Carolina Hurricanes: Should Rod Brind’Amour be in the Hall of Fame?

It can be argued that the former Carolina Hurricanes captain is a hall of fame player, but he doesn’t reside in the hall. Should he have been inducted?

His number hangs from the rafters at PNC Arena. He is part of the Philadelphia Flyers hall of fame. He won back to back Selke trophies as the leagues best defensive forward. He captured the Stanley cup in 2006, yet Rod Brind’amour has always split opinions when asking about putting him in the Hall of Fame in Toronto.

Brind’amour tallied 452 goals and 732 assists for a total of 1184 points over his 1484 games in the National Hockey League. That puts him 51st all-time in points. His offensive output, by most standards, was sublime.

So if his offense was sublime and his defense was rated one of the best among forwards, as proven by the back-to-back Selke trophies won in 2005-06 and 2006-07, where’s the argument?

Well, it starts with the quality of Brind’amour as a player. Hall of Fame players usually has that iconic moment that defines their career. Brind’amour never had that special goal or a special play that defined his impact on the game. Although he made his mark on games often, the quality on display is one of the major arguments as to why Brind’amour isn’t in the NHL building in Toronto.

People are often quick to then bring up what Brind’amour did as a leader around the sport. He did captain a team that was picked to finish last in its division to a Stanley Cup Championship. He also helped lead a team to a Finals appearance in 2002 and again to an Eastern Conference Finals in 2009.

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He always seemed to help lead the team when we talk about Carolina’s best moments in franchise history.

There’s also the argument of everything in between. In 2002, he helped Carolina make the Cup finals. 2006 he helped the Canes capture the cup. In 2009, he helped the team to the Conference Finals. What about the years in between? The years Carolina missed the playoffs, they don’t reflect so kindly on Brind’amours effect on the team.

So should Brind’amour sit in the hall of fame? In my opinion, he should not. Hall of Fame consideration is preserved for the best of the best. Someone like Ron Francis is a hall of fame player. But there is a large gulf in ability between Francis and Rod.

This isn’t to say Rod wasn’t a phenomenal player but was he one of the best in Hockey history? I don’t think so. Please tell me why you disagree.

Question for Cardiac Cane readers: Do you think Rod Brind’amour should reside in Hockey’s Hall of Fame?