How far were these guys from Hall of Fame contention?

[Big Phil]

Rene Robert - For two or three years was part of the best line in the game. Had a 100 point season and only one 2nd team all-star

Ken Hodge - May have leeched points a bit but he had over 100 points twice and was a top 5 scorer 3 times. Usually if you throw in two Cups and two first team all-stars that gets you into the Hall, but not so with him. Although he was a big playoff contributor

Joe Nieuwendyk - His name wont jump out at you. You want him to be in there without conflict but it bugs me that his best years were his first 4. Even then he never cracked 100 points and after '91 his big seasons were behind him even though he won three Cups and a Conn Smythe

Reggie Leach - Even himself he'll tell you alcohol ruined his chances at the Hall. It probably did. But a Cup, a 61 goal season, a Conn Smythe along with another 45 and 50 goals year at least gave him the nickname the "Riverton Rifle." IMO he needed a few more years of that type of Hockey to get in there

Rick MacLeish - How can a guy with two Cups, twice being a top 5 scorer and twice leading the playoffs in points not get in? I dont know but you wish he could.

Pete Mahovlich - He bugs me the most. Two seasons of over 100 points (playing with Lafleur) but never more than 73 other than that. His 4 Cups are valuable. As is his play in the '72 Series. Plus he was on the '76 Canada Cup team. Pete, why couldnt you have strung togehter another 100 point season so we could at least consider you more?

BTW, IMO none of these guys are Hall caliber but I just want to know how far they are in your minds

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[Joe Pelletier]

Hi Phil. I don't think the case for Nieuwendyk is closed by any means. He was such a clutch player that I think he probably will meet the Hall's low standards.

I think the others were too dependent on others to achieve what they did, and they were elite players for too short of a time frame.

Joe Pelletier
http://www.greatesthockeylegends.com

 

[Poignant Discussion*]

Rene Robert - For two or three years was part of the best line in the game. Had a 100 point season and only one 2nd team all-star

Ken Hodge - May have leeched points a bit but he had over 100 points twice and was a top 5 scorer 3 times. Usually if you throw in two Cups and two first team all-stars that gets you into the Hall, but not so with him. Although he was a big playoff contributor

Joe Nieuwendyk - His name wont jump out at you. You want him to be in there without conflict but it bugs me that his best years were his first 4. Even then he never cracked 100 points and after '91 his big seasons were behind him even though he won three Cups and a Conn Smythe

Reggie Leach - Even himself he'll tell you alcohol ruined his chances at the Hall. It probably did. But a Cup, a 61 goal season, a Conn Smythe along with another 45 and 50 goals year at least gave him the nickname the "Riverton Rifle." IMO he needed a few more years of that type of Hockey to get in there

Rick MacLeish - How can a guy with two Cups, twice being a top 5 scorer and twice leading the playoffs in points not get in? I dont know but you wish he could.

Pete Mahovlich - He bugs me the most. Two seasons of over 100 points (playing with Lafleur) but never more than 73 other than that. His 4 Cups are valuable. As is his play in the '72 Series. Plus he was on the '76 Canada Cup team. Pete, why couldnt you have strung togehter another 100 point season so we could at least consider you more?

BTW, IMO none of these guys are Hall caliber but I just want to know how far they are in your minds

Nieuwendyk is a no brainer lock for the hall of fame

You should be yelled at for using the words Hall of fame and the words Rene Robert in the same post. 100 points were not rare when you got to play Colorado, Detroit and Cleveland 6 times a year

 

[Big Phil]

Nieuwendyk is a no brainer lock for the hall of fame

Not that he's a rotten choice but how would you define Nieuwendyk as a lock? You have to love his intangibles like faceoff speciality and stuff but how is he any more worthy than Rod BrindAmour? A lot of people would never put him in there. To me they both had very similar careers. Nieuwy did lay some eggs in the playoffs some years and was there a time he was a top 10 player in the game? I cant think of it.

 

[Heat McManus]

Not that he's a rotten choice but how would you define Nieuwendyk as a lock? You have to love his intangibles like faceoff speciality and stuff but how is he any more worthy than Rod BrindAmour? A lot of people would never put him in there. To me they both had very similar careers. Nieuwy did lay some eggs in the playoffs some years and was there a time he was a top 10 player in the game? I cant think of it.

A lot of people would say Nieuwendyk was much more of an offensive threat than Brind' Amour. Nieuwendyk was a sniper in his earlier years.

 

[God Bless Canada]

Nieuwendyk will get in. Two 50-goal seasons, two 40-goal seasons, and a key contributor to three Cup champions, with three different organizations. Conn Smythe Trophy. Class act. Tireless worker in the community. One of the best face-off men in the league for years. He makes it.

 

[Chili]

Nieuwendyk may take a couple of years after he's eligible but he'll probably get in, alot of different positives on his career resumé.

Pete Mahovlich was one of my all time favorite players. He did have some great years, just not enough to make it a hall of fame career. His career really seemed to fizzle at the end, can't remember if there was a coinciding serious injury there?

 

[MXD]

Rene Robert - For two or three years was part of the best line in the game. Had a 100 point season and only one 2nd team all-star

Ken Hodge - May have leeched points a bit but he had over 100 points twice and was a top 5 scorer 3 times. Usually if you throw in two Cups and two first team all-stars that gets you into the Hall, but not so with him. Although he was a big playoff contributor

Joe Nieuwendyk - His name wont jump out at you. You want him to be in there without conflict but it bugs me that his best years were his first 4. Even then he never cracked 100 points and after '91 his big seasons were behind him even though he won three Cups and a Conn Smythe

Reggie Leach - Even himself he'll tell you alcohol ruined his chances at the Hall. It probably did. But a Cup, a 61 goal season, a Conn Smythe along with another 45 and 50 goals year at least gave him the nickname the "Riverton Rifle." IMO he needed a few more years of that type of Hockey to get in there

Rick MacLeish - How can a guy with two Cups, twice being a top 5 scorer and twice leading the playoffs in points not get in? I dont know but you wish he could.

Pete Mahovlich - He bugs me the most. Two seasons of over 100 points (playing with Lafleur) but never more than 73 other than that. His 4 Cups are valuable. As is his play in the '72 Series. Plus he was on the '76 Canada Cup team. Pete, why couldnt you have strung togehter another 100 point season so we could at least consider you more?

BTW, IMO none of these guys are Hall caliber but I just want to know how far they are in your minds

René Robert... Well, a good player, but that's it. I cannot come up with a good comparison with a "recent" player. Maybe Steve Larmer? (when it comes down to numbers).

Hodge and MacLeish shouldn't even be remotely considered. Good players for sure, but not HHOF material to me, really dependant on others.

Leach numbers (and career path, to a certain extent) looks a bit like Markus Naslund's one (but Leach had the CS). On the flip side, Leach was never the best player at his position (then again, he had that dude named Lafleur for competition), something Naslund can somewhat brag about for a 3-4 year stretch.

Mahovlich's numbers are somewhat Alex Kovalev-ish (they were really different players, though), and I don't think anybody will ever consider Kovalev as a legit HHOF, let alone a borderline one.