Is Nikolai Khabibulin A HOF'er ?

[ted2019]

He has 1 cup and 306 wins and His GAA is 2.68 with 41 SO, but He's basically a .500 goalie for His career. Does He have a shot ?

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[Hawkey Town 18]

I would say he has absolutely no shot as he stands now. And even if he did go on to play several more years, they would have to be some GREAT years to get him in. In other words, pretty much no chance.

 

[seventieslord]

Like JohnnyD said.

As-is: No chance.
A few more great seasons: Little to no chance.
Three straight Vezinas: Then I guess he's in, but that won't happen.

 

[reckoning]

No. There's several other goalies with more impressive credentials who aren't in (i.e. Barrasso, Vachon, Vernon, Richter, Joseph).

 

[Ogopogo*]

Nope.

 

[Big Phil]

Will always be considered a very good goalie but never once has been great. And looking back on his career it's always been very good, not great. He's talented, not great. You get the picture. But he does have one threshold almost a must for goalies seeking the HHOF: A Cup. He played very well for Tampa in 2004. But this is the one thing I don't like about him. Twice in his career he has left teams that were on the cusp of something great (Tampa and Chicago). Both times he's gone to far inferior teams for a paycheque. Yes he won the Cup and THEN left with Tampa but I thought with a goalie they were good enough to win again. That's always bugged me about Khabby. So in closing, no he won't be in the HHOF

 

[xtr3m]

Nice guy
Won't make it

 

[seventieslord]

Will always be considered a very good goalie but never once has been great. And looking back on his career it's always been very good, not great. He's talented, not great. You get the picture. But he does have one threshold almost a must for goalies seeking the HHOF: A Cup. He played very well for Tampa in 2004. But this is the one thing I don't like about him. Twice in his career he has left teams that were on the cusp of something great (Tampa and Chicago). Both times he's gone to far inferior teams for a paycheque. Yes he won the Cup and THEN left with Tampa but I thought with a goalie they were good enough to win again. That's always bugged me about Khabby. So in closing, no he won't be in the HHOF

I don't know that it has anything to do with his legacy as a great goalie. But like you said, he's not good enough.

 

[MXD]

Barasso isn't in, so Bulin doesn't get in.
Heck, Kolzig isn't in so Bulin doesn't get in.

 

[Coldplay]

No way.

 

[Big Phil]

I don't know that it has anything to do with his legacy as a great goalie. But like you said, he's not good enough.

It doesn't really but I'm more thinking along the lines of "what if" when it comes to him. Would we look at him a little different if he was on Tampa for two Cups and played just as good in the second one as the first? Then perhaps he is still on Chicago now with their high Cup hopes. Maybe he gets the "championship" label or "winner" label stuck on him which alone would propel him into HHOF discussion (kind of what people might think of Osgood now).

Like Osgood I don't think that would still get him into the HHOF, but imagine if he won a pair of Cups on Tampa, and is currently on Chicago and that scary stacked team. It certainly wouldn't be crazy to project a HHOF future then

 

[Jumptheshark]

when hell freezes over or every southern team sells out all 41 homes in a season

 

[MXD]

It doesn't really but I'm more thinking along the lines of "what if" when it comes to him. Would we look at him a little different if he was on Tampa for two Cups and played just as good in the second one as the first? Then perhaps he is still on Chicago now with their high Cup hopes. Maybe he gets the "championship" label or "winner" label stuck on him which alone would propel him into HHOF discussion (kind of what people might think of Osgood now).

Like Osgood I don't think that would still get him into the HHOF, but imagine if he won a pair of Cups on Tampa, and is currently on Chicago and that scary stacked team. It certainly wouldn't be crazy to project a HHOF future then

Y'know, Barasso isn't in, and I just think he was better in the regular season as well...

 

[Psycho Papa Joe]

List of guys I've seen that were as good or better that are retired and aren't in yet. In no particular order:

Joseph
Barasso
Vachon
Resch
Vernon
Liut
Richter
Beezer
Kolzig
Peeters
Moog


But that said, a number of these guys were as good or better than Cheevers, so who the hell knows what might happen.

 

[panorama01*]

Khabibulin is better than Barrasso and his stats are better than Joseph's and unlike Joseph he won a Stanley Cup, which is what seems to matter so much and is why someone like Fuhr is there. His numbers are similar to Kolzig's only that Kolzig never won that cup either. He is better than the overrated Vernon and his numbers are better than Richter's.

Some impute bad motives for his movements but he had no choice in the matter for the cases cited. Tampa Bay needed to shed people for the salary cap and Tortorella seemed to have this thing for Grahame at the time. As for Chicago, they had no room for him under the salary cap either. They were committed to Huet. One can blame Khabibulin for his difficulties that caused the Hawks to get Huet, but this suggestion that he's a money-grabbing Russian and that's why he should be condemned I think is unfair. I also notice that there is impatience for recent American goalies of note to be acknowledged (Richter, Barrasso in particular).

 

[Crosbyfan]

Solid career. Unfair to even ask the HOF question though.

 

[jiboy]

hes not a hall of famer

 

[Caeldan]

Not even close.
The guy only ever played great in contract years, pretty much every other year of his career is mediocre or only good.

 

[thefifthsedin*]

Tampa Bay needed to shed people for the salary cap and Tortorella seemed to have this thing for Grahame at the time. As for Chicago, they had no room for him under the salary cap either. They were committed to Huet. One can blame Khabibulin for his difficulties that caused the Hawks to get Huet

if you're the 'second choice', cap or no cap, behind grahame and huet ... well, you'll have a hof problem

but he has pretty good merits ...

olympic gold, yes
cup, yes
300 wins, yes
ridiculous nickname, yes

 

[Marotte Marauder]

Khabibulin is better than Barrasso

????

Khabibulin: 1 cup, no major awards, 299 wins

Barrasso: 2 cups, Calder winner, Vezina winner, Jennings winner, 369 wins.

Yup, Habby is better.

 

[DFF]

Khabibulin is better than Barrasso and his stats are better than Joseph's and unlike Joseph he won a Stanley Cup, which is what seems to matter so much and is why someone like Fuhr is there. His numbers are similar to Kolzig's only that Kolzig never won that cup either. He is better than the overrated Vernon and his numbers are better than Richter's.

Some impute bad motives for his movements but he had no choice in the matter for the cases cited. Tampa Bay needed to shed people for the salary cap and Tortorella seemed to have this thing for Grahame at the time. As for Chicago, they had no room for him under the salary cap either. They were committed to Huet. One can blame Khabibulin for his difficulties that caused the Hawks to get Huet, but this suggestion that he's a money-grabbing Russian and that's why he should be condemned I think is unfair. I also notice that there is impatience for recent American goalies of note to be acknowledged (Richter, Barrasso in particular).

there is so much wrong with this post.

Khabi is not better than Barraso
Fuhr was a great goalie
Vernon is not overrated

 

[seventieslord]

I'd love to hear how Khabibulin is better than Barrasso. Or what he's done that Joseph hasn't, aside from the cup.

 

[Psycho Papa Joe]

I'd love to hear how Khabibulin is better than Barrasso. Or what he's done that Joseph hasn't, aside from the cup.

Yeah, Khabibulan is basically Osgood with less cups. Good goalies, but amongst the worst to win cups.

 

[panorama01*]

In the late '90s, early '00s, Khabibulin was considered to be one of the league's top goalies - mentioned along with the likes of Roy, Hasek and Brodeur. Osgood and Barrasso were never so considered, except perhaps when Barrasso started out in 1983 or so. Barrasso is supremely overrated. He cost the Penguins the possibility of a third cup in 1993. He lost the starting job in Pittsburgh to Ken Wregget. He showed that Ron Tugnutt was better than him after he was traded to Ottawa.

Khabibulin however crossed paths with a stingy Coyotes franchise and as it would not sign him he sat out nearly two years during his prime. From 99 to 01, he played only two games for Tampa Bay at the end of '01. Through most of '01-'02 he had a .930 save percentage not unlike one Hart and Vezina Trophy winner...

Khabibulin played in Winnipeg, Phoenix, Tampa Bay, Chicago and Edmonton... with the exception of Chicago, he played on the league's fringes and even in Chicago that's when the old regime was still there and it was not very good. Only in his third year there were they back, so to speak, as a "relevant" franchise. Now some will blame him for its not being revived immediately after his arrival as he was supposed to be some kind of messiah but the goaltender can only do so much - notice that the Hawks improved remarkably after a coaching change last year.

At any rate, Khabibulin's career stops will be held against him just as Tomas Vokoun will not benefit from his playing in Nashville and Florida ... I remember when they said he would be better than Theodore, and they sure were right about that.

 

[panorama01*]

????

Khabibulin: 1 cup, no major awards, 299 wins

Barrasso: 2 cups, Calder winner, Vezina winner, Jennings winner, 369 wins.

Yup, Habby is better.

Barrasso started off on the excellent defensive Buffalo Sabres and won the Calder and Vezina immediately in 1983-84 and became some great new phenom at age 19. The next year, the Sabres' goalies won the Jennings. After that, his stats were awful for several years and the Sabres replaced him with Darren Puppa. He then benefited from playing on the Mario Lemieux Penguins that were improved through management's astute moves in 1991 and 1992, as well as the arrival of Jaromir Jagr. He blew the 1993 playoffs - it's well-known that if not for Barrasso's goaltending David Volek would not have had a chance to eliminate the Penguins in game seven in overtime.

Jose Theodore won a Hart and a Vezina - clearly he should be in the Hall of Fame, isn't that right?