Quote:
Originally Posted by Calgary4LIfe
I think part of the reason why they picked Jankowski was the long-standing need for a #1 C. It was a 'hail mary' of sorts. They did get every scout in the Flames org rotated in to view Jankowski at least once. For me, it was a fascinating pick for so many reasons. It took a long time for Jankowski to develop enough to join the team, and his first season was really, really good. Heck, every single one of his goals in his first season were goal scorer's goals. Second season was better statistically from what I remember, but scored more 'lucky goals' that year. Then the wheels fell off in the third season.
Going from Gulutzan in his rookie year, to Bill Peters in his second year, to Bill Peters/Geoff Ward in his third year - I felt like it was a mistake letting him go after his first disappointing season. However, since then he just hasn't got much traction.
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Only quoting part of your very good post. I always felt like Jankowski didn't know how to use the other players on the ice. So many of his first year goals were break to the net / shoot / score. But I feel like when he was a Flame he never used his teammates.
But that said there's something special about anyone who can carve out 400+ NHL games. And he's got nothing but respect from me. Even if I was never a huge fan.
I think part of his longevity is the fact that he just can just drive the puck the whole way up the ice without worrying about his teammates. But when we picked him in the 1st round we had no idea that that was all he could really do offensively.