American

Does Frank Brimsek Belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

Nicknamed “Mr. Zero,” was the first great American goaltender and the first American NHLer inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. He won three awards and made the end-of-season All Star Team in 80% of his (very few) seasons in the NHL.

But he was rarely the best goaltender in a small NHL and a lot of his reputation seems to rest on his rookie season, in which he won the Calder and the Vezina (when it was the Jennings) and led the Bruins to the Stanley Cup.

So, does Frank Brimsek actually belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame for his NHL accomplishments?

Listen here:

Does Billy Burch Belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

The Winnipeg Tribune, Dec. 24, 1923 (pg. 13), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Billy Burch won the Hart in a year when he was the 3rd best offensive player on his own team and the 6th best overall. That’s basically his only case for Hall of Fame inclusion.

But what if he did something else?

Listen to us talk about Billy Burch’s Hall of Fame case here:

Does Bryan Trottier Belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

Bryan Trottier won six Cups, a Hart, an Art Ross, a Conn Smythe (and should have won a second) and was among the all time leading scorers in NHL history when he retired.

Really the only blemish on his career is that adjustments for era hurt him a little bit.

So it’s obvious he belongs in the Hall of Fame and the question really is, where does he rank all time among NHL centres?

Listen to us talk about Trottier here:

Does Joe Mullen Belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

Joe Mullen was among the first American NHL stars and the first American player to reach 500 goals. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in his fist year of eligibility.

But his regular season stats aren’t actually that great and are substantially helped by the era he played in.

So, does Joe Mullen belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame? Listen here:

Does Rod Langway Belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

Rod Langway won two Norris trophies and finished 2nd in Hart trophy voting to Wayne Gretzk once. He totally belongs, right?

However, Langway is the basically only purely defensive defenseman to win the Norris trophy in the trophy’s history. (Or, if you prefer, he’s the only purely defensive defenseman to win it since Bobby Orr transformed the position.)

Listen to us discuss whether or not he belongs:

Is Pat LaFontaine the Greatest American Hockey Player of All Time?

Håkan Dahlström, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Some people believe Pat LaFontaine is the Greatest American Hockey Player of All Time. (The A-GOAT? The GAOAT?) This is despite an injury-shortened career and no Stanley Cups.

Does this claim hold up to scrutiny?

Listen to us talk about LaFontaine here:

Does Matt Cullen Belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

Why are we even writing about Matt Cullen? Obviously he doesn’t belong in the Hall of Fame, right?

Well, he’s 20th All Time in NHL Games Played. And he has 3 Stanley Cups at a time when that’s pretty rare.

So, the question is, are the standards so low now that he might make it in?

Listen to us talk about Matt Cullen’s (lack of a) Hall of Fame case here:

Does Brian Leetch Belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

Brian Leetch was one of the greatest offensive defensemen of his era, perhaps even of all time.

That’s what we discuss on his episode of our podcast – where Leetch ranks all time, with multiple long discussions of his role in the 1994 Rangers’ Cup run.

Listen here:

Does Mathieu Schneider Belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

In journeyman career that saw him play for way too many teams, Mathieu Schneider amassed enough points to make him one of the top 25 offensive defensmen in NHL history (if you go by totals, not per game). That surprised us.

by James Teterenko / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0

But Schneider has few individual accolades and not a lot of team success.

So does he belong in the Hall of Fame?

We discuss it on our latest episode. Listen here:

Does Brett Hull Belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

by Johnmaxmena2 [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)]

Brett Hull is one of the greatest goal scorers in NHL history but he is often accused of being so one-dimensional that he shouldn’t be considered a great player.

In this episode, we discuss his case and whether or not he’s as one-dimensional as many often claim.

Listen here:

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