The inductions to the Hockey Hall of Fame are this Monday (11/3), and amongst this year's class is Pat LaFontaine. This is pretty noteworthy for me since as a very young Islanders fan, LaFontaine was my first favorite player. My parents used to take my brother and I to games at Nassau Coliseum all the time, and even though I'd cheer for the whole team, I'd always watch what Pat would do very closely, and was always thrilled whenever he'd get the puck just because I knew he'd light that red lamp and cause a huge commotion in the Coliseum.
The best moment of my LaFontaine fandom was when he gave my mom autographed posters to give to my brother and I. Y'see, when he was living on Long Island, he'd go to the bank my mother worked at at the time, and I guess she told him how much we loved the guy, so he came back bearing those great gifts (we've still got 'em too!).
Anyway, sorry to be so sappy, but seeing the article linked above brought back a lot of great memories from childhood. I hope you never have to see me like this ever again.
Meanwhile, Grant Fuhr becomes something like the second or third former Calgary Flame to enter the Hall...and I think the only Flames & Oiler player to enter.
EDIT: Other former Flames in the Hall: Joe Mullen, Lanny McDonald & Coach Bob Johnson. Former Flames goalie coach Glenn Hall is also in there.
(edited by Freeway420 on 2.11.03 0134) FLAMES: 4-3-0-0; 8 pts; Oilers SUCK STAMPEDERS: 5-13; Season Over, thankfully SURVIVOR: PEARL ISLANDS: 10 Remain [Tijuana, Osten, Andrew, RyanO, Darrah, Jon, Shawn, Rupert, Christa & Sandra]
Krushelnyski RULED. Hall of Fame worthy? Maybe. (569 points in 879 NHL games). Looking back to old Flames teams, there were so many players that should/will be inducted into the Hall: Kent Nilsson (686 points in 553 games), Theo Fleury (1088 points in 1084 games), Joe Nieuwendyk (1018 points in 1124 games), Gary Roberts (761 points in 969 games), Mike Vernon, Brett Hull (1331 points in 1193 games), Reggie Lemelin, Al MacInnis (1274 points in 1416 games) & Gary Suter (845 points in 1145 games).
Two very worthy additions to the hall. Fuhr was a monster in his day, and I don't think Gretzky would have the amount of championships if not for him.
Pat LaFontaine was another great player. I first remember seeing him in the 1984 Olympics and hoping that he could somehow pull off another Miracle with that team.
Originally posted by Freeway420Krushelnyski RULED. Hall of Fame worthy? Maybe. (569 points in 879 NHL games). Looking back to old Flames teams, there were so many players that should/will be inducted into the Hall: Kent Nilsson (686 points in 553 games), Theo Fleury (1088 points in 1084 games), Joe Nieuwendyk (1018 points in 1124 games), Gary Roberts (761 points in 969 games), Mike Vernon, Brett Hull (1331 points in 1193 games), Reggie Lemelin, Al MacInnis (1274 points in 1416 games) & Gary Suter (845 points in 1145 games).
I hope I'm just missing the sarcasm here, because the only guys on that list that are HoF worthy are Hull, MacInnis, maybe Nieuwendyk, and possibly Fleury. Hall of Fame doesn't mean Hall of Good. The day Kent Nilsson or Reggie Lemelin cracks the Hall is the day the Hall loses any and all credibility it ever had.
Actually, I think that FUHR would not have as much championships if Gretzky (and Messier and Kurri and Coffey for that matter) wasn't there at the time.
I don't know. Gretsky and Kurri were never the type to play a lot of defense. By having someone behind them as good as Fuhr it allowed them to play a more wide open style. You could compare it to Bill Cartwright on the Bulls. His defensive presence on the Bulls allowed Jordan and Pippen to play more aggressive.
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