Hall of Fame Worthy

[GMRwings1983 8,794]

Good question in terms of who would meet my criteria after having a quick look....not many. Maybe I've got too much bias with scoring from a slightly earlier era as it's really only Crosby, Ovechkin and maybe Malkin that stick out currently. Maybe Kane will get there if he keeps it up.

So, perhaps Datsyuk's offensive numbers are better than I originally thought....I think he's probably been more consistent than many perhaps, which is why he's accumulated better overall totals than some who have had better numbers for shorter periods of time.

So, I think there is a bit of an issue here because there are probably way too many that would fit in if I lowered my offsensive stat criteria too much, I think Datsyuk is probably within too large of a bucket there for everyone to get in.

I think I've convinced myself that Datsyuk should get in no problem once you consider Selkes, but let's see if the voters reach the same conclusions at some point in the next several years....he'll need to retire first.

That's kind of my point. If only five or six forwards from the last 15 years of hockey get into the HHOF, that doesn't seem right. No other era had so few Hall of Famers. The voters will have to change their stance eventually, especially after every 1,000 point player from the 80's is voted in.

Jerome Iginla, Marcus Nasland, Kovulchuk, Alfredsson, Thornton to name a few. They were all top 10 point scorers year in and year out and played in the post 2002 era as well. HoF isn't exclusive to what type of forward position. Centers and Wingers are all treated equally.

This is only looking at top 10 point totals a season and not looking at assists or goals individually of course. But if that's the category then Datsyuk only finished top 10 in total points 2 times in his 14 seasons. Whereas Iginla, Kovulchuk, Alfredsson and Thornton finished top 10 more often.

Savard, Hossa, St. Louis too.

There's probably about 10 or so players who finished top 10 more often than Datsyuk did. Datsyuk finished top 10 two times in his career and defensive players comparable who also finish top 10 two times would be Hossa and Zetterberg. So IMO, if Datsyuk gets into HoF then so should Hossa and Zetterberg. At this point you would be expanding the pool obviosuly because that brings in other players like Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin, Brad Richards etc.

Hossa and Zetterberg never won the Selke, though. Datsyuk won three. Outside of Fedorov, I don't remember any player finishing top 5 in scoring and also winning the Selke trophy. Hossa will likely get in because of the point totals and the three Cups. Zetterberg likely won't get in.

Edited July 25, 2016 by GMRwings1983

[kickazz 5,459]

Hossa and Zetterberg never won the Selke, though. Datsyuk won three. Outside of Fedorov, I don't remember any player finishing top 5 in scoring and also winning the Selke trophy. Hossa will likely get in because of the point totals and the three Cups. Zetterberg likely won't get in.

If Datsyuk gets in then Zetterberg should too. I can't think of a reason why people would think Zetterberg doesn't get in and Datsyuk does? Is it because Datsyuk was flashier? Had better hands? If you look at their production it's very similar even though Zetterberg had the inferior linemates. Zetterberg was also the better playoff performer and had better playoff and international feats (which are taken into consideration). They've both finished top in scoring 2 times in their career and both have finished top in goals or assists 6 times each in their career. Zetterberg also finished top 5 in goals in 2008. Conn Smythe, and international accomplishments will probably be enough and I wouldn't rule out him hitting 1000 points since he still has 5 years on his contract and played all 82 games last year even though his production has considerably dropped. But he would only need to average 32 points a year to hit 1000 points.

Zetterberg has been the best playoff performer in the NHL without considering the last few years. Nobody in the league has scored more goals than he has in playoffs since he entered the league. Take a look this is from 2003 to 2016.

As far as Hossa, I can't think of a reason why he wouldn't get in and Datsyuk does either. Hossa has consistently been a top defensive forward in the league, won 3 stanley cups and more than a thousand points and about 500 goals. If Datsyuk gets in, then Hossa definitely HAS to.

As far as Selke's are concerned, it isn't as easy for Wingers like Zetterberg or Hossa to win them. All of the recognized defensive forwards in the last decade have been centers. It's harder for a Winger to win a Selke in today's hockey, in fact no Winger has won it since like 2003. It's almost as though it's exclusive to centerman. Wingers are some of the most underrated defensive forwards in this league.

As Kipwinger eluded to it earlier, people confuse talent and flashyness with being the best. All three players are more or less equal when it comes to one ice contributions. Datsyuk has the edge on defense but Hossa and Zetterberg have the edge on goal scoring. And Zetterberg is better than both of them in accumulated playoff performance.

If Datsyuk were to get in and the other two don't, it would be due to sheer popularity and not because he deserved it more.

Edited July 26, 2016 by kickazz

[kickazz 5,459]

Btw just as a side note here are the top 10 scorers in the league since 2002. I think 9 of these players will get into the HoF as some point (eventually). I don't know if Marleau will, his scoring rate is the worst amongst everyone on the list (only 0.81 points per game). And he doesn't have the accomplishments that the other guys on this list do. As far as our two players are concerned, Datsyuk is the third best Center in terms of scoring points per game (behind Thornton and Crosby) and Zetterberg is the 2nd best left winger (behind Alexander Ovechkin). I'd say we have some impressive 6th and 7th round drafts picks here. If I had to summarize this in terms of production, I'd say Datsyuk has been the third best center in the league since 2002 and Zetterberg has been the 2nd best Left Winger in the league since 2002. Hence they should both get in.

Edited July 26, 2016 by kickazz

[GMRwings1983 8,794]

Is Zetterberg really a left winger? He's played center for what seems like more than half his career.

[kickazz 5,459]

Is Zetterberg really a left winger? He's played center for what seems like more than half his career.

On and off really. But he was drafted a Left Winger and converted to center once we lost Sergei Fedorov. He's listed as a LW by the NHL but sometimes they list him as a LW/C. Looking at his minutes he played as a Winger mostly with Datsyuk up until 2009 or so but during that time Babcock would often switch him to Center to play with other players during the away games. I'd say from 2009-2012 or so he was primarily center and then reverted to LW in the shortened season. And the last two years he's primarily played Center as the organization failed to get a legitimate 2nd line center. Of course we get Nielsen once Datsyuk left lol.

He definitely isn't a natural center though and you can tell by his style of play that he isn't. If you watch him closely he almost always reverts to his winger position on ice and his instinct is usually to play along the boards. Whereas when you watch Datsyuk you can see him drive the play through center ice.

Edited July 26, 2016 by kickazz