What about other positions? There are two clear Hall of Fame track (perhaps I should define this term - a hall of fame track player is a player who will quite likely make the hall of fame based upon logical projection of his statistics throughout the rest of his career) defencemen in Chris Pronger and Scott Niedermayer.
It’s not impossible that one of the rookies might get himself onto one, but he certainly is not there yet. There are no goalies left in the playoffs that are clearly on Hall of Fame tracks. As for Dwayne Roloson, he's a solid NHL goalie, but he's never been mistaken for a superstar and at age 35 its awfully unlikely he will develop into one. Cam Ward is younger and might be more likely to become an elite goalie based only upon his age, but he is probably the least accomplished of the three rookie goalies right now. Most elite rookie goalies are established NHLers by that age (I am sure we can all think of exceptions to that rule - but that's exactly what they are exceptions to the rule). Bryzgalov and Miller are on the old side for rookies both at age 25. Are any of the rookies this year? Maybe, but it is unlikely. They are both elite goaltenders who go down among the best goaltenders of all time. In my memory, Ken Dryden and Patrick Roy accomplished that feat. Can a rookie goalie win the Stanley Cup? Sure he can. Of the rookies, none have ever been mistaken for a Calder nominee. That statement is a little bit unfair because three are rookies. At no point in any of their careers have any been mistaken for a Vezina nominee. This year, the four remaining playoff goalies are Ilya Bryzgalov, Ryan Miller, Dwayne Roloson and Cam Ward. A truly great team (one that wins the Stanley Cup any year in recent memory) has at least four or five (and in many cases even more) players who are clearly on Hall of Fame tracks in their career. A truly great team has an elite goalie who is one of the best in the NHL. I will choose two as examples (which I think demonstrate the problem). None of the four truly remaining playoff teams look to me as great teams that win Stanley Cups.Ī truly great team can be measured by a few metrics. This year, this doesn't seem to be the case. The Stanley Cup playoffs (especially the later rounds) are supposed to be epic battles between great teams. Maybe after the glut of lockout retirements have passed. I think they will have to wait for another year. In the past, I supported Mark Howe and Sergei Makarov for the Hall as well. If we believe goals are important to hockey, a player like Ciccarelli needs to be in the Hall of Fame. He retired the nineth highest goal scorer of all time (though has dropped to 13th since retirement). He may not have been the most likeable person to the members of the Hall of Fame committee. It is politcs and not hockey that keep him out. While some criticized his defence at times, if you put any importance into scoring, the fourth highest scoring defender ever belongs in the Hall of Fame.Īs my fourth and final pick (the Hall is limited to 4 skater inductions per year - under normal circumstances) I bring back Dino Ciccarelli.
He is the fourth highest point scoring defenceman of all time. Phil Housley is the 33rd highest point scorer of all time (and he did it from defence!). He was also a respected defensive forward who garnered the 1993 Selke Trophy and serious Hart Trophy consideration. Many consider him the best goalie of all time.ĭoug Gilmour is the 16th highest point scorer of all time.
As a result, this is the last chance (for a while anyway) for the players who were considered in 2005 to get serious Hall of Fame consideration.įrom the group of newcomers who are first time eligible, I would induct Patrick Roy, Doug Gilmour and Phil Housley. In 2007, there will be a large class of new potential inductees as all the players who retired at the end of the 2003/04 season are eligible as well as those who retired before the start of the 2005/06 year after the lockout ended. There are some newcomers this season who are ready for induction. So I could pick the same crew as last year, but I won't. You might notice none of my choices were inducted. While I am thinking about it I thought I would post the players I would induct were I a member of the committee. After the playoffs end, the Hall of Fame committee will induct the class of 2006.