Posts Tagged ‘600+ Goals’

Chugging along…

Last post saw the induction of Bourque, Coffey, and Kharlamov while Fuhr, Lafontaine, Murphy, and Neely go the heave-ho. Sorry fellas, but that is how the cookie crumbles.

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2006
Dick Duff
Patrick Roy

Dick Duff?! Seriously? 1030 games, 283 goals, and 289 assists does not a Hall of Fame career make. Twice he finished in the top-10 for goals in a season and that is it. No individual hardware and no NHL All-Star 1st or 2nd Team selections. Six Stanley Cups is nice, but it’s a team achievement unless you put up UNGODLY numbers, which Duff did not. Very good, yes, but not amazing. Maybe he was a great defensive forward, but I can’t really find much anecdotal information on that. Duff is out.

Patrick Roy, on the other hand, is a no-brainer into the Hall of Fame.  18 seasons with a career record of 551-315-131. He finished in the top-1o in wins 16 times (leading twice), GAA 14 times(leading three times), and shutouts 11 times (leading twice). He is second on the all-time career win list. He has three Vezina Trophies, three Conn Smythe Trophies, and four Stanley Cups. He was also named to five NHL All-Star 1st Teams and two 2nd Teams. Roy is in.

Inducted: Patrick Roy
Kicked out: Dick Duff

2007
Ron Francis
Al MacInnis
Mark Messier
Scott Stevens

2007 is a strong HOF year. Let’s start with Ron Francis.

Dude played 23 seasons for starters! During his career, Francis appeared in the top-10 in assists twelve times, leading the league twice. For his career, he is 2nd all time. While he wasn’t known as a prolific goal scorer, he did tally 549 goals which is pretty darn good. Five times he finished in the top-1o in total points and is fourth all-time. He has some hardware to go along with his stats: a Selke Trophy, two Lady Byngs, and two Stanley Cups. Now I have to ask myself, was Ron Francis ever a dominant player? Would you get nervous when he was playing against your team? Was he a game changer? Yes and no. I don’t think he was ever dominant, but he was an elite playmaker who made his teammates better than they probably were. He was a headsy player  who was rarely out of position. It’s hard to argue against a guy who is 2nd in assists and 4th in points. So while he was never regarded as the best of his era, he performed at a high level for a LONG time. Plus, I gotta have a Whaler in the Hall. Francis is in.

In 19 seasons (40+ games) in the NHL, Al MacInnis tallied a total of 340 goals , 934 assists, and 1274 points, all of which are good enough for third all-time among defencemen. He won a Norris Trophy, a Conn Smythe Trophy, and a Stanley Cup while being named to the NHL All-Star 1st Team four times and the 2nd Team three times. He is also one of only five blueliners to score more than 100 points in a season. MacInnis was one of the premier defencemen of his time and certainly deserves to be in the Hall.

I’ll be upfront and honest about this: I have never liked Mark Messier. Ask me why and I can’t even tell you. It’s just one of those totally irrational dislikes that we sometimes get a humans. I think it’s something about the way he looks. Anyways, I am going to be very objective and let his numbers speak for his career. 25 years in the league (plus one in the WHA). Wait, that can’t be right…sweet Jesus it is! Wow, okay. During that time, he would score 30+ goals eleven times, 40+ four times, and 50+ once; six times he would finish with 100+ points. He finished in the top-1o in goals four times, assists six times, and points six times, but would never lead in any of those categories. His playoff numbers are absurd: 295 points (109 goals/186 assists) in 236 games. He won the Hart Trophy twice, the Ted Lindsay Award twice, and took home on Conn Smythe Trophy. Oh yeah, he has six Stanley Cups. And if that is not enough, he is 7th all-time in goals, 3rd in assists, and 2nd in points. Messier is in.

Scott Stevens was one tough hombre who was known to play on that fine line between tough as nails and dirty. I don’t think he was really known as an offensive d-man, but over the course of 1635 games, he did put up 196 goals and 712 assists. Not bad, not bad. He never won a Norris but he did take home a Conn Smythe Trophy and was the captain of three Stanley Cup winning teams. He wouldn’t get in on numbers alone, but Stevens was more than numbers. He was a hard hitter who made opponents change their style of play on more than one occasion. Ask Slava Koslov, Paul Kariya or Ron Francis about going across the middle with their head down. Despite being labeled as a sometimes dirty player, he only ever received four elbowing penalties in his career. Lastly, over his 22 seasons in the NHL, never never finished as a minus player. I want a hard-nosed, physical defencemen in my hall. Stevens is in!

Inducted: Ron Francis, Al MacInnis, Mark Messier, and Scott Stevens
Kicked out: No one

2008
Glenn Anderson
Igor Larionov

First Dick Duff and now Glenn Anderson? No way. Six Cups is nice, but 43rd all time in goals, 75th in assists, and 56 is points. Never the best player on his team, let alone the league. GET OUT!

Igor Larionov has to be in because of his pre-NHL USSR career. He didn’t enter the NHL until he was 29, where he proceeded to put up solid but not spectacular numbers. His USSR numbers are about the same, good but not great. I don’t really know what to say here. I almost feel like I have to give the Russian players a pass here, but I don’t know. My gut says he shouldn’t be in, so he’s not. Make an argument for his inclusion and I’ll be all ears. Out. What a weak class!

Inducted: No one
Kicked out: Glenn Anderson and Igor Larionov

One more part to go and we’ll be all caught up. SO EXCITING! Maybe.

Now onto something that, to me, is beyond exciting.

A while ago I asked Brett over at My Hockey Card Obsession if he would create a custom cut autograph card of Reggie Lewis for me. If you are not familiar with his work, it is out of this world. I mean, check out his stuff! I’m not sure why card companies haven’t come knocking at his door offering him jobs and obscene amounts of money but I figure it has something to do with the fact that card companies are run by morons with no artistic eye (Panini, I’m looking at you in particular). Anyways, I asked Brett if, when he had time, he could come up with something that would feature my little piece of paper with Reggie Lewis’ autograph on it. You can see it here. Being the nice guy that he is, he agreed and sent me his idea. Of course it looked amazing and so he went ahead with it.

Smash cut to yesterday and me at the post office checking my box. What do I find in there but this thing:

CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS?!?!

No exaggeration here: I lost my breath. Yeah, I knew what it would look like but actually seeing it in person BLEW. ME. AWAY! I am not sure if Brett knows exactly how much this means to me and how much I will cherish this card. Reggie Lewis was my favorite player at the  impressionable age of 13, when we still believed in heroes. His death affected me big time and this scrap piece of paper was my one tangible link to Reggie. Thank you, Brett, SO SO SO MUCH for this card.

Oh, and if that wasn’t enough, he goes and sends this along too:

C’MON!

The hockey blogosphere never ceases to amaze me!

I’m sitting here listening to some Frijid Pink and thinking to myself that I really want to finish up the Hockey Hall of Pretty Good series so that I can a) move onto the Veteran’s Committee vote, b) move onto the Tough Guy Hall of Fame, and c) just move on.

Last we left, The Great One got in while Denis Savard, Joe Mullen, Michel Goulet, and Peter Stastny got the big boot. I sort of regret Stastny but I can’t go back; that is what the Veteran’s Committee is for.

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1998-2000

The end is in sight! Onwards and upwards!

2001
Viacheslav Fetisov
Mike Gartner
Dale Hawerchuk
Jari Kurri

Oh man, this is going to be TOUGH!

First there is Fetisov. Russians from this era are tough because a lot of them didn’t break into the NHL until their 30s. Fetisov is no exception, entering the league at the age of 31. While his best years may have been behind him, he was still a pretty good NHLer. In 546 games he tallied 228 total points and a +114; not bad for a defenceman. He won back-to-back Stanley Cups with the Red Wings to close out his career. His NHL stats, however, would not be enough to induct him. Looking at this international numbers and reputation is where he shines. In 478 games for the USSR, he put up 374 points, while putting up 33 points in 22 Olympic games. Those are all great numbers for a defenceman. The greatest accolade, though, is his selection to the International Centennial All-Star Team. This team was voted on by 56 “experts” from all over the world with Fetisov receiving the most votes (54), beating out some dude named Gretzky. That is some honor! Welcome to the HOF, comrade Fetisov.

Next is a guy who, unlike Fetisov, has all the numbers in the world and, also unlike Fetisov, not much of the reputation/respect. The player is Mike Gartner, a 700 goal scorer who, in my opinion, doesn’t make the cut.

Over 18 NHL seasons (only years of 40+ count as seasons in my book), Gartner scored 30+ goals 17 times, 40+ nine times, and 50+ once. Yet, he never finished higher than 9th in the top-10. Point being that EVERYONE scored goals in the 80s. He never finished in the top-10 for assists and only once for total points (also the only time he cracked 100+ points). It is remarkable to me that a guy with 700+ goals only cracked the 100+ point plateau once! He has zero individual hardware, never won a Cup, and was never named to the NHL All-Star 1st or 2nd Team. This leads me to believe that he was rarely thought of as one of the best in the game. Don’t get me wrong, though, Mike Gartner was very good for a long period of time, but he was never great, not even for a year. Gartner is out.

Dale Hawerchuk is a tough one for me. He has the numbers, but does he have that little extra? Let’s see. Over 15 seasons, he tallied 513 goals and 1393 points in 1165 games. He had ten 30+ goal seasons, seven with 40+ goals, and one with 50+; however he never finished higher than 7th overall in a season. He was a great assist man with five seasons of 60+ assists, four with 70+, and one with 80+. None of those, however, were good enough for the lead league; the highest he finished was 4th. Six seasons of 100+ points is nice, but again, he never led the league. Overall, though, he is 18th all-time in total points. Additionally, he won the Calder Trophy and was named to the NHL All-Star 2nd Team once. And that is about it. On there own, his numbers are good enough to get in, but compared to others of his generation, I think they look merely very good, not great. I hate to do it, but Hawerchuk is out. Poor Winnipeg.

Last up is Jari Kurri. In many ways, he is similar to Hawerchuk in that they have just about the same amount of points. Over 16 seasons, Kurri amassed 591 goals (601 if I count his 38 game season). In 1213 games he put up 1369 points. He enjoyed eleven seasons of 30+ goals, seven with 40+, four with 50+, two with 60+, and one with 70+; these were good enough for lead the league once while finishing in the top-5 three other times. His assist numbers were good, averaging 60+ during his prime, but only good enough to finish as high as 9th in a season.  Total points, however, tell a different story. Six different times Kurri ended a season with 100+ total points and finished in the top-10 six different times. He won the Lady Byng once and was named to two NHL All-Star 1st Teams and two 2nd Teams. He also was part of the great Oilers dynasty that won five Stanley Cups. I am leaning towards saying no to Kurri but then I looked at his playoff numbers: 233 points in 200 games! That includes leading the entire playoffs in goals four different times. Is that enough to put him in? Hawerchuk put up similar numbers without the benefit of Gretzky, Messier, Coffey, etc. Switch the two players and I bet Hawerchuk has the Cups, the goals, and maybe some All-Star Team selections. Kurri is out.

Inducted: Viacheslav Fetisov

Kicked out: Mike Gartner, Dale Hawerchuk, and Jari Kurri

2002
Bernie Federko
Clark Gillies
Rod Langway

Ugh, why is Bernie Federko in the Hall of Fame? He is pretty much the reason for this entire series. He didn’t play particularly long (13 seasons), score a ton of goals (355), dish out an extraordinary amount of assists (752), or tally a ton of points (1107). He never finished in the top-10 in goals but managed to finish in the top-10 in assists seven times (4th overall being the highest) and top-10 in total points five times (8th being his highest). No individual awards, no Cups, no NHL All-Star Team selections. Heck, he only played in two All Star games. He is the definition of very good, not great. Federko is out!

Ugh squared! Friggin’ Clark Gillies. Read my thoughts here. Summed up, if Clark Gillies is in, Wayne Cashman should be in. And do I think Wayne Cashman is a Hall of Famer? Absolutely not. Gillies, you’re out!

Last up is Rod Langway. Defencemen are my achilles heel. As far as I can tell, Langway was a very good blueliner. Not the sort of guy to put up a ton of points like Orr, Bourque, Lindstrom, but the sort of defenceman who stayed at home and held the fort. His back-to-back Norris Trophy seasons are impressive as well as the fact that he finished 2nd behind Gretzky for the Hart Trophy for the 82-83 season. He does have one Cup with the Canadiens and was named to two NHL All-Star 1st Teams and one 2nd Team. Also, did you know he was born in Taiwan? Since I am light on defencemen and because the two Norris’ speak to his reputation and ability, Langway is in.

Inducted: Rod Langway
Kicked out: Bernie Federko and Clark Gillies

That is enough HOF debating for one day. let’s move onto an actual card that came in the mail yesterday:

2010-11 Upper Deck Ultimate Collection US-GL Guy Lafleur

Check out that bleu, blanc, and rouge beauty! Now one closer to my on-card HOF autograph goal.

Lastly, I’ve been quietly beefing up my PJ Axelsson collection. I have taken to browsing the Swedish eBay called Tradera.  Recently I found a couple of Axelsson jersey cards that I didn’t have, including a patch one. While paying, I asked the seller if he had other PJ cards, especially Swedish releases. Not only did he have those, but he had a ton os low numbered and parallel cards of PJ that I didn’t have. The best part, though, is that he knew and checked out my blog. What a crazy world! So now I have a guy who can get me things. Some have a guy who can get them firearms, babies, truffles, whatever. I have a Axelsson guy. Jealous? I thought so. So that is a story I wanted to pass on.

I leave you with this: