Quote:
Originally Posted by boogerz
It is tough, but there is a distinction between being merely good enough and legitimately good. Vernon went to the finals four times because he had a lot of help from his incredible teams, not because he single-handedly put a middling team on his back and willed them into the finals like Kipper did or like Price is doing right now.
|
I don't understand the argument that Vernon rode the coattails of a good team when Fuhr played on a more dominant team and still put up worse stats over his career yet is still in with similar hardware. After Fuhr left the oilers he was a backup then later in the 90s his best season were 29W 21L 0.898 SV% (St Louis 97/98) or 33W 27L 0.901Sv% (StLouis 96/97). I don't know how those can be considered HHOF numbers.
We know what Vernon did as a Flame and later Vernon won a cup with a stacked Detroit team in 96/97 and despite playing on such a stacked team managed to win the Conn smythe indicating he was the best player on that stacked team for their cup. How is that not a hall of famer? Detroit was a juggernaut but couldn't win the cup until Vernon's Conn Smythe performance. End of the day Vernon won with multiple teams and has a Conn Smythe. He played a similar amount of games as Fuhr yet has a better win % (48.6% Furh vs 51.9% Vernon) and GAA (3.38 Furh vs 2.98 Vernon) and SV% (0.887% Furh vs 0.889% Vernon). Statistically Vernon was the better goalie hands down and played in the exact same era and should easily be in.
I would argue Fuhr being in should make the way for Osgood as he played on a stacked team too. He obviously wasn't a spectacular or popular goalie but he was consistent enough to be the only goalie ever to put up 400+ wins and less than 250 losses. Being the only goalie to consistently put up wins like that should be rewarded.
I don't know where the line should be drawn but I do hope Vernon and a few others like Joseph or Belfour get in sooner than later. I'd be happy if they made a new category in the HOF for the best top players per position so we could argue that. I don't think Vernon is in the same tier as Roy, Hasek or Sawchuk but the HOF should not be about the best ever top 3 players. He definitely was better than Fuhr and probably half of the older goalies already voted in.
