2013 Hall of Fame class

[dammage79]

Man Lehtenen should be in there. One of the Best two way forwards ever.
Blake, Chelios, Zubov, Neids, Karyia (PPG career), Fleury, Brindamour. Very cool list to pick and choose from.

Cannot see how Chelios, Neidermayer and Blake don't get the nod. But Brindamour and Lehtenen should be knocking on the door.

[Huntingwhale]

Brind'amour and Lehtinen are interesting cases. 5 Selke's between them, but are they really HOF players? Can you honestly say they are 2 of the greatest players of all time, which is what the HOF is reserved for? Same with Kariya, Blake and Tkachuk. I just don't see any of them as part of that group that could be labelled as the best ever. Then again, with the argument that with all those Selke's, they are certainly among the best defensive forwards ever. But best ever?

Chelios, Niedermayer are locks for sure. Zubov IMO might make it one day, definitely one of the most underrated defenseman ever.

[tempz]

What about Tom Barrasso?

Vezina
Calder
Jennings
2 x Stanley Cups
15th in Career wins with 369

I think he deserves to be in there.

[Resolute 14]

Speaking of goalies, Lorne Chabot's stats stick out like a sore thumb on that list. How does a guy who averaged a shutout every six games for his career not get into the Hall? Even accounting for the fact that he played in a very low-scoring era, that's ridiculous!

[Huntingwhale]

Cujo is another guy who deserves consideration, although I'm not sure he will ever make it. #4 in wins all-time, top 5 goalie for many seasons, yet no hardware. But he certainly stole his fair share of games over the years on some terrible teams.

[dammage79]

Originally Posted by Huntingwhale

Brind'amour and Lehtinen are interesting cases. 5 Selke's between them, but are they really HOF players? Can you honestly say they are 2 of the greatest players of all time, which is what the HOF is reserved for? Same with Kariya, Blake and Tkachuk. I just don't see any of them as part of that group that could be labelled as the best ever. Then again, you could make the argument that with all those Selke's, they are certainly among the best defensive forwards ever. But best ever?

Chelios, Niedermayer are locks for sure. Zubov IMO might make it one day, definitely one of the most underrated defenseman ever.

Before Datsyuk there was Jere Lehtinen. He has a cup, three selkes and was seriously the best two way forward in the game before Datsyuk took over. He deserves it for sure. Brindamour is a guy I can see getting in a few more years.

[Huntingwhale]

Originally Posted by dammage79

Before Datsyuk there was Jere Lehtinen. He has a cup, three selkes and was seriously the best two way forward in the game before Datsyuk took over. He deserves it for sure. Brindamour is a guy I can see getting in a few more years.

Datsyuk has the offence to help his case, as well as a couple Hart nominations. Lehtinens's highest output is 52pts, and no Hart nominations (not sure if he even cracked the top 10 in any of his seasons). I know he was the best defensive forward for many years, but I'm not sure it's enough to propel him into the HOF.

[tvp2003]

Originally Posted by tempz

What about Tom Barrasso?

Vezina
Calder
Jennings
2 x Stanley Cups
15th in Career wins with 369

I think he deserves to be in there.

Good numbers -- similar to Vernon -- but I think his entire body of work sits slightly behind Vernon (which is partly why I don't think Vernie gets in -- hard to put Vernon in but keep Barasso out, but unlikely both get it).

Crazy he won a Vezina and Calder practically out of HS (don't think that will ever be matched), but he also benefitted from those two years with Pittsburgh during their glory years (when a Shooter Tutor would have gotten them at least to the Conference Finals ).

[dammage79]

Originally Posted by Huntingwhale

Datsyuk has the offence to help his case, as well as a couple Hart nominations. Lehtinens's highest output is 52pts, and no Hart nominations (not sure if he even cracked the top 10 in any of his seasons). I know he was the best defensive forward for many years, but I'm not sure it's enough to propel him into the HOF.

Fair enough. I admit I was a big fan back in the day so maybe I have a fan boy bias. But I still contend he should get the nod sometime soon.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by dammage79

Before Datsyuk there was Jere Lehtinen. He has a cup, three selkes and was seriously the best two way forward in the game before Datsyuk took over. He deserves it for sure. Brindamour is a guy I can see getting in a few more years.

Speaking of guys going in in a few years, there will be some room for the Hall to catch up in the next few years.

2014: Peter Forsberg and Mike Modano are the only two locks
2015: Lidstrom
2016: Can't think of any first balloters who have retired this summer off hand.

[trackercowe]

Is Forsberg a lock for year one? Don't get me wrong, I think he should get in, but I don't think he is a stone cold led pipe lock for next year.

You forgot Hasek btw. Not sure what class he'd be in though.

[Huntingwhale]

Pat Burns should be in too. 3 Jack Adams with 3 different teams.

[trackercowe]

Personally I think Kiprusoff should make it too, some might disagree and say he doesn't belong there, but can you honestly name one goalie who was better during his time with the Flames? Maybe Lundqvist (although even that's debatable), but there definitely isn't many. No Cups and only one Vezina probably doesn't get him in though.

[OILFAN #81]

Originally Posted by trackercowe

Is Forsberg a lock for year one? Don't get me wrong, I think he should get in, but I don't think he is a stone cold led pipe lock for next year.

You forgot Hasek btw. Not sure what class he'd be in though.

Really? Absolute lock. NHL + International play. Injuries took a toll on his career but he is a definite lock IMO.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by trackercowe

Is Forsberg a lock for year one? Don't get me wrong, I think he should get in, but I don't think he is a stone cold led pipe lock for next year.

You forgot Hasek btw. Not sure what class he'd be in though.

Good point on Hasek. He'd be a 2014, I believe. I guess Forsberg could go both ways. He's Lindrossed a bit in that he has great numbers in limited games. He is also, however in the Triple Gold Club.

[trackercowe]

Originally Posted by OILFAN #81

Really? Absolute lock. NHL + International play. Injuries took a toll on his career but he is a definite lock IMO.

Couldn't you say the same for Eric Lindros, Pavel Bure, or Cam Neely though (who took years to get in). Forsberg had a few great playoffs of course, and won two cups, so he does have a better case than those three. But still he didn't even score 900 points, and even though injuries hampered much of his career, history shows that many players with the same case didn't get in for their first year of eligibility. He probably will make it in if Modano is the only other worthy first year guy (Forsberg is obviously the better player), but in some years he'd probably wait.

[tempz]

Originally Posted by trackercowe

Is Forsberg a lock for year one? Don't get me wrong, I think he should get in, but I don't think he is a stone cold led pipe lock for next year.

You forgot Hasek btw. Not sure what class he'd be in though.

Forsberg, Hasek, Modano, Recchi, Rafalski are some of the newly eligible next year off the top of my head.

Hasek is an absolute lock for first year:

6 x Vezina
3 x Jennings
2 x Hart
2 x Pearson
2 x cups
389 wins

Forsberg in comparison:

1 x Hart
1 x Calder
1 x Art Ross
2 x Stanley Cups
885 points in 708 games (1.25 points per game, 8th all time)

I'd say he also gets in first year but it might be close.

[OILFAN #81]

Originally Posted by trackercowe

Couldn't you say the same for Eric Lindros, Pavel Bure, or Cam Neely though (who took years to get in). Forsberg had a few great playoffs of course, and won two cups, so he does have a better case than those two. But still he didn't even score 900 points, and even though injuries hampered much of his career, history shows that many players with the same case didn't get in for their first year of eligibility. He probably will make it in if Modano is the only other worthy first year guy (Forsberg is obviously the better player), but in some years he'd probably wait.

Basically what you said about his winning cups so he has the edge over the others, but also his international play. He led Sweden to a gold medal. Forsberg has done it all. When on his game, one of the most dominant players ever. Top 10 in PPG all time, remarkable player.

[Erick Estrada]

Fleury's career numbers are pretty amazing considering some of the sad sack Calgary Flames teams he played with in the clutch and grab 90's. One of my all time favourite players. I just loved watching the little guy play.

[trackercowe]

Originally Posted by OILFAN #81

Basically what you said about his winning cups so he has the edge over the others, but also his international play. He led Sweden to a gold medal. Forsberg has done it all. When on his game, one of the most dominant players ever. Top 10 in PPG all time, remarkable player.

Two Gold medals really (04 and 06), although he did play a lesser part on the 2006 team. Don't get me wrong if it were up to me Forsberg would get in during his first year of eligibility. I was a huge Forsberg fan during his day, and you'd be hard pressed to name a better player for a period of time an the turn of the Millennium. But who knows what Pat Qunn and his band of cronies are thinking. It's become more of a political process now, where if you have ties to voters you have a lot higher chance of getting in (Mats Sundin anyone). So while there is a great chance Forsberg does get in, I wouldn't put it past the voting committee to make him wait a year or two.