Or, rather, is Jari Kurri the Greatest Finnish Hockey Player of All Time?
Kurri was a huge offensive star in the ’80s but, of course, he was playing on the wing of the greatest offensive hockey player the world has ever seen.
Listen to us talk about Kurri’s place in history here:
Clark Gillies has four Stanley Cups and two 1st All Star Team selections.
But he has a career PPG of .73 despite playing in the ’80s and his best offensive season was exceeded by that of 3 teammates. He only led the Islanders in playoff scoring once.
Does he really have enough of a resume to be in the 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.)
Ray bourque is the career leader in goals, assists and points for a D, he has 5 Norris Trophies and he has more end-of-season All Star team appearances than anyone other than Gordie Howe.
So where does he rank all time among the greatest defencemen ever? Is he #2? Is he not even in the Top 5 as one of us used to believe?
Paul Coffey’s offensive stats are just staggering. He owns the single season goals record for a defender and almost topped Orr’s points record. He had both an extremely high offensive peak and also did things consistently through his career that few have ever done before. If he was healthier at the end, he probably would be the highest scoring D in NHL history.
But, especially in the ’80s, there were huge concerns about his defense. And some people still believe he should have played forward.
So where does he rank all time? Does such a player belong in the Hall of Fame?
Claude Provost won 9 Stanley Cups – in fact, he has the most Stanley Cups of anyone not already inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
He has better regular season numbers than at least one comparable player who has been inducted (Dick Duff), though his playoff numbers aren’t any good.
Never a top offensive player in the league, Dick Duff was inducted into the Hall of Fame 34 years after retired.
In the latest episode of our podcast, we ask why Dick Duff was inducted at all, why he was inducted when he was, and whether or not his induction sets a dangerous precedent for the Hall of Fame.