Jason Spezza's Hall of Fame Case Revisited

[BlueBull]

1000 Points is commonly the threshold for a bunch of random compilers to make the Hall of Fame, and He has nearly reached it after spending alot of time in a low scoring era.

Not Saying he Should, but Is it Possible he is inducted?

-BlueBull

 

[NyQuil]

If Alfredsson gets in.

As it stands, no way does Jason get in before Alfie.

Over time you might see some of the DPE guys get better recognition after the old boys club essentially puts in everyone from the 1980s-early 1990s.

 

[JimmyApples]

Nah.

I love Spezza, but his only elite seasons were when he was the 3rd best player on his line.

 

[tarheelhockey]

If Spezza played in the high-scoring era he'd be more like a 1200 point player by now.

Vincent Damphousse had 1205 points. Jeremy Roenick had 1216. Pierre Turgeon had 1327. None of these players are in the HHOF. Here's what they have in common:

1) No Cups (except Damphousse in '93)
2) Never an award finalist let alone a winner (Turgeon's Byng doesn't count)
3) Never led the league in a statistical category, and only rarely came close
4) Played a lot of seasons in order to have those gaudy career totals
5) Not regarded as high-end leaders or underrated role players

What is Spezza's case to be inducted before them?

 

[Apotheosis]

Not a chance

 

[Scandale du Jour]

If Spezza played in the high-scoring era he'd be more like a 1200 point player by now.

Vincent Damphousse had 1205 points. Jeremy Roenick had 1216. Pierre Turgeon had 1327. None of these players are in the HHOF. Here's what they have in common:

1) No Cups (except Damphousse in '93)
2) Never an award finalist let alone a winner (Turgeon's Byng doesn't count)
3) Never led the league in a statistical category, and only rarely came close
4) Played a lot of seasons in order to have those gaudy career totals
5) Not regarded as high-end leaders or underrated role players

What is Spezza's case to be inducted before them?

I have a bunch of his rookie cards and it would increase their value... I guess that's my case

 

[surixon]

I'm a big fan of Spezza's but don't think he had the peak or the longevity of being elite to make it in.

 

[Montreal Shadow]

Nah. Most agree Corey and Getzlaf are borderline and they were both better than Spezza (at least Perry had a much higher peak).

 

[Stickpucker]

No Chance.

Rod Brindamour has 1200 pts and 2 selke seasons and isn't in.

Rod was better on both sides of the puck and would drop the gloves back in the day. Oh lets not forget his intangibles and leadership were off the charts.

 

[Fataldogg]

I'm a big fan of Spezza's but don't think he had the peak or the longevity of being elite to make it in.

If it wasn't for injuries, Spezza would have had several 100+ point seasons under his belt at his peak. To me, that would change things. But just like I usually say, you don't get credit for the games you don't play.

 

[MattMan]

Spezza definitely gets into the hall of very good. HOF? I think there's a bunch of more deserving players. I love Spez, but I think HOF is unlikely.

 

[Jee]

He'd be HoF worthy only for his dorky laugh

 

[bobbyking]

when spezza was In his peak scoring 30 goals was impressive

 

[Riddum]

The dude doesn't even have a Lady Byng in his trophy case. The HHoF is already enough of a joke, there's absolutely no way a guy like Spezza should make it.

 

[blankall]

The guy was always just kind of good in his peak. He was never even chosen for an olympic roster. No NHL awards. Played in only two all star games. 4 or so really good seasons....but still. I just don't see it. When you got to the Hall to see exhibits, you expect to be able to see some great list of accomplishments for each member. There's no real accomplishments for Spezza.

 

[WarriorofTime]

Never made a Canada olympic team (played his entire prime when NHL players went), never made a post-season All Star team, only twice made the All Star Game, two top 10 point finishes in his career (4th and 6th), one top 10 goal finish (10th exactly), played forever but wasn't good beyond his early-30s. Overall points skew heavily towards Assists. Didn't have a particularly notable two-way game, in fact he was always considered pretty bad defensively for a Center.

I always find the term "compiler" to be a bit ridiculous, but if Spezza does sneak over 1,000 career points it will almost certainly be as a result of being a "compiler" the last 6 or so years of his career when he could have retired at any point.

They can put him in if they feel like it, he would almost certainly be like in the bottom 10 % of players in though.

 

[KrisLetAngry]

Not first ballot but I think he will get in.

 

[Filatov2Kovalev2Bonk]

If Spezza played in the high-scoring era he'd be more like a 1200 point player by now.

Vincent Damphousse had 1205 points. Jeremy Roenick had 1216. Pierre Turgeon had 1327. None of these players are in the HHOF. Here's what they have in common:



What is Spezza's case to be inducted before them?

Babcock sat him for a home opener, and it would really rankle him.

Seriously though, he was part of a memorable trio with Alfredsson and Heatley. the "Pizza Line" and they had a deep playoff run. He was very good in his best days, with incredible stickhandling and passing. He's not a HOFer, because of hardware issues, but there may be room for him down the road.

 

[JianYang]

If Spezza played in the high-scoring era he'd be more like a 1200 point player by now.

Vincent Damphousse had 1205 points. Jeremy Roenick had 1216. Pierre Turgeon had 1327. None of these players are in the HHOF. Here's what they have in common:

1) No Cups (except Damphousse in '93)
2) Never an award finalist let alone a winner (Turgeon's Byng doesn't count)
3) Never led the league in a statistical category, and only rarely came close
4) Played a lot of seasons in order to have those gaudy career totals
5) Not regarded as high-end leaders or underrated role players

What is Spezza's case to be inducted before them?

Funny you mention damphousse. He's the name that came into my mind

Without damphousse getting in, I don't see a case for spezza.

Both guys were definite top line material but not quite elite. Hall of fame isn't kind to these types of players unless they were in the right place at the right time and won a bunch of cups.

In damphousse's case he even has one of those but still can't get in.

 

[JimmyApples]

If Spezza played in the high-scoring era he'd be more like a 1200 point player by now.

Vincent Damphousse had 1205 points. Jeremy Roenick had 1216. Pierre Turgeon had 1327. None of these players are in the HHOF. Here's what they have in common:

1) No Cups (except Damphousse in '93)
2) Never an award finalist let alone a winner (Turgeon's Byng doesn't count)
3) Never led the league in a statistical category, and only rarely came close
4) Played a lot of seasons in order to have those gaudy career totals
5) Not regarded as high-end leaders or underrated role players

What is Spezza's case to be inducted before them?

Being a Leaf will help his chances.

 

[KingsHockey24]

If Jason Spezza is a HOF'er does that make Jeff Carter one too?

 

[fasterthanlight]

Nahhhhhh... I can't think of any axis that Spezza is better than Marleau on... I guess career PPG, but that boils down to marleau was a goal scorer, spezza is more of a playmaker... And I think we know how HF feels about Marleau in the hall :-P

 

[Erik Alfredsson]

Spezza has never at any point been the best player on his team. Alfredsson and Heatley are really the only reasons he came close to 1000 points (where he was the 3rd best player on that line imo, him and Heatley were pretty close though). Then he had that one season where he finished 4th in points, but probably benefitted from Karlsson scoring 78 points that year.

I liked Spezza when he was with Ottawa. I respect him now too as an important member of that Toronto team. But he should not come close to the HHOF. Frankly the fact that there's even a discussion about him while his much more deserving former teammate Alfredsson is still waiting is a little insulting.

 

[Walkingthroughforest]

He's not a HHOF player. He put up some great numbers the first few years after the lockout but was never the driving force on his team, and he has zero individual or team hardware.

He had a much better career than most NHL players but he shouldn't be in the HHOF.

 

[WarriorofTime]

Being a Leaf will help his chances.

if he gets an old man Cup with the Leafs, they'll make a big hoopla over it and that will in turn give some momentum for overrating his career generally and maybe propelling him into a HOF spot.