Posted on 06/08/2005 3:36:33 PM PDT by Dan from Michigan
Neely elected to Hockey's Hall of Fame
By Associated Press
Wednesday, June 8, 2005 - Updated: 04:33 PM EST
TORONTO - Former Boston Bruins star Cam Neely, the late Valeri Kharmalov and Murray Costello were named to the Hockey Hall of Fame on Wednesday.
Neely and Kharmalov, a former Russian superstar who died in 1981, will enter in the players category. Costello, former president of the Canadian Hockey Association, goes in as a builder.
Among eligible candidates - three years beyond retirement - with solid reputations who weren't picked for induction were Glenn Anderson, Steve Larmer, Dino Cicarelli, Kevin Lowe and Doug Wilson.
Neely, a hard-hitting, sharp-shooting power forward, was drafted in 1983 by Vancouver. He played three years for the Canucks before he was traded to Boston, where he played 10 seasons, scoring 50 or more goals three times.
His career was cut short by health problems that began with a thigh injury in the 1991 Eastern Conference finals.
He played in just 22 games over the next two seasons. But made an amazing comeback in the 1993-94 season, reaching 50 goals in the 44th game - third fastest in NHL history.
He retired in 1996 because of chronic hip problems.
The Bruins retired his No. 8 jersey in 2004.
What is this "hawk-eee" you speak of????
You can add Gord Kluzak to that mix, too. He was a can't-miss prospect drafted #1 overall out of the storied Notre Dame Prep School in Saskatchewan back in the early 1980s, but his career was cut short after a couple of serious knee injuries in his first few seasons.
January 15, 1988. I was at Boston Garden. Montreal vs. Bruins. O ver 100 minutes of penalties in the first period. Kluzak got into it with I believe Chris Chelios. They both go to the box. They both jaw at each other. Kluzak goes over the glass and fights again with Chelios. Boston PD get into the act.
The best NHL game I ever attended.
Then you have the guys like Messier who throw elbows and use the stick behind the play, away from the play and instead of the play. For Messier the stick work was okay because commentators and anylists alike would excuse it as "that's just the way he plays." IMO that's more punk than what Ulfie did.
He didn't have goons protecting him either. He'd get slashed, speared punched etc. for the way he played, that was his punishment instead of dropping the gloves. Claude perfected the art of the turtle, Messier has protection with and without stripes on their shirts. Just because a guy doesn't throw down doesn't make him any more dirty than a guy who does. It makes him prettier.
I agree, Probert had some skill too when he chose to use it. He wasn't a Hart Trophy candidate by any means, but he could have been a steady 15 goal scorer if he hadn't let the booze get to him. His play suffered greatly after that and he became little more than a side show.
[...if he hadn't let the booze get to him. His play suffered greatly after that...]
Life lesson.
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