Which of these retired players do you think should be elected into the Hockey Hall of Fame?
You may choose as many as you like.
good list. not many guaranteed selections here, in my opinion.
I think I only picked three players, although there are several more that deserve a serious debate.
If I were running things, I'd avoid all the marginal picks that have turned the hall of fame into the hall of pretty good players.
an examples for me would be Paul Kariya. I'd never vote for him to the hall of fame. good player, good career, but one of the best players ever and therefore deserving to be in the hall of fame? no way.
is JC Tremblay the best eligible d-man not in the hall?
Now that Mark Howe has finally been inducted, I think he is. Carl Brewer would probably be the second best eligible defenseman not inducted.
IMO, the only reason JC Tremblay has not already been inducted is because the committee still holds a grudge against him for leaving Montreal in his prime to go play in the WHA
I didn't vote for either Sundin or Fedorov. In my opinion both fell short of my idea of Hall of Fame greatness. Fedorov had some great years but had mostly very good years. Sundin was very good but again, it's tough for me to think of him as great. I have high standards for who should qualify for the HoF and it seems like every year, in every sport, the standard gradually goes down. I only pointed these two guys out because they were 2 of the 3 players with many votes I didn't vote for (Recchi also).
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Exhibit A as to how hockey doesn't matter on ESPN:
Last night an ESPN program was discussing how the Detroit Pistons needed a hero citing the heroes on the Detroit Tigers, Detroit Lions and no mention of the Detroit Red Wings. All this despite the Red Wings probably being the most succesful team in Detroit right now.
May I ask how Recchi and Middleton are two of your choices?
For Recchi, I tend to play down his stats, as anyone can pile up numbers over 20 years.
to me he was a good to very good player for a long time, that's all. did he even win any individual awards? sure he played in some all star games, but that really doesn't mean much. If he was named to an end of season all star team, that might be different.
I don't see him being what I consider Hall of Fame quality player.
same with middleton. good solid career, but I fail to see the skills and atributes that make him one of the best players to ever have competed in the NHL.
May I ask how Recchi and Middleton are two of your choices?
For Recchi, I tend to play down his stats, as anyone can pile up numbers over 20 years.
to me he was a good to very good player for a long time, that's all. did he even win any individual awards? sure he played in some all star games, but that really doesn't mean much. If he was named to an end of season all star team, that might be different.
I don't see him being what I consider Hall of Fame quality player.
same with middleton. good solid career, but I fail to see the skills and atributes that make him one of the best players to ever have competed in the NHL.
Why would you pick Recchi and Middleton to argue but not Andreychuk?
I didn't vote for either Sundin or Fedorov. In my opinion both fell short of my idea of Hall of Fame greatness. Fedorov had some great years but had mostly very good years. Sundin was very good but again, it's tough for me to think of him as great. I have high standards for who should qualify for the HoF and it seems like every year, in every sport, the standard gradually goes down. I only pointed these two guys out because they were 2 of the 3 players with many votes I didn't vote for (Recchi also).
The same point you made about Sundin (even though inaccurate) is more applicable to Modano. Yet I still voted for the latter.
Sundin being inducted into the HOF would not be an indication of the standards going down. He deserves to be in it.
Recchi, Fedorov, Andreychuk and the fourth...flip a coin between Oates, Sundin and Modano.
Andreychuk was never a star player, though. He got most of those goals in an era where everyone could score goals - just stuck around for a long time and padded his stats. Compilers shouldn't make the Hall. Find me one season in which Andreychuk was considered a top ten (heck, even top fifteen) player in the NHL.
It would criminal if Bure and Lindros(arguable the 2 best players in the world at one point) didn't make it. When you have stat accumulators who were never considered great like Dino Ciccarelli in.
Lindros, Bure and Federov for me. I know more will get in, but I only want to see elite talent in the HOF. Federov's regular season numbers may not have been great every year, but his playoff numbers were very solid and his Hart Trophy season was awesome.
It would criminal if Bure and Lindros(arguable the 2 best players in the world at one point) didn't make it. When you have stat accumulators who were never considered great like Dino Ciccarelli in.
I agree with this. I'd much rather have the Bure and Lindros types in than the Ciccarelli's and Gartner's. Especially when they came into the league and were like nothing we'd ever seen before. I always use Gale Sayers in football as an analogy.
Why would you pick Recchi and Middleton to argue but not Andreychuk?
I would argue a lot of player son the list, but I thought to offer a couple of examples.
I'd love to hear the reasoning behind some of the players, Recchi being one of them.
I perosnally wouldn't vote in Andreychuk either.
Which of these 2 questions do you want us to answer?
1. Which of these guys should get into the HHOF based on the standards that have been set by the committee?
2. Which of these guys should get into the HHOF based on our own personal standards?
I think a lot of us would have fewer inductees than there actually are, which makes these two questions have different answers.
good questions. I agree the committee has set standard way too low.
my personal standards are much higher. I can't believe the hall of fame is now the hall of pretty good. they are supposed to respresent the best players in the history of hockey.
a very good example is Bernie Federko.
there is no freaking way in hell he should be in the hall of fame. Those types of players lessen the honor of induction. I don't think you could convince me he is one of the best players ever and deserves to be there.
Living in Edmonton and being an Oiler fan, I'll give another example. I love Glenn Anderson and he was one of my favorite players.
I honestly think he's questionable for the hall of fame.
He was a very good player, and his playoff stats are better than most. but is he really hall of fame material, or just a guy who was a cut above the average player in the league.
