Three Calgary Flames Alumni Who Belong In Hockey Hall of Fame

By Ken MacMillan |

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The Hockey Hall of Fame committee will meet today to vote on the next group of players to be inducted into the hallowed shrine in November. Over the past few years we saw several former Calgary Flames entered into the Hall of Fame, including Joe Nieuwendyk, Doug Gilmour, Brett Hull and Al Macinnis.

However, there still remains a handful of former Flames who should be, but aren’t in the Hall of Fame. Three players really stand out as deserving candidates who have been slighted in the past. I may be a bit biased when it comes to former members of the Flames who should be in the Hall of Fame, but I think a very strong case can be made for these three former tenants of the Saddledome.

The voting process takes place today and an announcement will come out around 4:00 PM Eastern Time as to who will be in the 2015 class of Hall of Famers. Among those eligible there appears to be one slam dunk in Nicklas Lidstrom who won seven Norris Trophy’s in his career with the Detroit Red Wings.

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Chris Pronger isn’t as sure of a nominee as Lidstrom, but it appears the former Hartford Whaler, St Louis Blue, Edmonton Oiler, Anaheim Duck, Philadelphia Flyer and current Arizona Coyote defenseman will be voted in as well. Ignoring the ridiculous scenario that is a “current” player who was traded two days ago being voted into the Hall of Fame because he has been inactive for three years, the former Hart Trophy and Norris Trophy winner deserves the nod.

Third in line should be former Detroit Red Wing, Anaheim Duck, Columbus Blue Jacket and Washington Capitals center Sergei Fedorov. The slick skating Russian was a fantastic two way center, especially on dominant Red Wings teams that won three Stanley Cups with Fedorov in 1997, 98 and 2002. He was an offensive threat to be sure, and won a Hart Trophy as league MVP in 1994, but his defensive game was even better than his offense.

There can be up to four former players inducted into the Hall of Fame every year, and assuming Lidstrom, Fedorov and Pronger get the call, there is only room for one more. A case could be made for several former players including Dave Andreychuk, Jeremy Roenick, Keith Tkachuk or Tom Barrasso. However, following you will find the case for a trio of former Calgary Flames, and hopefully at least one of them will finally be honoured for their on ice heroics.

Sergei Makarov – 384 Points in 424 Games Played

Apr 19, 2015; Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Calgary Flames fan waving flags during the third period between the Calgary Flames and the Vancouver Canucks in game three of the first round of the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Saddledome. Calgary Flames won 4-2. Mandatory Credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports

Former Flame Sergei Makarov had a good, but unexceptional NHL career. He landed in North America form Russia in time for the 1989-90 season where he suited up with the Flames. Makarov scored 86 points in 80 games in that rookie season and won the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s best first year player. The interesting part about this win was that Makarov was 31 years old when he collected the award.

Makarov played just 424 career NHL games and scored 384 points in that span. Though these don’t look like Hall of Fame credentials, it’s what Makarov accomplished before even setting foot in an NHL rink that should have made him a Hall of Famer long ago.

Makarov was part of the famous KLM line, along with Igor Larionov and Vladimir Krutov, that played in International events with the Soviet Union. The feared trio led the Soviets to an Olympic gold medal in the 1984 games and repeated the feat in 1988.

The Chelyabinsk native incredibly led the Russian league in scoring every year in the decade of the 1980’s except for 1983 when he missed a third of the season with injury. He won the MVP for the league three times in that span and proved at International events when he played against NHL competition that he more than held his own against the best in the world.

In three Canada Cup tournaments held in the 1980’s, Makarov scored a total of 31 points in 22 games. Makarov led the Soviet Union to ten medals at the World Championships including seven gold, one silver and a bronze while scoring 131 points in 106 games in that span.

Makarov was basically the Russian Wayne Gretzky, absolutely dominating the second best league in the world, with only politics standing in the way of him competing in the NHL during his best years. He showed in the early 1990’s that he was capable of scoring over a point per game in his thirties, leaving us to wonder how many points he could have piled up in the high flying 1980’s when he was in his prime.

Makarov’s NHL totals are impressive, but not Hall of Fame worthy on their own. Fortunately it is the Hockey Hall of Fame and not the NHL Hall of Fame. Valeri Kharlamov, one of the most famous Russian players of all time was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2005 having never played an NHL game. He was a star in the Soviet Union in the 1970’s, scoring 507 points in 436 career games in Russia’s top league.

Makarov’s 710 points in 519 games put him far ahead of Kharlamov’s pace, and his accolades between the NHL, Russian League and International tournaments such as the Canada Cup and World Championships show he was a truly elite hockey player who belongs in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Phil Housley – 1232 Points in 1495 Games Played

Oct 22, 2013; Saint Paul, MN, USA; Nashville Predators assistant coach Phil Housley looks on during the third period against the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center. The Wild defeated the Predators 2-0. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports

Though Phil Housley only played a small portion of his NHL career in Calgary, he was part of one of the biggest trades in franchise history, being acquired for Al MacInnis and proved in his second stint with the Flames that he was still an elite defenseman into his mid-thirties.

Nicklas Lidstrom and Chris Pronger are sure things to enter the Hall of Fame this afternoon, but both were outscored over their career by Housley, and by a fairly wide margin in Pronger’s case. Lidstrom’s career numbers of 1142 points in 1654 games are quite impressive, but Housley outscored him by 90 points in 69 less games.

Housley’s 1232 points in 1495 games ranks him fourth all time in scoring by defensemen behind just Ray Bourque, Paul Coffey and former Flame Al MacInnis. All three are in the Hall of Fame, and once Lidstrom in nominated, the nine players behind Housley in scoring will also be Hall of Famers.

Housley had a tremendously long NHL career, playing the 6th most games by any defender in the history of the game. Individual accolades eluded Housley throughout his career, as he ranked in the top five in voting for the Norris Trophy four different times in his career, but never won the award. He also holds the dubious record of being the player with the most career games played without ever winning a Stanley Cup.

A Norris Trophy or Stanley Cup would definitely make Housley’s resume look much more impressive, but should he be punished that his career coincided with a number of the best defensemen of all time such as Ray Bourque, Paul Coffey and Al MacInnis? Had Housley been born years later, would he have been able to edge out Erik Karlsson for a Norris? Probably. Would that make him a better player? No. So why should timing keep him out of the Hall of Fame?

Housley, it appears, doesn’t get full credit for such a tremendous career due to playing in small markets such as Buffalo and Winnipeg through most of his career, and certainly through his best years. Those teams also tended to not be very good, which is why Housley never raised a Stanley Cup.

Again, should winning a Stanley Cup be a criteria for making the Hall of Fame? Well, Marcel Dionne has the 6th most points among forwards in NHL history. He never won a Stanley Cup since he played on mediocre at best Los Angeles Kings teams, but he was voted into the Hall of Fame on his first ballot.

Housley was better known for his offence than his defence, but so was Paul Coffey and they wasted no time electing the former Oiler into the Hall. They also voted Jacques Laperriere in, and Housley has almost 1000 more points than the former Montreal Canadien.

It’s about time the Hall of Fame recognizes how talented and unique Housley’s offensive abilities were, and finally elect him into the Hall of Fame where he belongs.

Theoren Fleury – 1088 Points in 1084 Games Played

Nov 20, 2014; Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Calgary Flames fan is trying to excite the crowd at the last minutes of the game between the Calgary Flames and the Chicago Blackhawks at Scotiabank Saddledome. Chicago Blackhawks won 4-3. Mandatory Credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports

By far the biggest oversight by the Hall of Fame in the past few years has been keeping Theo Fleury off its list of members. The scrappy, undersized winger averaged over a point per game in a 1084 game career, and fully deserves to be honoured by the Hall of Fame.

Fleury’s career points rank him in the top 60 all time, but he is one of only 30 players to average over a point per game while playing over 1000 games in his career. More impressively, the 5’6″ Fleury was able to continue this pace over his 77 career playoff games where he scored 79 points.

Fleury was a rookie on the 1989 Stanley Cup champion in Calgary, scoring 34 points in 36 regular season games before adding 11 in 22 games en route to getting his name on the Cup. Aside from winning the Stanley Cup, Fleury also led Canada to a World Junior gold medal in 1988 and helped his home nation win a gold medal at the 2002 Olympic Games in Salt Lake City as well.

Fleury was one of very few bright spots on Flames teams in the early nineties after winning the Cup in 1989. Fleury’s best season came in 1990-91 when he set career highs with 51 goals and 104 points. He once again reached the century mark in 1992-93, scoring 34 goals and a career high 66 assists for 100 points.

The Flames had a few short lived playoff runs in the early 1990’s, but likely wouldn’t have even made it if it weren’t for Fleury. In 1993, Calgary lost in the first round to the Los Angeles Kings who would march to the Stanley Cup Final. Though it was just a six game series, Fleury scored 12 points and two years later scored 14 points in a seven game series loss to the San Jose Sharks, showing a unique ability to raise his performance in the postseason.

It takes a lot of guts and determination to even make the NHL as an 8th round draft pick, or as a 5’6″ player. It takes even more to battle through the things Fleury has had to fight every day. To battle through all of this adversity and play over 1000 games in the NHL while averaging over a point per game in both the regular season and playoffs, is the mark of a Hall of Fame player in my books.

Heck, Fleury should be in the builders category for using his story and fame to inspire and help victims of sexual abuse begin the healing process. Fleury has been eligible since 2006, the year only Patrick Roy and Dick Duff were voted in. Duff played 1033 games in his career, which is comparable to Fleury’s career, but the difference is Duff’s point totals. Duff scored 572 career points, just over half of what Fleury scored in his inspiring career.

The comparisons to much less deserving players who are in the Hall of Fame could go on and on, but what really matters is that Fleury should have been voted in nine years ago. Hopefully the committee finally gets it right this time and puts Fleury where he belongs among his elite level peers.

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