Zack Kassian Retires

[Theo5789]

 

 

[Miss Korea]

I did not expect both teams to lose the Hodgson trade.

 

[Jess]

Had a great year in 2019-20 with the Oilers benefitting from their offensive team with 34 points in 59 games. Good enough for a 21-goal, 47-point pace in 82 games. Was even decent in Vancouver for a time, but could never quite consistently reach that top 6 level he was expected to. Obviously, plummetting down to 2 points in 51 games last year was a crazy drop off. Hope he's doing well mentally. Retiring from a pro hockey career can be a tough change. Solid career overall.

[Sabrefan1]

1 minute ago, Miss Korea said:

I did not expect both teams to lose the Hodgson trade.

 

Zack sucked but was fun to watch when he was young.  Hodgson just sucked.

 

Although it's unfortunate that Hodgson was sick and that was the root cause of his suckage.

[Satchmo]

Interesting guy.  I'll never for get how one of our quiet and diplomatic Sedins said 'I think he should just shut up and play hockey.'

 

Huge props to Zack for crawling out of the substance abuse hole and continuing to play in the NHL.

[Sabrefan1]

2 minutes ago, -AJ- said:

Had a great year in 2019-20 with the Oilers benefitting from their offensive team with 34 points in 59 games. Good enough for a 21-goal, 47-point pace in 82 games. Was even decent in Vancouver for a time, but could never quite consistently reach that top 6 level he was expected to. Obviously, plummetting down to 2 points in 51 games last year was a crazy drop off. Hope he's doing well mentally. Retiring from a pro hockey career can be a tough change. Solid career overall.

 

He was an up and down player.  A few years with the Oilers were good.  A few years mediocre with them as well. 

 

He was terrible with the Sabres even though the year that he made it up the Sabres were still decent.

 

He was inconsistent to bad with the Canucks from what I remember, even when he was tried on the top line with the Sedins.

[Sabrefan1]

4 minutes ago, Satchmo said:

Huge props to Zack for crawling out of the substance abuse hole and continuing to play in the NHL.

 

I totally forgot he was once a boozer and enjoyer of nose candy. 

[Jess]

3 minutes ago, Sabrefan1 said:

 

He was an up and down player.  A few years with the Oilers were good.  A few years mediocre with them as well. 

 

He was terrible with the Sabres even though the year that he made it up the Sabres were still decent.

 

He was inconsistent to bad with the Canucks from what I remember, even when he was tried on the top line with the Sedins.

 

There was definitely still a bit of an attempt to find our new Bertuzzi to play with the Twins in their prime. Pyatt, Kassian, even Virtanen maybe, though that was in the twighlight of the Twins' career.

[Sabrefan1]

Just now, -AJ- said:

 

There was definitely still a bit of an attempt to find our new Bertuzzi to play with the Twins in their prime. Pyatt, Kassian, even Virtanen maybe, though that was in the twighlight of the Twins' career.

 

For sure.  I loved watching Kassian for the sheer fact that he was game to fight with anyone in order to stand up for a teammate.  He could lose a fight and still want more if the situation called for it.

 

He was a fighter who could occasionally add a scoring touch.

[Nucker67]

Thinking that beatdown from Xhekaj rocked Kassian into retirement. Maybe he doesn't want to mess up the new teeth. 

 

[Canuck You]

45 minutes ago, Sabrefan1 said:

 

I totally forgot he was once a boozer and enjoyer of nose candy. 

You talking about me, bro!?!?

[PureQuickness]

You know, it's possible that he just lost passion for the game.

 

Watching yourself dwindle like that WHILE abusing substances can really shake you to your core.

I really hope that he gets the help that he needs. He is still very young and can make a career out of almost everything. He should do some soul searching and be a useful person of society. There's no shame in that.

[Kevin Biestra]

He did well to get himself back on track and become an NHL regular after the kind of debacle that can have you playing in Europe.  Guy showed that he was more mentally there than someone like Virtanen and had a better career too while being a lower draft pick.  Guy made it to the big show and even had a bit of an impact while he was there.

[higgyfan]

Good for Zack.  He struggled as a young man, but managed to put a decent NHL career together.

12yrs in the NHL with an estimated +$23M earnings is something he can be proud of.

 

Good luck with your future plans.  At 32, you have much of life ahead of you!

[Bob Long]

Good luck to him, I hope he has support to transition out of the game. 

[Guest]

Let's hear it for the guy who helped bring us Canuck legend Brandon Prust.

Thing that sticks out most for me about Kass, was when he killed that kid in the World Juniors and got suspended for what felt like the whole tourney. Don't know the specifics, just remember the hit.

[Rekker]

Loved Zack. His energy when he was on was awesome. Hopefully he can stay healthy and enjoy retirement. 

[Rekker]

I was at the infamous Tortorella game vs Calgary. I remember Kassian in the penalty box yelling back and forth with the Calgary player in the other box. They went back and forth with the rink camera on them, lol. Zack wouldn't stop jabbering, even after the Flames player had enough and wanted to stop. Kassian just kept talking, cussing and spitting. Was hilarious and one of my most funny moments at Rogers. 

[Snoop Hogg]

Glad he sorted through his addiction issues and have a decent career. 

[Miss Korea]

1 hour ago, Sabrefan1 said:

 

Zack sucked but was fun to watch when he was young.  Hodgson just sucked.

 

Although it's unfortunate that Hodgson was sick and that was the root cause of his suckage.

 

Cody Hodgson was good for us and it was a bit of a shock that he got traded away.  Gillis felt there was no room for Cody to steal a spot from Henrik or Kesler and opted for a bruising winger instead.

 

Not that keeping Cody would've been the right move, but trading our best young player for Kassian was a gamble that didn't pay off.  Oh well.

[Pears]

Just a shame he was never able to fully realize his potential here. We definitely got flashes, but not enough. Still wonder sometimes how that 2012 season would've gone if we never made that trade and just stayed course. 

Edited October 26, 2023 by Pears

[Tecumseh]

I remembered we headlined the 2012 trade deadline with that trade. I was having a great time in college during that era. Watched him got drafted in 2009, thought he had a lot of upside. Now he's retiring... I sure feel old...

[Sabrefan1]

1 hour ago, Canuck You said:

You talking about me, bro!?!?

 

Dunno.  You enjoy the nose snow? 

 

I could never do coke.  I get too paranoid and hyper when I have too much caffeine.  They'd be peeling me off of the ceiling if I tried the Devil's dandruff.

[Miss Korea]

39 minutes ago, Pears said:

Just a shame he was never able to fully realize his potential here. We definitely got flashes, but not enough. Still wonder sometimes how that 2012 season would've gone if we never made that trade and just stayed course. 

Hodgson was going to get traded sooner than later.  We were a strong team with two elite centres on cheap contracts.  But had we done that trade in the summer I think we would've acquired a defenceman.  We attempted to replace Salo and Ehrhoff with Tanev and Garrison.  One went well and one did not.

[Sabrefan1]

1 minute ago, Miss Korea said:

Hodgson was going to get traded sooner than later.  We were a strong team with two elite centres on cheap contracts.  But had we done that trade in the summer I think we would've acquired a defenceman.  We attempted to replace Salo and Ehrhoff with Tanev and Garrison.  One went well and one did not.

 

Ehrhoff.  The other Canucks trade that eventually bit the Sabres in the butt.  He's still collecting money from the Sabres.  Will be until 2027-28.