Hockey Hall of Fame

[hockeydad]

New inductees tonight- Messier, Francis, Stevens, and McInnis. The debate has already started up here now that Lindros has retired. Does he deserve the Hall in 3 years? He had good numbers. He is quite comparable to Cam Neely. Too bad Eric couldn't skate with his head up.

[SmokeyJoe]

A great class... Ron Francis is a real statesman, and Messier is an all-time great.

[GHC_Hambone]

Ron Francis is my all time favorite player. I feel he is vastly underrated and its great to see him going to the hall.

[icehog3]

Awesome class!

What can you say about Mess? The total package.

Always hated Stevens but came to respect him as the years went on.

Francis was a great player and a class act, and Mac had the scariest shot in the league for a decade.

Very few classes from the HHOF can compete. Two I think can:

1972: Jean Béliveau, Bernie Geoffrion, Gordie Howe

1983: Ken Dryden, Bobby Hull, Stan Mikita

[kdhoffma]

Igor Larionov should be in this class. 2 golds and 1 bronze in the olympics, 4 golds, 1 silver, 1 bronze in the world championships, a Canada Cup, and 3 Stanley Cups. Not to mention he was one of the most influential persons with regards to freeings Russian hockey and allowing players to come over to North America, quite possibly the biggest thing to happen to the NHL in the past 20 years. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to join the NHL until after his prime, but was still an incredible team player and one of the smartest players I've ever watched.

[kdhoffma]

Also, I know Dino Ciccarelli has had his problems off the ice since his retirement, but I always thought the main reason he is the only 600 goal scorer not in the hall was due to that Washington Capitals rape scandel of the early 90's. So then why is Stevens not being blackballed seeing as how he was also at the center of that incident.

[icehog3]

Originally Posted by kdhoffma

Igor Larionov should be in this class. 2 golds and 1 bronze in the olympics, 4 golds, 1 silver, 1 bronze in the world championships, a Canada Cup, and 3 Stanley Cups. Not to mention he was one of the most influential persons with regards to freeings Russian hockey and allowing players to come over to North America, quite possibly the biggest thing to happen to the NHL in the past 20 years. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to join the NHL until after his prime, but was still an incredible team player and one of the smartest players I've ever watched.

The Professor definitely belongs in the Hall.

Originally Posted by kdhoffma

Also, I know Dino Ciccarelli has had his problems off the ice since his retirement, but I always thought the main reason he is the only 600 goal scorer not in the hall was due to that Washington Capitals rape scandel of the early 90's. So then why is Stevens not being blackballed seeing as how he was also at the center of that incident.

I hated Dino when he was on the North Stars, but I know I would have loved him on the Hawks. 600 goals? Oughta be a no-brainer...he should be in.