egroen

It's the domination though, Orr is off the charts at his peak - more than doubling the next closest scoring defenseman while still playing vey good defense. Lidstrom has an underrated peak, but it certainly was not "winning the Norris, Hart, Art Ross, Conn Smythe - all in the same season" good.

Illuminati? Though I am guessing 'defenesemen'.

You can get by on talent in your 20s but you pretty much have to be a fitness nut if you expect to still be competitive into your 30s.

I can see it - concussion concerns lead to the NHL employing remote-controlled robots. Davey "Zip" Roberts smashes Wayne Gretzky's records by the age of 13.

That's pretty awesome! Last I heard it was around $6k. He should pick one of those "a computer in every home" organizations as his charity

Everyone boo Commodore!!!!! Kidding, I think he should wear whatever number he wants to, and the whole #64 thing, while funny, was a bit overblown.

I voted no - as I would toss out at least 1/3 of the current Hall of Famers if I could. He probably will make it in eventually, though.

I'd vote other as well - not too stressed to lose either of them to waivers and hope there is a trade in the works. I put him on a similar level to Ritola - smaller, some skill with some good wheels and energy. Decent chance he gets claimed.

Sure makes Hudler's contract look nicer.

Told you he hated the Wings.

Feeling a little silly for getting all excited for free agency this year.

Jagr, lol. Wasn't it only a year ago he said he would play for league minimum to be with the Pens. Then this year it's not about the money it's about going to a contender. Watch him sign with Florida for $10 over two years

I am shocked these guys are just signing with the teams their rights were traded to. Strange when they are so close to free agency.

Trade Ericsson.

I've not been overjoyed at a few of Holland's moves, but this is the first time I actually am angry about one. I'm just hoping this is some sort of sign-and-trade, which I know Holland really doesn't do, but he also does not massively overpay like this either. What a terrible contract.

Wiz is soon to be a $7m dollar defenseman That is a ridiculous price for Ericsson if true.

Bucyk, like Francis, was definitely a compiler - but these guys at least had a prime where they were talked about as Top 20, even Top 10 forwards. Gartner clearly lacks that. Bucyk finished Top 10 in the league for points 6 times (as high as 3rd) while Gartner did once (10th). I don't really have a problem with Gartner being in, but I think it gave an excuse to get in a lot of unworthy candidates - most recently Nieuwendyk.

It's amazing how many of the deadpuck era forwards lost so much to injuries - Forsberg, Lindros, Bure, Kariya, etc... The following are the top scorers from 1995 - 2004 http://www.hockey-reference.com/play-index/psl_finder.cgi?request=1&match=combined&year_min=1995&year_max=2005&season_start=1&season_end=-1&age_min=0&age_max=99&birth_country=&franch_id=&is_active=&is_hof=&pos=S&handed=&c1stat=&c1comp=gt&c1val=&c2stat=&c2comp=gt&c2val=&c3stat=&c3comp=gt&c3val=&c4stat=&c4comp=gt&c4val=&order_by=points Kariya is 7th. It will be interesting to see how many of these guys make it - as so many have more than worthy primes, but never hit the magical 500 goals 1,000 points mark. Looking at a ten year span just prior: http://www.hockey-reference.com/play-index/psl_finder.cgi?request=1&match=combined&year_min=1984&year_max=1993&season_start=1&season_end=-1&age_min=0&age_max=99&birth_country=&franch_id=&is_active=&is_hof=&pos=S&handed=&c1stat=&c1comp=gt&c1val=&c2stat=&c2comp=gt&c2val=&c3stat=&c3comp=gt&c3val=&c4stat=&c4comp=gt&c4val=&order_by=points Pretty much the Top 25 forwards are already in, or soon to be. I don't think Kariya will look out of place in the HHoF, and unless the committee just decides to ignore his era, he's probably a lock.

Gartner is the king of compilers, and while his career numbers are high enough that I really so not have much of a problem seeing him in the HHoF, he was never a post-season all star, finished 10th in league scoring once at his best and never had a great playoff run. It lowered the bar simply because most of your other career scorers at least have a season or 2 where they were considered a Top 10 player, or at least forward, in the game - Gartner was more like a Top 30 forward, with little outside of speed and offense. His induction opened it up to the rest of the compilers who happened to play a long time in a high scoring era, without ever really having much of a peak to speak of. It's not Gartner I have a problem with, it's the ones who followed him, most recently Nieuwendyk. I'm not sure I would consider Nieuwendyk a Top 30 forward in his own era - it just seems for forwards at least, it is becoming the Hall of Very Good.

I'm really surprised so many teams are giving up draft picks for a few days negotiating rights when it so rarely works out. Quite a bit this year.

Joe N. never once finished in the Top 10 in points in his career. He played best as a 2nd line center and was never thought of as a Top 25 player in the game. Gilmour, for at least a two year stretch, was considered a top forward in the world. Joe had one good (not great) playoff run, but not that could compete with Gilmour. Joe was a decent all-around player but Gilmour was a Selke candidate. I fail to see any logical argument for Joe N. over Gilmour. Agree on Makarov and that Barrasso is long overdue. It's a shame when maybe the 30th best forward from an era is now getting in before a Top 5 goalie. The standards for defensemen and especially goalies are admirably stringent for the HHoF, but they just make some head-scratching inductions when it comes to forwards. I think Desjardins was a much better player than Joe N, for example, but most do not even consider Desjardins for the Hall, largely because you don't have "lowering of the bar" inductions like Neely, Gartner, Gilles, Ciccarreli, etc. at the defenseman position. Cheevers and Murphy are the weakest goalie and defenseman inductions in forever, and they are much better players than a lot of the forwards we see inducted.

Surprised he made it this year, he has been getting snubbed for so long. More than deserving!

With Dino and Joe in now I'd say Andreychuk is guaranteed to make it in, but I think there are still a lot of better prospects waiting - Makarov, Oates, Barrasso, Vachon, Brewer, Tremblay, Bure and Lindros Next year Sakic and Shanahan... Sundin.

3/4 ain't bad. Major UGH to Nieuwendyk, UGH!!!

It was less than a year ago Nucks fans were clamoring to trade Bieksa in a salary dump and lock down Erhoff for life. One of Erhoff or Wiz would make me happy.