Over the next few months I plan on outlining different candidates who could be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. I’m open to suggestions as to whom I should include on my list to go over. I have my own list, in which I want to make their case to be honoured by the Hockey Hall of Fame, but I’m sure there are people I’m not thinking of that others will want to see.
The first request I had is former the candidacy of longtime Chicago Blackhawks standout Steve Larmer.
Steve Larmer was the Iron Man for the Chicago Blackhawks throughout the 80s. During his 11 seasons with the Hawks, he set a team record with 884 consecutive games played, which is also the 3rd longest streak in NHL history. During those games he was one of the most consistent players out there.
In each of his 11 full seasons in Chicago he had at least 70 points or more. Though you would have to keep in mind that the generation that he played in was an offensive minded generation. Unlike in today’s game, defense was not coached as much. This is evident in Gretzky and Lemieux’s close to 200 point seasons…. But I digress.
Of the other qualifications that Mr. Larmer has, the main thing would be is that he has a Stanley Cup which he won with the New York Rangers in 1994 as well as a Canada Cup in 1991. In that 1991 Canada Cup, he had the second most points in the tournament behind Mr. Gretzky. The other major NHL trophy Mr. Larmer won during his career would be the Calder Trophy as Rookie of the Year.
Looking at some of the comparisons, the main knock against Larmer would be that he didn’t reach the 500 goal mark, as he is at 441. His comparables that are already in the Hall of Fame as pointed out by Tom Bamford of the Daily Chicago Sports Tab would be Lanny McDonald, Joe Mullen, and Glenn Anderson, and Cam Neely, in which only Neely doesn’t have 500 goals. Neely however has a high goals per game to the point where if injuries didn’t get in the way, he likely would have reached that plateau.
Of the four comparable players, only Mullen and Anderson has more points than Larmer. He beats out Lanny who played in more games than Larmer did.
The main comparison when looking at stats would be how many Stanley Cups did each player win? Glenn Anderson has the most with six and Joe Mullen would be next with three. Both Lanny McDonald and Steve Larmer are in similar positions as both won their only Stanley Cup at the end of their careers. Cam Neely did not win one as a player.
While stats aren’t everything. Steve Larmer has shown that he is in the same class as each of these honoured members. While there has to be a line somewhere, Larmer’s name should always be in the conversation whether it is through the media or at the Selection Committee.
Feel free to give me more suggestions either here, on Twitter @Kirshenblatt, or by email at
[email protected].
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