HHOF 2019

[Arselona]

Now that the 2018 inductees have been announced, it is time to start speculating on next year's class. There are no obvious 1st year eligible candidates from NHL (Lecavalier is the best 1st ballot guy?) and many of the long standing omissions are now in the hall (Lindros, Kariya, Makarov). Who do you think should/will be inducted? Personally, i hope for more Soviets from the 1950-70s period.

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[TheDevilMadeMe]

NHL.com article: Hockey Hall of Fame Class of 2019 wide open

Dan Rosen lists Roenick, Brind'amour, Alfredsson, Mogilny, Mikhailov, Zubov, Wilson, and Joseph as candidates.

Personally, I'd go with Alfredsson, J.C. Tremblay, and Firsov (but Mikhailov is pretty good too)

Tom Barrasso should probably get in at some point, too. Cujo wouldn't be the worst inductee, but I prefer Barrasso.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

no new guys? that could spell disaster, i.e. another former sabre with shiny numbers.

from the “usual” crop, as in 80s, 90s, 2000s players, theo fleury remains the only real omission for me.

alfredsson i would probably have in there someday, but i’d like to let his career sit a little more and really think his place in history through. fleury is due bc i don’t think we’re going to understand his case any more about if we wait even longer.

 

[PenguinSpeed]

-Honestly, way to many weak candidates are getting into the Hall of Fame. Gonchar probably makes it, and he is still borderline. 5X All Star, 3 time cup champion as player / coach, Top 30 all time in points per game for defense men. 16th All Time in points. Most points for any defensive player born after 1970.

-Is this hall of fame worthy? Its borderline, and probably at the top of the 2019 class. The cap should be 2 players per year.

 

[rnhaas]

Agree about Tremblay

 

[BlueBull]

Maybe my boy Bobby Smith can finally get some credit?
Tbh i think these should be the 4 Players inducted: Alfredsson, Fleury, Paul Henderson (Yes I know lol), and Hayley Wickenheiser.

 

[The Panther]

I'm not into Theo Fleury:

Basis of Selection of Candidates: Player -- "Playing ability, sportsmanship, character and contributions to his or her team or teams and to the game of hockey in general."

How does he pass the "sportsmanship" and "character" parts? The guy spent $30 million in cash on drink, drugs, and women of the night.

 

[The Panther]

I'm not into Theo Fleury:

Basis of Selection of Candidates: Player -- "Playing ability, sportsmanship, character and contributions to his or her team or teams and to the game of hockey in general."

How does he pass the "sportsmanship" and "character" parts? The guy spent $30 million in cash on drink, drugs, and women of the night.

One more point: I do think that everyone is 'redeemable', including Fleury. But I don't think he has redeemed himself in any meaningful way.

 

[Sprague Cleghorn]

I'm not into Theo Fleury:

Basis of Selection of Candidates: Player -- "Playing ability, sportsmanship, character and contributions to his or her team or teams and to the game of hockey in general."

How does he pass the "sportsmanship" and "character" parts? The guy spent $30 million in cash on drink, drugs, and women of the night.

There are lots of players in the HOF who would not pass the "sportmanship" and "character" parts. If all he did was drink, do drugs and have sex, and not beat wives, murder or scam people, then who cares.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

i don’t understand ppl who only cheer for overdogs. like, who even are you ppl?

 

[Weztex]

One more point: I do think that everyone is 'redeemable', including Fleury. But I don't think he has redeemed himself in any meaningful way.

From what I read, Fleury has been sober for more than 10 years now. He's faced his demons and help put Graham James behind bars. He now is a motivational public speaker and runs a hockey camp for kids centered on how to reach your dreams. From what I understand he also participated in many fundraisers (like The Breaking Free Foundation).

Substance abuse is a very serious disorder. It probably took a ***load of character to get there considering the living hell he was in. I'd say he's redeem himself like a champ.

 

[sr edler]

I don’t care about the HHOF anymore but T. Fleury would definitely qualify. 96 World Cup/98 Olympics he was arguably the best winger Canada had. A HHOF with Andreychuk but no Fleury is weird.

 

[Plural]

I'm not into Theo Fleury:

Basis of Selection of Candidates: Player -- "Playing ability, sportsmanship, character and contributions to his or her team or teams and to the game of hockey in general."

How does he pass the "sportsmanship" and "character" parts? The guy spent $30 million in cash on drink, drugs, and women of the night.

He's not the best role model for kids but Theo Fleury's character resume would be far from worst. I understand Bobby Hull (for example) was vastly better player but if him beating his wife didn't stop him from getting in then Fleury's substance abuse and taste for women of the night should be a non-issue.

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

The HHOF made it clear that they don't care about moral standards for even borderline players when they inducted Ciccarelli. So it would be really lame if that keeps Fleury out.

 

[JackSlater]

Unless the HHOF is willing to do a class of all pre-NHL (or close enough) European greats then I hope for a very small class. Guys like Alfredsson and Fleury (even ignoring puritanical takes) can be inducted and probably will, but the HHOF loses little by having them outside either. Tremblay almost certainly would be in already if he hadn't left for the WHA but again he isn't a slam dunk case. If it was up to me I would just pick some guys like Firsov, Mikhailov, Martinec and Krutov (or something along those lines). I expect the NHL to add at least three NHLers though, with Alfredsson as the most likely.

 

[Kyle McMahon]

no new guys? that could spell disaster, i.e. another former sabre with shiny numbers.

from the “usual” crop, as in 80s, 90s, 2000s players, theo fleury remains the only real omission for me.

alfredsson i would probably have in there someday, but i’d like to let his career sit a little more and really think his place in history through. fleury is due bc i don’t think we’re going to understand his case any more about if we wait even longer.

Turgeon, Mogilny, or both will get the call next year. And future generations will deem the early 90s Sabres and their 8 HOFers as the greatest team never to win a Stanley Cup.

 

[decma]

Turgeon, Mogilny, or both will get the call next year. And future generations will deem the early 90s Sabres and their 8 HOFers as the greatest team never to win a Stanley Cup.

Given the Housley/Hawerchuk and Lafontaine/Turgeon trades, the most HoFers on a Sabres team at any one time would have been six?

Surely future generations would realize that by the time Hasek became a starter (93-94), Fuhr was an aged back-up, Andreychuk was gone, Hawerchuk was past his prime, and Lafontaine was suffering from significant concussion issues?

The season before (92-93), Hawerchuk, Lafontaine, and Mogilny were healthy and productive, but Andreychuk was dealt to the Leas, and Hasek and Fuhr only played 28 and 29 games each. That team finished 6th in the league in scoring.

And in 91-92, all four of those forwards were productive and relatively healthy (although Lafontaine missed 23 games and Mogilny 13), but there was a huge drop off in scoring after those four, and Fuhr and Hasek were not yet on the team.

In any case, I don't think the mistake of inducting Andreychuk should be a reason for not inducting Mogilny or Turgeon.

 

[Kyle McMahon]

Sure, if you look closely you'd realize the Sabres never had all of them at the same time, but it's nonetheless interesting how many HOFers/prospective inductees passed through such a mediocre team in short order. A historical oddity of sorts.

I wouldn't have inducted Andreychuk, but I'd have voted for him before Mogilny or Turgeon. You could probably argue pretty easily that they were superior players, but Andreychuk captained a team to a Stanley Cup. In a case where none of the three really have a compelling case for enshrinement, I'll take the guy with the historically significant accomplishment on his resume.

 

[MXD]

I'm afraid that the Yakushev enshrinement only serves to pave the way for... well... you know...

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

does gerry meehan hold the record for most consecutive seasons with a hall of famer for hall of famer trades? (assuming that we count draft day as the last day of a season, rather than the first; and that turgeon gets the nod at some point)

Buffalo Sabres acquire	Date	Winnipeg Jets acquire
Dale Hawerchuk 1990 1st round pick (#14-Brad May) [TBODY] [/TBODY]	June 16, 1990	Scott Arniel Phil Housley Jeff Parker 1990 1st round pick (#19-Keith Tkachuk) [TBODY] [/TBODY]

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Buffalo Sabres acquire	Date	New York Islanders acquire
Randy Hillier Pat LaFontaine Randy Wood 1992 4th round pick (#80-Dean Melanson) [TBODY] [/TBODY]	October 25, 1991	Benoit Hogue Uwe Krupp Dave McLlwain Pierre Turgeon [TBODY] [/TBODY]

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Toronto Maple Leafs acquire	Date	Buffalo Sabres acquire
Dave Andreychuk Daren Puppa 1993 1st round pick (#12-Kenny Jonsson) [TBODY] [/TBODY]	February 2, 1993	Grant Fuhr 1995 5th round pick (#119-Kevin Popp) [TBODY] [/TBODY]

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

edit: i can only think of two coaches who have even done it in back-to-back years--

keenan (housley/macinnis, then shanahan/pronger)

and punch imlach (duff/bathgate, then bathgate/pronovost)

 

[Zegras Zebra]

My guess for the players category would be:
Daniel Alfredsson
Curtis Joseph
One of the old Soviet players
Hayley Wickenheiser

For the builders:
An old NHL franchise owner everyone hates
Someone most people never heard of that probably genuinely deserves it

Once again Fleury will be left out. I think he gets in eventually, but he will have to wait until the next generation of players/ executives/media to get on the selection committee and get their chance to vote for new members

 

[decma]

edit: i can only think of two coaches who have even done it in back-to-back years--

keenan (housley/macinnis, then shanahan/pronger)

and punch imlach (duff/bathgate, then bathgate/pronovost)

Interesting topic. How many HoFer for HoFer trades have there even been?

I can think of one other GM who managed it in back-to-back seasons:

Cliff Fletcher swapped Fuhr for Andreychuk in 92/93 and then Anderson for Gartner in 93/94.

On the slim chance that Damphousse ever makes it to the HoF, Fletcher would add Damphousse and others for Anderson and Fuhr (91/92 season) to make it three straight seasons.

 

[frisco]

Barrasso. He was a surly fellow but it is about time that wasn't held against him.

My Best-Carey

 

[BlueBull]

My guess for the players category would be:
Daniel Alfredsson
Curtis Joseph
One of the old Soviet players
Hayley Wickenheiser

For the builders:
An old NHL franchise owner everyone hates
Someone most people never heard of that probably genuinely deserves it

Once again Fleury will be left out. I think he gets in eventually, but he will have to wait until the next generation of players/ executives/media to get on the selection committee and get their chance to vote for new members

Surprised you think it's going to be a Copy Paste of last year.

 

[Zegras Zebra]

Surprised you think it's going to be a Copy Paste of last year.

It seems to be the formula the HHOF selection committee seems to take lately. Without any surefire first ballot hall of famers, it will probably be similar to this. I usually get one or two names wrong