Does Pat Verbeek Belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

The “Little Ball of Hate” scored 500 goals and racked up nearly 3,000 penalty minutes. But otherwise, he doesn’t have much of a case to join the Hall of Fame, it would seem. So why did we talk about him?

Well, find out by listening to this episode:

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Stats:

Career:

  • NHL: 1982-2002; 20 seasons, 15 quality
  • 522G, 540A for 1062P, -46 in 1424 games; 14:00 ATOI (since 1998-99); 94.7 PS
  • Among all players to play in at least 1250 games since 1967-68, Verbeek is 10th worst in Plus/Minus
  • Draft: In his draft year (1982), Verbeek, drafted 43rd overall, is
    • 2nd in Goals
    • 5th in Assists and Games
    • 4th in Points
  • Era: Of the 17 players to play in at least 1250 games between 1982 and 2002, Verbeek is
    • 4th in Goals and GPG
    • 14th in Assists and Plus/Minus
    • 15th in APG
    • 11th in Points and Offensive Point Shares
    • 10th in PPG
    • 13th in Point Shares
  • 82-game average: 30G, 31A for 62P, -3
  • 3-year peak (1989-92): 38G, 41A for 79P, -5
  • No possession stats available
  • Playoffs: 26G, 36A for 62P, -32 in 117 games
  • Adjusted: 487G, 506A for 993P
  • Adjusted 82-game average: 28G, 29A for 57P
  • Adjusted PPG: Verbeek is not even remotely in the Top 25
  • Traded twice in his prime:
    • For Sylvain Turgeon (slightly younger, comparable career PPG)
    • To a contender at the trade-deadline for picks and spare parts.

Accomplishments:

  • Scored 45 goals once, 40 goals four times, 35 goals seven times, 30 goals eight times, 25 goals ten times, 20 goals thirteen times
  • Tallied 40 assists three times
  • Scored 80 points four times, 70 points six times, 50 points eleven times
  • Top 10 in GPG once
  • 2 All Star Game appearances.

Great Teams:

  • NHL:
    • Top 6 Forward (by points) on two Final Fours (‘88 Devils, ‘98 Stars)
    • Top 9 Forward on one Champion (‘99 Stars)
  • World Cup:
    • Injured or a reserve (by games played) on one World Cup Runner Up (‘96 Canada)
  • World Championship:
    • Top 9? Forward or Role Player (by points) on one World Champion (‘94 Canada) and one World Champion Runner Up (‘89 Canada)
  • World Juniors:
    • Top 6??? Forward (by points) on one World Junior Bronze (‘83 Canada)

One thought on “Does Pat Verbeek Belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?”

  1. Pat belongs in hall of Fame, he gets the whole picture, from player to gm. Pat lost his thumb and after surgery has had a life long effect on many players, coaches, scouts, ….., He is really that good, and still is making the game better for everyone.

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