Zigmund Pálffy for the HHOF?

[vadim sharifijanov]

If I was born this millennium, I would not have gotten a chance to watch Pálffy. Bad at math?

not to get into your and his little fight, but i think he's implying that that he does not believe you watched those players play.

 

[Theokritos]

Pálffy was a HOF calibre player without a HOF calibre career. He won't get in.

 

[MarkusNaslund19]

Palffy was my second favorite player for most of his career, and has been criminally underrated.

He had hall of fame talent, but the chips never fell right for him.

If he had been on Detroit, Colorado, Dallas, or New Jersey, then no question. He was probably a better player than Patrick Elias.
But there are many players with HOF talent. Even players who play to that quality, but the circumstances don't break their way.

I don't think he's even particularly close.

 

[Zegras Zebra]

HHOF talent, short career on bad teams with no team success whatsoever. Maybe he gets in like 30 years from now, but not anytime soon

 

[The Panther]

The way I look at these things is, if it takes a media narrative (Marleau; Andreychuk) to get people talking about someone's Hall of Fame potential, then the person shouldn't be in the Hall of Fame.

Another way of looking at it is: Did anyone foresee him as a Hall of Famer during his prime? If not, then NO.

 

[NewUser293223]

...wasn't exactly known for his enthusiasm for practising, mostly just rode purely on his natural gifts.

Oh my, where did you get this? Bure was in fact known as a huge workout freak.

Bure didn’t just inherit his explosiveness and head-spinning speed. He had a crazy training regimen, something that he developed with his father, Vladimir, who was an Olympic swimmer for the Soviet Union. Gino Odjick, Bure’s teammate in Vancouver, told ESPN.com that Bure would regularly begin his workouts at 4 a.m. with a five-kilometre run, followed by sprints. “It wasn’t something that happened by fluke,” Odjick told ESPN.com. “(Vlad) had a plan from the beginning to make them the best hockey players possible. Mission accomplished.

Well, maybe he wasn't 'enthusiastic' doing it, but it sure looks he was doing a lot of work besides giving nightmares to defenders and goalies.

Here is an old example of Bure's off-season routine he did six days a week:

Morning:

1 hour of running

1 hour of soccer or tennis

(Lunch/nap)

Afternoon:

1 hour weightlifting

1 hour basketball

30 min of swimming

He would frequently do 250 push-ups in a single session and run through a series of 100-meter dashes, 20 at a time with a 10-second break between each sprint

Surely not the summer you would imagine for a guy who supposedly mostly just rode purely on his natural gifts. He was much closer to overtraining than doing Heatley.

 

[sr edler]

It was papa Vladimir who overtrained both Pavel & Valeri. Most likely cut both their careers short. It’s crazy Pavel retired 15 years ago and Jagr’s still playing.

By the way, Pavel had a nasty physical edge to his game (most present in his earlier NHL years when he would throw hits and occasional cheapshots) I can’t ever remember seeing in Palffy. I didn’t follow Palffy closely though (I mean who did except Islander fans), but he always struck me as the archetypical non-physical Czechoslovak skill player. He even had a copycat Jagr haircut.

 

[tony d]

His early retirement hurts his changes. I think if he had played another 4 or 5 years and got 1000 points he'd probably make it in.

 

[NewUser293223]

It was papa Vladimir who overtrained both Pavel & Valeri. Most likely cut both their careers short. It’s crazy Pavel retired 15 years ago and Jagr’s still playing.

That's what I was thinking typing that post. Those morning runs sound like a murder on joints. And it's noteworthy Jagr has been a workout monster himself, but he repeatedly expressed his hate for running / jogging.

By the way, Pavel had a nasty physical edge to his game (most present in his earlier NHL years when he would throw hits and occasional cheapshots) I can’t ever remember seeing in Palffy. I didn’t follow Palffy closely though (I mean who did except Islander fans), but he always struck me as the archetypical non-physical Czechoslovak skill player. He even had a copycat Jagr haircut.

I remember reading an interview with Geoff Sanderson right after his brief tenure with the Canucks, and he literally said, "Bure skated faster and hit harder than anyone I have ever played with."
No Canadian would ever say that about Palffy, sure enough. But Palffy was really good at being a soft skill Central Euro. And yeah, the Jagr resemblance was there. For the first couple of seasons, Palffy wore 68 on his jersey.

As for the HoF, I don't care.

 

[sr edler]

For the first couple of seasons, Palffy wore 68 on his jersey.

Yeah, that would have been really weird if it wasn't for the obvious political background for that number.

 

[authentic]

He probably won't get in but he was better than quite a few players who have made it.

 

[Thenameless]

Bure 709 games - 779 points
Pálffy 684 games - 713 points

Same stats and longevity. If you let one in, you must let the other.

Both played same era. Pálffy palyed on terrible teams and bad markets, that’s all.

Enough said.

If I was born this millennium, I would not have gotten a chance to watch Pálffy. Bad at math?

Bure had a little more than just career numbers get him into the Hall of Fame.

 

[GordieHowsUrBreath]

he's a quitter, hell no

 

[Herby]

Ziggy was the unluckiest star player, and it's not even close.

Came up with the laughably bad Islanders, went to LA where the team was slightly above average for a couple of years and then was destroyed by injuries. Also didn't help that his prime years were smack in the middle of the dead puck era.

99-01 with Robitaille and 02 with Allison were the only seasons he had anyone even close to his level of skill to play with.

Los Angeles Kings 2002-03 roster and scoring statistics at hockeydb.com

That is one of the most impressive single season performances in recent memory. Double the points and double the goals of the next highest player. 90+ point pace with that roster in the dead puck era, amazing.

Had Palffy come up with Detroit or Philadelphia and been able to stay healthy longer perhaps, but circumstance did him in.

 

[brachyrynchos]

Ziggy was the unluckiest star player, and it's not even close.

Came up with the laughably bad Islanders, went to LA where the team was slightly above average for a couple of years and then was destroyed by injuries. Also didn't help that his prime years were smack in the middle of the dead puck era.

99-01 with Robitaille and 02 with Allison were the only seasons he had anyone even close to his level of skill to play with.

Los Angeles Kings 2002-03 roster and scoring statistics at hockeydb.com

That is one of the most impressive single season performances in recent memory. Double the points and double the goals of the next highest player. 90+ point pace with that roster in the dead puck era, amazing.

Had Palffy come up with Detroit or Philadelphia and been able to stay healthy longer perhaps, but circumstance did him in.

His '98-99 season was impressive, as well. "Zigo" played 50 games, 22 goals, 28 assists, he led the Islanders in goals that year, (beat Mariusz Czerkawski by 1,who played 78 games), finished 2nd in points to Robert Reichel (70 games, 56 Points), and 3rd in assists, (one less than Linden, 82 games). Palffy was the only guy scoring for the Isles. In '97-98, he led them in goals, and assists, he carried that franchise the best he could. Yeah, I have no problem with him being inducted.

 

[plusandminus]

Ziggy was the unluckiest star player, and it's not even close.

Came up with the laughably bad Islanders, went to LA where the team was slightly above average for a couple of years and then was destroyed by injuries. Also didn't help that his prime years were smack in the middle of the dead puck era.

99-01 with Robitaille and 02 with Allison were the only seasons he had anyone even close to his level of skill to play with.

Los Angeles Kings 2002-03 roster and scoring statistics at hockeydb.com

That is one of the most impressive single season performances in recent memory. Double the points and double the goals of the next highest player. 90+ point pace with that roster in the dead puck era, amazing.

Had Palffy come up with Detroit or Philadelphia and been able to stay healthy longer perhaps, but circumstance did him in.

Well written! Twice as many goals, twice as many points, and +22 (outstanding on a team that overall was minus).
I remember some journalists considered him as one of the very best players in the league, with one website even having him at number 1 (although I think his "cool" Americanized name Ziggy helped ).

Statistically, in 2002-03, I think he and Hejduk looked most impressive among right wingers.
However, Palffy only ended up 6th in the All Star Team voting.
Palffy was the only LA player to get All Star Team votes.
Hejduk had linemate Forsberg (Hart, 1st among c), Tanguay (4th among lw), Blake (6th among d), Foote (12th among d) and Roy (6th among g).
Bertuzzi had linemate Naslund (Pearson, 1st among lw) and Jovanovski (7th among d).
Murray had linemate Thornton (2nd among c).

To me, Palffy also was great internationally, putting up awesome numbers.

We also have his contributions on the gold medal winning Slovakian team at the 2002 World Championship.
7 pts in 3 knockout games.
These are the games:
QF: Slovakia-Canada 3-2, Palffy 1 goal and 2 assists.
SF: Slovakia-Sweden 2-2, Palffy 2 assists on 1-2 and 2-2. The one of two scorers when Slovakia won the shootout 2-0.
Final: Slovakia-Rusia 4-3, Palffy 2 assists, including on Bondra's game winner with 1:40 left.

He was +5 in these 3 games, on a team that was 9-7 overall.

In the 2003 World Championship, he had 7+8 = 15 pts in 9 gp and was +9. Slovakia won bronze medal.
Palffy led all players in scoring, although didn't make the tournament All Star Team, which consisted of 5 out of 6 players from the two final teams SWE and CAN. (The great Mats Sundin was selected as best forward and tournament MVP.)

Nice to see him get involved in the IIHF HOF. Well deserved.


(By the way, he retired from the NHL at age 33 or so, due to shoulder problems. But he continued to do some seasons in Slovakia.)

 

[Bluesguru]

Yes, used to read him in the comics everyday