New York Rangers: Making a Hall of Fame case for Sergei Zubov
The former New York Rangers defenseman was a key cog of their 1994 Stanley Cup winning team. He is one of the greatest offensive defensemen in NHL history and should be recognized as such.
There are certain players in each sport that seemingly get the short end of the stick when it comes to the Hall of Fame debate even though their numbers say they are worthy. In football that man for years was Terrell Owens. Owens ranks eighth all time in receptions, second in yards and third in receiving touchdowns. Due to his reputation with the media, it took him years to be voted in.
In baseball, Edgar Martinez is one of, if not, the greatest DH of all time, but due to the position’s stigma, he’s been on the ballot for 10 years to no avail. You could also make the argument for the Bonds/Clemens duo but I’m an anti-steroid guy so I will not.
In hockey, there are a few guys who may have been wronged by the Hall of Fame voters, but the one that really stands out to me is Sergei Zubov.
When you look at the numbers, it is an absolute absurdity that he does not have a plaque in Toronto’s Hockey Hall of Fame.
The Resume
Zubov has the 12th most points of any Russian born player in NHL history. His .72 points per game is the best points per game average of any Russian defensemen in NHL history. Overall in NHL history, only 18 defensemen have tallied more career points than the former New York Ranger and of players to play 1,000 career games, only 13 averaged more points per game.
The Rangers had Zubov for parts of three seasons after drafting him in the fifth round of the 1990 NHL Entry Draft. In 165 games as a Blueshirt, Zubov tallied 155 points as he and Brian Leetch joined forces to create the best defensive pairing in team history.
The Rangers dealt Zubov and Petr Nedved to the Penguins for Ulf Samuelsson and Luc Robitaille in the summer of 1995 in one of the worst trades in team history. He spent one season with the Penguins and was dealt to the Stars a year later. Zubov would spend his last 12 NHL seasons in Dallas. He tallied 549 points in 839 games with the Stars before leaving the league after the 2008-09 season.
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Zubov was a four-time NHL All Star, making the squad in 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2008. In 2006, he made the all NHL second team. Zubov won an Olympic gold medal in 1992. He never won a Norris trophy, but he was a finalist in 2006.
And when it came to the playoffs, not many defensemen performed nearly as well as Zubov. He is a two-time Stanley Cup Champion who earned his rings with the ’94 Rangers and ’99 Stars. He notched the 12th most points among defensemen in playoff history. In fact, only 19 defenders have played in more playoff games. Of those 19, only four of them (Al Maclnnis, Dennis Potvin, Paul Coffey and Ray Bourque) averaged more points per playoff game than Zubov.
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Without question, Zubov was one of the scariest offensive defenseman to ever play the game. He could skate with the best of them, play very respectably in his own end and was like a fourth forward when he had the puck on his stick. It is an absolute atrocity that his name hasn’t been called yet. The members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association need to fix this when they vote on the 2018 ballot.