Future Hockey HOFers?

[Iwantmorecards77]

...this talk about 80's and 90's hockey had me thinking a bit more about where some of these players rank. Going back to the dominant centers of that era - everyone knows that the likes of Gretzky, Lemieux and Yzerman are in a separate class. However, looking at Turgeon's stats compared to another center of that era, Mats Sundin, who was a first ballot fall-of-famer - it seems that Turgeon is just as deserving, maybe even more.

Mats Sundin:

Games Played: 1,346
Goals: 564
Assists: 785
Points: 1,349
Points Per Game: 1.002
100+ Point Seasons: (1) 1992-93

Playoffs:

Games Played: 91
Goals: 38
Assists: 44
Points: 82
Points Per Game: .090

Awards: (1) Mark Messier Leadership Award (2007-08)
Stanley Cups: (0)


Pierre Turgeon:

Games Played: 1,294
Goals: 515
Assists: 812
Points: 1,327
Points Per Game: 1.025
100+ Point Seasons: (2) 1989-90 and 1992-93

Playoffs:

Games Played: 109
Goals: 35
Assists: 62
Points: 97
Points Per Game: 0.89

Awards: (1) Lady Byng Memorial Trophy (1992-93)
Stanley Cups: (0)

...can't get much closer than that. I know there's other things to look at besides the stats listed above - but how one is a first-ballot hall of famer, and the other may never be considered is quite perplexing. The knock on Turgeon was his refusal to participate in a major brawl while playing for Canada, before he even played in the NHL. With the way the NHL is trying to make fighting less of a factor - something like that may very well be looked at in a different light nowadays. The Positive Coaching Alliance would be all over that. Haha

...sorry for getting sidetracked. That lot of signatures is solid, now that I think about the skill of those players. Neat collection!

[earlywynnfan]

Is 500 goals pretty much a HOF lock, like 300 wins/3000 hits? So if a guy ends with 489 goals, he's stuck in Tommy John/Jim Kaat purgatory?

By the way, cool breakdown on Turgeon. Thanks to all for the discussions.

Ken

[earlywynnfan]

Also, for this particular group, it was 52 photos from just before 2000, and I'm really glad I bought them. It had a few minor HOFers, the handful of near-HOFers discussed here, and no real bums. It's been fun looking these guys up, which is the point for me.

On the flip side, 52 signatures, and not one is legible!! I had to go look at my Jacques Laperriere photo, where you can read every single letter, for some sanity!

[chaddurbin]

do you have a photo of the kariya? he was never media-friendly and didn't sign alot. i suspect alot of his stuff is forged as psa and jsa are pretty clueless about hockey sigs.

[earlywynnfan]

Here you go. They are from Grad, Ink, which sold to Mastro in 2000. I'm not sure if they are affiliated with Steve Grad.

[SikSyko]

Here is one of the Kariya's I got in person around 97.

[prewarsports]

Don't forget that Paul Kariya was the most dominant player on the greatest college Ice Hockey team of all time. His Maine Black Bears of 1992 (I think) went 42-1-2 for the year and won the National Championship!

I grew up in Orono, Maine and as a Hockey player, one of my greatest thrills in life was playing at this outdoor rink and at like 9:30 in the evening with some buddies when this pickup truck shows up and a bunch of college guys got out to shoot around for a minute. They looked like normal guys but they were all hockey players at U. Maine. Paul Kariya was in the group (as well as another Hobey Baker winner Chris Imes) and they shot around with the handful of guys that were there for about 30 minutes before leaving to head home. As a teenage hockey fan in Maine, that was about as good as it got!

Love me some Paul Kariya!