Firs thing, check out a great new hockey card blog created by hockey card enthusiast (and reader of this blog) “le Nouz’ called Cards King. It is always great to have another voice in the hockey card world so do yourself a favor and visit his blog!

The contest is fairly close to wrapping up, so I wanted to take care of some housekeeping. The will be six winners, the top-three and the bottom-three. Winners will be determined not by their teams winning percentage but rather their points percentage, that is, how many points they earned out of the total possible points from 12/15 to 1/15. In the event of a tie for any position, I am going to use goal differential for that same time period. Also, there were a handful of teams that weren’t picked, so they will just be tossed out and teams will move up or down respectively. Remember, this is my contest so I am flexing my tiny muscle. ALL HAIL ME!

Here are some more prizes…

Lastly, before I get to my new Hall of Fame, I have this to say:

TIM THOMAS, YOU ARE THE SCOURGE OF MY BRUINS FANDOM AND I WILL NEVER EVER TRUST YOU WITH A LEAD!

Now, onto the Hall of Fame. I had two people make a case for Ted Kennedy and Butch Bouchard. When I am finished with my new HOF, I will take all of these guys into consideration and put it to a vote, sort of like the Veteran’s Committee. I left off with the class of ’66, so let’s pick it up with 1967.

1967
Turk Broda

Ah, our first goalie. Broda played an incredible 20 seasons which already earns my respect. Numbers for goalies during this era have to be looked at a bit differently from forwards and defensemen because there were only six teams. Instead of looking at top-10 finishing, or even top-5, I think any goalie who was consistently in the top-3 gets some props. Broda finished in the top-3 in wins ten times and in the top-3 for GAA nine times, leading both categories twice. He is also 15th all-time in shutouts. Looking good so far, Turk. He won two Vezina Trophies and five Stanley Cups. I know that earlier I said Cup wins are overrated, but with goalies, I think they weigh a little heavier in terms of achievements. Overall, Turk looks pretty legit and has to be considered one of the best of his generation; he’s in!

Inducted: Turk Broda
Kicked out: No one

1968
Super small class (3) and only one player who was before my cut off date.

1969
Sid Abel
Red Kelly

Hmm, Sid Abel. He played nine full seasons and parts of five others. He had one really good season when he led the league in goals, while finishing  fifth in assists and third in total points while taking home the Hart Trophy, but the rest of his career looks meh. He was a fairly consistent setup guy, finishing in the top-10 in assists eight times, but I don’t know. He didn’t really play long enough and the numbers just don’t pop out at me. Sid is out.

Red Kelly, on the other hand, played twenty full seasons. He was a versatile skater, playing thirteen seasons as a defenseman and then switching to center for the last seven. He was never in the top-10 for scoring but seeing as he was primarily a d-man, that makes sense. He did finish in the top-10 in assists seven times and total points four times. He was named to the NHL All-Star 1st Team six times, the 2nd Team twice, won the Lady Byng four times (a dubious honor, especially for a blueliner), and the Norris Trophy once. He also took hom EIGHT Stanley Cups which is the most by any player not on a Canadiens team. Kelly has the numbers, awards, and versatility that I’m looking for in my Hall of Fame. IN!

Inducted: Red Kelly
Kicked out: Sid Abel

1970

Bill Gadsby
Tom Johnson

Gadsby is going to be a tough one. Another player with twenty seasons under his belt, Gadsby had the misfortune to play with some really crummy teams. He never won the Cup and was never award any individual hardware, although to be fair, it is hard for a defenseman to win any award except the Norris. He put up good numbers from the blueline, routinely assisting on 25-30 goals a season and he accrued a lot of PIMs. I don’t really know what to make of the guy. He was named to the NHL All-Star 1st Team three times and the 2nd Team four times, so obviously he was ranked high among his peers. I didn’t induct Bouchard, so I don’t know if I can welcome Gadsby to the Hall. Perhaps the Veterans Committee will see fit to induct him. For now, Gadsby is out.

Johnson is another defenseman and sort of the opposite of Gadsby. He played fifteen full seasons, was awarded a Norris Trophy and won six Cups (all with the Habs). Unlike Gadsby, he never put up impressive offensive numbers leading me to believe he was a stay-at-home sort of d-man. He was named to the NHL All-Star 1st Team once and the 2nd Team once. If I could combine Gadsby and Johnson into a super blueliner, he’d definitely get in, but as it stands, Johnson is out.

Inducted: No one

Kicked out: Bill Gadsby and Tom Johnson

I am going to stop there and pick it up later this week. Thanks for reading and tell me your thoughts.

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