I have had a really hard time blogging this summer because, well, it is the summer and when you work in education, you sort of shut down in the summer. Tomorrow, I start my new job as a high school librarian after working the previous four years as an assistant librarian at a different school. As I become busier with work it would make sense that I would update less frequently, but oh, that is not the case. When my regular job starts up, so does my brain, which leads to blogging more. So anyways, let’s get to it, shall we?

Before I get to the Hall of Pretty Good, I want to give a shout out to Sal over at Puck Junk. Remember my last post when I talked about Capt’n Canuck sending me some righteous cards? Well, today in my mailbox there was a package from Sal. Now, with Canuck, I knew stuff was coming; with Sal, not a clue. So I open it up and this beauty is staring me in the face…

Um, what?! A triple-jersey of Bourque, Neely, and Oates?! Holy guacamole! This is just another example of why hockey bloggers are the best. No disrespect to baseball, football, hoops, and other random sports bloggers (thanks to Spankee at My Cardboard Mistress for our latest trade) , but hockey bloggers are the cat’s pajamas.

This card confuses me a little, though. I know it was put out by O-Pee-Chee, but the back says O-Pee-Chee Metal, which I don’t ever recall hearing about. I remember the metal parallels, but not an actual product called Metal. Any clarification out there?

Now, onto the Hockey Hall of Pretty Good.

Last we left off, we were just entering the 1990′s. Here are the yearly breakdowns…

1961-1966
1967-1970
1971-1973
1974-1976
1977-1978
1979-1980
1981
1982-1984
1985-1986
1987-1988
1989-1990

Last go around, we inducted Tretiak, but kicked out Sittler, Barber, Perreault, and Flaman. Wait, did I say I kicked Darryl Sittler and Gilbert Perreault OUT of the Hall of Fame? Yes. Yes I did.

Onwards and upwards…

1991
Mike Bossy
Denis Potvin
Bob Pulford

First up, Mike Bossy. Have you ever looked at Bossy’s numbers? Like, really looked at them? They are disgustingly gaudy. In just a ten season career, Bossy scored 50+ goals nine times and 60+ goals five times. WHAT?! He is the all-time leader in goals per game and if he were to play as many games as Gretzky, Bossy would have scored 1133 goals (I think my math is right). Sure, he might not have kept up that pace, but I think it is realistic to say that if he played just five more seasons, he would have averaged at least 40 goals, giving him a career total of somewhere in the high 700s. Sick! Do you want to hear more credentials? Okay! Bossy won the Calder Trophy, the Conn Smythe Trophy, and two Lady Byng Trophies. How did he never win a Hart? Oh wait, Gretzky. He also won four straight Stanley Cups. Blah blah blah. Bossy is amazing. Bossy is in.

Next is Denis Potvin. Defensemen, for me, are the toughest to evaluate because some great blueliners are not offensively gifted, instead being defensively dominant. Being a defensive stalwart is hard to quantify, which makes my job harder. Thankfully, Potvin was an offensive dynamo. In fourteen seasons, Potvin averaged over 20 goals and 50 assists; pretty good for a defenseman. He won the Calder trophy and three Norris Trophies. Oh yeah, he also won four Stanley Cups. Yeah, Potvin is in.

Last of this group is Bob Pulford. Unlike Bossy and Potvin, Pulford is not a slam dunk. Over 16 seasons, Pulford scored 281 goals and helped on 362 others. He finished in the top-10 in goals twice (10th overall in each instance). He never won an individual hardware and was never named to the 1st or 2nd NHL All-Star Team, although he did play in five All-Star Games. However, like Potvin and Bossy, he did win four Cups with Toronto. Sadly, that is not enough. I know he is probably beloved in Toronto, but he is out.

Inducted: Mike Bossy and Denis Potvin
Kicked out: Bob Pulford

1992
Marcel Dionne
Woody Dumart
Bob Gainey
Lanny McDonald

Marcel Dionne is probably one of the most underrated hockey players ever. In.

Woody Dumart is not.  If I didn’t induct Schmidt, I can not induct Dumart. Out.

Okay, enough laziness, let’s tackle Gainey. I think he is an ideal candidate for my question: Were the powerhouse Canadiens teams good because of Bob Gainey or was Bob Gainey good because of the powerhouse Canadiens teams? In this case, I think Gainey was good. Sure, he never put out amazing numbers (501 points in 1160 games) BUT he did win a Conn Smythe Trophy and four Selke Trophies. Those Selke’s mean something right? Five Stanley Cups don’t hurt his cause either. However, is this enough? Can I induct someone solely on him being regarded one of the best defensive forwards in the game? Yes I can and I will. Gainey is in (no Montreal bias here).

Lastly, is my fellow redhead Lanny McDonald. I like Lanny’s numbers because they are fairly symmetrical (500 goals, 506 assists, 1111 games). Five-hundred or more goals is usually the benchmark for Hall of Famers, just like 500+ HRs in baseball. But not all 500 goal scorers are created equal. In sixteen seasons, Lanny finished in the top-10 in goals four times and points twice. Good, not great. He did score 66 goals one season, but even that was only second best behind Gretzky. He won the Bill Masterton Trophy and the King Clancy Trophy, but do most people even know what those are? His one Stanley Cup was nice and the visual of him skating around with it is priceless and gives me goosebumps, but dammit Lanny, I need more! Sure, you had probably the greatest moustache in hockey history and you even played for the Colorado Rockies (awesome) but I can’t induct you just because of those things. Heck, if I did that, I might have to inducted Derek Sanderson. Hm, now hold on a minute…

Okay sorry, but Lanny is out.

Inducted: Marcel Dionne and Bob Gainey
Kicked out: Woody Dumart and Lanny McDonald

Godspeed for now!

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