*This archive is being republished to commemorate Pierre Turgeon being elected to the Hall of Fame
The Hockey Hall of Fame class of 2023 was full of worthy electees. One player of note is former New York Islander, Pierre Turgeon.
Over a 19-year career, Turgeon played in six organizations including the Buffalo Sabres, St. Louis Blues, New York Islanders, Montreal Canadiens, Dallas Stars, and Colorado Avalanche.
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Unlike Iginla, Turgeon didn’t spend the majority of his career playing for one club, but that shouldn’t take away from just how great he was. The Canadian center remains at the top of the non-inducted players’ list with 1,327 points in 1,294 games played. No one has more points than Turgeon that is not already in the Hall of Fame.
For starters, being above a point-per-game player, in well over 1,000 career NHL games is an amazing feat of its own. Having produced that much at the highest level of play is no fluke.
Turgeon is also part of the 500-goal club, lighting the lamp 515 times in his career. This is especially interesting when compared to 2020 first-ballot Hall of Famer, Marian Hossa, who has just 10 more career goals than Turgeon, but 193 fewer points. Additionally, Hossa played 15 more games than Turgeon.
The argument here might be, “well Turgeon never won a Stanley Cup.” However, the measure of a player shouldn’t rest on whether they hoisted the Stanley Cup or not. Would it be a nice addition to the resume? Absolutely, but does that make a player like Turgeon any less than he was? Absolutely not.
The Comparables
To win the Stanley Cup, so many things have to go right for a team as a whole, so it wouldn’t be fair to assess a player’s worth on whether or not they achieved the feat. Former Quebec Nordique and Avalanche star and current Hall of Famer, Michel Goulet, was a part of that fortune when he raised the Cup in 1996 and 2001. However, Turgeon outscored Goulet by almost 200 points in his career.
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“A lot of awful good players didn’t win the Cup. What can you do?” Goulet said (from ‘Why isn’t former Avs forward Pierre Turgeon in the Hockey Hall of Fame? He and 1998 inductee Michel Goulet try to explain.,’ Denver Post, 08/11/2019). “The Cup, to me, is not a big part of being a Hall of Famer — not because I didn’t win the Cup, but in my brain, if you’re a great player for 10 to 15 years, holy cow.”
Let’s look to 2015 Hall of Fame inductee, Phil Housley. He had an incredible career amassing 1,232 points in 1,495 career games. He was named to seven All-Star games and has no personal hardware to his name.
Despite two more All-Star nominations, Turgeon eclipsed Housley in career points in fewer career games and has a personal award to his name. Turgeon, a five-time All-Star, was the first-overall selection of his draft year in 1987, and he certainly lived up to that selection.
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In the 1992-93 season, Turgeon scored 58 goals with the New York Islanders, entering the 50-goal scorers club. That year, he took home the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy, the lone individual award of his career.
The 1992-93 season proved to be the best of Turgeon’s career, but if it’s longevity that is in question, then look again. “Pierre was the best player on his team for 12 to 14 straight years,” Goulet said. “That’s elite.” If that’s not enough for you, in 17 years of his 19-year career, Turgeon averaged a point per game or better.
Over the span of his career, the center was considered one of the best at his position. In 13 of his best seasons, Turgeon was in the top 10 total points amongst centers for seven seasons, and in the top 15 for 12 seasons.
Turgeon had more credibility than some players in the Hall of Fame before his election. The 2020 Hall of Fame class was his 10th year eligible to be awarded a seat in the Hall.
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