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Does Craig Janney Belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

Craig Janney is 14th All Time in Assists Per Game, one of only two players in the Top 15 who are not in the Hall of Fame or still active.

The big knocks against Janney are his minus, the length of his career and his lack of a truly dominant season.

We talk about Janney’s Hockey Hall of Fame case here:

Does Bernie Nicholls Belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

Bernie Nicholls had one of the greatest individual seasons in the NHL by someone not named Gretzky. But looking at his career playing without Gretzky (or Dionne), his career is a lot less impressive. Does this point per game player belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

Listen to us talk about Bernie Nicholls 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:

Does Vincent Damphousse Belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

By offensive numbers alone, it sure looks like there’s no much of a case for Vincent Damphousse to be included in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

However, some of us remember him as being particularly reliable defensively.

Was he? Did he do enough on that end? Have we forgotten how good he was because he never won the Selke, or are we mis-remembering?

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 Rod Brind’Amour Belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

Rod Brind’Amour was a borderline offensive star in his early years and a consensus star defensive forward in the latter half of his career, winning the Selke twice. He is -39 for his career.

Was Brind’Amour that elite defensively? Was he a good enough all around player to be inducted?

Listen to us discuss Brind’Amour’s Hall of Fame case:

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:

Does Pavel Datsyuk Belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

Pavel Datsyuk was arguably the best two-way forward of his era, able to dominate other teams defensively without taking many penalties, while scoring enough to sometimes rank in the Top 10 in league scoring. He was the NHL’s first “Corsi God,” a player who drove possession so well that, once the NHL started tracking possession numbers, Datsyuk was simply the best player in the league by those metrics.

However, Datsyuk does not have the gaudy offensive numbers of other NHL Hall of Famers, and he was often played as the second best forward on his own team.

So where does Datsyuk rank all time? Listen to us talk about Pavel Datsyuk here: