There is an absolutely huge discrepancy in representation at the Hockey Hall of Fame with the majority of players being born or raised in Canada. It makes me wonder if there should be a separate entity of the Hall of Fame that celebrates the careers of players not born and raised in North America and induct 10 or so players that haven't been elected yet to balance things out a bit more. I was born in 83 but I feel like Alex Mogilny, Peter Bondra, Sergei Gonchar, Tomas Vokoun, Pavol Demitra, Jere Lehtinen, Arturs Irbe, Ziggy Palffy and of course some others are absolutely among the best players ever from their respective countries. Canada seems over represented while other countries lack of inductees and in some cases no inductees at all appears to be an oversight.
There is a lot of low cards in that deck. I don't think just because a player is from a weaker hockey country and he is perhaps the best to come from there that it should be a reason to induct him.
I voted yes in this poll because I can think of at least a couple that probably should be in. Boris Mikhailov comes to mind.
Palffy, Irbe, Lehtinen, Demitra and Vokoun for sure no.
That leaves Bondra, Mogilny and Gonchar. I say no to Bondra, although he has a minority of supporters. I just don't see it. He barely cracked 500 goals, and he really was the definition of a one-trick pony.
Mogilny is a guy who for whatever reason people have forgotten his career, and the perception he had during it. He had a lot of lousy seasons in a row, and his great ones were too far apart and too few. He probably should have been better, more consistent. But it almost seemed as if he coasted and had a "meh" attitude about being elite. I swear it seemed like every time Mogilny was on a rush he was going to score. You felt that way at least. But he didn't and left you wanting more. Mogilny in what should have been his prime was anything but a player at his best.
That leaves the guy who is the closest chance in my opinion and that's Gonchar. I can't put him ahead of Zubov. And Zubov barely squeaked in and was a supreme playoff performer too. Gonchar was good in the playoffs as well, but then again, what did he do that Zubov didn't? I just don't think he had enough great years. He was as 2nd team all-star twice. That's it. And these were some weak years too. It was the years Lidstrom was winning the Norris over and over. There should have been some better Norris finishes for him. I love the fact that when he did well his team went far in the playoffs (1998, 2008, 2009) and that even Crosby and Malkin looked lost early in the 2008-'09 season when he was hurt most of the year. But a HHOFer?
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