The Montreal Canadiens are well represented in the Hockey Hall of Fame, but a number of former Canadiens players also deserve attention. We are doing a series on a number of these former Habs greats who have a chance of being elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame on Wednesday, June 21.
To begin this series, we will take a look at a former Canadiens forward who has perhaps the most compelling case. That would be center Pierre Turgeon. While his stint with the Canadiens was a short part of his lengthy NHL career, the offensive minded center had an impressive stay in Montreal and a fantastic career.
Turgeon was a supremely skilled and high scoring center in Junior with the Granby Bisons. He scored 69 goals and 154 points in 58 games in his final season in the QMJHL. This resulted in him being selected first overall by the Buffalo Sabres in the 1987 NHL Draft.
The Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec native scored 14 goals and 42 points in 76 games as an NHL rookie and then added seven points in six playoff games. He broke out offensively the following season, scoring 34 goals and 88 points in 80 games and another eight points in five postseason contests.
He followed that season up with his first 100 point campaign and continued to score over a point per game almost every season from 1988-89 to 2000-01. Included in that time was Turgeon’s best season in 1992-93. He scored 58 goals and an eye-popping 132 points in 83 games for the New York Islanders that season.
His consistent offensive output was impressive, as was his ability to add points in the postseason, including the time period that came to be known as the “dead puck era.” Combining the 1999, 2000 and 2001 postseasons, Turgeon played a total of 35 playoff games and scored 35 points.
In total, Turgeon played 1294 NHL games, scored 515 goals and 1327 points. In 109 career NHL playoff games, Turgeon had 35 goals and 97 points. The only players to score more regular season goals and not get into the Hockey Hall of Fame are Pat Verbeek and Keith Tkachuk.
No one has scored more than Turgeon’s 1327 career points and been kept out of the Hall of Fame. He ranks 34th all-time in NHL points and is just ahead of no-doubt Hall of Fame players like Jarome Iginla and Jean Beliveau.
Turgeon’s time in Montreal was short-lived but he quickly showed he could handle playing on one of the biggest stages in the hockey world. In parts of three seasons, Turgeon played a total of 104 games with the Canadiens, scored 50 goals and 127 points as well as six points in six playoff games.
The only real strikes against Turgeon are the fact he never did win a Stanley Cup, he has no major awards and he did not represent his country. Of course, it was difficult to win major awards since his career overlapped with Mario Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky. While he didn’t win a Stanley Cup, he always showed up and played well in the postseason, but often fell short thanks to a couple of powerhouse teams in Detroit and Colorado.
By PPS (276), PIERRE TURGEON is tied w/Alfredsson & Kariya! Only 10 post-expansion Fs played as long (16.3 AdYrs) AND matched his production (81 AdPTS Pace).
— Paul Pidutti (@AdjustedHockey) November 12, 2022
As I noted in a blog post, having 200+GP on FOUR different teams has hurt a QUALIFIED case!#stlblues #LetsGoBuffalo pic.twitter.com/Phwmf6dfrd
Paul Pidutti has a system online where he measures whether a player deserves to be in the Hockey Hall of Fame or not. He puts Turgeon’s career on par with Daniel Alfredsson and Paul Kariya, two players who have already received the call from the Hall of Fame.
Will Turgeon be next? His point totals suggest he should be. There are not many locks to get a call this year, probably aside from Henrik Lundqvist no one is, so we could see a few players who have been passed over in recent years finally get in.
Hopefully Turgeon finally gets recognized for his incredible NHL career. We will find out Wednesday at 3:00 PM EST when the Hall of Fame committee makes their announcement.
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