Hey hockey fans: Which NHL superstar has had the worst post-playing career?

Question

It is often said that athletes want to play as long as they can, because they would miss the various aspects of being a player, such as the glory, teammates, winning, and so on. However, there are a select few athletes who were extraordinary as players, but then were mediocre (or worse) in other arenas. My question poses this: which NHL superstars have struggled post-playing career? Who is doing a hack job in a different area other than playing hockey?

Answer 1

Bobby Clarke puck dat? Come on. 2 trips to the finals with the Flyers in his first tenure. Then he took the Stars to the finals surprisingly. Then with Florida, they set the expansion record for points and wins. Then back to the Flyers with 11 straight play-off appearances and another cup final.
Hardly seems like a bad resume to me.

I'd have to say Gretzky because he set such a high standard as a player but his team has faltered whether it is his fault or not. His assistant, Tocchet hasn't fared much better.

Honourable mentions- Phil Esposito maybe. Mike Milbury definitely. Actually Milbury is MY CHOICE. Anyone who gets the nickname "Mad Mike" for silly trades he has made has to qualify.He has traded away defensemen Zdeno Chara, Wade Redden, Bryan Berard, Eric Brewer, Darius Kasparaitis, and Bryan McCabe; goalies Luongo and Tommy Salo, as well as forwards Olli Jokinen, Todd Bertuzzi, and Raffi Torres. Milbury has also come under fire for his draft day decisions such as choosing Rick DiPietro first overall in 2000 over Dany Heatley and Marian Gaborik

Answer 2

One that I have not seen yet, is Sergei Zholtok dying of a heart attack on the ice. This is why he was so important to me... In 2003 I was an admirer of the sport of hockey but I wouldn't say I was a great fan yet. My dad decided for my early birthday present to take me to a Wild game. Mr. Zholtok was on the team that season. It was Oct. 29 and the Wild were playing the Avalanche. It was a close game all the way and ended up in overtime. After a few close calls Sergei scored the game winner. The Xcel was roaring. I have never felt that kind of passion ever at any sporting event. I was hooked on the sport and the Wild. To cement this 2 days later a friend approached me at school and said he had an extra ticket for the Oct 31 game against the Sharks. Once again the game went to OT and once again Sergei Zholtok scored the game winner. Mr. Zholtok and my Dad are the reasons why I am a die hard hockey fan today. Thank you. Hockey aside, I want to say, my thoughts go out to all those affected by the 35W bridge collapse. I was there when it happened and to see that tragedy up close will stick with me forever. I travel that bridge almost daily and know that could have been me. I also want to thank the brave citizens of Minnesota who were the first to jump into the river to save those who had fallen.

Answer 3

I'm stuck between two answers. The first would be Bryan Fogarty. Simply a tragic tale of a talented youngster who never realized his potential due to substance abuse and psychological problems, which ultimately led to his death at too young an age.

The other would be Dominik Hasek. I know he's still playing and doesn't exactly qualify, but I think he's a special case for consideration. The fact that this man went from National Hero to Villain overnight is actually quite a spectacular feat. Retiring after the '02 season Hasek played in a roller hockey league in the Czech Republic as a winger. I can't remember the exact details but apparently he took a cheap shot at a player and was even facing criminal charges when he decided to come back to the NHL. Quite a few people think he came back to avoid the "heat" in his native country.

Answer 4

I agree with caseman. Domi is lousy. I've never heard the Bossy radio show so I have no comment on it. Can we really call Domi a superstar though?
How about Bobby Clark? I'd say his days as a GM were never equal to his playing career. Need I remind you of the Lindros trade?
Okay, not Clark Bob. I was just grasping for an answer and the Lindros trade wasn't Clark as well you're right.
Gretzky as a coach has had little success. He's also had little talent to work with however as an owner he has to shoulder some of that blame so that answer works for me.
So could we say the same for Mario then? Pens haven't done much with him as owner and he did nothing to end up with Crosby that was all luck.
What about Fuhr? He made a ton of money and when he retired he found out his finance guy had blown it all. Does that qualify?

Answer 5

I agree with the two posts above me. I lived in AZ for a while and followed the 'yotes. What a suckfest. Even when they blew the money to become competitive last summer, Gretsky still couldn't bring a winning attitude to the team and they fell apart. He even held on to Nagy for years telling us he was going to turn into a league leading scorer.

If he had any other name he would have been fired in the middle of year two.

Answer 6

doug harvey the 2nd best defenceman ever homeless living in boxcars with his jersey retired the man who brought him out and helped him to live his final days wiyh some dignity don cherry this is not the only individual he helped through tough times he never had a fair shot at the nhl as a player he spent his time as the team psycologisht you would be amazed at the people he helped with personqal issues throughout his playing days one was my babysitter who went on to beat teenage alcholism with the help of my father cyclone taylor and fred hume the person in question dylesike unknown in the early 50s 6 stanly cup rings he gave doug harvey the right to die with dignity from his own pocket

Answer 7

Amen To Caseman Amen, Tie Domi was never an amazing player to begin with! he never scored to many goals, he always tried to hurt people, and now he has this gay segment where he wins and cries and yells about things that he shouldn't even care about cause he's retired.

"Whaaa the All-star jerseys are to tight, they make players sweat whaaaa"

Answer 8

I think Gretzky is doing himself a disservice with his overexposure as an endorser of way too many consumer products, not to mention his wholly unimpressive performance behind the bench.

Answer 9

Mike Bossy

His radio show in Quebec after he retired was atrocious.

Answer 10

Tie Domi. I so hope TSN scraps his segment this season. It's flat-out embarrassing.