St. Louis

Is Bill Cowley one of the GOAT?

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It’s easy to look at Bill Cowley’s numbers and think he might be one of the greatest offensive NHL players ever, and certainly one of the league’s greatest passers.

But his best years came during World War II when a number of NHL players were in the military and so competition wasn’t as good. Also, Cowley sometimes wasn’t even the first line centre on his own team.

The question isn’t just, does Bill Cowley belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame? It’s how do we evaluate his gaudy numbers given when he played and his role when Milt Schmidt was on the team? And why did it take the Hall 20+ years to induct him?

Listen here:

Is Doug Harvey the Greatest Defenceman of All Time?

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Until Bobby Orr, nobody had more Norris trophies than Doug Harvey. And, arguably, only other NHL defenceman could claim similar acclaim, Eddie Shore.

But things have changed. There have been numerous D who have eclipsed Harvey’s offensive accomplishments and Lidstrom tied him for the second most Norris trophies ever.

So where does Harvey rank now? Is he Top 3? Top 5? Top 10?

Listen to us talk about his Hall of Fame case here:

Best and Worst Original Senators Trades of All Time

So far, in covering our Best and Worst Trades by Point Shares, we’ve focused on either the best or worst for each franchise. However, the Original Ottawa Senators are a special case. The most successful early hockey franchise, they existed for decades before the NHL existed, but then they only made it to the 1930s.

So, there are two issues with creating this list:

The first is that there aren’t that many NHL trades compared to the Original Six franchises.

The second is that, due to the length of the season at the time, the trades didn’t result in huge point share increases or decreases.

So we’ve combined the two into one post. See the methodology in how we rank trades here.

The Top 4 Original Ottawa Senators/St. Louis Eagles Trades of All Time

Is Dickie Moore one of the Greatest Left Wings of All Time?

Is Dickie Moore the least discussed Habs great of his era? He is famous in Montreal but not so much in the rest of North America.

He’s arguably one of the best Left Wings of all time. For one thing, he has the second most Art Ross trophies among Left Wings after Bobby Hull.

Listen to us discuss Dickie Moore’s Hall of Fame case here:

Is Guy Lapointe one of the Geastest Defencemen of All Time?

Is Guy Lapointe one of the greatest defencemen of all time?

He never won a Norris, but his career partially overlapped with Bobby Orr’s. And he won 6 Stanley Cups and a Canada Cup.

So where does he rank all time?

Listen to us discuss Guy Lapointe here:

Does Peter Stastny Belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

Peter Stastny is a legend; one of the NHL’s first European-trained stars and in the Top 10 All Time in both APG and PPG.

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But he was never close to the best player in league – he has one Top 5 Hart finish in his entire career – and he was never a star in best-on-best international competition.

So, does he deserve his reputation as one of the great players of the 1980s?

Listen here:

Is Wayne Gretzky the Greatest Hockey Play of All Time?

Gretzky is The Great One. But some of us think Bobby Orr was better.

So maybe he’s the greatest forward ever. But then there’s Gordie Howe.

So maybe he’s the greatest centre ever. But then some people think Lemieux is.

For this episode, we spend it talking entirely about how incredible Gretzky was.

Listen 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 Dale Hawerchuk Belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

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Dale Hawerchuk was an offensive star for a mediocre team. But, despite his Hart trophy nominations, he was never as dominant as some of his contemporaries.

Does Dale Hawerchuk belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

Listen to us discuss his case here:

Does Bernie Federko belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

Bernie Federko has extremely impressive assist and point totals and rate stats; he remains in the Top 15 in APG all time and Top 20 in PPG.

But he’s a controversial inducted – some see him just as a “compiler” or a “good stats bad team” guy. And it’s safe to say that, had he been born 20 years earlier or 20 years later, he wouldn’t have the numbers he does.

So does Bernie Federko belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

Listen to us discuss his case here: