"If he gets in, I should be in," said former NHL center Butch Goring, now an Islanders color commentator. "Our stats are the same, and I have four Stanley Cups and a Conn Smythe Trophy."
I didn't get to see Butch play, but Elias played on a lot of teams where he had no offensive help, unlike Goring.
I didn't get to see Butch play, but Elias played on a lot of teams where he had no offensive help, unlike Goring.
What a Bozo and unclassy guy they let on TV these days. Not only did he for sure gain from playing with those guys he played with, but he also scored his during a very much so higher scoring era.
Funny thing from the article though:
Elias, in the last year of his contract, will be 37 on April 13. If he scores another 40 points this season — he has 19 through the Devils’ first 16 games — the 1,000-point milestone will be within reach next season, wherever he plays.
Why the heck would he have to score 40 more this season to have a chance at 1000 next season? And this coming from a NJ newssource. I guess they went by his average this season so far, but god cant just sport journalists know something about their field?
Last edited by Darth Yoda: 02-22-2013 at 08:41 AM.
Not only that but Goring got to play with far more offensively talented teammates, whereas Elias was frequently the Devils' top offensive threat.
Elias led the team in scoring 8 times I believe, and he led them in points-per-game in 2005-06 after missing the first half of the season with Hepatitis thanks to Russian food during the lockout.
Elias led the team in scoring 8 times I believe, and he led them in points-per-game in 2005-06 after missing the first half of the season with Hepatitis thanks to Russian food during the lockout.
All right that's good to know. I always thought he had wandered down the russian red light district or something, or at least that's how i remember it now. No, i actually thought that.
I didn't get to see Butch play, but Elias played on a lot of teams where he had no offensive help, unlike Goring.
Bryan Trottier? Mike Bossy? Denis Potvin?
All three were more talented offensively than anyone Elias has gotten to play with (*good* Gomez, Kovalchuk, Parise, Rafalski, and Niedermayer being the big ones).
All three were more talented offensively than anyone Elias has gotten to play with (*good* Gomez, Kovalchuk, Parise, Rafalski, and Niedermayer being the big ones).
I'm pretty sure you are agreeing with him, read his post again.
All three were more talented offensively than anyone Elias has gotten to play with (*good* Gomez, Kovalchuk, Parise, Rafalski, and Niedermayer being the big ones).
Yeah but those fine players couldn't get it all together until Goring joined the team in '80. I reference Islanders playoff upsets in 78 and 79.
Butch was clutch, two way and a leader. He was essential to the makeup of that team. If I had it my way, he would get in the HHOF just because of his helmet.
Of course, we could compromise and just get his helmet in. We could hide Dick Duff to make space. No one would know.
As for Elias he is a fine player. As a grumpy old man broadcaster Goring should be more gracious. But hey Cherry is still working, so why not stir the broadcast pot?
To be fair to Goring, after seeing his teammate Clark Gillies get inducted, I don't blame him for wondering why he's not in himself.
but i think there's also a sense that goring, tonelli, and morrow probably should look at gillies' induction as representing them too. like it could have been any of them, but they can't all go on, so they just picked one to stand for the group. maybe bourne and maybe even brent sutter too.
goring was a really good player, but spent most of his prime as an extremely productive second line center behind an MVP/scoring champ-calibre #1 (dionne, then trots). on different team, i don't know that he's a hall of famer, but could he have been some other, less star-heavy team's brian propp or nifty middleton?
as a second line center, he finished 12th in points twice-- part of that was probably boosted by playing with dionne on the PP, and those were his best PP years, but he was also taking on heavy defensive assignments, PK time, and probably didn't get nearly the prime offensive icetime that dionne's line did.
Goring was an excellent player and would have been a first line center on most teams. However, he was not,in any way a HHOFER. Elias has had a longer better career and imo is one.
Man, alot of you are talking like Goring was a bum. And what's this, he states an opinion and 1/2 of you call him stupid and dumb. Some of you need to back of the hyperbolic nonsense. Because you don't agree with someone, doesn't mean they are stupid, because Butch has done more than any of you ever will in your lifetime. So, what's that make you? He's such a dummy, he's been an NHL coach to 2 teams
Is he HoF material? I don't think so, but as someone mentioned how did Clark Gillies get in and Goring who had the better career get skipped over? Goring has some serious hardware, Conn Smythe, Lady Byng, Masterson plus was a champion at every level he played.
But than again, I don't think Ellias should be in HoF either.
