It is not about hard to keep a player out of the HHOF it is about what makes a player deserved to be in the HHOF
Now of course there is still plenty of time for chara to do more no question about that.
As for the top 4 in his era Chara started playing in the NHL in 1997-98. You mean that he is ahead of Rob Blake and Sergei Gonchar. Now Gonchar is a purely offensive defenceman howeve he has been a number one defenceman in the NHL for quite a long time and was a key member of the Capitals getting to the Cup final and the Penguins as well. At one time he was considered the best defenceman in the league not name Lidstrom as far as offensive skill goes. Now of course he doesn't match up to Chara for defensive abilities but he is not that bad in his own end either
Rob Blake is another that was amazing and Chara and him are close as some posters have said. I give the edge to Blake though
I said like 5 times in this thread that I think Rob Blake is a slight step up from Chara. I also don't consider them the same generation really, as Chara was a clumsy oaf his first few years in the league and didn't really hit his stride until after Blake's prime was over.
And Chara is absolutely better than Gonchar. Gonchar was a sieve in his own zone for most of his career. Someone looked at the numbers and he was actually a #5 defenseman at even strength for the Capitals at some point! (while playing big minutes on the PP, of course). Even in Pittsburgh, he was no better than "pretty good" in his own zone, and that only lasted a couple of seasons.
Right now Chara is definately a top 5 defenceman in the league no question. Some could even argue he is the best defenceman in the league. The problem I have is that even when he won the Norris almost any GM would rather have Lidstrom on their team over Chara.
So the argument is that a GM wouldn't take him over Lidstrom so he should be kept out of the Hall? The standards aren't that strict. If they are, Ray Bourque would have been the only defenseman inducted into the Hall of Fame who played between the mid 80s and mid 90s, and that obviously isn't the case.
Don't get me wrong Chara is good but right now when you look at his career he is not great. He could be considered great after a few more years. Without doing a long list of every year. Chara has probably only been a top 5 defenceman the last 5 or 6 years.
I agree that he has only been on top for 5 or 6 years. That's also the same length of time that Scott Niedermayer and Rob Blake were top defensemen, and nobody seems to have a problem with them being inducted.
He has played 13 years in the NHL. Just like alot of defenceman it took him time to develope into the player that he was but often the best defencemen are able to play at a high level almost from the beginning. Look at Rob Blake. His first full year with the Kings and in the playoffs he was one of their best defenceman. It took Chara a while to be considered a teams best defenceman
Yeah, it took Chara awhile to round into form. So what? He spent just as long on top as either Blake or Niedermayer did. Blake just peaked early is his career, Niedermayer late, and Chara in the middle... so far.
As for awards and All Star Teams. Chris Pronger only has 1 Norris trophy. Only has 4 all star teams selections and 1 rookie team selection. Now both players have the same amount of hardware but that doesn't mean that Chara is even in the same breath as Pronger. Now of course he might be one day maybe but not right now
Obviously not. As I stated above in the very same post you quoted, Chara is the 4th best defenseman of his generation, behind Lidstrom, Niedermayer, and Pronger. Of course, there is more to a defenseman's resume than how many seasons he was voted as Top 4 in the World. But it's still a big part.
Chara is an imposing pressence on the ice and for a big guy actually skates very well. He does so much well although, I just don't feel that he is HHOF worthy yet
Like I said, he'd be just about the only defenseman with his resume to be kept out. I do agree, however, that a little playoff success would go a long way towards making him a lock.