Hockey Hall of Fame selections announced

[yave1964]

Just announced, the Class of 2017 Hockey Hall of Fame:

 

DAVE ANDREYCHUK Finally! 640 goals, the all team leader in power play goals of anyone ever, yeah he was so slow that you could time him with a sundial but he made a living parked in front of the net and finally gets the enshrinement so long deserved.

 

PAUL KARIYA: A lot of the argument made for Lindros and Neely applies in equal measure for Kariya, a brilliant career cut short because of concussions, was a joy to watch. 989 points in 989 games.

 

TEEMU SELANNE  Never mind that he was a whiner and crybaby towards officials on the ice mentoring Getzlaf and Perry to do the same, he was a hell of a hockey player and deserves the honor of getting in on the first ballot. 76 goals as a rookie, 684 for his career. 

 

MARK RECCHI Looooonnggg career full of a lot of 65 point seasons, kind of the Don Sutton of Hockey, never a superstar, just a real solid player and a class act who stuck around until he won the cup in 2011 after winning it for the first time in 1991 with the Penguins, the longest stretch between winning the cup of anyone ever. 577 goals and 1533 career points.

 

Others inducted include Danielle Goyette who starred with the womens Canadian team, long time coach Clare Drake and long time Bruin owner Jeremy Jacobs.

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

Wow on Dave Andreychuk.

For years, I always heard he was fit for the "Hall of Very Good" but not quite the HOF.

 

I've seen many debates on  his qualifications...some saying he was a 'hanger-on player' or compiler...I.E., that guy who played long enough to keep adding numbers despite not being a particularly good player in his later years.

Others said he had done enough during his prime to warrant a call to the Hall...and that anything he got after his prime was just gravy added on.

 

Still others pointed out his longevity and his ability to still produce at the highest level, despite his body taking the beating, night in, night out as he did his thing in front of the opposing net.

 

I got to watch him in the twilight of his career, and saw him raise his one and only Cup with the Lightning, and yes, he wasn't fleet of foot, he wasn't a prolific goal scorer (not then anyways), but man did that guy help bring stability to a, at the time, JOKE of a Tampa Bay franchise....and he could still be counted on, even from the bottom six, to come up with important goals, while having some of his renowned work ethic rub off on some of the younger guys he was around, including the likes of Vinnie Lecavalier and Brad Richards.

 

Hey, I have never been one to be particularly good at who belongs in the Hall and who doesn't...aside from obvious players like Gretzky, M. Lemieux....but if the hockey community saw fit to finally include Dave Andreychuk, then I am very happy for him.

Congrats Dave!

 

Same deal with Mark Recchi. 

Another guy who people debated whether he belonged in the Hall or not.

But he too played a long time, was still productive in his later years in more ways than just the obvious, and hey, the man had 3 Stanley Cups if I am not mistaken....that's two more than Dave Andreychuk.

The one with the Hurricanes is the one I remember him most for.

 

Kariya? Selanne? 

I think those are obvious calls to the Hall.

Only knock on Kariya might be his longevity wasn't quite there, but I'm not gonna find fault for his inclusion.

 

Selanne is a slam dunk I think. The ageless Finn who probably could have continued to play a bit more past the actual time he retired and still have been a factor, ala Jaromir Jagr.

 

Congrats to all! 

[notfondajane]

I apologize to you in advance to you TFG for posting this! I thought the league some how *gave * that cup to Tampa because of Dave! (Simillar to the Steelers against the Seahawks aka Jerome Bettie retirement and the Broncos with Manning against the Panthers.)

[Honest Bender]

So happy for Recchi to get in, I remember when he was traded to Montreal and my sister was devastated. That of course was back when her interest in hockey didn't extend much farther than posters of shirtless players on her wall. But he was one of the most consistently underrated players in the NHL, I hated when he went to Boston (also how the **** did Jacobs get in?), but he's forever one of my favorite Flyers. I agree with all of the players in this class. I know a lot of fans are questioning some, it's only going to get worse as years progress and less slam-dunk options are available. 

[Trefilov22]

Peter Bondra should be in the hall...LoL