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Watching the NHL Playoffs last week, I was reminded of something John Lovell once said when he was coaching the Owen Sound Platers.
Talking about an opposition player who was doing far better than anyone projected, Lovell stated, ‘ scouting is a humbling profession. ‘
The comment came to mind watching Brayden Point of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Point played in the Western Hockey League for Moose Jaw and was coached in his draft year by former Attack coach Mike Stothers, a season in which Point led a low echelon Warriors squad with 91 points…..but was -27 for the season.
Stothers would leave Moose Jaw after that season, joining the LA Kings organization.
The story goes that Mike Stothers highly recommended Brayden Point to the Kings as a potential draft pick, but the scouts and brass opted to go elsewhere.
In fairness to the Kings, everybody in the NHL passed on Point who didn’t get selected until the 79th selection in 2014 by the Lightning.
Looking at the 2014 NHL Entry Draft, of the Top 100 players selected that year, only Leon Draisaitl and David Pastrnak have put up more points than Brayden Point.
Sure, that’s not the only barometer by which an NHL player is measured, but no matter what gauge you utilize to evaluate hockey, the scouts should have paid more attention to Mike Stothers who saw Brayden Point close up about 150 times over a 3 year span.
As John Lovell said years ago, ‘ scouting is a humbling profession ‘.