Why is J.C. Tremblay not in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

[57special]

He should be in, in my opinion. Outside of Beliveau, no one was more important to that 1960s dynasty than him. Probably the best Hab in the 1966 playoffs, but the Conn Smythe went to losing goalie Roger Crozier instead.

He was a #1 defenseman on 5 Cup wins, or at least #1 for some of them. He was one of those bridges between the Harvey decline on defense and the Savard and Lapointe emergence on defense. How he gets forgotten in NHL history is insane. Not to mention, of all the overrated players in NHL history that we bring up on here (I often mention Hawerchuk, Lach, Bathgate, Malkin, etc.) no one ever thinks of him.

A couple things hurt him. Leaving to go to the WHA didn't help. He was a 1st team all-star in 1971, finished 5th in Norris voting in 1972 and because of his WHA decision didn't help Team Canada against the Soviets. I think if he plays in that tournament he is better remembered.

Either way, on his NHL career alone you put a guy like that in. He was around for too much success to be forgotten. One thing that has never helped him, I don't think, was that he died in 1994 at 55 years old. Maybe that keeps him out of the spotlight a bit more? I don't know.

Couldn't disagree more, as someone who lived in MTL, and watched the Habs at the time. Laperriere was a better Dman, as was Savard, even though he only played 3 full years in the 60's. Maybe even Harper. Cournoyer was more important, as was the Pocket Rocket.

He played a bit like Zidlicky did, but with worse skating. Very creative with the puck, great stick skills, but a slug on skates, and not a defensive talent, by any means. Once Savard, Lapointe, and Robinson came in he became obsolete.

 

[voyageur]

Couldn't disagree more, as someone who lived in MTL, and watched the Habs at the time. Laperriere was a better Dman, as was Savard, even though he only played 3 full years in the 60's. Maybe even Harper. Cournoyer was more important, as was the Pocket Rocket.

He played a bit like Zidlicky did, but with worse skating. Very creative with the puck, great stick skills, but a slug on skates, and not a defensive talent, by any means. Once Savard, Lapointe, and Robinson came in he became obsolete.

In any videos I have watched Tremblay is always one of the better skating d-men out there, a guy who could lead the rush, maybe not like Orr, but the Canadiens beat Orr three times in the playoffs with Tremblay as one of their top defensemen. Robinson's path never crossed Tremblay's.

 

[57special]

In any videos I have watched Tremblay is always one of the better skating d-men out there, a guy who could lead the rush, maybe not like Orr, but the Canadiens beat Orr three times in the playoffs with Tremblay as one of their top defensemen. Robinson's path never crossed Tremblay's.

Oh god no, he was very slow. Tricky as hell, with excellent puck skills, but slow. A defensive stopper he was not.

 

[Staniowski]

I think the main reason he's not in the Hall is he only has two year-end all-star selections - a 1st and a 2nd. That's not very much for that era.

I dont think it has anything to do with the WHA, other than those seasons are probably mostly ignored.

 

[seventieslord]

Tremblay's Norris voting looks much better than his all-star voting. 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 5th for the Norris sounds a lot better than "just a 1st and 2nd team all-star". Which is a truer indicator of his ability? Does it matter? For five seasons he was roughly a top 6 Blueliner and then went on to be the top defenseman in WHA history as well.

It's rare you see a defensemen whose all-star and Norris votes are so out of sync. Even the year he was a 1st team all-star, he was 3rd for the Norris. And 2nd for the Norris when a 2nd team all-star.