Hall of Famer

Is Glenn Hall one of the Greatest Goalies of All Time?

Though he only won one Stanley Cup, and the Vezinas he won were before it was a “Best Goalie” or “Most Valuable Goalie” award, Glenn Hall was one of the greatest goalies in NHL history. Just look at all the black ink on his Hockey Reference page. There’s one name on more goalie leader-boards than just about any other, and it’s Glenn Hall’s.

So the question isn’t, “Does Glenn Hall belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?” The question is, “where does Glenn Hall rank among the greatest goalies of all time?”

Listen to us talk about Glenn Hall:

Is Pierre Pilote one of the Greatest Defencmen of All Time?

Pierre Pilote is, by some metrics, one of the greatest NHL D of All Time. He has more Norris Trophies (3) than all but four other D. And only 6 D have appeared on more end-of-season All Star Teams.

So obviously Pierre Pilote belongs in the Hockey Hall of Fame. But where does he rank among the best D ever?

Listen to us talk about Pierre Pilote here:

Does Gordie Drillon Belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

Hockey publicity photo c 1940(Life time: pre-1949, copyright expired), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Did you know that Gordie Drillon was one of the greatest goal scorers in early NHL history?

He was indeed. And we think he has a pretty slam dunk Hall of Fame case. Listen to us talk about him here:

Does Irvine Ace Bailey Belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

Ace Bailey was briefly the best forward in the league. But he had only really great year and three good years. And he didn’t perform well in the playoffs

Listen to us talk about Ace Bailey’s Hall of Fame case:

Does George Armstrong Belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

George Armstrong was the Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs and won some Cups. (4, to be precise.) But he was never an offensive star.

Was he a good enough defensive forward that he belongs in the Hall of Fame? We don’t know, we weren’t there. But people say that about his teammates Dave Keon and Bob Pulford. Armstrong wasn’t the offensive player they were. And how many “All Time Great” defensive forwards are we willing to put on the 1960s Leafts?

Listen to us discuss George Armstrong’s Hall of Fame case here:

Does Bill Quackenbush Belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

Bill Quackenbush played D for the Red Wings and Bruins for 14 years. He never won a Cup and he was not much of a scorer. (D didn’t score much before Red Kelly and Doug Harvey.)

But his career mostly predates the Norris. And he made three 1st All Star Teams and five total. That puts him in elite company.

So, does Bill Quackenbush belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame? Listen here:

Is Johnny Bower one of the Greatest Goalies of All Time?

Johnny Bower had one of the weird careers of a star NHL goalie: he didn’t find a permanent job in the NHL until he was 33. And then, he won. A lot. He won four Cups, and arguably could have won the Conn Smythe at least twice had it existed.

He also has one of the best career regular season save percentages in history.

So the question is, where does he rank among the greatest goalies of all time?

Listen to us discuss Bower here:

Does Alex Delvecchio Belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

Alex Delvecchio was 2nd All time in Assists and Points at his retirement and won three Stanley Cups. But he never led the league in any category, nor did he ever lead his team in scoring.

Why? Because he played on the same line as Gordie Howe.

So the big question is, how much of Delvecchio’s incredible production comes from laying next to the greatest winger of all time?

Listen to us discuss Alex Delvecchio’s Hall of Fame case here:

Does Marcel Pronovost Belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

Marcel Pronovost played a long time, had some Norris nominations and won multiple Stanley Cups.

But was he ever the #1 D on his team? We don’t have ice time so we don’t know. On some of the Cup winners he was on, there are 8 Hall of Famers. Should we be inducting middle 6 and 2nd pair players of Cup winners?

In this episode, we discuss Marcel Provnost’s complicated case for the Hall of Fame:

Is Bobby Orr the Greatest Hockey Player of All Time?

Djcz, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

There is a never-ending debate among hockey fans as to which player of Gretzky, Lemieux and Orr was the greatest. There are certain areas where each stands supreme.

Our vote is for Orr because we think he played the more difficult and more important position and because he revolutionized the position as well. (Also, the skating.) But at least one of us thinks there’s room for debate.

Listen to us talk about Bobby Orr: