Ciccarelli deserves it before Lindros,as well as Oates.Lindros barely had a career after his hart season.doesn’t suprise me after the Ozzie bashing you did

Posted by Speedy Sammich from DTown on 06/24/09 at 06:30 AM ET

Lindros is definitely borderline Hall, not so sure he should make it….Also, don’t forget what a huge part of building up College Hockey Lamoriello has been. Oh, and you should probably have looked up how to spell his name before posting.

Posted by NHLJeff from Pens fan in Chicago, IL on 06/24/09 at 07:22 AM ET

No way on Lindros, at least not yet.  Bure should make it.  Both had similar careers but noone dominated the way Bure did when he was on.  One of the best pure goal scorers of all time.

And no shit they went the way “you predicted.”  They went the way everyone predicted, including Maggie the monkey.  So you are as smart as a monkey.  Congrats.

Posted by moore00 from Columbus, OH/Grand Rapids, MI on 06/24/09 at 08:01 AM ET

You come across as a mean-spirited *#$%@& when you must lie (maggie the monkey made no such prediction) in order to come up with your daily insult that makes no logical sense even if it wasn’t built around a lie.

I believe it is a sign of honesty to compare predictions you made with reality.

Posted by PuckStopsHere on 06/24/09 at 10:13 AM ET

Way to go Leetch!!! GO Rangers!! GO!!!!!

http://c-trainsentertainmentreviews.blogspot.com/

Posted by cj on 06/24/09 at 12:36 PM ET

TPSH,

You’ve just been appointed to the HHOF Selection Committee for 2010. (Congratulations!) The discussion is now going around the table, and the other committee members would like to know your top four candidates for selection and the reasons why they are your top four candidates.

In your post above you identified support for Doug Gilmour, Joe Nieuwendyk and Eric Lindros. Are they among your top four for 2010? In that order?

Posted by Matthew McCallum from Redding, California on 06/24/09 at 12:47 PM ET

If was on the Hall of Fame Committee here is my position.  I see no logic to making some distinction between first ballot hall of famers and nth ballot hall of famers.  I would induct all the first ballot guys available then look at previous years.

I would suggest Lindros and Nieuwendyk as the only qualified first balloters.  I would suggest Doug Gilmour and Adam Oates in that order to fill out the four positions.

I would be amenable to compromise on any number of other choices (i.e. Ciccarelli, Mark Howe, Sergei Makarov and a handful of others) if they seem like they can be inducted and my previous choices cannot.  Of course, there are countless players who might come up in discussion that I would oppose under all circumstances.

Posted by PuckStopsHere on 06/24/09 at 12:53 PM ET

TPSH,

I agree with your view on “first ballot versus nth ballot” HHOFers, although I would personally always try to select the best candidate(s) available regardless if they are new to the ballot or not as it’s possible the “leftover” players might be superior to the newly eligible.

With all four of your HHOF selections forwards, let’s look at the other positions: Who do you consider the top HHOF eligible defenseman (if any) who should be in the HHOF and why? Who do you consider the top HHOF eligible goaltender (if any) who should be in the HHOF and why?

Posted by Matthew McCallum from Redding, California on 06/24/09 at 01:54 PM ET

Mark Howe is a defenceman.  Phil Housley is another solid choice on defence.

I am not sure I see any goalies who are eligible that are deserving.  Roagie Vachon would be my first choice if I had to pick a goalie.

My logic with naming the first ballot guys first is that I presume the guys who have not been inducted on n go arounds already must have already had significant discussion in other years.  So let’s start with the new guys who have yet to be turned down.

Posted by PuckStopsHere on 06/24/09 at 01:58 PM ET

TPSH,

I’m aware Mark Howe is a defenseman. (He also played forward in the WHA days, but that’s another story.) Since he was among your compromise candidates I didn’t want to presume that he was your number-one-with-a-bullet blueliner who should be next in the HHOF.

I think Howe deserves to be in the HHOF, as well, although I have him ranked fourth on my depth list behind Kevin Lowe, Doug Wilson and Gary Suter. The HHOF is significantly under-represented at defense, and these four players as well as probable near-future inductees Nicklas Lidstrom, Chris Chelios, Scott Niedermayer, and Chris Pronger (and perhaps Sergei Zubov and Sergei Gonchar) would go a long way to correcting that inbalance.

Conversely, goaltending is arguably over-represented in the HHOF, and with probable near-future inductees Ed Belfour, Dominik Hasek and Martin Brodeur (and perhaps Chris Osgood, despite arguments to the contrary) likely adding to the over-representation, I’m equally hard-pressed to pick a goalie currently on the outside looking in who deserves a spot over those four players. Frankly, those four careers are in a class by themselves. If pressed to pick, I’ve previously expressed support for Mike Vernon and find him the best of the lot, although I have fond memories of Rogie Vachon.

Posted by Matthew McCallum from Redding, California on 06/24/09 at 02:29 PM ET

You come across as a mean-spirited *#$%@& when you must lie (maggie the monkey made no such prediction) in order to come up with your daily insult that makes no logical sense even if it wasn’t built around a lie.

Hahahaha.  I love it.

Posted by moore00 from Columbus, OH/Grand Rapids, MI on 06/25/09 at 08:54 AM ET