Drafted Into Obscurity < 1990 Calgary Flames >

Many organizations get snake-bitten by their decision-makers lack of foresight on player potential and skill brake down. Failed successive draft years can handcuff organizations for years and even decades. Therefore, drafting underage juniors into the highest level of hockey in the world, the NHL, can be considered an advanced skill and even an art. To find those players who are diamonds in the rough no matter where they play their hockey in the world and develop them wisely is what sets great teams apart from the wanna-be’s.  Draft disasters separate the quality from obscurity.

The Calgary Flames team found themselves with this same problem, coming off their one and only Stanley Cup championship in the spring of 1989. The Flames veteran-laden lineup was changing over quickly with ownership creating an unsettling atmosphere for coaches and players alike. By the end of the 1990 season gone were the heady days of Flames legends and key contributors Lanny McDonald, Joe Mullen and Hakan Loob. Coach Terry Crisp and GM Cliff Fletcher were also on their way out as the Flames franchise made major wholesale changes.

Nicolas Perreault

Of course the Flames management looked to the draft to fill some of the gaping holes left by those legendary players. Rebuilding began in earnest at the 1990 draft as the Flames shored up their goaltending by taking the consensus number one ranked overall major junior net minder that year, Trevor Kidd. What transpired next for Calgary in the second round of the 1990 draft continues to baffle the minds of hockey experts and pundits alike. For their first of three picks in the second round, Flames management engineered a deal with the Pittsburgh Penguins to trade one of their leaders and future HOF sniper, Joe Mullen, for an unknown, off-the-board, Ontario tier two defenseman and true prospect by the name of Nicolas Perreault at #26.

Mullen went on to be an instrumental player in Pittsburgh’s back-to-back Stanley Cups in 1991 and 1992 and eventually became the second highest scoring American player in NHL history while being inducted into the HOF in 2000.Perreault was coming off an extremely successful season as the Central Ontario Junior "A" Hockey League's top defenseman and rookie-of-the-year, leading his Hawkesbury Hawks to become regular season and playoff champions, while signing a letter-of-intent with the CCHA’s Michigan State Spartans.

A true long-shot prospect, Perreault would never patrol an NHL blue line and became lost in the annals of hockey lore forever. After four unspectacular years in college at Michigan State, Perreault only played a paltry 84 minor league professional hockey games over two years with Saint John of the AHL and Toledo of the ECHL and in less than 10 years he was out of hockey for good.

Viitakoski with the
 1993 Calgary Flames

But this disastrous draft tale for the Calgary Flames does not end here.  Continuing on further into the second round of the 1990 draft, the Flames looked off-continent to Finland for their second pick at #32 as they selected huge left winger Vesa Viitakoski. The 6’3” 209 lb Viitakoski was a promising young scorer who put some flashy numbers in the Finnish junior league and World juniors from 1988 to 1990 -and 1991. Viitakoski appeared to have the physical presence NHL GM’s were always yearning for and the big Finnish winger decided to continue his seasoning back home in Finland until the end of the 1993 season.

Viitakoski with the

1994 Saint John Flames

The Flames roster was a revolving -door on the bottom two lines which gave Viitakoski a legitimate shot at making the Flames straight out of camp in fall of 1993. Left wing was pretty bare with only Gary Roberts cemented in at the first line spot. Viitakoski debuted in the NHL, scoring three points in eight games, while spending most of the 1993-1994 campaign with the Flames AHL farm team in Saint John. While with Saint John, Viitakoski was a point a game player, putting up 28 goals and 67 points in 67 games to finish third in team scoring.

It looked like 1994-1995 was going to be Viitakoski’s year to really crack the Calgary line-up but only saw action in only 10 NHL games, scoring 3 points and not impressing Flames management enough for more call-up time. Viitakoski’s production slipped a little in Saint John as he finished with 43 points but a lack-luster performance and little improvement had Flames management souring on him.

Viitakoski in 2010 with Ilves

By 1996, Viitatoski saw the last of his NHL action ever and was promptly traded to the Colorado Avalanche for Paxton Schulte. Now back in the AHL with Cornwall, Viitakoski never got a shot in Colorado and was back in Finland after a one year stint in Sweden by 1998. He continued playing top level pro hockey in his homeland of Finland with a brief second stop in Sweden up until recently in 2010, totaling a 20 year career of top level professional hockey.  

For their third pick in the second round of the 1990 NHL draft, the Calgary Flames went off the board again, mystifing scouts and experts, selecting Cornell d-man Etienne Belzile at #41. In his four years of college Belzile was an outstanding stay-at-home, shut-down defenceman for the Big Red, averaging four points a season. The Flames seemed to be adding depth to their backline with another hard-rock hitter but Belzile never played an NHL game. Fans and critics must have been questioning why the Flames scouting staff were so high on this player. At the time, Belzile was concentrating on a medical degree and preparing for a potential future in an area that had nothing to do with hockey - neurosurgery!!! But once again Calgary scouts and management had other ideas and went with a very risky selection. By the time Belize graduated from Cornell three years later, the defenceman was out of hockey and on his way to becoming a doctor of medicine, fading into hockey obscurity forever.    

Drafted Into Obscurity < Scott Scissons >

1989 Saskatoon Blades

Scott Scissons was living the Canadian dream.

After two stellar seasons with his hometown Saskatoon Blades, he was picked sixth overall in the 1990 NHL entry draft by the New York Islanders. Jaromir Jagr, a future Hart Trophy winner as the most valuable player in the NHL, was selected one spot earlier.

1990 NHL Draft

An NHL career was in the cards for Scissons, or so it seemed.

After five injury-plagued seasons as a journeyman pro, and three games in the NHL, he retired in 1995. "Without question it's disappointing," says Scissons.

"It was as good a chance as anybody at that age. I just spent more time in the hospital than I did on the ice." Scissons's medical record has no competitors.

1994 New York Islanders

Both his shoulders and his back refused to stay together.

Before the 1995 season Scissons was on the verge of signing with the Dallas Stars. He even passed the physical, but the team doctor had other ideas. "The doctor told me the next time I get hit improperly you may not walk again," says Scissons. "I decided there was more to life at 22."

Scissons, 34, is more than comfortable with his turn of events. "I wouldn't change much. There's certain things you can control and you can't control the injuries.

Drafted Into Obscurity < Rocky Trottier >

Not all hockey players can survive the rigors of the professional game on talent alone. A few players get more attention from big league scouts because they have the "right" last name. Having those familiar letters on the back of your jersey can almost guarantee you a shot at leap frogging over more capable teammates and competition.

In this addition to the long list of pro hockey players who eventually got Drafted Into Obscurity, we take a look at a player who toiled in shadow a vastly talented big brother and NHL legend, Rocky Trottier.

Rocky Trottier with Medicine Hat Tigers

Maybe Rocky Trottier was destined to become an NHL'er. It appeared that he certainly was blessed with fantastic lineage which should've paid off handsomely for the Saskatoon native. But cursed was more like the reality for Western Hockey League junior.

Being the little brother of an already established NHL star probably weighed a little heavy on the average major junior. Over his four years in the WHL, Trottier posted a not too spectacular over a point-a-game pace. In his final year, Trottier began to show some flashes of what might become after scoring 84 points in 65 games,adding a solid 15 more in Memorial Cup action. That late display of talent might have given him a small chance at a pro hockey career, if it wasn't for that promising last name and what it meant.

In 1982, times were changing in the NHL, the eight-year run of the Colorado Rockies had come to an end with new owners moving the franchise to the largest sports market in North America. The New Jersey Devils were born out of the swamps of eastern metropolitan New York. The new owners knew what they were up against in the powerhouse, storied Ranger fan-base and new dynasty rivals Islanders - major competition. They needed a quick foothold into the market and what better way to make a splash by drafting the little brother of NHL mega star Bryan Trottier. Tempted by the family lineage promise, the Devils selected Rocky Trottier with their first pick, eighth overall in the first round of the 1982 NHL draft.

1984 with the New Jersey Devils

He debuted in the NHL after a successful run in the Memorial Cup playoffs in 1984, scoring 2 points in 5 games. By September, Trottier had made the Devils and was ready to begin another NHL brother rivalry. After splitting the 1984-85 season between the farmclub and parent club, Trottier worked hard to stick as an NHL regular. By 1986, he never got another shot at the big leagues, playing a total of 35 NHL games over two seasons.  He continued to langish in the AHL with Maine, not impressing Devils brass and by the fall of 1987, Trottier was on his way to hockey obscurity and out of the North American pro scene.

Trottier would head to Europe to play two more seasons of unspectacular hockey in Div II clubs in Sweden and Germany. He played one last season, making an unsuccessful return to North America in 1989-90, suiting up for the AHL's Hersey Bears.

Trottier was the perfect example of potential on name but not on pure talent. Luckily for New Jersey, 1982 turned out to be one of the weakest NHL drafts for underage juniors and Rocky Trottier's legacy became more of a footnote and sports game show stump-er than a franchise fiasco.