Hall of Famer

Does Herb Gardiner Belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

Herb Gardiner may have been one of the premier defencemen of his era, and was awarded the Hart Trophy as a result.

But how good was he really? Can we even know? How do we evaluate defencemen from the 1920s who didn’t score a lot? Can we trust Hart trophy wins from the past when we know they sometimes awarded them for controversial reasons?

Listen to us talk about Herb Gardiner here:

Does Rob Blake Belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

Rob Blake was one of the star offensive defencemen of his era.

But he likely didn’t deserve his Norris Trophy the year he won it.

Does he still belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

Listen to us talk about Rob Blake here:

Does Dick Irvin Sr. Belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame as a Player?

Dick Irvin Sr. is arguably not as famous as his son to anyone who isn’t a Habs fan or who isn’t a really old Leafs fan.

But before he was a great coach, he was a player. In this episode of The Back Check we try to decide whether he was a player who was good enough to be inducted just as a player, and not due to his coach record, because that’s a conversation we can have.

Listen here:

Does Mike Modano Belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

Mike Modano never scored more than 93 points in a single season and yet some people regard him as one of the greatest American-born hockey players ever, if not the absolute greatest.

Others look at his offensive output and think he’s horribly overrated.

Which is it? Does he belong or has he been horribly overrated?

Listen here:

Frank Nighbor, the First NHL MVP

Frank Nighbor was awarded the first ever Hart Trophy for the NHL’s Most Valuable Player. He must have been pretty good.

But did he deserve that trophy? How good was he really?

Listen to us discuss Frank Nighbor:

Does Peter Forsberg Belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

Peter Forsberg combined elite passing with elite defensive ability and elite effort. His offensive rate statistics put him among the very best centres in the history of the NHL. Add to that his defense, and it feels as though he has a case to be considered one of the best centres to ever play the game.

Listen to us discuss Peter Forsberg:

Does Frank Foyston Belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

Frank Foyston was a star in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) but never really reached the same level in the NHA, WCHL or NHL, all of which he played in for at least 39 games.

Do players like Foyston, who only excelled in one of the early pro leagues, truly belong in the Hall of Fame?

Listen to us talk about Frank Foyston here:

Is Nicklas Lidstrom the 2nd Best Defenseman of All Time?

If you judge strictly on the basis of Norris Trophy wins, Nicklas Lidstrom is the second best NHL defenseman of all time.

Obviously Norris wins are not the only criteria we should use when evaluating NHL D, so in this episode we look at his entire career and try to figure out where he ranks all time.

Listen to us talk about Nick Lidstrom here:

Does Jack Darragh Belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

As with all our old timers, the question for us is, “How good was Jack Darragh?” Was he really a great player or was he merely someone who the voters fondly remembered?

In this episode, we examine his case. Listen here:

Does Martin St Louis Belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

Martin St. Louis will be formally inducted into the Hall of Fame in October. Yet there are people who strongly believe he either doesn’t belong or that he should have “wait.” (Why someone should have to wait, we don’t know.)

In our latest episode, we talk about how open and shut St. Louis’ Hall of Fame inclusion case truly is even though one of us doesn’t personally like the guy for no particular reason.

Listen here: