Rick Nash retires, is he a HOFer? (poll)

[yave1964]

  Listing this under the CBJ forum because that is where I will always think of him...….

 

  Class act rick Nash called it a career through his agent, no fanfare, just a fond farewell to the game. He dropped the ceremonial first puck in the game between the two teams that he played most of his career with tonight, the Rangers and the Jackets.

 

  First overall pick in 2002 and the first true star for the moribund Jackets organization, he was third in Calder voting as a rookie, the following year he won the Rocket Richard trophy as the leagues leading goal score. He played in six all star games and won Gold with Canada in the Olympics but after a sizzling start to his career he was often seen as a mild disappointment by many, he never built off of his early success to any degree, he seemed content to settle into a role as a 30-35 goal a year guy. Then after a mid career trade to the Rangers, he slipped further, becoming a whipping boy as a 20 goal a year guy on a huge contract.

 

  I remember Hitch getting ahold of him and making him a premier two way player, unafraid to go into the corners and kill penalties, he was a quiet unassuming guy who seemed to hate the spotlight and would have preferred to be a spear carrier to a take charge guy, his lack of postseason success bears this out, a sad 14 goals in 73 games.

 

  But he has a nice body of work, 15 seasons, the Richard trophy, the Olympic glory, the all star games, 437 goals and 805 points, a well deserved rep as a two way forward. 

 

  So the debate begins, is he a Hall of Famer? I would have to say no, not quite enough there IMHO but he was a hell of a solid player IMHO unfairly maligned because the teams that he played for weren't better when more often than not both in Columbus and in New York he was surrounded with more sows ears than silk purses. A fun player to watch but not quite a HOFer in my opinion.

[ruxpin]

He's not Hall of Fame to me, but I've always had a much higher, more romantic standard for the Hall and think they've badly cheapened it over the years. 

 

No, I would not vote for him. 

[WordsOfWisdom]

1 hour ago, yave1964 said:

But he has a nice body of work, 15 seasons, the Richard trophy, the Olympic glory, the all star games, 437 goals and 805 points, a well deserved rep as a two way forward. 

 

I'm not impressed by those numbers.  It's not enough, not by a long shot.

 

Also, by playing in relative obscurity down in Columbus I think that should incur a penalty as well. Never saw much of him during his career and neither did anyone else really. 

 

[OccamsRazor]

No Hall for him...