Does Sergei Zubov Belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

Sergei Zubov was one of the best defencemen in the NHL for nearly two decades yet, when he recorded this episode, he was not yet in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Why did it take so long? Was it because he’s Russian? Was it because he played most of his career in Dallas and wasn’t watched enough?

In this episode, we marveled at how Zubov was not in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Of course, since then the Hall of Fame corrected their mistake. Still, it’s a fun episode.

Listen here:

Sergei Zubov’s Career:

• NHL: 1992-2009; 16 seasons, 15 quality
• 95th in The Athletic‘s Top 100 Post-Expansion NHL Players
• Totals:
  • 152G,
  • 619A (16th D All Time, 2nd Russian skater) for
  • 771P (19th D),
  • +148 (4th Russian skater) in
  • 1068 games;
  • 26:14 ATOI (since 1998-99);
  • 136.8 PS (18th D, 3rd Russian skater)
  • Zubov is 20th All Time in Defensive Point Shares (1st Russian)
  • Zubov is 14th All Time in Offensive Point Shares among defencemen
• Per Game: among defencemen, Zubov is
  • 15th All Time in APG and
  • 18th in PPG
• Draft: In his draft class (1990), Zubov, drafted 85th overall is
  • 18th in Goals
  • 3rd in Assists
  • 7th in Points
  • 2nd in Plus/Minus
  • 12th in Games Played
• Era: Of the 53 players to play in at least 1,000 games between 1992 and 2009, Zubov is
  • 37th in Goals
  • 39th in GPG
  • 9th in Assists
  • 7th in APG
  • 20th in Points and Offensive Point Shares
  • 19th in PPG
  • 4th in Plus/Minus
  • 3rd in Defensive Point Shares
  • 5th in Point Shares
• 82-game average: 11G, 48A for 59P, +11
• 3-year peak (2002-06): 82-game average of 11G, 47A for 58P, +14; 26:02 ATOI; 11 PS
• Possession (since 2007-08, 56 games over 2 seasons):
  • 51.8% Corsi For
  • 0.7% Relative Corsi For
  • 49.4% Fenwick For
  • -1.1% Fenwick For
• Playoffs:
  • 24G,
  • 93A for
  • 117P,
  • +28 in
  • 164 games
  • Per Game: Among D, Zubov is
    • 21st All Time in playoff GPG
    • 14th All Time in playoff APG
    • 13th All time in playoff PPG
  • Era: Of the 39 D who played in at least 82 playoff games between 1992 and 2009, Zubov is
    • 3rd in playoff Goals
    • 7th in playoff GPG
    • 2nd in playoff Assists
    • 2nd in playoff APG
    • 2nd in playoff Points
    • 3rd in playoff PPG
    • 5th in Plus/Minus
• Adjusted:
  • Hockey-Reference:
    • 165G,
    • 657A for
    • 822P
    • Adjusted 82-game average: 13G, 50A for 63P
    • Per Game: Among D, Zubov is
      • 7th All Time in Adjusted APG
      • 9th All Time in Adjusted PPG
      • (Zubov doesn’t qualify for the GPG leader-board)
  • VsX:
    • Goals: doesn’t qualify
    • 687A
    • 750P
    • Per Game: obviously not in the Top 25
• Trades:
  • Traded at 25 with Petr Nedved (23) to Pittsburgh for Luc Robitaille (29) and Ulf Samuelsson (31)
  • Traded at 25 (nearly 26) to Dallas for Kevin Hatcher (29)

Sergei Zubov’s Accomplishments:

• Top 5 in Norris voting twice
• Top Player:
  • Best Defensive Player (by DPS) once (‘01),
  • Top 5 four times (‘99, ‘06, ‘07),
  • Top 10 seven times (‘98, ‘00, ‘03)
• Assists:
  • Leader-boards:
    • Top 5 in Assists once,
    • Top 10 three times
  • APG leader-boards:
    • Top 5 in APG once
  • Single-season totals:
    • 70 assists once (1 of only 9 D ever),
    • 50 assists three times (1 of only 21 D),
    • 40 assists eight times (1 of only 15 D)
• Points”
  • 80 points once (1 of only 18 D ever),
  • 70 points twice (1 of only 25 D),
  • 60 points three times,
  • 50 points eight times (1 of only 19 D)
• All Star:
  • 2nd Team All Star once
  • 3 All Star Game appearances
• VsX Peak:
  • Best 7 Seasons:
    • Goals: doesn’t qualify
    • Assists: 139th All Time
    • Points: doesn’t qualify
  • Best 10 Seasons:
    • Goals: doesn’t qualify
    • Assists: 108th All Time
    • Points: doesn’t qualify

Sergei Zubov’s Great Teams:

• NHL:
  • Best D on one Champion (‘99 Stars),
  • Best D (by points) on two Final Fours (‘96 Penguins, ‘98 Stars),
  • Best D (by ATOI, but missed 7 games) on one Final Four (‘08 Stars),
  • Top 2??? D (missed 5 games but led team D in scoring) on one Runner Up (‘00 Stars),
  • Top 2 D (by points) on one Champion (‘94 Rangers)
• Olympics:
  • Top 6? D (by points) on one Olympic Champion (‘92 Unified Team)
• World Juniors:
  • Best D? (by points) on one World Junior Champion (‘89 USSR),
  • Top 2? D (by points, and someone else on the team won an award) on one WJC Runner Up (‘90 USSR)
• European Juniors:
  • “Top Defenceman” (tournament award) on one European Junior Championship Bronze (‘88 USSR)
• Spengler Cup:
  • Unknown Role on one Spengler Cup Champion (‘91 HC CSKA Moscow)
• Super Series:
  • Unknown Role on one Super Series Champion (‘91 HC CSKA Moscow)
• European Cup:
  • Unknown Role on two European Cup Champions (‘89, ‘90 HC CSKA Moscow)
• Soviet League:
  • Unknown Role on one Soviet League Champion (‘89 HC CSKA Moscow)