HOF cliffnotes

[Victor 11,021]

As the unofficial overlord of HOF discussions in the BOG, my role means constant tracking of potential ballot members. In the glorious age of the portal, this is a pretty straightforward job – go to the player list, filter by TPE (or TPA depending on how I feel) and go through the stats, career pace, and awards of some of the star players in the league. On occasion it is also useful to sort by draft year to keep an eye on all the players close to retirement and make a final decision if someone has a chance or should be written off.

 

Here are my current cliff notes in the spirit of this HOF theme week:

 

Kriketers, McWolf, Borwinn, Tzuyu? Pepper? Wilinsky? - Wilinsky especially might just slither in

Sullivan Jr. (?), Wahl? Davison? Bailey?

Smitty (?)

Jaguar (?), HHH, Freeman

Funk (?)
 

So let's talk about this. S63s I won't bother you too much with, I've already written about them in some length a couple weeks ago. Kriketers, McWolf, and Borwinn will almost certainly make it in, and I just love my note about Wilinsky which is the main reason I left this in.
 

Class of S64 we might as well start writing off. Bailey probably would have a great shot if he stayed active but falling off the face of the earth means he never had the prime superstar season and now depreciation will hit him hard and fully derail that train. Sullivan Jr. was a far cry from his dad as a defenceman but switching position and playing with Matt Thompson seemed to give him new life (and the league's last (ever?) 100-point season). However, Malmo and Ryan without Thompson have not had a fun time.

 

There's a few solid goalies from the S64 draft, but none really have the consistency needed for the Hall of Fame. If Pepper remains a big question mark, then you can count out Rift and Wahl. Davison is a slightly different story as he has had his moments, but really needed a Kriketers-like year in S70 to have a chance.
 

All of a sudden we're in S65 which was possibly the weakest draft of the decade. That said, it might have produced the single best player of the decade. It's not often you say about a defenceman in the VHL but Smitty is that type of generational player. Two Labattes already, almost certainly a third on the way, and quite possibly a sweep of all 3 defensive trophies this season. That is elite and he has in my opinion already transcended the need for a Continental Cup ring to get the call. It wouldn't hurt though.
 

As I said in that S63 article, Jet Jaguar is the only active player outside Kastelic, Borwinn, and Bailey with a career point-per-game pace or better. That is both insane and puts him in very good stead as he continues through his prime years. A few individual trophies in S70 would go a long way to cementing his, still young, case. S66 rivals of Jaguar remain unclear. HHH and Freeman broke out in S69 it seems but still haven't had that big season. So far, their career trajectory is looking more like Kastelic than Borwinn.

 

And finally Rayz Funk. Like Smitty has complete dominance of his position, so Funk is primed to be the greatest goaltender of his time. He is already the TPA leader among league goalies, less than halfway through his career, and his two playoff MVP trophies to his name. The imminent retirement of Kriketers and Pepper, and the S64 goalies soon after, means that he will also be older than all his competition and therefore, in theory, the best bet for Shaw Trophies. Of course, things don't always work out quite that simply, but in a league of few certainties, my money is on Funk making the Hall of Fame in S75.

[McWolf 3,116]

The only theme week article that matters

[Esso2264 774]

okay but Ylonen

[Victor 11,021]

4 hours ago, Proto said:

But but but another article told me HHH was a bust. I am so confused

Yeah I compared him to Kastelic, a total bust.