Gord Kluzak – What Happened?

[mikebflorida]

Originally Posted by Johnny Pie

not impressed . Remember this guy was the number one pick in the draft. He was not called up as a fighter. He was a top level hard hitting d man. He stands in there trading shots with the biggest fighters [size and rep] of the day and your not impressed. sorry . You look at some you tube fights and make like he was some kind of punching bag. If he doesn't get hurt he would have been along the lines of Chris Pronger playing wise. Tough,top defenseman. How many top fighters did Pronger fight ? Don't confuse Kluzak with someone who was called up to be a fighter. I think it is really impressive
that he challenges and opens up against top fighters. And I think he does alright. He had some fights vs other players that were pretty entertaning. Adams , Anderson etc. This guy opened up and swung it out most of the time. Doing reasonably well. I think that WAS IMPRESSIVE. He didn't live up to expectations but that does have to do with his being injured so much of the time. But if you followed him while he played and understand what he was[ a potential top player not just a fighter ] I think you might be more impressed.

As a fighter, I wasn't impressed. I'm sure he had a lot of talent as a player but of course, the knee injuries will derail anyone.

I clearly didn't mean anything badly negative about the guy but I watch those fights and he loses so I am not impressed with him as a fighter, that's all. He gets TKO'd by Kevin Dineen for cripes sake and had a huge size and reach advantage. Dineen was tough but come on.

He was clearly a notch below the other fighters of the day and that's ok, it is what it is.

I certainly didn't mention Chris Pronger who I happen to think of as a giant vagina,a good dman sure, but a nasty punk who will spot pick with the best of them. I wouldn't compare him with anyone, really, except maybe Jerome Bettis who might have had as many knee operations and can't even walk up a flight of stairs.

[Johnny Pie]

Originally Posted by mikebflorida

As a fighter, I wasn't impressed. I'm sure he had a lot of talent as a player but of course, the knee injuries will derail anyone.

I clearly didn't mean anything badly negative about the guy but I watch those fights and he loses so I am not impressed with him as a fighter, that's all. He gets TKO'd by Kevin Dineen for cripes sake and had a huge size and reach advantage. Dineen was tough but come on.

He was clearly a notch below the other fighters of the day and that's ok, it is what it is.

I certainly didn't mention Chris Pronger who I happen to think of as a giant vagina,a good dman sure, but a nasty punk who will spot pick with the best of them. I wouldn't compare him with anyone, really, except maybe Jerome Bettis who might have had as many knee operations and can't even walk up a flight of stairs.

Everyone is entitled to there own opinion so if he doesn't impress you fine. But I think you are being pretty negative when you say stuff like all he proved is he could take a punch and mock him for the one time vs Dineen he did look bad when it really was one kind of lucky punch that caught him. Obviously you didn't follow Kluzak closely not being a bruin fan but he had some bouts where he looked pretty good and was respected as a tough fighter not a pushover even against the big boys. Your call on the Probert fight and the others that were posted is a little suspect, he "loses " and Probert rang him up. Like I said your not being impressed is fine but Kluzak was a better fighter than your giving him credit for. The Pronger comparison was just to say the level of play that was expected from Kluzak and the fact that even though he was a top level talent he still challenged some of the baddest of the day. Again I think that shows something. He was not some fighter that was expected to fight the big boys because that was his role, he did it because of his makeup.

[mikebflorida]

I respect any guy who drops the gloves in the NHL, I just wasn't all that impressed with the results, that's all. He proved he can take a punch(except for the Dineen fight), that's a compliment by the way.

He stood in there with the best, no beef there.

And no, I've never followed the Bruins closely but I was aware of Kluzak.