Convince me Paul Henderson belongs in the HHOF

[Big Phil]

I guess so, but what about this guy?:

He had three 1st-team All Stars in a row, and won the Pearson, but isn't in the Hall eight years after retiring. Nor do I hear any groundswell of media support for his induction.

Is there, in fact, any other long-retired player in history with three 1st-team selections and no Hall of Fame pass?

The problem is, usually when you have three 1st team all-stars you've got other years that are very good as well. Naslund just doesn't have this. He has 2002, 2003 and 2004 as excellent years. He finished 11th for the Hart in 2001 and had 75 points. Not bad, but outside of those three this is his only other season worth mentioning. Couple with the fact he was not good in the playoffs, didn't play in them a whole lot either, didn't play for Sweden when the won the Gold in 2006 either and while he has a respectable 869 points in 1117 games it is just that............respectable. For a guy who is known as a scorer, he needs more than that, even for his era.

I honestly don't know who to compare him to in hockey, no one has had that sort of career. Even John Leclair had a bit longer of a peak. Maybe to an extent you can say he is similar to Roger Maris in baseball. 2-3 really great years, one where you can say he is the best player in the game, but didn't do anything noteworthy after that and his career numbers are underwhelming.

Glad you finally admit that defence has value, so no more outbursts against the Armstrong, Duff, etc inductees.

Adam Oates - HHOF 2012, led the NHL in assists twice. Also had more assists than H. Sedin had points. Also scored 101 more goals, better playoff record. Oates only palyed 7 more RS games. The gap is huge.

Closest HHOF comparable to Henderson is Bill Mosienko, who no one complains about so he must be acceptable.

Bill Mosienko Stats | Hockey-Reference.com

Paul Henderson Stats | Hockey-Reference.com

Both around 710 NHL RS games, roughly similar goal and point totals. Both remember for one event.

Oates led the NHL in assists three times, but whose counting?..............

I don't mind Armstrong, or other defensive stalwarts that have gotten in, but Armstrong does have the advantage of captaining a dynasty as well. Still not a fan of Duff in there.

Mosienko I think is a legitimate HHOFer and even though he is best known for the 3 goals in 21 seconds record, the truth is even in the year he did that (1952) he still finished 2nd in goals. It wasn't as if he was a one-trick pony. 5 times he finished in the top 10 in scoring. Twice he was a 2nd team all-star. All in all, he had better seasons than Henderson did, routinely.

 

[Canadiens1958]

Oates led the NHL in assists three times, but whose counting?..............

I don't mind Armstrong, or other defensive stalwarts that have gotten in, but Armstrong does have the advantage of captaining a dynasty as well. Still not a fan of Duff in there.

Mosienko I think is a legitimate HHOFer and even though he is best known for the 3 goals in 21 seconds record, the truth is even in the year he did that (1952) he still finished 2nd in goals. It wasn't as if he was a one-trick pony. 5 times he finished in the top 10 in scoring. Twice he was a 2nd team all-star. All in all, he had better seasons than Henderson did, routinely.

Twice for the sake of accuracy:

Adam Oates Stats | Hockey-Reference.com

Think you are giving him double credit for a traded season.

You are making - up the conditions as you go along. Suddenly Mosienko's two second team ASTs are worth more than the three 1st team ASTs earned by Markus Naslund. Definitely lacking logical coherence here.

Henderson had a nice steady career, seven 20 + goal seasons including 30and 38. Zero ASTs, so what? Select group of solid HHOFers with zero 1st and 2nd ASTs. Armstrong, Duff, Lemaire, Anderson, Andreychuk. Just a short list without going deepintothe alphabet or looking at defencemen.

 

[FerrisRox]

Twice for the sake of accuracy:

Adam Oates Stats | Hockey-Reference.com

Think you are giving him double credit for a traded season.

I see him leading the league three times. 1992-93, 2000-01, and 2001-02.

 

[93LEAFS]

Always an argument that draws a crowd.

There is a radio analyst named Liam Maguire who swears by this argument and is in favour of Henderson going in. I'll give him credit, he's always stuck to it. Some might have heard him, I think he is up in Ottawa now. A bit of a pompous, not unlike someone like Bob McGown. So he isn't my type of analyst but either way I've heard his opinions on this. He'd get killed in an argument on these boards when it comes to Henderson though. My argument among so many others is that if you would induct Paul Henderson without even thinking of 1972, then he deserves it. Or even if he's borderline. Heck, Pete Mahovlich has the odd fan on here who thinks he should be in and I would like to think that he's close to borderline and if he were the one who scored that goal (Henderson ironically called him off the ice before the goal) then he'd be in.

But Henderson? There is nothing that screams HHOFer to me. I believe the argument is that he fits the criteria of a player being inducted based on the impact of 1972. Not true in my eyes. There is no precedent in hockey for this. Mike Eruzione isn't in either. So that falls flat.

Anyway, if I am wrong, tell me. If I am right, then insert your reasons for it.

Because the standards for the Hockey Hall of Fame are extremely low at this point compared to the MLB or NFL Hall of Fames, and with the types of players they have let in over the years (Clark Gillies, Dino Ciccarelli, Andreychuk, etc) that its pretty easy to make a case for or against anyone who played a while and had a good career.

 

[The Panther]

Because the standards for the Hockey Hall of Fame are extremely low at this point compared to the MLB or NFL Hall of Fames, and with the types of players they have let in over the years (Clark Gillies, Dino Ciccarelli, Andreychuk, etc) that its pretty easy to make a case for or against anyone who played a while and had a good career.

Yes, which is exactly why the Hall of Fame is becoming a disgrace.

 

[Big Phil]

Twice for the sake of accuracy:

Adam Oates Stats | Hockey-Reference.com

Think you are giving him double credit for a traded season.

You are making - up the conditions as you go along. Suddenly Mosienko's two second team ASTs are worth more than the three 1st team ASTs earned by Markus Naslund. Definitely lacking logical coherence here.

Henderson had a nice steady career, seven 20 + goal seasons including 30and 38. Zero ASTs, so what? Select group of solid HHOFers with zero 1st and 2nd ASTs. Armstrong, Duff, Lemaire, Anderson, Andreychuk. Just a short list without going deepintothe alphabet or looking at defencemen.

No, it was still three times. 1993, 2001 and 2002. Oates led in assists those years. Not like it matters, if he didn't do it once and was 2nd all of those years he'd still be in.

As for Mosienko, he was good for several seasons, not just one or two or three. Also, not every all-star selection is equal. Mosienko is going against Richard and Howe at his position during his career. Naslund is a LWer at an extremely weak time. After Kariya's big years and before Ovechkin's. Naslund just has that very short peak. Blame Steve Moore if you want, but either way he didn't perform. I'd put Mosienko in the bottom 5-10% of the HHOF, but still in there.

By the way, Henderson is not even in the same class as the players you mentioned above. Lemaire, Anderson, Andreychuk were all better. Armstrong was better, Duff was better. With Henderson there just isn't anything that warrants a HHOF career. When did he have a playoff run that impressed you? When did he win a Cup? When was he even an elite right winger.............even for one season? Lemaire was a far better centreman than Henderson a winger. These players were all better at their position than Henderson, some by a substantial degree.

 

[Canadiens1958]

No, it was still three times. 1993, 2001 and 2002. Oates led in assists those years. Not like it matters, if he didn't do it once and was 2nd all of those years he'd still be in.

As for Mosienko, he was good for several seasons, not just one or two or three. Also, not every all-star selection is equal. Mosienko is going against Richard and Howe at his position during his career. Naslund is a LWer at an extremely weak time. After Kariya's big years and before Ovechkin's. Naslund just has that very short peak. Blame Steve Moore if you want, but either way he didn't perform. I'd put Mosienko in the bottom 5-10% of the HHOF, but still in there.

By the way, Henderson is not even in the same class as the players you mentioned above. Lemaire, Anderson, Andreychuk were all better. Armstrong was better, Duff was better. With Henderson there just isn't anything that warrants a HHOF career. When did he have a playoff run that impressed you? When did he win a Cup? When was he even an elite right winger.............even for one season? Lemaire was a far better centreman than Henderson a winger. These players were all better at their position than Henderson, some by a substantial degree.

Henderson played both wings. LW for Toronto during his career year 1971-72. LW,1966 finals. Overall about 50/50. Players splitting positions rarely get recognition.

RW his competition was Howe, Cournoyer, Gilbert, etc. LW it was Hull, F.Mahovlich, Bucyk, etc.Never had a first pass,transition defenceman to take advantage of his speed.

1966 SC Finals against Montreal outscored Howe 4 pts to 2, with 1 GWG.

 

[Big Phil]

Henderson played both wings. LW for Toronto during his career year 1971-72. LW,1966 finals. Overall about 50/50. Players splitting positions rarely get recognition.

RW his competition was Howe, Cournoyer, Gilbert, etc. LW it was Hull, F.Mahovlich, Bucyk, etc.Never had a first pass,transition defenceman to take advantage of his speed.

1966 SC Finals against Montreal outscored Howe 4 pts to 2, with 1 GWG.

That's great, but he still isn't even in the same breath as even a marginal HHOFer.