Rick Martin for HHOF

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Just for kicks I was looking into the old Canadiens teams of the '50s and note the overkill of sheer talent, from Rocket Richard and Henri Richard to Beliveau, Geoffrion, Dickie Moore, Doug Harvey, Backstrom, Jacques Plante, amazing teams. Lots of HOFers at the same time.

One guy I looked into was the awesome Geoffrion and found that in 766 games, he had 393/429/822 in 16 seasons. Of course he had a great playoffs record too with those teams.

But Rick Martin was awesome in his injury shortened career, scoring almost as many goals at 381/317/702 in only ten seasons.Unfortunately the Sabres couldn't build a championship team, although they came close once. Not enough overall talent.

Anywy here's The Hockey Guy making the case for the late great Rick Martin, who so far has been unfairly overlooked for enshrinement at the Hockey Hall of Fame.

 
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tarheelhockey

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Just for kicks I was looking into the old Canadiens teams of the '50s and note the overkill of sheer talent, from Rocket Richard and Henri Richard to Beliveau, Geoffrion, Dickie Moore, Doug Harvey, Backstrom, Jacques Plante, amazing teams. Lots of HOFers at the same time.

One guy I looked into was the awesome Geoffrion and found that in 766 games, he had 393/429/822 in 16 seasons. Of course he had a great playoffs record too with those teams.

But Rick Martin was awesome in his injury shortened career, scoring almost as many goals at 381/317/702 in only ten seasons.Unfortunately the Sabres couldn't build a championship team, although they came close once. Not enough overall talent.

Anywy here's The Hockey Guy making the case for the late great Rick Martin, who so far has been unfairly overlooked for enshrinement at the Hockey Hall of Fame.



Not sure it’s “unfairly overlooked” so much as Martin’s career being cut short before he hit HHOF thresholds.

If he plays another 5 years it’s probably not even a debate, but... he didn’t play those 5 years.
 

frisco

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A better case can be made for Tim Kerr
Similar careers. Probably Neely is the best HOF comp. Adjusted for era via hockey-reference:

Martin--341 goals, 626 points, 685 GP. Two first team AS, two second team AS.
Kerr--297 goals, 542 points, 655 GP. One second team AS.
Neely--363 goals, 629 points, 726 GP. Four second team AS.

My Best-Carey
 
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TheMoreYouKnow

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Seems like we're now at the point where we don't just add compilers to the HHOF, we also want to add guys who would have been compilers if they had played another 500 games.
 
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crobro

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Similar careers. Probably Neely is the best HOF comp. Adjusted for era via hockey-reference:

Martin--341 goals, 626 points, 685 GP. Two first team AS, two second team AS.
Kerr--297 goals, 542 points, 655 GP. One second team AS.
Neely--363 goals, 629 points, 726 GP. Four second team AS.

My Best-Carey

Kerr had 370 goals and 674 points
 
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Vector

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Similar careers. Probably Neely is the best HOF comp. Adjusted for era via hockey-reference:

Martin--341 goals, 626 points, 685 GP. Two first team AS, two second team AS.
Kerr--297 goals, 542 points, 655 GP. One second team AS.
Neely--363 goals, 629 points, 726 GP. Four second team AS.

My Best-Carey


Kerr had 370 goals and 674 points
 

VanIslander

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Were they among the leaders in scoring?

Martin
2nd in goals (6th in points)
3rd in goals (10th in points)
6th in goals
7th in goals
10th in goals

Kerr
2nd in goals (9th in points)
3rd in goals
3rd in goals
6th in goals
9th in goals

Looks about EVEN. Kerr getting his more on the pp.

In terms of being honored:

Martin
1st-team all star
1st-team all star
2nd-team all star
2nd-team all star
7 all-star games

Kerr
2nd-team all star
3 all-star games

Clearly, Martin was more heralded. Injuries is not a plus in HHOF consideration. Kerr may have had the talent to become a hall of famer, but he/his body failed to do it.
 

buffalowing88

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Eh, I'm a bit French Connection fan and studied up on them/watched all the old games. Martin was absolutely the second most talented member of that line, and probably of that team as a whole. The Sabres were really good when Martin was there and he was the top goalscorer so I think something has to be said for that. At the same time, though, I just don't think he had the long-term impact that makes him deserving of the HHOF.

I do think he was better than his other linemate, Robert, though. Martin could create his own goals when needed and he was electric in the old clips. I just am unsure about his long-term credentials.
 

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Similar careers. Probably Neely is the best HOF comp. Adjusted for era via hockey-reference:

Martin--341 goals, 626 points, 685 GP. Two first team AS, two second team AS.
Kerr--297 goals, 542 points, 655 GP. One second team AS.
Neely--363 goals, 629 points, 726 GP. Four second team AS.

My Best-Carey

Martin had 381 goals, not 341.
 

Hamilton Tiger

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Rick was either first or second all-star team 4 times. That's more times than anyone who's not in the HHoF except John LeClair (5 times) and Carl Brewer (4) times, and more than a great many wingers who are in the HHoF. When you're the best in the NHL at your position that many times, I'd have no problem with his induction.
 
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Professor What

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I don't even pretend to know what qualifies as a Hall of Fame resume anymore. I think there are multiple guys that have been mentioned in this thread that deserve induction more than some recent actual inductions, and there are quite a few even more qualified players who have thus far been overlooked, some of them for many years. Let me in on the committee's thought process and I'll tell you. I hate to say this, but the Hall feels a little cheapened in recent years.
 
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ted2019

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Martin is basically the same career as Steve Shutt or Bill Barber without being lucky enough to play for a dynasty.

Barber was a much greater 2 way winger then Martin. Can't discount Barber's 31 SHG compared to a big ol' goose egg on Martin's ledger.
 
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Perennial

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If Neely's in, Kerr should be to.

During his prime from '84 - '90, Kerr's goal output was definitely at a Hall of Fame level...

310 goals, 530 points, +92 in 445 games...

That's a 1.20 PPG average, and a mighty impressive .70 GPG which is only .06 (or slightly less than 5 goals per 82 games) below Bossy's career record of .76 GPG (752 games)
 

BadgerBruce

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Rick Martin does not have particularly good odds of making it to the Hall.

He suffered a career-ending knee injury in November, 1980, and with the exception of a handful of games, was finished.

In 1982, shortly after he officially retired, Martin filed a $10 million medical negligence lawsuit against the Sabres, charging that Scotty, Bowman, the coach, and Dr. Peter Casagrande, the team physician, induced him to play before the injury to his left knee had healed. He was reinserted into the Sabres lineup just a few weeks after the surgery and Bowman traded him to LA in March, where his career ended after just 4 games.

The lawsuit ate up nearly a decade and the Sabres eventually prevailed.

Is he Hall-worthy? Very borderline, though I do lean slightly to “Yes.” But guys who sue their clubs don’t make it, so I can’t see his candidacy going very far.
 
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Kyle McMahon

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Rick Martin does not have particularly good odds of making it to the Hall.

He suffered a career-ending knee injury in November, 1980, and with the exception of a handful of games, was finished.

In 1982, shortly after he officially retired, Martin filed a $10 million medical negligence lawsuit against the Sabres, charging that Scotty, Bowman, the coach, and Dr. Peter Casagrande, the team physician, induced him to play before the injury to his left knee had healed. He was reinserted into the Sabres lineup just a few weeks after the surgery and Bowman traded him to LA in March, where his career ended after just 4 games.

The lawsuit ate up nearly a decade and the Sabres eventually prevailed.

Is he Hall-worthy? Very borderline, though I do lean slightly to “Yes.” But guys who sue their clubs don’t make it, so I can’t see his candidacy going very far.

Never heard of this before, thanks for sharing.
 
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BadgerBruce

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Rick Martin had some horribly bad luck representing Canada internationally.

He was named to the 72 Summit Series squad on the heels of an outstanding rookie season with the Sabres (second in Calder voting behind Ken Dryden but well ahead of third place finisher Marcel Dionne) but ended up as one of those guys who left Team Canada when Harry Sinden didn’t dress him for a single game.

He was named to the ‘76 Canada Cup team and opened the tournament with a historically dominant 5-point game in Canada’s 11-2 thrashing of Finland, a performance that earned him Player of the Game honours.

But for the rest of the tournament, Martin was either a healthy scratch or played so little that you’d think he was.

On paper, Martin was in tough for ice time on the left wing. Bowman kept the Habs’ Shutt-Mahovlich-Lafleur line together, and the Flyers’ Barber-Clarke-Leach trio remained intact unless Clarke, who suffered an Achilles injury in game 1, could not play, in which case Darryl Sittler usually filled the hole down the middle.

And then there was the ageless Bobby Hull, and he quite rightly received more ice time than any other left winger on the team. Bob Gainey slotted into the traditional checking line role.

So where was Rick Martin to play?

Initially, he lined up on a modified French Connection line with Perreault and right winger Danny Gare. That line performed very well, but Martin and Gare ended up drawing short straws once Bowman decided that Phil Esposito was not “the right fit” between Hull and Marcel Dionne, who’d been moved to the right wing.

Exit Esposito, enter longtime Bowman favourite, Gil Perreault.

That line was absolutely magnificent, no question. In my lifetime, the only other Team Canada line able to generate such electricity was the similarly short-lived Gretzky-Perreault-Lafleur trio in 1981.

So I’m not faulting Bowman for moving Perreault up the lineup. But the change left Rick Martin and Danny Gare essentially orphaned. Martin, in particular, was a highly skilled player who fit in very well with that 76 team, but Bowman just couldn’t find a regular spot for him.

Rotten luck. I’ve often wondered how Martin felt — he put up 5 points in the opening tournament game and ended up victimized by a left wing numbers game. Based purely on performance, he deserved a better fate.

My feeling is that Martin would have been one of those automatic/no questions asked players on the 1981 Canada Cup squad, had he not suffered that career-ending knee injury in late 1980. He was that accomplished and highly regarded.

None of this means he should be inducted into the Hall of Fame. 685 regular season games is below the threshold most people have for post-06 players, and I’m not going to argue with that position. But if the Hall is going to every now and again consider exceptions, they could do a lot worse than take a long look at Rick Martin.
 

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