Thomas absolutely gets in the HHOF if his play didn't sink after the whitehouse snub.
I think people forget he was the hands down favourite to win the Vezina again, then after the snub, his play cratered. Four major awards would probably get him in the HHOF (think Bernie Parent).
I am kind of suprised Luongo is in, I thought it would take him a while, but his resume is impressive even if he didn't win anything.
That situation had nothing to do with the White House. Tuukka struggled mid season and asked for time off or fewer starts to work with Essensa. Then him and Khudobin got hurt and Marty Turco came in and couldn't give him a break. His workload was ridiculous down the stretch, something like 5 back to backs in 35 days, and he was still probably their best player in that Caps series.
As for the short career arguments, MVP of the Finnish league during the lockout isn't the NHL but it isn't nothing. Best save percentage in AHL history the season before isn't nothing. Those are pretty strong indications that he had been an NHL goalie for some time before he caught a break, and the only thing missing from his HoF resume are the mediocre seasons that pad out most other careers. Two Vezina's/two 1st team all-star's is automatic. Conn Smythe on top of that.
Thomas deserves the whole nine, hall of fame, number retired, patronage job. As we've seen in the last 10 years, it's hard to win, and as we've seen recently, coming back from hip surgery is hard, and people can walk away for their family without being a weirdo. But too many people spent too much time making him out to be that while even now he's trying to recover from brain damage because some idiot on his team hit him with a slapshot in warmups. Nobody wants to own up to that, it's easier to be dismissive.
