And the initial 10 inductees to the NHL's All-Fun Hall-of-Fame are...
It’s the NHL’s Hall-of-Fame weekend, so we thought it’d be the right time to induct 10 players into our own Hall, which honors the most exciting players ever: the NHL’s All-Fun-To-Watch Hall-of-Fame, built for those electric few who had the skills to pull fans out of their seats at any given moment.
Our caveats: the official judge and jury on who gets in is 31 years old. Dit Clapper will not be making our hall, I’m sorry. These players didn’t have to win Cups or set records, they strictly had to making you think “Holy bananas, nobody else could do what that guy just did.”
Let’s enter the doors, shall we? Your suggestions for induction next year are welcome in the comments.
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Pavel Bure
| GP | G | A | P |
|---|---|---|---|
| 702 | 437 | 342 | 779 |
By far the easiest "no brainer" pick on the list. His playing style earned him the apt nickname "The Russian Rocket," because ho-lee smokes could he skate.
Sergei Fedorov
| GP | G | A | P |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1,248 | 483 | 696 | 1,179 |
With white skates, great Nike commercials, and a whole lotta style, Fedorov had wings on his chest and his feet. And he did it while be awesome defensively too, which made him infinitely valuable.
I don't pick the music, folks.
Theoren Fleury
| GP | G | A | P |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1,084 | 455 | 633 | 1,088 |
Calgary's pint-sized pistol of a forward packed a pop in his stride few could match. You never knew what he was going to do next, which his coaches may not have loved, but the fans sure did.
Bobby Orr
| GP | G | A | P |
|---|---|---|---|
| 657 | 270 | 645 | 915 |
Probably the greatest hockey player to ever live, that's all. How about those stats from the back-end?
Erik Karlsson
| GP | G | A | P |
|---|---|---|---|
| 331 | 67 | 181 | 248 |
Karlsson is an rush-generating demon. His skating through the middle is unmatched by anyone playing D today. A lot of guys can rush the puck, but nobody can create chance by doing it over, and over, and over again like him.
(Courtesy: Travis Yost)
Dominik Hasek
| GP | W | L | T | OT | SO | SV% | GAA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 735 | 389 | 223 | 82 | 32 | 81 | 0.922 | 2.2 |
Like Bure, Hasek is a non-negotiable, first ballot entrant into the All-Fun Hall. He played like a madman, which is awesome.
Paul Coffey
| GP | G | A | P |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1,409 | 396 | 1,135 | 1,531 |
Small skates worn loose sounds like a nightmare to me, but hey, apparently Coffey made them work to the tune of 1,500 points.
Denis Savard
| GP | G | A | P |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1,196 | 473 | 865 | 1,338 |
Dennis Savard is basically what happens when Patrick Kane (who very, very nearly made this list) discovers time travel and chooses the 1980's.
Alex Ovechkin
| GP | G | A | P |
|---|---|---|---|
| 694 | 430 | 400 | 830 |
For Ovechkin's first five-or-so seasons in the NHL he was basically an unmanageable hurricane that forced teams to board up the windows, wait for him to pass, and hope things weren't left too damaged after.
Billy Smith
| GP | W | L | T | SO | GAA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 680 | 305 | 233 | 105 | 22 | 3.17 |
Billy Smith was a maniac. Guys would wind up for slapshots, put their heads down, and get their clocks cleaned seconds later by a charging Smith. How fun is that?
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Honorable mentions: Ron Hextall, Guy Lafleur, Patrick Kane, Tim Thomas, Marcel Dionne, PK Subban, Paul Kariya, Al Iafrate, Bobby Hull, Brett Hull, Maurice Richard.
Feel free to add those you feel we missed below!