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Speculation: Should Claude Lemieux be in the HOF?

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Habs

We should have drafted Michkov
Feb 28, 2002
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HOF selection is an old boys club, and why stupid Lindros got in before so many others. None of it makes much sense anyways. Not sure if he has HOF stats, but it could be argued he does . I think the Draper hit is still that much of a black eye on his career in the eyes of the HOF
 
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Estimated_Prophet

Estimated_Prophet

Registered User
Mar 28, 2003
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Tyson said:
Fair point but the watering down has always been. Cam Neely was great but never delivered in the playoffs like Claude. Neely is in the Hall. An argument can be made.
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What are you talking about????? Neely was an absolute beast in the playoffs and was much better than Claude but had his playoff resume cut short due to injury's and not having Patrick Roy in net to provide deep runs.

Claude was a great playoff guy but did not produce anywhere Neely's playoff PPG. Then consider the fact that Neely was a an absolute rockstar who potted three 50 goal seasons and very likely would have done it seven times if not for the injuries. Neely had 50 goals in 49 games in 93/94 ffs and may very well have sored 80 goals that season. Lemieux broke 40 goals once in his career lol and had 4 more 30+ goal seasons where he barely broke 30 in three of them. If the Habs had Neely instead of Lemieux they would have won some of the games in regulation that Lemieux needed OT to score in.

Lemieux was never considered an elite player and the HOF should only have elite players. Neely on the other hand was one of the greatest power forwards ever to play the game and a bonafied superstar. Neely had 16 more goals than Claude in almost 500 fewer games and unlike Claude who turtled almost every fight, Neely beat the living **** out of his opponent in most of his fights. Neely was quite literally superior to Lemieux in every aspect of the game so to put so much emphasis on a statistical anomaly like OT goals is plain ridiculous.
 
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Tyson

Tyson

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Mar 1, 2007
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Andrei79 said:
It's an interesting question, because his playoff resume is one of the greatest. He was legitimately one of the best wingers in the game come post-season. Selanne, for example, never even came close to the same performances. We're talking about the most important period of hockey where the competition is its highest and Lemieux not only thrived, he even won the MVP over Martin Brodeur.

If he had more seasons like 93 and 96, it would have been a no-brainer. I would take him over a few HOFers when the game is on the line.
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Well said
BLNY said:
Despite his clutch nature in the playoffs, he's not a hall of fame player.
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He is more deserving than many who are in the HOF.
 
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Albatros

Albatros

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Aug 19, 2017
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sampollock said:
no, he is not that special of a player.

Henderson is not in, how can this guy be
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Henderson spent almost two decades in professional hockey and at least I can remember him only for one international goal. I even had to check which teams he played for besides the Leafs. Claude Lemieux was exceptionally memorable throughout his career.
 
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Leon Lucius Black

Leon Lucius Black

Registered User
Nov 5, 2007
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As it was before my time before I started watching the Habs, but why did the Habs trade Lemieux?

All we got was Sylvain Turgeon who blew in his 2 years here.

Trading Chelios/Lemieux/Bobby Smith and getting Savard/Turgeon seemed like a Bergevin type of offseason.
 
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417

417

BBQ Chicken Alert!
Feb 20, 2003
51,467
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Kriss E said:
While this is true, you can't just discredit someone for it. This isn't Aaron Ward..
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Yeah definitely was not my intention, he was a key player on all of those Cup runs but I've never looked at those as individual accomplishments for anyone he really.

Nothing personal against him.
Kriss E said:
Claude Lemieux won 4 cups, with three different teams, finishing 9th of all-time in PO goal scoring with 80goals. He is 4th in PO games with 234, in 18 years of career he missed the PO once. You can also add a Conn Smythe trophy, 2 gold (one in junior) and 1 silver medals for Team Canada too.
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Yes he played a lot of playoff games and scored a lot of playoff goals, big goals in important moments and I think those moments are why this is even a discussion.

Moments stick out and I get that...but for me HOF is not about moments it's about being one of the best players of your era, for the majority of your career and he doesn't tick that box for me, he doesn't have enough of the individual accomplishments in terms of stats or trophies for me.

Doesn't mean I think he wasn't a very good player. I just don't think very good needs to be in the HoF.
 
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BLNY

BLNY

Registered User
Aug 3, 2004
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Andrei79 said:
It's an interesting question, because his playoff resume is one of the greatest. He was legitimately one of the best wingers in the game come post-season. Selanne, for example, never even came close to the same performances. We're talking about the most important period of hockey where the competition is its highest and Lemieux not only thrived, he even won the MVP over Martin Brodeur.

If he had more seasons like 93 and 96, it would have been a no-brainer. I would take him over a few HOFers when the game is on the line.
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Lemieux regular season ppg = .646
Lemieux playoff ppg = .675

Selanne
Boss Man Hughes said:
Who cares? The point is that there are many lesser players in the HHOF so he obiviously does belong by their criteria.
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See an earlier post of mine. That doesn't mean he belongs in anything more than the hall of very good. This thread isn't about will he. It's about should he. And he shouldn't. Just like Clark Gillies shouldn't have been inducted.
 
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David Suzuki

David Suzuki

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Aug 25, 2010
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He never will be inducted but I'd like to see it happen.

It's not the "hall of the greatest players of all time sorted by point total" It's the "hall of fame" and it's tough to tell the story of the NHL without him. I think if you have enough of an impact on the game as he had, you should be in. Besides, there are only really a handful of players who could fit this description who weren't also high end point producers so it's not a big issue.
 
Chili

Chili

What wind blew you hither?
Jun 10, 2004
8,585
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Interesting that the writers vote for many of the NHL awards but hockey has a special committee that elects HOF members. Don`t know who is on there but if there is Red Wings influence, those are votes Lemieux wouldn`t get. Whether it`s awards or the HOF, popularity goes into it. Tom Barrasso should be in there but he wasn`t well liked (to put it mildly). I wonder if Phil Kessell will get in for the same reason. Dick Duff, a playoff performer, got in after many years so there may be hope someday for Lemieux. For any border line case though, needs a strong voice or two on the committee to influence others.
 
Habs

Habs

We should have drafted Michkov
Feb 28, 2002
21,338
14,922
sampollock said:
no, he is not that special of a player.

Henderson is not in, how can this guy be
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Henderson shouldn't be, I don't think Claude should be or a ton of guys already in there including Lindros, and Paul Kariya lol
 

CTHabsfan

Registered User
Jul 28, 2007
1,238
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Estimated_Prophet said:
What are you talking about????? Neely was an absolute beast in the playoffs and was much better than Claude but had his playoff resume cut short due to injury's and not having Patrick Roy in net to provide deep runs.

Claude was a great playoff guy but did not produce anywhere Neely's playoff PPG. Then consider the fact that Neely was a an absolute rockstar who potted three 50 goal seasons and very likely would have done it seven times if not for the injuries. Neely had 50 goals in 49 games in 93/94 ffs and may very well have sored 80 goals that season. Lemieux broke 40 goals once in his career lol and had 4 more 30+ goal seasons where he barely broke 30 in three of them. If the Habs had Neely instead of Lemieux they would have won some of the games in regulation that Lemieux needed OT to score in.

Lemieux was never considered an elite player and the HOF should only have elite players. Neely on the other hand was one of the greatest power forwards ever to play the game and a bonafied superstar. Neely had 16 more goals than Claude in almost 500 fewer games and unlike Claude who turtled almost every fight, Neely beat the living **** out of his opponent in most of his fights. Neely was quite literally superior to Lemieux in every aspect of the game so to put so much emphasis on a statistical anomaly like OT goals is plain ridiculous.
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Imagine if Serge Savard hadn't turned down the deal to send Mike McPhee to the Canucks for Cam Neely.
 
Killer Orcas

Killer Orcas

Registered User
Jul 2, 2011
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Most definitely should be in and this coming from someone that despised him. This guy was unbelievable imagine Brad Marchand on steroids this guy was a machine when it mattered most the playoffs. He could play anywhere in the lineup and got under everyone's skin. He was a defensive monster and could score to as his 80 goals in playoffs prove. He was just hated and probably pissed off many over the years but he most definitely gets the HOF vote from me.
 
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