Bernie Federko

RECsGuy*

Guest
1,091 GP - 404 G - 827 A - 1,231 PTS
Ten consecutive seasons of 50+ assists

Tell me about this HHOFer, seeing as I never saw him play and, based purely on his stats, can't understand why he never played in the Canada Cup.
 

BraveCanadian

Registered User
Jun 30, 2010
14,521
3,360
He was an elite level player, unfortunately he was on the lower rung and Canada is always stacked in the middle.

Lots of very good centermen don't get a chance in Canada.

To put it in perspective, Steve Yzerman was also cut from a Canada Cup team and Dale Hawerchuk was employed as a checking center.
 

RECsGuy*

Guest
Because being above-average is not the same as being elite.

I believe his ten consecutive seasons of 50+ assists was an NHL record, if not still is, which is made all the more impressive when you realize he only played 14 season total (1 being partial: late season call-up after obliterating the minors as a rookie).

He also came up big during the real season, which can't be said about a lot of HHOF/supposed "greats": 91 GP - 35 G - 66 A - 101 PTS.

Are these pionts, combined, with his induction into the HHOF not the defintion of "elite?"
 

member 83027

Guest
I believe his ten consecutive seasons of 50+ assists was an NHL record, if not still is, which is made all the more impressive when you realize he only played 14 season total (1 being partial: late season call-up after obliterating the minors as a rookie).

He also came up big during the real season, which can't be said about a lot of HHOF/supposed "greats": 91 GP - 35 G - 66 A - 101 PTS.

Are these pionts, combined, with his induction into the HHOF not the defintion of "elite?"

Most of the time the folks who downplay Federko's legacy are the ones who did not see him very much or on a regular basis. I guarantee most people outside of St. Louis did not see him more than a handful of times a year when he was in his prime.

Living in St. Louis I got a chance to see him a lot more than most.


He played on some poor to mediocre teams in St. Louis and they did not get the national coverage as most teams while he played.

Who set up shop behind the net as well as Federko did before he came along?

Back to the original question...

You need to take a look at the CC teams and what Center would you have removed to put Federko on the team? I would have loved to see him have the opportunity to participate but I can't make a strong argument that he should have got the nod over any of the Centers that were chosen over him.

What really amazes me is he was the 3rd Center picked in the draft in 1976. One of those centers was his junior teammate Fred Williams. Of course I am happy as heck he didn't go earlier than he did.
 
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begbeee

Registered User
Oct 16, 2009
4,158
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Slovakia
You need to take a look at the CC teams and what Center would you have removed to put Federko on the team? I would have loved to see him have the opportunity to participate but I can't make a strong argument that he should have got the nod over any of the Centers that were chosen over him.
And that means he was above average not the elite.
Yes he is HOFer, but how many better centers were there? Always at least four or five. And we are talking only about canadian centers.
So no. He was not elite.
 

RECsGuy*

Guest
And that means he was above average not the elite.
Yes he is HOFer, but how many better centers were there? Always at least four or five. And we are talking only about canadian centers.
So no. He was not elite.


Saying that because Messier, Stastny, Yzerman, Hawerchuck, Lemieux and Gretzky were all selected to play for Canada ahead of Federko made Bernie less than elite is quite laughable considering that those six legends were not only in their prime or very close to it at the time of those three Canada Cups ('81, '94, '87), but that those six would probably be the best six centers in the NHL in any era/year in league history. Missing the cut against 6 of the top 36 scorers in NHL history (#1 Gretzky, #2 Messier, #6 Yzerman, #7 Lemieux, #18 Hawerchuk, #36 Stastny) makes Federko less than elite? Come on, dude.
 

lovetherangers

Registered User
Mar 5, 2010
345
0
New York
He was a great player on an average team. Aside from Bernie the only other players that could be considered stars were Gilmour and Ronning (later). I remember Hunter had a couple of decent years, but he was hardly a superstar. The Blues had a pretty good Defense with Ramage, Natress, and Norwood. I remember they rotated Millen and another goalie often (Wamsley?) They rarely made it past the 2nd round of the playoffs. Federko always sticks out in my mind as the most dangerous player on the Blues, and I remember him playing at a superstar level for years. He is underrated historically IMO.
 

begbeee

Registered User
Oct 16, 2009
4,158
30
Slovakia
Saying that because Messier, Stastny, Yzerman, Hawerchuck, Lemieux and Gretzky were all selected to play for Canada ahead of Federko made Bernie less than elite is quite laughable considering that those six legends were not only in their prime or very close to it at the time of those three Canada Cups ('81, '94, '87), but that those six would probably be the best six centers in the NHL in any era/year in league history. Missing the cut against 6 of the top 36 scorers in NHL history (#1 Gretzky, #2 Messier, #6 Yzerman, #7 Lemieux, #18 Hawerchuk, #36 Stastny) makes Federko less than elite? Come on, dude.
These guys were elite, premier centers during 81-87. Federko couldnt break into this group for whole career.
He was TOP 5 in assists 2 times (4,5) and TOP 10 in points five times (8,9,9,9,10). Pavol Demitra has comparable TOP 10 record... No, he didnt break into truly elite group during his career.
 

TheDevilMadeMe

Registered User
Aug 28, 2006
52,271
6,980
Brooklyn
Denis Savard never got to play for Team Canada, and he was a far superior player to Bernie Federko.

Many think that Federko got into the HHOF because he was lucky enough to be among the first offensive stars of the 1980s to retire, scoring hadn't yet come down, and nobody knew yet that the high levels of scoring in the 80s were basically an aberration.
 

RECsGuy*

Guest
Denis Savard never got to play for Team Canada, and he was a far superior player to Bernie Federko.

Many think that Federko got into the HHOF because he was lucky enough to be among the first offensive stars of the 1980s to retire, scoring hadn't yet come down, and nobody knew yet that the high levels of scoring in the 80s were basically an aberration.

Seeing as he was voted in 12 years after retiring, the judges had plenty of time to consider the validity of this "abberation" claim, which means "many" (you) would be wrong.
 

FiveForDrawingBlood

Registered User
May 25, 2010
1,477
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One of the fringe Hall of Famers. He was a good player on a bad team. If he would have played on the Islanders or the early 80s or Oilers of mid/late 80s, be consider much better player.
 

TheDevilMadeMe

Registered User
Aug 28, 2006
52,271
6,980
Brooklyn
Seeing as he was voted in 12 years after retiring, the judges had plenty of time to consider the validity of this "abberation" claim, which means "many" (you) would be wrong.

When I said "many," I meant "many," as in "I've heard it from multiple people who watched him play" (I didn't).

You're right in that by 2002, the HHOF committee should have known better about 80s stats, but judging from the recent enshrinement of Dino Ciccarelli, they still don't.

Still, we're talking about a guy who never finished higher than 8th in points, and only finished 8-10 5 times. And he's a guy who didn't bring more than offense, as far as I know.

Only 2 NHL All-Star games?

Fairly weak "resume" in my opinion for a HHOF. Interested to read what people who actually saw him play think. I know a few regulars on this board consider him one of the worst inductions ever.
 

seventieslord

Student Of The Game
Mar 16, 2006
36,080
7,132
Regina, SK
Saying that because Messier, Stastny, Yzerman, Hawerchuck, Lemieux and Gretzky were all selected to play for Canada ahead of Federko made Bernie less than elite is quite laughable considering that those six legends were not only in their prime or very close to it at the time of those three Canada Cups ('81, '94, '87), but that those six would probably be the best six centers in the NHL in any era/year in league history. Missing the cut against 6 of the top 36 scorers in NHL history (#1 Gretzky, #2 Messier, #6 Yzerman, #7 Lemieux, #18 Hawerchuk, #36 Stastny) makes Federko less than elite? Come on, dude.

You said you can't understand why he never played for the Canada cup, they told you why, and you agree, but you still argue?
 

JackSlater

Registered User
Apr 27, 2010
18,042
12,664
How about Ron Duguay in 1981?

That pick is somewhat typical of team Canada over the course of Federko's career. They always made sure they had grit guys and they really valued chemistry. Add in the depth at centre and the relative reluctance (compared to now) to put centres on the wing and it is not remotely surprising that Federko never player for Canada at a best on best. There are a decent amount of forwards better than Federko who played after 1976 and didn't make team Canada.
 

member 83027

Guest
How about Ron Duguay in 1981?

I am going to assume Duguay mainly played wing in the Canada Cup.

Some of the guys who were centers on the 1981 team were...

Gretzky
Trottier
Dionne
Perreault
Goring
 

arrbez

bad chi
Jun 2, 2004
13,352
261
Toronto
Tell me about this HHOFer, seeing as I never saw him play and, based purely on his stats, can't understand why he never played in the Canada Cup.

Regarding the Canada Cup, there have always been great playmaking centres who never made the team. Adam Oates and Denis Savard never played for Canada (not sure if Oates declined any invites, but I'm pretty sure Savard was just cut).

If you're a purely offensive C, you'd better be supremely dominant at it to make Team Canada. It's just one of those things. Canada has so much depth that it doesn't need to take one-dimensional guy because there are usually a number of multi-dimensional guys who can do the same job offensively. Like, why take Marc Savard or Jason Spezza when you can take Ryan Getzlaf or Mike Richards? This is especially true for centres who are mainly playmakers, since they probably won't be usable on the wing.
 

SidGenoMario

Registered User
Apr 10, 2009
7,185
97
Saskatoon, SK
He was so great that at a Saskatoon Blades game on Saturday, someone had the sudden desire to get up onto the catwalk and steal his retired jersey banner. He was caught by security on the way down though. :)
 

vadim sharifijanov

Registered User
Oct 10, 2007
28,590
15,949
He was a great player on an average team. Aside from Bernie the only other players that could be considered stars were Gilmour and Ronning (later). I remember Hunter had a couple of decent years, but he was hardly a superstar. The Blues had a pretty good Defense with Ramage, Natress, and Norwood. I remember they rotated Millen and another goalie often (Wamsley?) They rarely made it past the 2nd round of the playoffs. Federko always sticks out in my mind as the most dangerous player on the Blues, and I remember him playing at a superstar level for years. He is underrated historically IMO.

in the early 80s, federko also played with mike liut and joe mullen during a string of really good years by both, especially liut.
 

Hardyvan123

tweet@HardyintheWack
Jul 4, 2010
17,552
24
Vancouver
Denis Savard never got to play for Team Canada, and he was a far superior player to Bernie Federko.

Many think that Federko got into the HHOF because he was lucky enough to be among the first offensive stars of the 1980s to retire, scoring hadn't yet come down, and nobody knew yet that the high levels of scoring in the 80s were basically an aberration.

That just about sums up his career.

In retrospect I doubt he will make it into the current hall being voted on here.

He was a very good point producer but lacks the intangibles and icing to go on the cake he made.
 

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