Steve Y - Hall of fame

[NGKEIB 32]

Belfour was a great goalie, but his reputation will be tarnished by his run-ins with the law in Florida. I think that everyone you named are deserving candidates (talking to Eva here), but I think that it will go to Leetch (deserving or not). Howe is certainly underrated, and he was a great defenceman. However, 2 SCF appearances and 2 runners-up for the Norris can't compare to Leetch's credits. I'll stand by my statement of Yzerman, Hull, Leetch and Robitaille.

[#19forPresident! 1]

Couldn't happen to a better guy

[MacK_Attack 108]

I would be shocked if it's not Pat Burns being inducted in the Builders category.

[HadThomasVokounOnFortSt 878]

I am happy for the guy.

[cusimano_brothers 1,655]

Mr. Yzerman is as close to a unanimous selection as you can find. During his career, one of every nine regular-season goals scored by the DRW were scored by "The Captain".

[SouthernWingsFan 854]

Shouldn't be much of a surprise.

[Hockeytown0001 7,652]

No brainer here. Greatest captain and leader in modern hockey.

[mjlegend 155]

Should this be the year they induct six players? It would be beyond dumb to exclude any of Yzerman (no explanation), Robitaille

(best LW ever), Hull (possibly best RW ever), Bure (most dynamic goal scorer for almost a decade), Leetch (his generation's Denis Potvin) and Belfour (numbers and a Cup) simply because they only traditionally do a max of four.

How about this: this year can make up for 2005 (Neely, Kharlamov). Deal?

[sether 5]

Stevie will be a well deserved HOF. A great honor for a great career.

[RusDRW 155]

that was only a matter of time.

[Nev 1,085]

Leetch vs. Belfour is no contest.

Its far from no-contest - they are both surefire Hall Of Famers. The only reason its a discussion is because of the other 3 guys and the 4 inductees rule. In another, weaker year they would both be straight in and we wouldn't even be having this discussion.

It does raise the question though - now that players from the post expansion, influx of Europeans era are starting to retire, does the limit of 4 need to raised?

But personally, from that crop of players I would go Leetch, Belfour, Bure. The last 2 will just have to wait a year, and the rest are not HOF worth IMO. Mark Howe makes me think of Sergei Zubov - good player on good teams, but not a dominant player.

[timothy1997 0]

if anyone doesnt get in this year, they have an excellent shot at getting in for the 2010 class. Here is a preview of the players and their last team they played for:

Matthew Barnaby, Dallas Stars

Peter Bondra, Chicago Blackhawks

Sean Burke, Los Angeles Kings

Eric Lindros, Dallas Stars

Scott Mellanby, Atlanta Thrashers

Joe Nieuwendyk, Florida Panthers

Mike Ricci, Phoenix Coyotes

Patrik Stefan, Dallas Stars

Pierre Turgeon, Colorado Avalanche

Maybe Nieuwendyk is the only one who approaches hall of fame material.

[hockeysattva 8]

Should this be the year they induct six players? It would be beyond dumb to exclude any of Yzerman (no explanation), Robitaille

(best LW ever), Hull (possibly best RW ever), Bure (most dynamic goal scorer for almost a decade), Leetch (his generation's Denis Potvin) and Belfour (numbers and a Cup) simply because they only traditionally do a max of four.

How about this: this year can make up for 2005 (Neely, Kharlamov). Deal?

"In any given year, there can be a maximum of four players, two builders, and one referee or linesman. "

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_membe...ey_Hall_of_Fame

[egroen 384]

Its far from no-contest - they are both surefire Hall Of Famers. The only reason its a discussion is because of the other 3 guys and the 4 inductees rule. In another, weaker year they would both be straight in and we wouldn't even be having this discussion.

It does raise the question though - now that players from the post expansion, influx of Europeans era are starting to retire, does the limit of 4 need to raised?

But personally, from that crop of players I would go Leetch, Belfour, Bure. The last 2 will just have to wait a year, and the rest are not HOF worth IMO. Mark Howe makes me think of Sergei Zubov - good player on good teams, but not a dominant player.

I have always liked Zubov and thought he was underrated, but I think Howe is a complete level above him.

Howe was the runner-up for the Norris three times and was 5th once.

In fact, his Hart voting is more impressive than Zubov's Norris voting: Howe was 5th and 3rd (behind Gretzky and Lemieux) in Hart voting -- while Zubov has a 3rd and 4th in Norris votes. Howe's Hart voting shows he could certainly "dominate the game" and be his team's best player.

Howe is also a 3 time 1st Team All Star, compared to Zubov with one 2nd All Star Team selection.

He finished the 1986 season with a +85, and finished his career with a +400 with 742 pts in 929 games (.80 pts/gm).

Excellent career and behind Park, perhaps the best defenseman to never win a Norris.

Edited June 22, 2009 by egroen

[Nev 1,085]

if anyone doesnt get in this year, they have an excellent shot at getting in for the 2010 class. Here is a preview of the players and their last team they played for:

Matthew Barnaby, Dallas Stars

Peter Bondra, Chicago Blackhawks

Sean Burke, Los Angeles Kings

Eric Lindros, Dallas Stars

Scott Mellanby, Atlanta Thrashers

Joe Nieuwendyk, Florida Panthers

Mike Ricci, Phoenix Coyotes

Patrik Stefan, Dallas Stars

Pierre Turgeon, Colorado Avalanche

Maybe Nieuwendyk is the only one who approaches hall of fame material.

Interesting - thats a pretty weak class. I think you can add Bondra & Lindros to the "genuine candidates" list, but its nothing like the candidates this year. At least two of Leetch/Belfour/Bure will obviously also be bumped into this class.

Bondra scored 500 goals, despite playing almost his entire career in the dead puck era, but never won any major awards, a cup, and had below average playoff numbers playing on some generally average Caps teams.

Nieuwendyk - just checked his numbers, I never realised they were so good. 564 goals, 1100 points. Add to that 3 cups, Calder, Conn Smythe and an Olympic gold. He always seemed clutch in the playoffs and was one of those guys that you wished was on your team. He deserves to be there.

Lindros - despite all the negatives (and I know a lot of people don't like him), the contract holdout, his father, etc it cannot be denied that during the 90s he was almost unstoppable. Even though his last 3 seasons he was a shell of a player he still put up 865 points in 760 games. Should the fact that injuries prevented him from padding his totals into his late 30s (a la say Nieuwendyk ) make him un-HOF worthy, when he was arguably the best player in the league in the mid-late 90s?

Turgeon - one of those players (a la Ciccarelli) who managed to put up big career numbers by playing his best years in the late 80s/early 90s when 100 point season were ten-a-penny and then having a loooong career after that. Without even trying I can think of 5 centers of his era who were far superior to him.

[MacK_Attack 108]

"In any given year, there can be a maximum of four players, two builders, and one referee or linesman. "

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_membe...ey_Hall_of_Fame

Plus up to two female players.

[Captain_Yzerman19 1]

Today, and November 9th will be glorious days for Red Wings fans everywhere. Steve Yzerman is a hero to all.

Detroit loves you, Stevie!

[thedisappearer 291]

Belfour: 2 Vezinas, 1 Calder, 1 Stanley Cup, 484 Wins (behind only Roy and Brodeur), 2 First All-Star team appearances, 6 All-Star Game appearances (including once injured)

Leetch vs. Belfour is no contest. Belfour wins. Comparable numbers when it's much harder to win awards (such as All-Star game appearances) as a goaltender than it is as a defenseman.

Leetch is one of the top defensemen of his era. Belfour is one of the greatest goaltenders of All-Time.

FAIL.