Hockey Hall of Fame Class of 2009 to be unveiled today

[Bmwolf21]

Is this Larionov's year?

 

LINK

 

Other players eligible for induction include: Pavel Bure, Glenn Anderson; Dino Ciccarelli; Vincent Damphousse; Doug Gilmour; Phil Housley; Steve Larmer; Rick Middleton; Adam Oates; and Pat Verbeek.

 

Goalies eligible include: Tom Barrasso; Ron Hextall; Mike Liut; Andy Moog; Mike Richter; Rogie Vachon; John Vanbiesbrouck; and Mike Vernon.

[shrader]

I'd have to imagine that Oates will get in this time. He's 6th all time in assists. The only other player among the top 10 not in the HoF yet is Yzerman and he'll be a first ballot electee. I guess his goals figure hurts him a bit, but that's way too many assists to overlook.

 

I don't have a good feel for the rest of the list though.

[Bmwolf21]

The goalie list seems more muddle than the skaters, or at least to me. A decent case could be made for Richter, Barrasso, Moog and Vernon; Vabiesbrouck and Liut seem to be in that next level of "very good, not legendary"; Vachon was well before my time; and I don't see Hextall as a HoFamer.

 

From the skaters I think Oates, Housley and Gilmour stand the best chance of getting in (aside from Larionov) this year. I'm not sold on some of those guys - Verbeek, Damphousse and Bure especially - and some of the others I don't know enough about to make any sort of objective assessment.

[shrader]

It's definitely a major step down from last year's class.

[Bmwolf21]

It's definitely a major step down from last year's class.

And that was reflected in this year's HoF Class:

 

(LINK)

 

Igor Larionov and Glenn Anderson are the two players to be inducted at this year's Hockey Hall of Fame Induction Celebration. They will be joined by the late Ed Chynoweth, former WHL president in the Builder Category and Ray Scapinello in the Referee/Linesman Category.

[shrader]

And that was reflected in this year's HoF Class:

 

(LINK)

 

Igor Larionov and Glenn Anderson are the two players to be inducted at this year's Hockey Hall of Fame Induction Celebration. They will be joined by the late Ed Chynoweth, former WHL president in the Builder Category and Ray Scapinello in the Referee/Linesman Category.

 

Really though, I doubt there have been many classes that come close to last year's group:

Messier

MacInnis

Francis

Stevens

Jim Gregory (ok, I don't know a thing about him)

[Bmwolf21]

True. I just thought there would be at least one more player getting in this year, unless the overwhelming "mediocrity" (for lack of a better word) of the nominees made it hard for another player to get enough votes for enshrinement.

[shrader]

True. I just thought there would be at least one more player getting in this year, unless the overwhelming "mediocrity" (for lack of a better word) of the nominees made it hard for another player to get enough votes for enshrinement.

 

I know his goal totals might be considered a little low and he was overshadowed by other players in the league at the same time, but I still have no idea how they passed on Oates and all those assists. Coffey, Bourque, Messier, Francis, Gretzky. That's some elite company right there... and then there's the 4 guys behind him in the top 10: Yzerman, Howe, Dionne, Lemieux.

 

Maybe it's because he moved around the league quite a bit and isn't readily identified as a member of a specific team. Who knows. 15th all time in scoring, but I guess that is weighted down a bit because he played so long, but at the end of the day, only 3 players with more career points than him aren't in the Hof yet but will be soon enough (Yzerman, Sakic, Jagr).

[Bmwolf21]

I think the problem is, at least for this year, that the case for Oates wasn't that much stronger than for the other guys eligible for induction. If you let Oates in you have to give strong consideration to Gilmour, who finished with 6 fewer career points and 120 fewer assists and 109 more goals; Housley is 4th in defenseman scoring all-time, right behind Borque, Coffey and MacInnis...

 

I just think that no one set themselves apart from the rest of the pack enough and they all hurt each other's chances this year.

[apuszczalowski]

I think the problem is, at least for this year, that the case for Oates wasn't that much stronger than for the other guys eligible for induction. If you let Oates in you have to give strong consideration to Gilmour, who finished with 6 fewer career points and 120 fewer assists and 109 more goals; Housley is 4th in defenseman scoring all-time, right behind Borque, Coffey and MacInnis...

 

I just think that no one set themselves apart from the rest of the pack enough and they all hurt each other's chances this year.

I would rather not see Gilmour get in, i just don't like him, probably for being a Leaf, and he is the one guy I absolutly hated on the Sabres.

[shrader]

I think the problem is, at least for this year, that the case for Oates wasn't that much stronger than for the other guys eligible for induction. If you let Oates in you have to give strong consideration to Gilmour, who finished with 6 fewer career points and 120 fewer assists and 109 more goals; Housley is 4th in defenseman scoring all-time, right behind Borque, Coffey and MacInnis...

 

I just think that no one set themselves apart from the rest of the pack enough and they all hurt each other's chances this year.

 

Looking at it again, how much of a difference is there between Francis (a slam dunk last year) and Oates? Oates put up more points and assists per game, so Francis' games played is all that has him up where he is in the points and assists rankings. The one difference though is that he's got the two Stanley Cups (and look who was on that team), compared to nothing for Oates. Since most of us here are Bills fans, I think most will agree that championships shouldn't have that much weight in the HoF voting.