Does Doug Gilmour Belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

A friend of ours used to claim that Doug Gilmour didn’t belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame because he had “one good year.” This friend used to compare Gilmour’s stats to Kirk Muller’s, apparently because he didn’t know he could look them up on the internet.

Gilmour was only rarely a star offensively but was one of the elite defensive forwards of his era, receiving numerous Selke nominations. In this episode, we discuss whether he should have been inducted and where he ranks among the great players of his era.

Listen here:

Doug Gilmour’s Career:

• NHL: 1983-2003; 20 seasons, 19 quality
• Totals:
  • 450G,
  • 964A (14th All Time, 11th at his retirement) for
  • 1414P (19th, 13th at his retirement),
  • +129 in
  • 1474 games (12th at his retirement)
• Draft: In his draft class (1982), Gilmour, drafted 134th overall, is
  • 4th in Goals and Point Shares
  • 1st in Assists and Points
  • 3rd in Plus/Minus
• Era: Of the 18 players to play in at least 1250 games between 1983 and 2003, Gilmour is
  • 7th in Goals, APG and PPG
  • 9th in GPG and Offensive Point Shares
  • 6th in Assists
  • 4th in Points
  • 11th in Point Shares
  • 8th in Plus/Minus
• 82-game average: 25G, 53A, 79P, +7
• 3-year peak (1991-94): 29G, 81A for 110P, +28
• Gilmour retired five seasons before possession stats were tracked
• Playoffs:
  • 60G (25th All Time at his retirement),
  • 128A (6th All Time, 5th at his retirement) for
  • 188P (8th All Time, 6th at his retirement),
  • +27 in
  • 182 games
• Adjusted:
  • Hockey-Reference:
    • Totals:
      • 414G,
      • 907A (18th All Time) for
      • 1321P
    • Adjusted 82-game average: 23G, 50A for 73P
    • Gilmour is obviously not on any adjusted PG leader-boards. However, if the qualifier is 1230 games played (15 seasons), Gilmour is
      • 20th All Time in Adjusted APG
  • VsX:
    • 422G
    • 969A (22nd All Time)
    • 1,227P
    • Per Game: Gilmour is not in the Top 25
• Trades:
  • Traded at 25 (due to off-ice issue we should not ignore) with Mark Hunter (25), Steve Bozek (28) and Michael Dark (about to turn 25) for Mike Bullard (27), Craig Coxe (24) and Tim Corkery (OOF)
  • Traded at 28 with Jamie Macoun (30), Ric Nattress (29), Kent Manderville (20) and Rick Wamsley (33) to the Maple Leafs for Gary Leeman (27), Alexander Godynyuk (about to turn 22), Jeff Reese (25), Michael Petit (27) and Craig Berube (26) – our 5th Best Trade in Maple Leafs History
  • Traded at 33 with Dave Ellett (about to turn 33) and a 3rd rounder (never played) for Jason Smith (23), Steve Sullivan (22) and Alyn McCauley (19)
  • Traded at 36 with JP Dumont (28) for Michal Grosek (24) (oof)
  • Traded at 39 for a 6th round pick (Mark Flood) and then boom.

Doug Gilmour’s Accomplishments:

• Top 5 in Hart voting three times
• Selke (‘93)
• Top 5 in Selke voting a further four times
• Top Player:
  • Top 10 Offensive Player once (‘87)
• Goals:
  • Leader-boards:
    • Top 10 in Goals once
  • Single-season totals:
    • 40 goals once,
    • 35 goals twice,
    • 30 goals four times,
    • 25 goals ten times,
    • 20 goals fourteen times (1 of only 17 players at his retirement)
• Assists:
  • Leader-boards:
    • Top 5 in Assists three times,
    • Top 10 five times
  • APG leader-boards:
    • Top 5 in APG twice,
    • Top 10 five times
  • Single-season totals:
    • 90 assists once (1 of only 11 players ever),
    • 80 assists twice (1 of only 12 players ever),
    • 60 assists seven times (1 of only 15 players ever, 12 players at his retirement),
    • 50 assists nine times (1 of only 23 players ever, 20 players at his retirement),
    • 40 assists thirteen times (1 of only 22 players ever, 17 at his retirement)
• Points:
  • Leader-boards:
    • Top 5 in Points twice,
    • Top 10 three times
  • PPG leader-boards:
    • Top 5 in PPG once,
    • Top 10 three times
  • Single-season totals:
    • 120 points once,
    • 110 points twice (1 of only 25 players ever at his retirement),
    • 100 points three times,
    • 90 points four times,
    • 80 points nine times (1 of only 25 players ever, 21 at his retirement),
    • 70 points eleven times,
    • 50 points sixteen times (1 of only 23 players ever, 16 at his retirement)
• Plus/Minus:
  • Top 5 in Plus/Minus once,
  • Top 10 twice
• All Star:
  • 2 All Star Game appearances
• VsX Peak:
  • Best 7 Seasons:
    • Goals: doesn’t qualify
    • Assists: 33rd All Time
    • Points: 90th All Time
  • Best 10 Seasons:
    • Goals: doesn’t qualify
    • Assists: 35th All Time
    • Points: 79th All Time
• Playoffs
  • Led 9 playoff series in Points (tied 4th most All Time – Gretzky, Kucherov, Sakic)
  • Top 3 in Points in 14 playoff series (t-15th most All Time)
  • Led 29% of all his playoff series in Points (t-17th All Time)
• Non-NHL:
  • Red Tilson (‘83) – OHL MVP
  • Eddie Powers (‘83) – OHL Art Ross

Doug Gilmour’s Great Teams:

• NHL:
  • Best Player (led the playoffs in assists and plus/minus, led his team in points by 15 over 21 games) on one Final Four (‘93 Leafs)
  • Best Player? (tied for the playoff lead in points with a teammate) on one Final Four (‘86 Blues)
  • Best Player or Skater (by points) on one Final Four (‘94 Leafs)
  • Top 3 Forward (by points) on one Champion (‘89 Flames)
• Canada Cup:
  • Role Player on one Canada Cup Champion (‘87 Canada)
• Junior:
  • Top 6? Forward (by points?) on one Memorial Cup Champion (‘81 Royals)