Does Tom Johnson Belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

Tom Johnson won 6 Stanley Cups and he was the only D to break up Dough Harvey’s Norris streak.

But he has few Norris nominations outside of his win and only two end-of-season All Star Team appearances in a sixteen season career. There’s a chicken-or-egg question here: Did Johnson win all these Cups because he played for one of the greatest teams of all time or did the Canadiens win all these Cups in part due to a player like Tom Johnson?

So, we wonder, does Tom Johnson belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

Listen here:

Tom Johnson’s Career:

• NHL: 1947-48, 1950-65; 16 seasons, 14 quality
• Totals:
  • 51G,
  • 213A (13th D All Time at his retirement) for
  • 264P (21st D All Time at his retirement),
  • +56* (24th All Time at his retirement, 11th D) in 
  • 978 Games (8th All Time at his retirement, 6th D)
  • 81.6 Point Shares (17th All Time at his retirement, 9th D);
  • At his retirement, Johnson was 2nd All Time in Defensive Point Shares (Harvey)
• Per Game: Johnson doesn’t qualify for the per game leaderboards but if we lowered the qualifiers so that he does (50G, 200A, 250P), among D at his retirement, Johnson was
  • T-13t/10th (last) All Time in APG
  • 21st/17th (last) All Time in PPG
• Era: Of the 10 D* to play in at least 820 games (10 modern seasons) between 1950 and 1965, Johnson is
  • 9th (2nd last) in Goals
  • 9th (2nd last) in GPG
  • 8th (3rd last) in Assists
  • T-7th (3rd last) in APG
  • 8th (3rd last) in Points
  • 8th (3rd last) in PPG
  • 8th (3rd last) in Offensive Point Shares
  • 2nd in Defensive Point Shares
  • 7th in Point Shares
  • 6th in Games
• 82-game average: 4G, 18A for 22P, +5*; 6.8 PS
• 3-year peak (1957-60): 70-game average of 6G, 25A for 31P, +26*; 7.4 PS
• Playoffs:
  • 8G (t-11th/6th D All Time at his retirement), 
  • 15A (t-17th/14th D All Time at his retirement) for
  • 23P (t-15th/9th D All Time at his retirement);
  • +4* (t-8th D All Time at his retirement) in
  • 111 Games (11th All Time, 5th/4th D – Kelly, Harvey, Pronovost, Bouchard – in his retirement)
  • Per Game: Johnson doesn’t qualify but if we lower the qualifier so he does (5G, 15A, 20P), among D, at his retirement, he was
    • 18th (last) in playoff APG
    • 18th (last) in playoff PPG
  • Era: Of the 25* D to play in at least 41 playoff games between 1950 and 1965, Johnson is
    • T-3rd in Goals
    • T-5th in GPG
    • T-10th in Assists
    • 17th in APG
    • T-9th in Points
    • 13th in PPG
    • 3rd in Games
• Adjusted:
  • Hockey-Reference:
    • 60G,
    • 255A for
    • 315P
    • 82-game average: 5G, 21A for 26P
    • Per Game: Johnson obviously doesn’t qualify
  • VsX: Johnson doesn’t qualify
• Trades:
  • Waived at 35

Tom Johnson’s Accomplishments:

• Norris (‘59)
• Top 5 in Norris voting a further two times
• All Star:
  • 1st Team All Star once
  • 2nd Team All Star
  • 8 All Star Game appearances
• Top Player:
  • Top 10 Player (by PS) once (‘59)
  • Best Defensive Player (by DPS) twice (‘57, ‘59)
  • Top 5 Defensive Player seven times (‘53, ‘54, ‘56, ‘58, ‘62) – t-6th most ever
  • Top 10 Defensive Player twelve times (‘51, ‘52, ‘55, ‘60, ‘61) – t-5th most ever (Lidstrom, Harvey, Horton, Bourque)
• Plus/Minus:
  • Top 10 in Plus/Minus once

Tom Johnson’s Great Teams:

• NHL:
  • Best D (by points) on one Champion (‘53 Canadiens)
  • Top 2 D (by points) on two Champions (‘57, ‘59 Canadiens), one Runner Up (‘54 Canadiens) and one Final Four (‘61 Canadiens)
  • Top 4 D (by points) on two Champions (‘56, ‘60 Canadiens), two Runners Up (‘52, ‘55 Canadiens) and one Final Four (‘62 Canadiens)
  • Unknown role (didn’t score) on one Runner Up (‘51 Canadiens)
  • Injured (missed 80% of the games) on one Champion (‘58 Canadiens)
  • Reserve (played 1 game) on one Final Four (‘50 Canadiens)