What makes a Hockey Hall-of-Famer?
They were the best of the best. What does that mean?
Consistently achieving the highest level of success (team) and/or demonstrating the highest caliber of playing (individual)
Or, to put in a more elaborate way, there are three things they should judge a player on -
1. Did his play aid the team in winning a championship at least once, and more so?
2. Did his individual play stand out as better than the rest?
3. A combination of one and two?
If you achieve #3, you're in.
I would argue in the case that if you achieve item #1 on a somewhat consistent basis, #2 becomes irrelevant.
Yes I said that -why? Hockey is a team sport - you win the Stanley Cup as a team.
#2 only becomes important if #1 is never accomplished. However the standard should then be a lot higher. By this I mean, yeah he may not have won a Stanley Cup, but he scored x number of goals or points or shutouts or wins, and so forth, and won these individual awards and so on.
The inability of hockey pundits and fans to separate accomplishment and reputation from hype and personal behavior respectively is not better more illustrated when it comes to Eric Lindros.
'most dominant player of his time' is really a translation for 'tough guy', and only in the NHL (since - 1) fighting has been long since proven that's not how one wins Olympic Gold, then his time in the Olympics doesn't really count; and 2) it wouldn't anyways - professionals should not be competing in an amateur event). The Don Cherry morons and mediots want him to get in to the HOF as proof you can get in by being 'tough guy'. The thing is, they are completely wrong.
First off, he wasn't tough. The flaws in his playing style were the contributing factor in his receiving the many concussions he got. You think Gordie Howe could've played 26 years without learning early on to keep your head up, especially when carrying the puck?
Secondly there is no doubt there are players currently inducted into the HOF that are there largely because of their physical play; and there's no doubt being rough and fighting contributed to that.
However ...
... the missing piece from that is that style of play existed typically within the context of a dominant team who usually won the championship. In other words, it was just one piece of a larger puzzle. I've yet to find an example of a tough guy who by itself led a team to a championship based on just that.
And before you name-drop Gordie Howe and Bobby Clarke, remember that they were part of a very dominant teams. Their performance and style was a factor in those teams winning, but it certainly wasn't the only factor.
The other piece to being in the HOF is delivering when it really counts (i.e. clutch playing). When it really matters players who are the best of the best help their teams win really important games and eventually, win the Stanley Cup. This is what Clarke and Howe delivered, and on more than one occasion.
People seem to think stats, potential and injury exemptions should allow Lindros to get in.
But it's where those stats were, what one was a part of, and what one accomplished in their career that count. This is precisely why people like Clark Gillies and Dick Duff are in, and Eric Lindros should not. The formers' stats have meaningful context in that they were part of the overall contributions to many championships. It says a lot about the person,as well as their contribution to the game.
None of his accomplishments can be either quantified or qualified
against others to merit his induction into the HOF. He wasn't tough, and he wasn't successful.
And ... no one should ever forget that at no point in his career was he ever a team player. No one who turns their back on the team that drafted them should ever let that be forgotten. He always looked out for himself.
The bottom line is, Eric Lindros' contributions - however impressive individually to a small segment of the NHL viewers - didn't achieve any kind of measurable team success to earn him a place in the Hockey Hall Of Fame.
For him to get inducted, would be a betrayal of all that the Hockey Hall Of Fame stands for.
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