but laughable in the context of athletes across the board.
Louder for the people in the back
The average in the league is like 6'1-6'2
It’s not the height, it’s the frame bud. He’s built like a highschool girl. Infact a highschool girl might out squat him.
@@tjayk9127exactly
@@tjayk9127he needs to gain 10-1bs of muscle atleaste
Great video. I hope to see more of this "debunking" of hockey myths (in a reasonable way) as you provide it. This was thoughtful and without hyperbole. The hockey world desperately needs more of this.
Honestly your player analysis and breakdown are helping me improve in my own game by applying the ways players are so good.
Easily the best hockey commentary channel. Refreshing to hear someone genuinely thoughtful and intelligent offer commentary.
it was never about height. Jack Hughes & Sidney Crosby are about the same height and no one ever questioned whether Crosby was big enough because of the way he was built. He's listed at 200 lbs, 25 lbs more than Hughes. I think it's similar with DeBrincat. He's short but built like a fire plug. Hughes, especially as a rookie, or someone like Johnny Gaudreau, just looked so small compared to other players because of their build. They looked like little kids playing against grown men and you wondered how they could get by physically. That's where they require an extra level of skill. If a smaller player doesn't have that, he won't be an NHL player while a bigger player can get by without that higher skill level.
100%
As someone who is 5'8 and whose last year of competitive hockey was in 2013, its nice to see smaller guys get given opportunities after having always been given the "you are really good, but you are too small to go to the next level" talk my whole "career"
I agree. It’s good to see smaller players get a chance especially cause they do have certain skills you can’t teach, just like bigger guys do. I played around the same time and was a “short” for a goalie despite being a 1/2” under 6’1”.
@@impulse_xs The important thing is that you have an easier time attracting women when you're over 6' tall.
I don't understand there are only 61k subscribers here. I'm sure that will blow up in time. Way more detailed than watching the traditional sport channels. Just subscribed but have watched your videos before.
Unlike the NBA taller isn't better, that's just 1 of many reasons why I like the NHL. My 3 top fav players under avg height of 5'9.
Theo Flurry 5'6: won Stanley cup and plus points award.
The Pocket rocket 🚀 Richard won 11 Stanley cups and served as Capt.
Martin St.Louis 5'8 won Stanley cup, Hart trophy and art Ross trophy and served as Capt.
As a smaller guy I always smile when "little" guys thrive in the NHL. I'm also glad hockey is changing, because in the 90s you could be a massive dude who could barely play hockey and still be part of an NHL roster which to me is mind blowing.
one of the travel teams my brother played on as a kid were basically all undersized players. they could never compete physically, so they focused on developing speed and positioning. it made them a nightmare to play against for other teams, bc they could never be pinned down. but they did have to work twice as hard to keep other teams from just bull rushing their way to the net.
They said Marchand was too small . He put on weight and he wears a 'C' now . Great content bud
I was thinking about Marchand in comparison the entire time. He's only 5'9. I'm glad the game has evolved to allow the fast and squirrely players to be successful. Honestly, I think hockey is moving in the right direction. I want to see fast, smart, and skillful players more than brute force these days.
@@TheVTRainMan Exactly . I like the code being followed , you'll always have Tom Wilson's and things like that BUT they get dealt with . The skill level always trumps "pointless" fights . I don't want to watch boxing on ice , unless it someone being taught a quick lesson . Know what I mean ?
Rat King Baby!
@@Keitholor Little ball of hate will smash your larynx if you give him lip 😁🤣
Patrice bergeron & Brad marchand played the majority of their careers with zdeno Chara watching their backs. That'll be the biggest difference for Marchand. Or he would've been flattened like a pancake a decade ago
The lil ratt comes from another era and he was drafted @ #71, third round, where you'll find the little guys.
But Sweeney went big, hungry & cheap this season on who he's brought in
That's why some B's forward line numbers are going to go up like Marchand's - because for the first time since Nick Richie left, we have size and enforcers
Our lil ratt can stick to the business of scoring instead of trying to play enforcer or spend time in the sin bin. As we've seen him the past coupla years.
Somebody else can do that
But I think that makes a difference on some of these new younger rookies like hughes, bedard - they need someone watching their backs while they go through their learning curves.
Why this would be the perfect season for Matt Poitras to join the Bruins, that amount of talent for pennies on the dollar while we have the likes of Milan lucic, Geekie, & Beecher's size & grit watching his back.
You can get as fast and skilled as you want - it's still hockey 🤕
But I'm going to go with what I've heard directly out of players mouths, what I think doesn't matter.
In early Patrice bergeron interviews, talking about the Selkie, he makes a direct correlation to Zdeno Chara.
So there is some concern over the size of these players, not just being ineffective but seriously getting injured.
I was going to mention Martin St Louis, Marchessault, Connor Bedard, and even Cale Makar (5' 11"). Compete, speed changes, stick handling, ...
Thank you and more small player stories would be cool. Small guys are considered the underdog and everyone loves an underdog story.
Surprised no mention of Caufield at 5'7"
And 4 ft wide.😂
Excellent video. As a Devils fan, you could see the elite skating and elite vision, he just needed to get better adjusted to the time and space playing in the NHL and needed to improve his shot, which I remember was really bad his first 2 years. Year 3 is when you truly started to see him break out, but he missed almost half the season with injury and the team was lousy so he didn’t really put the league on notice. I really like this format you use and the 6-10 minute breakdowns as opposed to the 3 minute daily videos.
Yvan Cournoyer was listed as 5'7" 178 lbs. and played for sixteen seasons with the Montreal Canadians. He won the Hart Trophy three times, the Lady Bing once and the Conn Smythe once. He was an essential part of eight teams that won Stanley Cup Championships for the Habs. Used rarely for penalty killing, he was a potent goal scorer in clutch situations and seemed to play a few feet taller during his legendary career. 8 Cups!
Cournoyer was also the fastest player in the league, which I think is another requirement for small players. You don't see too many players who are small and slow, or even average speed. For example, two younger (and smaller) brothers of famous players who were great up to just below the NHL level, but couldn't stick in the NHL: Steve Kariya and Brent Gretzky.
The road runner..😂
Jonathan Marchessault current Stanley Cup champion and Conn Smythe winner with VGK is also an exception to the rule @ 5'9" 185 lbs. His up and down journey through pro hockey levels is indicative of your point. He struggled with objections to his size throughout his early years. However, he learned to have a chip on his shoulder about it and tapped into that to play with even more grit and intensity. He has all the pro ingredients IMO but size; high hockey IQ, tremendous puck handling skills, deceptive speed and quickness, a devastatingly accurate hard shot and great play making skills.@@RRaquello
@@Wayinsworld everyone was shorter back then
Not Big Bird Larry Robinson. Ha!@@lukebruce5234
Always a good day when HP uploads
Jared Spurgeon is another great "undersized" example. Went from being cut from the Islanders to captain of the Wild and by far our best dman.
This is the best hockey channel on UA-cam
Theoren Fleury was truly leading the way for all the small guys
Nah, cournoyer
Nah what Fleury did while also being drunk and high most of the season is unfathomable
Paul Kariya was only 5'10 also
Henri Richard
It’s about the small playing fierce. When they do that, they’ll succeed, and be respected. Grit. Think Theo Fleury from the past and Marchand at present and many in between
Dino was in front of the net and was undersized. He finished his career with 600 goals. lol
you need crazy talent to play in the NHL as a smaller player, also if you are hit its devastating, and the smaller players can get more head shots from elbows, so Jack has crazy talent, and I hope it helps him avoid injuries too
Martin St Louis is 5´9 and how awesome he was even in the NHL that had beasts like Scot Stevens :D
I never really understood that argument.
I too remember the time when St Louis was the number one draft pick. The argument wasn't that Hughes was too small, the argument was whether or not Devils were concerned with making him the first overall due to his size and thereby potential for his skills to translate on the pro level.
I used to play, a couple of years back and smaller players are really handicapped by their size (I used to be a big defensive d-man). However if a smaller player was skilled and quick enough he would be a pain in the ass. But it takes a whole lot more for a smaller player to be that good than for an average sized player.
I remember the talk was the same thing here at home about Elias Pettersson before he was drafted and I remember the first game I played against him I told some guys in the locker room after the first period "why the fuck are people raving about Jonathan Dahlen when this kid is miles ahead of him already?"
And then throughout the year when talking to ppl they were all saying he was too small but I always said that the he's too skillfull to be too small for the NHL, much like the theo fleurys, st Louis, Kariya etc. However when drafting smaller players you're still taking a huge risk even though some turn out to become really good.
Wayne Gretzky's original rookie card lists him as Age: 18 Height: 5'11" Weight: 165. The back of the card says "Wayne is considered the best prospect to turn professional since Guy Lafleur".At his peak he apparently was 6 ft flat, 185. Though I'm pretty sure I heard him say in a interview once the heaviest he got was 175, but that may be his signature humility talking. Point is this man played during the the enforcer, clutch & grab and trap eras. I don't think the NHL's changed as far as who can make a great player (your video proves it). I think that fans and some hockey talking heads either have short memories or don't know they're history. And or the way we view players has changed.
I don't understand any of this attitude/thinking after the career of the Great One. The vid also mentions P. Kane. Speed and intelligence are what I see winning hockey games in the last 15 years.
@@Redmenace96 exactly!
You really are a brilliant storyteller. Well done, as always.
Just remember that Wayne Gretzky was 6’0 and 185 lbs in a time of monsters.
i think you're being generous - he was smaller than that
All the Hughes boys are absolute studs. Look at Quinn Hughes , Luke is looking good. These kids are born superstar hockey players.
Can you make a video on how to analyze hockey on the fly while watching a game? Also how did you
Get into making video essays on hockey? How did you get so good at analyzing hockey?
Marchey weighs 190 and is two or three inches shorter than Hughes. Hughes needs to bulk up or surround himself with big guys if he wants to win the cup.
The average height for the Golden Knights is 6'2.
They said Gretzky was small.
"Look at me...judge me by my size do you?"
-Master Yoda, 1981
Johnny Bower, Cliff Ronning, Paul Kariya. All the pioneers of the short players. Now the league is full of them.
Amazing to me after Patty Kane people are still asking this lol. Skill and speed alone are enough to be a superstar in todays league.
Very insightful video from someone who knows hockey and how spacing and timing can be very important especially for undersized players. As a Devils fan I was happy the day we drafted him and now I am even happier.
After all the lockouts, the game changed dramatically every time. It used to be bruiser league, almost rugby on ice. You had to battle for every inch of space on the ice and size was important to fight the size of the opposing team. If you had size AND speed, you were a dream player. The game is so focused on hands, speed and skill now that the old time hockey physicality doesn't show up until the end of the season when battling is necessary. This is why you see playoff games with two to three times the number of hits as a regular season. These guys like hughes will get beat up in these scenarios sure, but with the modern day equipment and helmets, they're at a much lower risk of injury which previously would have kept them out of the league
I was always too small growing up in an era where athletes were regularly picked based on size, especially for hockey defensemen, so I was forced to play winger. I've been playing defense since my early 20s and very rarely find anyone who can out battle me in the corners or in front of the net! I've always had more of a protective nature and playing defense was my calling. Unfortunately I grew up 1 generation too early and the NHL dream is certainly over. That said I love being a short pain in the ass to play against to this day and will for as long as I can. Go short kings!
Lack of size is less of a concern in the NHL these days. We have transitioned away from the goon era, so hockey today is more skill oriented. Every team has undersized player who excel. They have the ability to avoid the heavy traffic. The concern still remains that a slighter player may not wear well over an entire season but this is losing air as well. These smaller players know where to go and what will not work for them. Any team will work to create good chemistry in their lineup and balance on all lines. There is still a role for the physical player but the skilled players are proving their value more and more.
the problem is smaller guys in the playoffs struggle when it becomes tight hard checking
He is pretty built and not really a fancy dangler like Hughes. Play style is much dif@@somebody9889
Jack Hughes didn't struggle when he was in the playoffs last year. He was one of the Devils best players. 11 points in 12 games played.
Just avoid the board battles and he'll be fine. Just like Johnny Gaudreau and Patrick Kane 🤷♂️
idk whats with some smaller guys but i am 5'9 63kg which is pretty small but i can beat people way bigger than i am around the boards, sometimes overpowering them.
unless you're sidney crosby with tree trunk legs dominating the boards at 5'11 lol
Mitch marner 😂
@@janzkee Which NHL team do you play for?
jxmmy highroller said something interesting about this, if they're bigger they wont need to go that far into their skill set in order to become a force. its a lot different in basketball except its the same idea. jack hughes had to work harder and get more from his natural talent and abilities in order to become competitive which is why not every player needs to be bigger. rempe is massive but his skills on the ice are ahl level. thats because at that size he wouldnt need to be that skilled to make an nhl spot and he could become a naturally good enforcer if he just stuck to his game and relied more heavily on his size.
St. Louis, Kane, Marchand, Gaudreau, DeBrincat, 2 Hughes brothers, Marchessault, Jarvis, Caufield, Bedard etc. and people still doubting
As a follow small hockey player justice for us small players
I hope you're right. From a Mtl fan watching Cole Caufield and Lane Hudson. Hudson already injured this year and Caufield flattened last year...
Outstanding video man
Being undersized can be viewed as a flaw when evaluating prospects, but if its the only flaw like in the case of guys likes Hughes, its probably not going to have a noticeable effect on his game. Small and skilled will beat out big and unskilled almost every time.
I grew up watching Don Cherry style rock'em sock'em goon hockey with huge players like Lindros and Stevens as the ideal sized player. Don't get me wrong, it was fun to watch but I'll take this modern era of skilled players over that all day everyday. Hughes is already great and he hasn't even his prime or potential yet.
By the way, one of my favourite players is Doug Gilmour. Not a big guy by any means but he had no quit in him and never took guff from anyone.
My favorite “undersized” player of all time is Paul Kariya. Some of these smaller guys just have that perfect mix of grit and skill that’s just fascinating to watch
You earned yourself a subsciption sir. Well done.
As a 5'8 dude myself I always root for the lil guys! Also I'm a devils fanatic. Lgd!!!!!!
What's crazy is he's 3 years younger than Makar, Matthews, Tkachuk, Fox etc. He still has another gear.
The kid is a BOSS! super massive natural talent. He will be a mc David one day.
I think it's fair to say Hughes is one of the many that belong in the league despite his small size. But it's disingenuous to suggest that you can just fill your lineup with this same type of player. It's a player mold: small and skilled. The majority of smallish draftees are not skilled enough to make up for their size. You don't need to be huge but big enough to deal with physicality - which is a big reason I think it was a long road for Hughes to get to a point where he's considered elite.
In multiple interviews, Gretzky said he was actually 5'11 185LB. He was 10LB heavier. Clearly it doesn't matter.
Go new jersey !!! Jack Hughes is definitely my favorite forward in the nhl
They made the right choice and I knew he was going to be a star. I really wanted him. He's slick.
Ok but if there was a 6 foot three guy and a 5 foot10 guy and they
had the same skill would you take,be honest
Excellent analysis!!!
Too small is just left overs from old hockey. The real big move that let smaller players compete is when the league told the refs to actually call obstruction in the mid 2000's. Players used to get absolutely mugged going to the net. They started calling it right after Kane was in the league a year or two. We are slowly going back to "old time hockey," the way it was before Philly and Boston made it a bullying game.
Great analysis 👍🏼💯
Pavel was a giant. The game has not changed.
This kid is still getting ROCKED though--unfortunately, I can't see anyone taking that much damage and having a full length career.
They said the same about Marty St. Louis and he won the Art trophy and has over 1000 points. If your good your good.
Love that he's also from Florida.
Yikes Hughes hurt again
As far as the coach or management goes, I would think that they would be more concerned about weight than height. 170 lbs. is pretty light @ 5’11”, but if the player is only 18, you know he is going to grow with more muscle added over time. On the other hand, if they have the skill set to be a starter at 18, management may be concerned if their frame is too light. I think of someone like a RNH who got injured quite a bit at first.
Surprised Brad Marchand didn’t get a mention in this video. I know he doesn’t have the draft pedigree of Bedard or Hughes, but he is closing in on 900 career points while being (generously) listed as 5’9”.
It's all fun and games till the playoffs, ask those overpaid maple leafs
I think Jack just needs to add some muscle to protect his body more, he's gonna get targeted as the franchise player and as we've seen, his shoulder is stopping him from having more consistent seasons, and yet he'll still pump out big numbers
I’m 5’10 and 185. I can tell you as a little guy, I’m a top 20 player in our local rinks beer league.
bedard is going to be like hughes. it's going to take 2-3 years to breakout as a star
Not sure… Bedard might potentially hit a point per game this season, judging by how his first few games have been.
Bedard is already 185 pounds, the only thing he REALLY needs is a more talented team, otherwise once he's truely comfortable with the pace and overall skill level in the league( I give him about 45-50 games) his production is gonna start shooting up.
I think it'll be less time. I think by part way through the season he will start putting up close to a point per game.
5:30 which player are you referring to?
When players are being forced to fight over clean hits 24/7 nowadays it seems thats opening up a lot of space for smaller guys because game is getting closer to an awkward thing where its almost no-contact except for fights
All of the GOATs have been around 5’9 to 6’1. With the exception of 6’6” Mario Lemieux of course. Size doesn’t always translate to skill
7 more points over the last 2 games. This dude is on fire.
As a 5'6" beer leaguer... I kind of have to say, I miss the old school physicality of the game. I'm very overweight in my mid-life, but if I really wanted to, I can shave off a bit of fat and settle in around 200 or 190lbs. There's absolutely no reason these superstar youngin's can't put on a little more weight. Scrappy guys like Theo Fleury (5'6" 190lbs) were awesome.
No contact hockey just isn't the same and I think that the NHL is being way too liberal with calling too many penalties especially slashes, trips, and hooks. Literally, if someone decides to skate over an opposing players stick held in one hand and falls the refs will call tripping. It's nonsense. Then we have perfectly clean hits where a player quickly turns their back towards the hit at the last minute to increase the likelihood of injury being called boarding or sometimes checking from behind. We need more power forwards that are quick and skilled and just as capable of putting the body on people. That's what hockey is truly about. If you want nothing but finesse and skating around there's always roller hockey.
Pavel Bure was 5'10 many called him undersized. I would say he ended up alright.
i have such emotional attachments to undersize players!! they're just all so cool: kailer yamamoto, conor garland, cole caufield etc.. love them :3
But isn't it only a myth when the player is a star player? What about average joe with the same skill set as a larger player.
Then you get the swath of guys like Patrick Newell, who was real nice at St Cloud St but is out of AHL and international leagues now by age 29
People still say Pettersson is too small... Yet he dominates both offensively and defensively, and semi-regularly throws a big hit out there. There are too many examples now of ELITE smaller sized guys. Sure, you don't want your entire time to be small, as some general size in your lineup can be valuable, but that shouldn't be the job of your top draft pick, to be "big". It should be to be skillfully elite.
My favourite player of all time is Stan Jonathan. 5’5” tall. Ask Pierre Bouchard if he’s too small.
It’s all about tenacity.
Nathan Gerbe took this idea personally.
Wish I could have been a forward, or a defenceman, who is at least sometimes allowed to be given the chance to prove themselves. But when you are a 5'10" goaltender you don't even get considered in this era of the 6'2" goalie. ;u;
Time to bring back mean tough hockey. Broad Street Bullies style hockey . When players hated each other
Look at Zucc. Dude was the MVP in the Swedish league.
Martin St.Louis proved that even small players can have a place in the NHL
5’11” is solid. Just needs to bulk up his frame. 5’11” can definitely dominate a 6’3” guy.
His brother Quinn isn't any bigger and he's killing it in Vancouver
How is Hugues different then Kane ? Both 1st Ovr around same size
Looks around for his Martin Straka jersey.
His willingness to go into those dirty areas are what puts him in another level that most smaller guys don’t get to
Funny…Hughes just happened to get 4 points last night. Also…he’s almost exactly the same size as Wayne Gretzky.
I'm 5 foot 10, intermediate skilled player, and all I can say is I'm glad I play non contact, some of the guys I play with are around 6 foot 4 and beef cakes.
fantastic video
Skaters are smaller but goalies are a lot taller. Plus imagine how good Theo Fleury would be good in today's league.