NHL Draft Combine Doesn't Always Mean Much

The NHL Scouting Combine was on Friday. 101 draft eligible players are poke, prodded and down right tortured in physical fitness testing prior to the NHL Entry Draft later this month. Believe it or not, TSN is airing an hour long special featuring coverage of all the top prospects.

The funny thing is - no matter how high these kids can jump or how fast they can run or how much they can bench press, all of this certainly does not guarantee he will be a NHL player. I think TSN's Gord Miller said it best on Twitter:

At the NHL draft combine thinking what 99 said: "When I scored 90 goals I could do 10 situps. When I could do 90 situps I scored 10 goals."

In a sport known for physicality and violence, Gretzky was the most frail, skinny, weakling in hockey. Yet he became the greatest hockey player in the history of the game. I have even heard stories that during the 1980s the Edmonton Oilers didn't even bother conducting training camp physical testing with Gretzky. They knew he would come in last in many categories. But they also knew he was going to score 200 points that season!

What was Gretzky's secret? Intelligence, quickness and agility. But judging by the photo below, definitely not diet!