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An Ode to the CBA Lockout
I’m dreaming of an NHL Christmas
Just like the ones I used to know,
Where the fresh ice glistens,
And hockey fans listen,
To slap shots taken from the point.
I’m dreaming of an NHL Christmas
With every Twitter quote I read
May your HRR be merry and bright
And may hockey finally see the light.
I’m dreaming of a Hockey Night in Canada
With games from noon until midnight,
May Don Cherry’s outfits be merry and bright
And his Crosby opinions be right.
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Congratulations to the four new Hall of Famers: Joe Sakic, Mats Sundin, Pavel Bure and Adam Oates.
In the final anaylsis, they all merit entrances into the HHOF but that’s not to say they didn’t have weaknesses.
If I was picking one of them to build a team around, I’d go with Sakic, no question about it. He could do it all. I think the term “wicked wrister” was named after his shot. He was a winner, he never got hurt, just an amazing career.
Oates was the best passer. You knew he was going to get his assists. He could set someone up in a phone booth. NOTE: For the younger readers, a phone booth was a glass-incased rectangular structure no greater than four feet from one side of it to the other. View
here. He was the perfect kind of player for fantasy teams, but he could go quiet in big games. I have a preference for big scorers as opposed to set-up men, so perhaps my viewpoint reflects that point.
When I think of Mats Sundin, I think of a big guy, 6-foot-5 and 230 pounds. He played a long time for the Maple Leafs but his best year came with the Quebec Nordiques. Sundin scored career highs in goals (47), assists (67) and points (114) for Quebec in 1992-93 -- the only time he reached 100 points in a season. I’ve always thought of him as more of a good player than a hall of famer. I like my HOFers to be the best at their sports for a period of time. Maybe Mats Sundin is the Don Sutton of hockey. Sutton never won 20 games in a season but he finished with 300 victories. EDIT: Sutton won 21 games in 1976, one time in 23 MLB seasons.
Which leads me to the fourth player due for induction, Pavel Bure. Bure could skate and he could shoot. He was the fastest skater in the NHL for a period of time. His back-to-back 50-goals seasons were actually back-to-back 60-goal campaigns. The guy was a marvel, pure and simple, and a joy to watch skate. Injuries slowed him down, but what fun he was to watch. I still remember watching the line of Bure-Sergei Fedorov-Alexander Mogilny play as part of the Russian team against the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Civic Arena in 1989.
What a line that was.
*****
Thanks to all my veteran buddies out there! Thanks for all you do and have done.
Treasure Life!
JT
Pittsburgh Penguins Blogger • 
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