I never liked the term "goon". I always associated that term with guys who really couldn't play very well but were just there to fight. Not contributing in another aspect of the game. For example, Tie Domi was a superb 4th liner. This is a guy who can play on a team in 1984, 1994..........2024. Was good for 20 points in a season, hit a high of 29. Scored 15 goals at his best. Played 10 minutes a game, played in 98 playoff games. Protected the likes of Mats Sundin in ways people forget. Was a scary presence on the ice. But chipped in the way a normal 4th liner does. Did much more than that though in the broad sense of things.
Andrew Peters is a good example of a goon. Scored 7 (!) points in his career over 229 games. Never played in a playoff game, but played on teams who made deep playoff runs. Let that sink in. Averaged 3-4 minutes a game. Was only there to fight. That's a goon. Yeah I still love him going after Ray Emery, that will be always memorable but he was a goon. Brad May contributed, Matthew Barnaby although I hated him, contributed, Donald Brashear contributed offense as well until the last few years. Dave Schultz was a 35 point guy. But even a guy I loved like Stu Grimson, yeah, you can find someone like him in other places but who can actually play. He couldn't. Neither could Tony Twist. Those guys were goons. And there isn't a long list of them but they do exist. Most of the time there were enforcers on teams that could play well, but expansion and such added some players and these guys were thrown in, but you still want the Don Cherry model of having a balanced attack. This is why he had 11 20-goal scorers. He didn't have a guy on the bench who played three shifts and only fought. So that's my thought on the whole thing. No goon deserves the HHOF. But a guy who fought and protected his team but didn't put up elite numbers yet still had his moments.........................does he get in when you factor everything in?
Probably not I still don't think. John Ferguson tends to come to mind and 5 Cups to his name and plenty of playoff games attached to him. Thought of as an original enforcer brought in to protect the Habs' stars. I don't know if it is a coincidence that they started winning when he arrived, but they did. But he still isn't a HHOFer.
Probert is the closest to this, and while I don't call him a goon either, he still didn't put up elite offensive numbers. 62 points in 1988 and playing in an All-Star game despite leading the NHL in penalty minutes is quite impressive. Before Sergei Fedorov broke the single season Red Wings playoff points' record it wasn't Gordie Howe or Ted Lindsay or Stevie Y that held it. It was Bob Probert with 21! With everything he did by being a mere presence I think it makes him memorable and he did a heck of a lot psychologically for a team that doesn't show up on the stats sheet. For example his protection of Yzerman. Also being the champ for a long time in the ring. All of that points to a guy who was worth more than the modest points he put up, but you still can't put him in the HHOF. Marty McSorley for being Gretzky's protector would be my second choice if I had to pick one. Led the NHL in plus/minus one year.
Lastly, if you want to count Red Horner the NHL's original bad boy and a guy who was very much an enforcer as a "goon" since he led the NHL in penalty minutes 7 times. Well, he's literally a HHOFer as a defenseman. So maybe they already have one in there?