[OT] Cam Neely -- Hall of Famer?

Did anyone see the Pens and Flyers game tonight? (Though every Flyers loss is a Senators gain, I still feel some smidgen of sympathy for a team that was clearly better than the Pens.)

Buccigross was going on about how Cam Neely deserves to be in the hall of fame... anyone agree? (Is the baseball parallel Kirby Puckett? Neely, so says Melrose, was never a first team all-star).

I think Cam Neely is a borderline case. If I had a vote, I'd cast a ballot in his favor.

I think he compares favorably to Clark Gillies. Neely in 726 regular-season games scored 395 goals, had 299 assists, plus 1241 PIMs. In 93 playoff games, he scored 57 goals and 32 assists and had 168 PIMs. In 958 regular-season games, Gillies scored 319 goals and recorded 378 assists plus 1023 PIMs. In 164 playoff games, Gillies had 47 goals, 47 assists, and 287 PIMs.

Both Gillies and Neely were great players. For much of his career, Gillies had Hall of Fame linemates, Bryan Trottier and Mike Bossy, which inflated his offensive numbers. Obviously, Gillies won four Stanley Cups, and Neely didn't win any. I think that cups won should be taken into account. However, Neely never played on a team as great as the early 80s Islanders. If the Islanders had Neely in his prime instead of Gillies in his prime, I think the same four cups would have been won. Also, Gillies was more durable than Neely. All in all, I think both men belong in the Hall of Fame.