The Next Kids in the Hall - hockey plays who should be considered for the Hall of Fame - Brief Article

Hockey Digest, Feb, 2001 by Scott Plagenhoef

IN NOVEMBER, THE HOCKEY of Fame held ceremonies to deservedly enshrine Denis Savard and Joe Mullen. As the underrated: Savard and hard-nosed Mullen, among the first players who came to prominence in the Wayne Gretzky era to be enshrined, are elected, we take a look at a few of their peers and see who else from the 1980s and early 1990s should be picking out tuxedos at some point in the next few years.

Dale Hawerchuk: The third-place finisher in the 2000 Hall of Fame election, Hawerchuk was a prodigious talent unfairly labeled as a disappointment because he had the misfortune of coming into the league at the same as Gretzky, spending much of his career in the shadow of the "Great One."

Playing much of his career in unfashionable Winnipeg and for, at best, average teams didn't help perceptions of Hawerchuk's talent, either. Yet, despite never lifting his teams to greatness--Hawerchuk appeared in fewer than 100 playoff games in his career--the star center scored 1,409 points in 1,188 NHL games, and should be a favorite for election next year.

Cam Neely and Pat LaFontaine: Were it not for unfortunate injuries, each of, these players would be a lock for the Hall of Fame. LaFontaine is one of only three American-born players to record 1,000 career points, and Neely was one of the NHL's first true power forwards. Yet however unfair it may be, neither may have the career numbers to warrant election.

Mike Gartner: The Don Sutton of the NHL. Gartner ended his career with the league's 18th-highest career points total, but he also ranks fifth on the all-time games-played list. Still, despite inflated numbers due to longevity, Gartner was incredibly consistent, scoring 30 or more goals in each of his first 15 NHL seasons. That should be enough to put this speedy winger on the fast track to the Hall of Fame.

Glenn Anderson and Kevin Lowe: Both Anderson and Lowe certainly benefited from being members of the Edmonton Oilers' dynasty of the mid-1980s, but each was a dynamic player in his right.

Anderson was a lightning-quick winger who was at his best in the playoffs. Lowe was the defensive foundation that those great Oilers teams were built upon. Yes, both of these six-time Stanley Cup-winners owe plenty to Gretzky, Jari Kurri, Grant Fuhr. and others, but they also deserve to be in the Hall of Fame.

Andy Moog: Another member of the 1980s Oilers dynasty, Moog was a solid backstop, but spent most of those years as Fuhr's backup.

Once Moog escaped Fuhr's shadow, though, he was a solid, if not outstanding, goaltender. Moog's finished his career with impressive numbers, but those are due more to his longevity than his talent.

Steve Lamer: With Denis Savard now in the Hall of Fame, the logical question is: Why not Larmer as well? There really aren't any easy answers. One knock on Larmer is that he had to wait until the tail end of his career to win the Stanley Cup, but this tough winger led many solid Chicago Blackhawks teams and finished his career scoring at a point-per-game pace. Hall of Fame induction should be imminent.

Bernie Federko: Never flashy, Federko nevertheless got the job done. The "Magician" put together four 100-point seasons, but incredibly never appeared in an All-Star Game. That anomaly is almost fitting, however, for one of the league's quietest, most underrated stars, but it will still work against his election hopes.

What should work for Federko's election bid are career totals of 369 goals and 761 assists in only 1,000 games.