Mogilny's whole situation is basically a case study of the importance of context when it comes to Hall of Fame selection. Team accomplishments typically hold up, though, and Mogilny's got the international aspect of the Hall down with a Stanley Cup, Olympic gold medal, and a World Championship title. He would've won the Rocket Richard that year, but it didn't exist and situations like this are why I urge us all to steer away from individual hardware as an indication of Hall of Fame deservedness. His 76 goals in 77 games in 1992-93 is the fifth-best goal-scoring season in NHL history. When Mogilny was at the top of his game, he was one of the best goal-scorers in league history, period. Zetterberg's Triple Gold Status, 2008 Conn Smythe and overall contributions to the game should have him in eventually. Henrik Zetterberg: I am a sucker for the Zetterberg late-round pick story, but like Crawford, he's young in his eligibility. But I understand the case for others just as much as his when it comes to hockey as a whole.Ĭorey Crawford: He's still young in his eligibility and he'll get there, I'm not particularly sweating this one even though he deserves to get in. A goalie that has won three Cups, ranks 13th in wins, and ninth in playoff wins should be in the NHL Hall of Fame, even if he was playing behind one of the best teams assembled. Elias had a solid case to make it in a weaker pool this year, especially when you consider he had 1,026 points on a Devils team that prioritize defense first.Ĭhris Osgood: Here's where I think you differentiate between the Hockey Hall of Fame and a fictional NHL Hall of Fame. Patrik Eliáš: Two Stanley Cups, second in points by a Czech-born player, many appearances meddling on the Czech Olympic and International teams. Still, he ended up 17th all-time on the defenseman points list, and he boasts the most goals and points of any Russian-born defenseman in NHL history. It's not his fault the height of his career also happened to be the Dead Puck Era in the late 90s post-lockout. Sergei Gonchar: As I'll get into as it pertains to my top three, context is sorely missing when it comes to Gonchar's career. And remember, there could be 30 honorable mentions, so I'll just touch on a few. Let's take a quick look at some honorable mentions before we get into what I consider the three most egregious snubs of the year. In my mind, there are three huge misses this year in that regard. So here's my personal philosophy, the over-arching question I ask myself when I deciding if someone should really be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, is this: Can you tell the story of hockey without mentioning this person? If the answer is no, they should be in. There's also some fun in the debate of it all and the different arguments for each player's case. Look, I don't want this to become the "Hall of Very Good" (even though some might argue it already has), and I'm aware only four men, two women, and a combined two in the builders and on-ice officials categories can make it each year. With no disrespect intended to the rest of the class full of players who have cases of their own, there were some particularly egregious snubs this year if you ask me (and many of the lovely people on Twitter dot com) Canada's well-decorated Caroline Ouellette joins him in headlining the class. On one hand, Rangers legend Henrik Lundqvist, one of the most likable people on planet Earth, was a shoo-in in his first year of eligibility. The Hockey Hall of Fame announced its 2023 inductees Wednesday, and as always, people had opinions.
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