Playing career
Falloon was named Memorial Cup Tournament MVP in 1991 with the Spokane Chiefs of the WHL.
Falloon was drafted 2nd overall by the San Jose Sharks in the 1991 NHL Entry Draft. He was the first-ever draft pick in the history of the San Jose Sharks organization. Ray Whitney, his teammate with the WHL's Spokane Chiefs, was the Sharks' second pick. [1] The Sharks had thought the pair would be a natural scoring combination, but that didn't pan out. On January 10, 1993, Falloon was injured in a game against the Ottawa Senators after a hipcheck in front of the net led to Falloon falling onto his shoulder. This injury and its surgery resulted in Falloon losing full range of motion in his right shoulder, a hindrance that some consider to be a key moment in his statistical downfall. [2]
After playing in San Jose for four years, Falloon was traded November 16, 1995 to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for LW Martin Spanhel, a first-round draft choice in the 1996 Entry Draft and a third-round draft choice (these picks were later transferred to the Phoenix Coyotes and Buffalo Sabres and used to acquire Danny Briere and Mike Martone, respectively).
He was traded January 17, 1998 to the Ottawa Senators along with Václav Prospal and a second-round draft choice, in exchange for Alexandre Daigle, the first overall draft pick in 1993. He later played for both the Edmonton Oilers and Pittsburgh Penguins.
After his 1999-2000 season with the Penguins, Falloon was no longer an active NHL player, instead going on to play for HC Davos in Switzerland for the 2000–2001 season. [3] After his season in Switzerland, Falloon returned to his hometown of Foxwarren to play for the Foxwarren Falcons, a Senior A team within the Manitoba and Saskatchewan based North Central Hockey League.
During his time in the NCHL, Falloon had a comparatively high statistical performance to the rest of the league, and won two single-season scoring titles. [4] [5] With the Falcons, he helped them win six straight league championships from 2001–02 to 2006–07 (the Falcons also won without Falloon in 2000–01). This string of championships was broken in 2007–08 by the Roblin Northstars. [6]
Legacy
Falloon was considered a talented prospect in his own right, and the Sharks expected him to be one of the building blocks of their young franchise in the coming decade. However, in a draft class so heavily focused on 1st overall pick Eric Lindros, Falloon is now considered by some to be a 'consolation prize' in comparison. [9] Falloon delivered decent returns as a rookie, notching 59 points in 1991–92, but never topped that production for the remainder of his career, and is widely regarded as a draft bust. Future Hockey Hall-of-Famers Scott Niedermayer and Peter Forsberg were selected with the third and sixth picks respectively after Falloon went second in the 1991 draft. Later in his career Falloon became known more for his lack of conditioning. [10] [11] [12]
He played 575 career NHL games, scoring 143 goals and 179 assists for 322 points.
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