Patrick Marleau’s journey from Canadian farmboy to NHL’s 1,768-game recordbreaker

[Savard18]

Patrick Marleau was consistently very good for a very-vary long time and good for a very long time - and still is - much like Gordie Howe was consistently elite for a very-very long time, and great for a very long time . Now I don't get why a guy that was "good" or consistently above average (think WAR in baseball) for the majority of his career, then adapted to be a fantastic 3rd line 2-way player with age shouldn't be in the HOF...

Much like Brent Seabrook, Marleau was never the best at his position at any point in his career but he was always consistently above average, and great at times.... I mean once again - would you rather have a player that has 3 elite seasons and then fizzles out or a guy like Marleau that can give you 20 seasons of above average play?? basically would you rather have Jonathan Cheechoo or Patrick Marleau for 20 seasons, oh right - Cheehoo had a few fantastic seasons, winning the Richard in one of them scoring 56 goals and then what?... Right...

I'm telling ya, these guys that are consistently very good but never great or the best at their position for a prolonged period of time get absolutely no respect at all... I mean this is the NHL, and if a player can score 500+ goals, add 1200+ points and hang with the best players in the world playing in 4 different decades over 1700 games then that player "is da man" and in a just hockey universe they should have a spot waiting for them in the HOF, period!

And another guy that got totally snubbed was Steve Larmer..

I would love to know how many players are and aren't in the HHOF that have played in over 1,000 games while having a PPG career??

I'd be willing to bet that Steve Larmer and Bernie Nicholls are the only two.. In speaking of Nicholls, why in the hell is Glenn Anderson in the HOF and neither Larmer or Nicholls is??... I could arguably say that Nicholls was the superior player. After all he played with Gretzky for one season and put up 150 points and 70 goals... Yes, I understand Anderson rarely played with Gretzky but still.... Also, yes I understand Nicholls was a one-dimensional player, but still - he was one hell of a one-dimensional player I'll say that, lol...

So yea, I hope the HOF stops making mistakes, and look I can see the arguments against Nicholls but absolutely NOT against Larmer. 1006 games played, 441 goals, 1012 points and few even remember him.. I mean Larmer could have played another 5 years and scored 500+ goals but perhaps he didn't want to tarnish his legacy -- a legacy he doesn't even have because he gets snubbed for the HOF all the time.. At least the HHOF finally allowed Doug Wilson into the club so I still have a little bit of faith that one day Larmer and Roenick will both get in and then I will have nothing to complain about, lol.

[30ranfordfan]

I totally forgot those guys were in - even if they weren't HOF'ers I'd still keep their cards with the other HOF'ers so... Hey I keep Roenick and Mogilny with the HOF'ers too, well I keep Roenick with my Hawks but I personally consider him a Hall of Fame player..

Well, Steve Larmer absolutely belongs in the HOF... I don't know if you're familiar with Larmer but he was one of the best 2-way players of the 80's and early 90's, had an impressive "iron man" streak and was 2nd on the list when he retired - not only that but he played over 1,000 games and was a career PPG player and won a Cup with the Rangers in 94 - not many players not in the HOF can say they're a PPG player and have scored over 1,000 points - as a matter of fact not many player IN the HOF can say that. Larmer like Mogilny is an exact PPG player to boot, tho Mogilny never hit the 1,000 point plateau - I know he has almost 900 points and I know he's an exact PPG player...

Thing is Larmer was always a quite player off the ice so he's unfortunately easily forgotten about..

I remember Larmer, yes. Good player with the Hawks, won the Cup with the Rangers before retiring. I suspect Mike Keenan was a big fan, that's why the Rangers went out and got him.

I think I'm a bit younger than you (early 40s) - but yes, I certainly remember him well enough.

When you rattled off a few names in your last post... about players that should be in the HOF... I can break those down into three groups: Already are in the HOF, I absolutely agree with you, I don't really have much of an opinion.

Larmer & Gary Suter fell into the later category. I never really thought about either of those guys as "should be in the HOF" types. When I look at Larmer's stats: He's just over a PPG (1,012 in 1,006). Won a Calder Trophy & a Stanley Cup. I'm assuming he must have gotten injured after he left Chicago? Missed a few games in 1993-94, but his stats still look close to career norms. 1994-95 his numbers dropped quite a bit, and then he was done.

I would say this. I think you can make a good case for Larmer. The PPG is there, the Iron Man streak I don't think makes someone a HOFer. Andrew Cogliano got close to Larmer, nobody is going to argue for his inclusion. Kessel, Yandle, and Marleau have all gone longer than Larmer.... I think Marleau will go in, Kessel will be a borderline candidate, and Yandle still has a lot of work to do. It is a nice way to pad one's resume though.

The easy knock against Larmer will be "he scored in the 80s, when it was easy" (that's what a lot of people say). The 1k point thing used to make HOF pretty automatic, but that changed a long time ago. There are currently 20 retired players with 1,000+ points, and not in the HOF. Larmer is the 19th highest scoring one of those (he's just ahead of Brian Prop, and just behind Dale Hunter). He'll get tagged as "really good, not great".

I still don't have a strong opinion on him being in the HOF, but I would say this: I wouldn't be writing up a post criticizing the HOF for inducting him. I think his numbers and achievements are good enough, when you compare him to others already in the HOF. I just have a hard time seeing him get in before the likes of Roenick, Mogilny, Pieree Turgeon, Damphousse, Verbeek, NIcholls, Tkachuk, etc.

[cygnusx1]

Don't get me wrong, playing a huge amount of games is impressive. It's not worthy of Hall of Fame induction though. If you look at Marleau's career, you have:

- Tons of games played
- Consistently a solid player
- Many playoff disappointments (0 cups, 1 finals appearance)
- No consideration for major awards (twice a finalist for the Lady Byng though)
- 0 All Star Teams
- 3 All Star Games

That's a great career, but not a HOF career. Long and consistent, just like Ken Daneyko, who is also not a Hall of Famer.


Steve Larmer had a point per game career..... playing almost entirely in the 80's. Where's the HOF argument for Rick Vaive or John Ogrodnick then?