The Hockey News: Brian Costello's blog: THN.com Blog: Many Hall of Fame candidates makes for tough choice

THN.com Blog: Many Hall of Fame candidates makes for tough choice

Luc Robitaille is the all-time highest scoring left winger with 668 goals and 1,394 points. (Photo by Noah Graham/Getty Images)

Brian Costello
2009-06-20 11:00:00

When the Hall of Fame’s selection committee gets together Tuesday to select its 2009 inductees, it will have three easy decisions and at least one difficult one.

The easy decisions are for three of the four openings in the players category. Steve Yzerman, Brett Hull and Brian Leetch are clearly shoo-ins and make this year’s class one of the most memorable in decades. All three are first-time eligible this year and the debate among the 18 selection committee members won’t be long or spirited.

The fourth opening is the one that will spark plenty of dialogue. The other first-time candidates (retired three years from hockey) are Luc Robitaille, Alexander Mogilny and Dave Andreychuk.

At first glance, Robitaille is considered an automatic as well – and by all rights he should be the fourth inductee this year. He’s the highest-scoring left winger in NHL history, 10th on the all-time list in goals (668) and 20th in points (1,394). He won a Stanley Cup, a Calder Trophy and was a first- or second-team all-star eight times.

The only thing that might hold Robitaille back is the fact both Mogilny and Andreychuk are excellent candidates as well. It all depends on the opinions of the 18 committee members, 14 of which must grant approval.

Mogilny scored 473 goals, 1,032 points, won a Cup and was a second-team all-star twice. He was one of the game’s most creative minds and a brilliant skater and he was a pioneer in his defection from the Soviet Union in 1989.

Andreychuk also won a Stanley Cup, is 13th all-time in goals (640), 26th in points (1,338) and is the game’s all-time leader in power play goals (274).

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Tough decision on that fourth opening for the selection committee, but the edge has to go to Robitaille.

For the first-timers who don’t get inducted this year, they go into a pool of players who have been turned down before. That list includes the likes of Pavel Bure, Doug Gilmour, Adam Oates, Dino Ciccarelli, Phil Housley, Tom Barrasso, Mike Richter, Guy Carbonneau, Esa Tikkanen, Sergei Makarov, Mike Vernon, Claude Lemieux and Dale Hunter, to name several.

All will be eligible for a future year and it looks as though 2010 might be a lucky year for a couple of them. The 2010 induction class isn’t strong. Joe Nieuwendyk is probable and Eric Lindros and John LeClair are borderline candidates. So there might be two openings for the leftovers, maybe even three.

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Brian Costello is The Hockey News’s senior special editions editor and a regular contributor to THN.com. You can find his blog each weekend.

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COMMENTS (35)

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brian_kemp Posted
(2009-06-23 08:14:03)

Yzerman, Hull and Leetch are all locks, as the article says, but for the life of me, I can't figure out why there is even any debate about Robitaille. Top 10 in goals, a Cup, a Calder, top 20 in points, all-time leader at his poisition and 8 post season all star nods. What is there to debate? I like Andreychuck, he was really good for a long time. I think Mogilny should get in eventually, because the guy was one of the most dynamic players in the game and because he had more balls than most, as evidenced by his leaving behind everything he ever knew to be free. Still, neither one of those guys were what Luc was, one of the best at his position for an extended period of time. To me, this is a no-brainer. Next year, the debate will be more interesting, because there are actual debatable points.

robr_ducky Posted
(2009-06-22 18:51:05)

Seems like Luc is an easy and automatic choice to me. By the way, he's also done a lot of hockey PR and charity stuff in the Southern California area as well. Great guy!

regdunlop Posted
(2009-06-22 18:24:32)

I WAS A YOUNG REPORTER WORKING FOR AN L.A. RADIO STATION WHEN I ATTENDED A KINGS INTRODUCTORY EVENT AT THE FORUM FOR THEIR RECENT DRAT CLASS...I REMEMBER BRUCE MCNALL PRESENTING "LUCKY," JIMMY CARSON AND STEVE DUCHESNE...THEY ALL LOOKED SO YOUNG AND GREEN, LUC MOST OF ALL...BUT THE YEARS HAVE BEEN KIND TO HIM AND HE NOT ONLY BECAME AN EXCEPTIONAL TALENT BUT A GOOD MAN AS WELL...IT MAY BE PREMATURE BUT CONGRATULATION, "LUCKY"...YOU EARNED IT...

knuckledragger Posted
(2009-06-22 17:37:06)

Mike Vernon should be in the Hall.

jeltz42 Posted
(2009-06-22 11:23:37)

Nothing against Luc, Esa, or any of these guys, but it is questionable that any of them deserve to be in the Hall of Fame. Even Doug Gilmore - Mr Leaf is a question mark in my book. And I enjoyed watching all of these guys play and was sad to see each of them retire. We might be at a turning point where we must decide if the Hall is going to be for only the very best of the best or if it will showcase anyone who laced up skates and donned a pro sweater. Stevie Y and Brian Leetch should be the only ones in this year. I don't think we should be inducting people just because there is a slot open.

singollo Posted
(2009-06-22 10:46:07)

Moose...sorry to misinterpret. If you were comparing Tikkanen to Claude Lemieux, then I'll grant you have a better case. If the Hall eventually inducts Claude, then it becomes harder to ignore Tikkanen's career. But that is indicative of the problem with the Hockey Hall of Fame in general: they've let in so many "marginally great" players over the years, that its almost impossible to avoid the "well, so-and-so is in" arguments. The Hall should be reserved for the best of the best, in my opinion, but it's far too late for that.

tfd_88 Posted
(2009-06-22 09:56:13)

As a long-time Sabres fan, my choice would be...... Robitaille. He was a consistent top goal scorer, has both longevity and numbers, and has several league All-Star nominations to his credit. Mogilny had a couple of huge years, but was wildly inconsistent the rest of the time (and a bit of a head case). Andreychuk was good for a long time, but never great; he also was a bit one-dimensional.

moose11 Posted
(2009-06-22 09:50:20)

I'm not saying Luc shouldn't get in (although first ballot would be a question), and my original remark was that is Claud gets consideration then why not Esa? I bet if the Kings had him in 93 they would have won. Moose had him in 90,94 and they did Esa was a playoff shut down machine who could add a clutch goal when needed.

singollo Posted
(2009-06-22 09:35:27)

Moose11: Your arguments are absurd. First off, if you have to resort to plus-minus as a factor to build a story for Hall enshrinement, that should be Sign No. 1 that the candidate is long shot. Next, I don't see how you describe Tik as a "player who excelled in the playoffs". His regular season career points-per-game is 0.72; his playoff average is 0.71: virtually identical. Tik is what he is: a valuable role player for a dynasty team who made modest offensive contributions in both the regular season and the playoffs. Luc was one of the best players at his position for a 5-10 year span, and is the highest-scoring player at his position in league history. You claim Luc "dried up in the playoffs". Not true. Luc's points-per-game in the post-season is 0.80; not as high as his regular season percentage, but he was not a ghost in the playoffs. The bottom line is Luc scored nearly 1400 points in his career and had 8 straight seasons of 40 or more goals. Honestly, short of being a complete homer for a favorite player, I don't see how any rational person could compare his career to Tikkanen's.

the_hockey_buddha Posted
(2009-06-22 02:54:23)

Oates? They'd vote him in but he'd hold out because he wanted a bigger limo ride to the ceremony or something..

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