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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?
Washington Capitals / NHL, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Mike Gartner retired with the 5th most Goals of All Time. Yet he was never a star player and is derided in some corners of the internet as a “compiler”, i.e. a guy who was just very good and very healthy.
Does Mike Gartner actually belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?
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?
Horge, CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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?