Who’s the next Calgary Flames alumnus to reach the Hockey Hall of Fame?

Mike Vernon will join the annals of hockey greats on Monday night when he’s inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Vernon becomes the 12th Flames alumnus inducted as a player (and joins seven individuals inducted as builders).

Now that Vernon’s in, who’s next as far as Flames Hall of Fame inductees are concerned?

He only spent 22 games with the Flames in 2017-18, but he still counts. Jagr ranks fourth in NHL history in games and goals, and second in points. He’s won oodles of individual awards, plus two Stanley Cups and two Olympic medals. He’s quite simply one of the top handful of players in the history of the NHL.

Jagr’s 51 and still playing. He’ll be inducted whenever he decides to stop playing.

Joseph joined the Flames mid-season during 2007-08, playing nine games during the regular season and two in the playoffs as Miikka Kiprusoff’s backup. That stint came near the end of a very long, productive NHL career. He’s seventh in NHL history in wins, and five of the six goalies with more wins are in the Hall of Fame already – the other guy is Marc-Andre Fleury, who’s a shoo-in whenever he retires.

Fleury was basically the reason to watch the Flames during the 1990s, playing the game with equal measures skill and ferocity. Despite being generously listed at 5’6″ and 170 pounds, he battled his way to a superb NHL career during stops with Calgary, Colorado, the NY Rangers and Chicago, and managed to do it all while dealing with some mental health and substance abuse challenges.

Despite everything he had to deal with, he’s 67th all-time in points and tied for 60th in goals. Pierre Turgeon, who has 60 more goals than Fleury, just got into the Hall, so it might take awhile for Fleury.

Roberts has slightly worse boxcar stats than Fleury, but he also had a strong NHL career. Roberts played over 1,200 games, racked up 900 points and won a Stanley Cup despite dealing with a slew of injuries, becoming known for his superb fitness levels that allowed him to extend his playing career into his 40s. Post-retirement, he’s become a fixture around the NHL as a fitness and training consultant.

We’re going to bang this drum forever: Loob should be in the Hall of Fame. A hockey icon in Sweden, Loob was one of the best players in their domestic leagues during his playing career. He came over to join the Flames between 1983 and 1989, becoming the first Swedish player to score 50 goals in the NHL, and winning a Stanley Cup in 1989. Inducting Loob would be a major argument in favour of the “it’s not the NHL Hall of Fame, it’s the Hockey Hall of Fame” viewpoint.