Jarome Iginla’s excellence probably hurts Theo Fleury’s Hall of Fame chances
By Ryan Pike
4 years agoThe Hockey Hall of Fame induction committee meets in Toronto on Tuesday morning to discuss which individual will enter its hallowed halls in November. Fans of the Calgary Flames are hoping this might finally be Theo Fleury’s year, but it seems doubtful – and some of the reasoning can be linked to the candidacy of Jarome Iginla next year.
The case for Theo Fleury
Back in 2017, Sportsnet’s Steve “Dangle” Glynn made a case for Fleury:
With that said… why isn’t Theoren Fleury in the Hockey Hall of Fame?Theo Fleury scored over 90 points four times in his career and over 100 points twice. His 1,088 points puts him 61st in career NHL scoring, just 11 points behind Glenn Anderson, a Hockey Hall of Famer who played in 45 more games and in an era with more scoring.Fleury won a Stanley Cup with Calgary in 1989 and won gold with Canada in 2002. He was top five in Hart voting twice, including once as a 22-year-old.
Fleury’s been eligible for induction since 2009, but has seen 40 players inducted while he’s sat on the sidelines.
Iggy waiting in the wings
Aside from the inevitable induction of Hayley Wickenheiser, this year’s Hall class seems pretty wide open. That’s not the case next year, when Iginla becomes eligible. Iginla’s the only 2020 first-time eligible player with over 1,000 points, so he seems primed for consideration.
This probably won’t shock you, but his resume is fantastic:
- Team excellence: no Stanley Cup, but he won two Memorial Cups, World Junior gold, World Championship gold and Olympic gold (twice). He was one of the better players on his team in each situation.
- Individual excellence: several major trophy wins – Art Ross, NHL Foundation, King Clancy, Messier Leadership, Ted Lindsay, plus two Rocket Richards.
- Great numbers: 16th all-time in goals, 34th all-time in points. Everybody who has more goals from him, aside from the still-active Alex Ovechkin, is in the Hall.
- Historical significance: Iginla is generally recognized as both the NHL’s first black captain and its first major superstar of color in the modern era. He also set up one of the biggest goals in international history, the 2010 overtime winner – the “Iggy!” goal – that won Canada an Olympic gold medal.
It’s not hyperbole to say that for several reasons Iginla is one of the most important players of the modern era.
Fleury doesn’t compare well
Here’s the issue: Iginla’s retirement ceremony in the spring made national news. The Flames did an incredible job with the celebration and while the on-ice results that night weren’t what everyone hoped for, pretty much everybody left the building with the warm-and-fuzzies from seeing Iginla’s #12 go up to the rafters.
There’s little doubt that everyone on the Hall’s induction ceremony has Iginla’s looming induction on their mind. They can’t not. And it’s inevitable that despite their best efforts, they’ll compare any potential 2019 inductees to Iginla.
Here’s Fleury’s resume:
- Team excellence: won Stanley Cup as a rookie, plus gold at the World Juniors, Canada Cup and the Olympics. He was a leader on the World Junior team, but a secondary player everywhere else.
- Individual excellence: no major NHL trophies.
- Good numbers: 57th all-time in goals, 64th all-time in points.
Historically-speaking, Fleury’s notable as a productive small player but fellow small player Martin St. Louis has a better resume due to having won several individual trophies. Heck, the two overriding historical images of Fleury are either him sliding across the ice in 1990 against Edmonton – in a series the Flames lost – or his participation in the 1987 Punch-up in Piestany brawl that saw the Canadians booted out of the World Juniors in controversial fashion.
We’ve ignored Fleury’s off-ice challenges and Iginla’s general affable nature here, because they shouldn’t matter when it comes to the Hall. There’s plenty of jerks in the Hall of Fame. But the game’s true greats cast a big shadow and with one of them likely coming in on the first ballot in 2020, it’ll make it a big challenge for players with inferior resumes to get in this year.
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