Theoren Fleury Deserves to be in the HHOF - Frank Seravalli

[ComixZone]

For all the stress he may have caused, we almost re-signed him as a UFA when Iggy was is a contract battle (I imagine the timing would have lined up with that horrid Mike Peca trade). This was mentioned in one of his books.

I don’t look down at Theo for being pissed/emotional after getting cut - most of us struggle with emotional reactions in our day to day lives, and most of us didn’t go through the bull%^*# Theo did - nor did we have access to the destructive tools to the degree Theo did to self-sooth.

#14 should be in the hall of fame and in the rafters at the new Calgary Flames arena.

[Strange Brew]

Sometimes people aren’t who we want them to be.

Fleury has burned lots of bridges with the organization but you can’t discount what his play on the ice meant to many fans. Retired sweaters don’t hang in the owners offices, or the team dressing room. They hang in the rafters of a publicly funded arena for paying customers to see when they go to a game. That’s a factor IMO.

[Dion]

I'm not sure how my life would have ended up had I gone through what he did. It doesn't excuse his behavior on and off the ice but his past gave us some answers. He has my respect for how he managed to dig himself out of that very dark hole he was in.

My focus is on what he has done with the trauma in his life and how he used it for good to help other people. I know that doesn't factor into the HHOF votes but IMO it should.

[Snuffleupagus]

"playing with fire" probably hurt his chances over the years, the extent of his addictions,mental anguish and disregard for the league and his teams must be hard for the voters to forget, on ice? 100% should be there and long ago.

[SportsJunky]

I've been listening to NHL radio hosts and reading lots of articles and it's my conclusion that Fleury being inducted to the HHOF is a looooooong shot. When the discussion comes up on these shows, Theo is often an afterthought and then he gets discussed briefly before they go on to the next player. Maybe it's the 12 years of previous eligibility or the behavior issues or maybe his stats don't add up the way I thought they did. Whatever the reasons are, I don't hear anybody, other than Seravalli, pushing for Fleury to get voted in.

I guess I'm more biased than I thought on this. Too bad.

[CroFlames]

IMO, jersey retirements are for seriously special players only. You have to transcend superstardom to get that honor. Iggy did that, redefining a role, leading a team and dominating the NHL, saving a team from moving, etc. MacInnes did that by becoming a top 5 d-man OF ALL TIME LEAGUE WIDE. Fleury is none of these things and I don't buy the argument he was "the best player for chunks of the 90s". Where do Jagr, Yzerman, Sakic, Forsberg, Lidstrom, Modano, Selanne, Wayne, Messier, Federov etc rank if Fleury is ahead of them?

Lanny and Vernon were certainly stars, but I disagree with their jersey retirements. You don't retire those kinds of players. The Canucks have a good system with their ring of honor where players are enshrined in franchise lore, but not retired. Players that belong in this tier for the Flames: Backlund, Lanny, Loob, Vernon, Kipper, Giordano, Regher, Fleury, and some others. Potentially Johnny and Monahan depending on how things go.

As far as HHOF for Fleury, he has some great stats in a low scoring era that warrant consideration. However, given this new info from Duha about sportsmanship and off-ice attitude being part of the criteria, it's clear Theo doesn't make the cut, and frankly I'm not torn up about it. This coming from a guy who almost cried when Theo was traded.

[powderjunkie]

Originally Posted by Sandman

I love how he calls his exhibition shootout goal "historic", as if there is such a thing. A little narcissistic, there Theo.....

If you were in the building that night you might understand the 'historic' term...maybe the loudest time in the Dome since the '04 run.

As for the rest of his quote, I don't see a direct shot at Flames org as much as at hockey culture in general, which he was absolutely right about.

Animosity between org's and superstars is a common occurrence.

The time to retire his jersey is this year in an empty building, when they can have a 7 second delay on his speech...

[Jiri Hrdina]

^I was in the building that night. It was a cool moment in a pre-sesason game.
But it wasn't historic in any way, shape or form

[Strange Brew]

Historic is definitely the wrong word, of course some pre-season goal wasn't historic.

But the fact we all remember it and still talk about it shows just how meaningful it was to many people.

[nik-]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

Historic is definitely the wrong word, of course some pre-season goal wasn't historic.

But the fact we all remember it and still talk about it shows just how meaningful it was to many people.

Do we still talk about it though? If he hadn't ridiculously referred to it as "historic", and thus given something to laugh at, would we still be talking about it even a little?

I don't think so. When was the last time someone earnestly brought up that goal? It meant nothing.

[scotty2hotty]

I am a huge Fleury fan. He’s my all-time favourite Flame.

While I believe his jersey should be in the rafters, I don’t believe he should be in the HOF.

Just my opinion, of course.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by nik-

Do we still talk about it though? If he hadn't ridiculously referred to it as "historic", and thus given something to laugh at, would we still be talking about it even a little?

I don't think so. When was the last time someone earnestly brought up that goal? It meant nothing.

It sure seems we all remember it. I'm hard pressed to name a single other pre-season goal.

Honestly the term that Fleury uses to describe it is of little interest to me. I really have no desire to laugh at the guy.

[nik-]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

It sure seems we all remember it. I'm hard pressed to name a single other pre-season goal.

Honestly the term that Fleury uses to describe it is of little interest to me. I really have no desire to laugh at the guy.

But do we remember it because it was amazing, or because he tried to make it such big deal and use it as a tool to attack the Flames again?

I'm voting for the latter. Personally, I have no memory of the actual goal itself, because it was a preseason goal.

[Bingo]

So looking at the 2009-10 Flames your top six would be Iginla, Langkow, Jokinen, Bourque and Glencross.

Then a bunch of players with no clear 6th top six forward. Stajan was there at the end of the season but going in it was Dawes, Moss, Boyd, a young Backlund.

[Winsor_Pilates]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

Fleury is none of these things and I don't buy the argument he was "the best player for chunks of the 90s". Where do Jagr, Yzerman, Sakic, Forsberg, Lidstrom, Modano, Selanne, Wayne, Messier, Federov etc rank if Fleury is ahead of them?

Who has ever said he was better than these players?
It's great that you don't buy an argument that has never been for sale.

[CroFlames]

Originally Posted by Blaster86

He was the best player in the NHL for chunks of the late 90s. If the goal of society is to stop demonizing people with addictions and to stop the stigma of mental health, Theo should not be punished for that, rather rewarded for his skill and achievements at the game of hockey.

Originally Posted by Winsor_Pilates

Who has ever said he was better than these players?
It's great that you don't buy an argument that has never been for sale.

This guy and evidently people agree with him.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Winsor_Pilates

Who has ever said he was better than these players?

It's great that you don't buy an argument that has never been for sale.

The argument has been made in this thread by at least one poster.

Originally Posted by Blaster86

He was the best player in the NHL for chunks of the late 90s...

Sent from my SM-G960W using Tapatalk

[nik-]

Originally Posted by Bingo

So looking at the 2009-10 Flames your top six would be Iginla, Langkow, Jokinen, Bourque and Glencross.

Then a bunch of players with no clear 6th top six forward. Stajan was there at the end of the season but going in it was Dawes, Moss, Boyd, a young Backlund.

ew

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by nik-

But do we remember it because it was amazing, or because he tried to make it such big deal and use it as a tool to attack the Flames again?

I'm voting for the latter. Personally, I have no memory of the actual goal itself, because it was a preseason goal.

I'm the exact opposite. I remember the goal very well and still smile at the electric atmosphere for a meaningless event.

Really had no idea of what he had to say about it before this thread. And will likely soon forget about that honestly, as I just don't care what Fleury, thinks about most things.

[krynski]

Originally Posted by Bingo

So looking at the 2009-10 Flames your top six would be Iginla, Langkow, Jokinen, Bourque and Glencross.

Then a bunch of players with no clear 6th top six forward. Stajan was there at the end of the season but going in it was Dawes, Moss, Boyd, a young Backlund.

6th was Conroy to start the season. Conroy had a 48 pt season the year before, and only put up 15 points in 09-10. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to produce like he had in previous seasons, but his track record was there. This was the season that we knew Conroy would be phasing out.

Fleury called out the organization for icing Conroy over himself, saying he could have scored more.

https://www.matchsticksandgasoline.c...s-craig-conroy