Thornton’s 1,000th assist set to put him in exclusive company

[doniceage]

Joe Thornton is two assists away from becoming the 13th player to reach the 1,000-assist milestone, and it should have him considered among the greatest playmakers the league has ever seen.

Two assists. That’s all Joe Thornton needs to hit 1,000 for his career, and there’s a chance he could be celebrating the milestone helper in less than one week, earning an undeniable spot as one of the greatest playmakers the game has ever seen.
http://www.thehockeynews.com/news/ar...tter-All_Users

[jameslacarte]

He's a player in my books!! Quite an achievement. Too bad they measure Hall of Fame status by winning a Stanley Cup though i am sure Joe will make it, Though you do have to wonder if Mike Gartner hasnt made it with 700+ career goals that nothing is set in stone..

[30ranfordfan]

Gartner was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2001 :)

Joe will certainly be there one day. Everyone in the 1k assists mark is HOFer.... heck, 1000 points used to give you a really good shot at making it.

He's a player in my books!! Quite an achievement. Too bad they measure Hall of Fame status by winning a Stanley Cup though i am sure Joe will make it, Though you do have to wonder if Mike Gartner hasnt made it with 700+ career goals that nothing is set in stone..

[creasecollector]

He'll make it in :) And what an accomplishment 1,000 assists is! Wow!

[jameslacarte]

I was not aware Gartner made it in to the HOF. Hmmmmm lol.. Glad he got there & i will be glad to see Jumbo Joe get there too.

[30ranfordfan]

On Goals (despite this being an assists story, to start) there are 45 guys that have hit 500 in their careers.

5 of them are still active (Marleau, Hossa, Ovechkin, Iginla, Jagr)

Of the remaining 40, 7 of them are not in the Hall of Fame:

Andreychuk (640), Recchi (577), Tkachuk (538), Verbeek (522), Turgeon (515), Roenick (513), Bondra (503)

Andreychuk is the one that really amazes me. He's the 14th highest goal scorer in history... there is likely one active player that's going to pass him in the next few years... so he'll still be a top 15 goal man.

1,000 Assists is even rarer than 600 goals though. Ovechkin (sooner or later) will become the 20th 600 goal man... Thornton only the 13th player to hit 1,000 assists... and it's going to be a while before anyone else joins him there. Henrik Sedin, with 772, is the next highest active assist man.


On the HOF talk though... here's a funny one:

You have to get down to the 30th highest career assist total (Pierre Turgeon, 812) to find a guy who is not in the HOF. Rounding out the top 50... players not in the HOF are:

37. Teemu Selanne (773)
39. Henrik Sedin (772)
42. Doug Weight (755
46. Bernie Nicholls (734)
47. Rod Brind'Amour (732)
49. Daniel Alfredsson (713)

(plus Thornton, #13, 998).

It's pretty much a lock that Thornton & Selanne get in... Selanne just hasn't been eligible yet. Alfredsson is probably going in too. Sedin? Maybe. I don't know. Wait until the end of the career before I have an opinion. The other guys... Turgeon, Weight, Nicholls, Brind'Amour - They'd be in already if they were going.

So in the list of the top 50 all time assist leaders: 44 of them are either in the HOF, or are locks to get in once eligible. Of the other 6... there's a great chance 1 gets in, a decent chance for a 2nd.. and unlikely that the remaining 4 make it.

50 players, most assists all time, and (at most) 6 do not make the HOF...... while 7 of the top 45 goal scorers (that's the 500 goal club) are not in... and do we consider Hossa & Marleau locks? The number COULD grow. If we make the list complete, and take the top 50 goal scorers... that number grows another one (Brian Bellows, 49).

More top 50 goal men are out than top 50 assists.... and in the case of Pierre Turgeon, he's on both lists.

I was not aware Gartner made it in to the HOF. Hmmmmm lol.. Glad he got there & i will be glad to see Jumbo Joe get there too.

[SenatorCollector]

and do we consider Hossa & Marleau locks?

I would consider Hossa a lock. He's got the production, and 2 rings. Marleau only makes it if the Sharks hoist a Cup, or he's traded to a bona fide contender

[doniceage]

On Goals (despite this being an assists story, to start) there are 45 guys that have hit 500 in their careers.

5 of them are still active (Marleau, Hossa, Ovechkin, Iginla, Jagr)

Of the remaining 40, 7 of them are not in the Hall of Fame:

Andreychuk (640), Recchi (577), Tkachuk (538), Verbeek (522), Turgeon (515), Roenick (513), Bondra (503)

Andreychuk is the one that really amazes me. He's the 14th highest goal scorer in history... there is likely one active player that's going to pass him in the next few years... so he'll still be a top 15 goal man.

1,000 Assists is even rarer than 600 goals though. Ovechkin (sooner or later) will become the 20th 600 goal man... Thornton only the 13th player to hit 1,000 assists... and it's going to be a while before anyone else joins him there. Henrik Sedin, with 772, is the next highest active assist man.


On the HOF talk though... here's a funny one:

You have to get down to the 30th highest career assist total (Pierre Turgeon, 812) to find a guy who is not in the HOF. Rounding out the top 50... players not in the HOF are:

37. Teemu Selanne (773)
39. Henrik Sedin (772)
42. Doug Weight (755
46. Bernie Nicholls (734)
47. Rod Brind'Amour (732)
49. Daniel Alfredsson (713)

(plus Thornton, #13, 998).

It's pretty much a lock that Thornton & Selanne get in... Selanne just hasn't been eligible yet. Alfredsson is probably going in too. Sedin? Maybe. I don't know. Wait until the end of the career before I have an opinion. The other guys... Turgeon, Weight, Nicholls, Brind'Amour - They'd be in already if they were going.

So in the list of the top 50 all time assist leaders: 44 of them are either in the HOF, or are locks to get in once eligible. Of the other 6... there's a great chance 1 gets in, a decent chance for a 2nd.. and unlikely that the remaining 4 make it.

50 players, most assists all time, and (at most) 6 do not make the HOF...... while 7 of the top 45 goal scorers (that's the 500 goal club) are not in... and do we consider Hossa & Marleau locks? The number COULD grow. If we make the list complete, and take the top 50 goal scorers... that number grows another one (Brian Bellows, 49).

More top 50 goal men are out than top 50 assists.... and in the case of Pierre Turgeon, he's on both lists.

Thanks for the nice read Sean!

Don

[30ranfordfan]

Totally taking the conversation to a different direction, but I'll bight (since I already started the change, lol).

I would say this: Overall, Hossa is the better player. He's got more points, more goals, has the rings (as you pointed out). If only 1 get in, yeah, I'd give my vote to Hossa.

Is Marleau good enough to get in? IMO his career is "greater" than a bunch of guys already in the HOF, so I would think he should be. "lock" might overstate it though.

Cups (Championships, in general, across all sports) are a funny one. A championship (and especially multiple championships) can take a borderline HOF guy, and make him a HOF. That's just how things go. I do feel that when making an assessment of a guy's career though... the number of rings he has is one of the more over rated stats. Basketball is a little different, because one guy can win a game by himself, but that doesn't happen in most team sports. A goalie can steal you a game, but he's not going to steal 16. I don't think Marcel Dionne is any less of an all-time great (he's somewhere in the top 15 for me) because he didn't ever play on a team capable of winning.

The top 10 point leaders, among active players:

Jagr (1902) YES
Thornton (1380) NO
Iginla (1291) NO
Hossa (1125) YES
Marleau (1070) NO
Ovechkin (1020) NO
H. Sedin (1006) NO
Crosby (1004) YES
D. Sedin (976) NO
Doan (965) NO

3 of the top 10 active scorers in the league have won cups. I would call them all locks at the HOF (Jagr, Hossa, Crosby) to get in, once they become eligible. The other 7 on the list?? Chances are very good that none of them will ever win one.... but most people would call Thoronton, Iginla, and Ovechkin locks to make the HOF too.

So for the others... Marleau, Doan, and the Sedins: Are they HOFers? If no... are they HOFers with a Cup win?

My own perception of those players: They all are, except Doan. Shane Doan was never a top player in the league.... he was always on the good side of "okay", was durable, and played forever. Good, but not Great. The Sedins spent years being a couple of the best players in the league... and Marleau (I suppose) has probably never been a guy I thought was a "top 10" player in any given season (I'm sure he does have a couple of years where his points were top 10 though) but he's been really good for so long, and incredibly durable. I dunno?

and do we consider Hossa & Marleau locks?

I would consider Hossa a lock. He's got the production, and 2 rings. Marleau only makes it if the Sharks hoist a Cup, or he's traded to a bona fide contender

[SenatorCollector]

Totally taking the conversation to a different direction, but I'll bight (since I already started the change, lol).

I would say this: Overall, Hossa is the better player. He's got more points, more goals, has the rings (as you pointed out). If only 1 get in, yeah, I'd give my vote to Hossa.

Is Marleau good enough to get in? IMO his career is "greater" than a bunch of guys already in the HOF, so I would think he should be. "lock" might overstate it though.

Cups (Championships, in general, across all sports) are a funny one. A championship (and especially multiple championships) can take a borderline HOF guy, and make him a HOF. That's just how things go. I do feel that when making an assessment of a guy's career though... the number of rings he has is one of the more over rated stats. Basketball is a little different, because one guy can win a game by himself, but that doesn't happen in most team sports. A goalie can steal you a game, but he's not going to steal 16. I don't think Marcel Dionne is any less of an all-time great (he's somewhere in the top 15 for me) because he didn't ever play on a team capable of winning.

The top 10 point leaders, among active players:

Jagr (1902) YES
Thornton (1380) NO
Iginla (1291) NO
Hossa (1125) YES
Marleau (1070) NO
Ovechkin (1020) NO
H. Sedin (1006) NO
Crosby (1004) YES
D. Sedin (976) NO
Doan (965) NO

3 of the top 10 active scorers in the league have won cups. I would call them all locks at the HOF (Jagr, Hossa, Crosby) to get in, once they become eligible. The other 7 on the list?? Chances are very good that none of them will ever win one.... but most people would call Thoronton, Iginla, and Ovechkin locks to make the HOF too.

So for the others... Marleau, Doan, and the Sedins: Are they HOFers? If no... are they HOFers with a Cup win?

My own perception of those players: They all are, except Doan. Shane Doan was never a top player in the league.... he was always on the good side of "okay", was durable, and played forever. Good, but not Great. The Sedins spent years being a couple of the best players in the league... and Marleau (I suppose) has probably never been a guy I thought was a "top 10" player in any given season (I'm sure he does have a couple of years where his points were top 10 though) but he's been really good for so long, and incredibly durable. I dunno?

All I can say about this, and I don't mean to slag anyone or their fans or careers, but when you look at this list, and consider past Hall voting, the NHL has made some very interesting choices on who gets elected! Are you suggesting that 7 of the players listed don't get in? If so, all I can add is one name to verify that, when it comes to Hall voting, ANYTHING is possible! That name? Dino Ciccerelli! He's in, so pretty much every name on that list should get in! I'm actually a little surprised Andreychuk isn't in.