Yzerman, Hull and Robitaille make Hall of Fame

To the surprise of no one, former Red Wings Steve Yzerman, Brett Hull and Luc Robitaille were each inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame today. The following is a brief bio of their careers:

Yzerman- He will forever be known as the Captain and the man who played a large part in the turnaround from the Dead Wings era into the Stanley Cup era. It was his commitment to defense under Scotty Bowman that completed that turnaround and helped establish the tradition today of our best offensive players also being our best defensive players. He played in 9 All-Star games (spanning from 1984 to 2000), won the Lester B. Pearson Award in 1989 as the player's choice for MVP, won the Conn Smythe trophy in 1998 as playoff MVP, won the Selke Trophy in 2000 for the best defensive forward in the game, and won the Bill Masterton Trophy in 2003 for perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey. He also made the All-Rookie team in 1984, and was a postseason All-Star 1st team in 2000 (it should be noted, though, that his competition for the majority of his career for the center spot on the 1st and 2nd spot on those postseason all-star teams were Gretzky and Mario Lemieux. Good luck with that). The Captain also scored 692 goals (8th all time), 1,063 assists (7th all time) and 1,755 points (6th all time). On top of that, he also won 3 Stanley Cups and scored 20 points or more 3 times in the postseason.

Hull- He was only a member of the Wings for 3 years and was well past his prime when he joined us in the summer of 2001. But, he did score 10 goals during the 2002 postseason and was instrumental in helping us win the 2002 Stanley Cup by playing on a line with unproven players like Pavel Datsyuk and Boyd Devereaux. Despite his reputation as only a premier goal scorer, he also finished with assist totals of 33, 39 and 43 during his tenure with the Wings, and even played on the penalty kill. For his career, he had 741 goals (3rd all time), 650 assists (56th all time) and 1,391 points (21st all time). He was an 8-time All Star, 3-time 1st team postseason All Star, won the Lady Byng Trophy for gentlemanly play in 1990, and the MVP award in 1991 (when he lit up the league for 86 goals. 86.) In addition to his regular season success, he won two Cups (one with the Wings and one with Dallas in 1999 when he had the GWG in overtime of game 6 to end the series).

Robitaille- Lucky Luc played for two seasons with the Wings mostly in a bottom 6 role. During the Cup run in 2002, he was on the 4th line with Igor Larionov and Holmstrom (yeah, that team was stacked. Two Hall of Fame players on the 4th line). But, he did have 30 goals in his first season with us before he fell off in 2002-2003 with only 11 goals. He also never had a fan in Scotty Bowman because of his below average defense. But, he came to Detroit to get a Cup, and he did that. I doubt he has any complaints. And, despite being drafted in the 9th round in the 1984 draft, he ended up becoming the leading LW goal scorer of all time with 668 career goals as a part of the Kings, Penguins, Rangers and Wings organizations (14 seasons with the Kings.) He also was an 8 time All Star, 9 time postseason All Star (there was not much competition at LW during his prime) and won the Calder Memorial trophy for the NHL's top rookie in 1987. In addition to his 668 career goals (10th all time), he had 726 assists (44th all time), and 1,394 points (20th all time). And, of course, he won the Cup with the Wings during that magical 2002 season.

-Other members of that 2002 team who have or will make the Hall of Fame include:

Scotty Bowman-coach
Ken Holland-Builder
Chris Chelios-Defenseman
Nick Lidstrom-Defenseman
Dominik Hasek-Goalie
Brendan Shanahan- Forward
Sergei Fedorov-Forward
Igor Larionov-Forward

So, that would make 9 players, or nearly half of the every day line-up that will make the Hall of Fame. And, the coach is already in, and Ken Holland will make it one day. Amazing. There is also a chance that Pavel Datsyuk makes the Hall of Fame. But, he probably needs another 5-6 years as a point-a-game player while providing Selke-like defense. If he does that, he will be player #10 from that team for the ages.