Mark Recchi spent 22 years in the NHL. He’ll need to wait at least one more to find out whether he’s a Hall of Famer.
Recchi failed Monday to garner the votes necessary for induction in the Hockey Hall of Fame, falling short for the third time since he became eligible in 2014.
While the four members of the Hall’s Class of 2016 — forwards Eric Lindros and Sergei Makarov, goalie Rogie Vachon and head coach Pat Quinn — all are deserving of the honor, it’s difficult to look at Recchi’s résumé and believe he isn’t, too.
Recchi won Stanley Cups with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Carolina Hurricanes and Boston Bruins, topped the 100-point plateau three times, and he was tremendously reliable and consistent throughout a career that spanned more than two decades. After playing 15 games as a rookie, he skated in at least 69 games in 20 of his final 21 seasons and 80 or more games in 14 of those.
Though his gaudy offensive numbers tailed off as his career progressed, Recchi still ranks among the NHL’s top 20 in points (12th), goals (20th) and assists (15th), as well as fourth in games played. Of the 11 players with higher point totals than him, only the still-active Jaromir Jagr has yet to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. (And Jagr will be a shoo-in if and when he ever decides to retire.)
“I think I played pretty well for a long time, had some great years and did some good things,” Recchi told Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Sunday as he awaited the announcement. “If it’s good enough, it’s good enough. If not, we’ll see.”
Some other notable snubs from the 2016 Hall of Fame class:
Paul Kariya: 989 games, 402 goals, 587 points
Jeremy Roenick: 1363 games, 513 goals, 703 assists
Dave Andreychuk: 1639 games, 640 goals, 698 assists
Alexander Mogilny: 990 games, 473 goals, 559 assists
Chris Osgood: 744 games, 2.49 goals against average, .905 save percentage
Thumbnail photo via Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports Images
