The Case for the old Carolina Hurricanes Captain: Rod Brind’Amour’s Bid for the Hockey Hall of Fame

How He Stacks Up…

The greatest challenge when constructing such a case is the criteria. There is no list of necessary requirements, much of who is bestowed this honor is simply at the behest of the already included members. Is it how many points they scored? Is it how many championships they won? Or is it simply their impact on the game as a whole?

Rod is tricky; he didn’t score the most points, he doesn’t carry a fistful of championship rings, and he doesn’t have a trophy case pouring over with MVP’s; then again, how many players actually do? With Rod, his case lies in what he did consistently, and at the highest level. And there is one aspect of Brind’Amour’s career that is undisputed; the man nearly epitomized longevity.

Through twenty-one years of NHL play Brind’Amour, who started his career in St. Louis with a 61-point season, carried that success to Philadelphia with three seasons eclipsing 80 points; culminating in a career high 97-point campaign in 1994. Rod capped his career surpassing 70 points twice, and 50 points four times, with the Carolina Hurricanes.

Brind’Amour scored 82 points in 2007, already 18 years into his career. That kind of longevity has to count for something. Not to mention that Brind’Amour’s success during his run with Carolina was often partnered with consistently deep runs in the playoffs. When put into perspective, Brind’Amour’s legacy is on par with some of the current residents of the Hockey Hall of Fame.

When Rod Brind’Amour decided to hang up his skates in 2010, he did so having played 1,484 games, with 452 goals, 732 assists for 1,184 points. For his contribution in Carolina alone, Brind’Amour holds a place in the franchise’s top five in games played, top ten in goals, top five in assists, and top five in points. This doesn’t take into account his accumulated statistical relevance to other hockey legends…

Brind’Amour is  top 60 in goals scored, ahead of Doug Gilmour, Peter Stastny and Daniel Alfreddsson. He is top 50 in assists, ahead of Dave Andreychuk, Martin St. Louis, and Peter Forsberg. Top 50 in points scored, ahead of Joe Nieuwendyk, Mike Bossy, and Bobby Hull.

All while being Top 30 in games played, ahead of Teemu Selanne, Luc Robitaille, and Joe Sakic. These comparables, all of whom are either in the hall of fame or have gained serious consideration, speak to the strength of Brind’Amour’s case.

The main counterpoint to these numbers is the argument that Brind’Amour accumulated them only because of his longevity, not because of any number of spectacular individual seasons. This argument, however, shouldn’t count against Rod’s candidacy, it should strengthen it.

Brind’Amour’s greatest hindrance to his Hall of Fame eligibility is often cited as his lack of Hart consideration, and All-Star appearances. This argument, however, should be replaced by considering him in the context of some of his greatest accomplishments.

There aren’t many hockey analysts who wouldn’t concede that Brind’Amour was consistently a premiere defensive forward during his career. Rod wasn’t just great defensively, he is a two-time Selke award winner, one of only nine players to ever achieve such a feat. Brind’Amour is also one of only two of these nine players to have over 1,000 points in their careers, the other being Sergei Fedorov.

So, when taking Brind’Amour’s career in a narrative context, he retired among the names of some of the greatest hockey players in history. Yet, many hockey media personality’s approach Brind’Amour’s career through their own experience with the sport.

They watched Gilmour and Federov dominate statistically, they experienced the magical goal scoring prowess of Mike Bossy and heard the legends of Bobby Hull, and they experienced and perpetuated the narrative that propelled the persons of Martin St. Louis and Luc Robitaille to hockey immortality.

But what is there to say about a guy who committed to playing his game, day in and day out, for 21 years at the highest level imaginable? A guy who did everything he had to do to win? A guy who would carry 6 other men on his back if he could, and lead them to the promised land because he wanted so badly to win the game he loved most dearly.

You can’t measure the heart of the man, but you can measure what it produced. His career stacks up statistically with those great names, while many of them didn’t do what Rod did in 2006; captain a young and inexperienced team to the mountaintop.

That is another argument for Rods case entirely; it can be debated that, what Rod did in 2006, built this market…