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Committee Chairman

Kirk Buchner, "The Committee Chairman", is the owner and operator of the site.  Kirk can be contacted at [email protected] .

Derek Stepan

Derek Stepan is among a small group of players who scored a hat trick in their debut game. He did this in 2010 with the New York Rangers and finished the year with 21 Goals and 45 Points, and it appeared that this was a stepping stone to greatness. That would not be the case.

Stepan still had a good career, but he only had one more 20-goal year (22 in 2015-16), and while he broke 50 Points six times, he never made it to 60.  After seven seasons in New York, Stepan joined Arizona in 2017-18 and his last of the aforementioned 50-point campaign.  He played three years with the Coyotes, one in Ottawa, and concluded his career with two seasons with the Carolina Hurricanes.

He amassed a respectable 515 Points in 890 Games.

Kiss, the band that made glam rock’s penchant for face painting and art, is going virtual. 50 years after it all started, the band’s current quartet of members hung up their thick-soled boots with a farewell performance at Madison Square Garden. The phrase “gone but not forgotten” can certainly be used when discussing Kiss and their influence on music. However, as it transpired, we’re not quite at that stage yet. Yes, the members of Kiss physically left the stage for the last time in December 2023, but that’s not the end. Such is the band’s iconic status and enduring appeal that future Kiss concerts will involve virtual avatars.

Much like Abba did with their virtual show in London, Kiss will continue entertaining audiences around the world without having to be on stage. The Kiss avatars made their debut at the farewell concert in New York. After Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Eric Singer, and Tommy Thayer left the stage, the avatars emerged. The virtual versions of all four members performed God Gave Rock ’n’ Roll to You, and with that, a new era was born (see video below). As the Guardian’s Michael Sun described it, we’re now witnessing the “afterlife” of Kiss.

From Long Kiss Goodbye and Virtual Hello

What’s interesting about this transition is that it’s been happening for more than a decade. The members morphed into mechanical and digital beings back in 2012 when the Kiss slot game debuted in Las Vegas. The band had been featured in movies, magazines, and more a long time before they were the focus of slot game developers. However, the live slot game was the first step towards the band’s transition into virtual reality. Indeed, the popularity of the original Kiss slot game has inspired countless spinoffs.

Fans can play KISS in some of the most popular slots online, with Play’n Go’s Kiss: Reel of Rocks rocking Canadian casino gamers since 2021 with its 50,000x jackpots. Spinning alongside more than 2,000 other slots at one of Canada’s online casinos has kept Kiss in the limelight and inspired the virtual avatars we see today. Of course, the band’s legacy doesn’t live and die with its virtual personas, Kiss has influenced artists around the world for generations.

Kiss Will Live On Forever

Nirvana and Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl has said Kiss “inspired” him to become a “rock’n’roll musician.” In fact, Esquire contributor  James S. Murphy went so far as to argue that Kiss created Indie rock. His 2014 came out on the eve of Kiss being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In it, he argues that Kiss inspired a “whole lot of boys” born “outside of big cities.” In his opinion, people like Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain weren’t inspired by Iggy Pop or Velvet Underground but by Kiss and their “spirit of rebellion.”

Some might agree with Murphy, others may have a different view. What can’t be denied, however, is that Kiss is an iconic band that’s stood the test of time. Even in the wake of countless line-up changes and two farewell tours, the band still has a place in modern culture. Whether or not the virtual era will be as successful as the previous remains to be seen. One thing that’s for sure is that famous black and white face paint will be forever immortalized in the virtual world.

Yes, we know that this is taking a while!

As many of you know, we here at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the top 50 of each major North American sports team.  That being said, we have existing Top 50 lists out, and we always consistently look to update them when we can and based on necessity.  As such, we are very happy to present our post-2023 revision of our top 50 Tampa Bay Rays.

As for all of our top 50 players in baseball, we look at the following:

1.  Advanced Statistics.

2.  Traditional statistics and how they finished in Major League Baseball.

3.  Playoff accomplishments.

4.  Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles that are not reflected in a stat sheet.

Last year, the Rays went off to a torrid start and made the playoffs but was unable to get past the first round.  There are two new entrants and several elevations, some of which are significant.  However, this is more of a reflection of the franchise’s relative youth and Tampa Bay’s propensity to unload tenured players.

As always, we present our top five, which saw no changes:

1. Evan Longoria

2. Carl Crawford

3. Ben Zobrist

4. David Price

5. Kevin Kiermaier

You can find the entire list here.

Yandy Diaz, who went to his first All-Star Game, and won his first Batting Title, skyrockets from #29 to #10.

The enigmatic Outfielder, Randy Arozarena, also made a huge jump.  An All-Star last season, Arozarena climbed to #19 from #30.

Now a two-time All-Star, Pitcher Shane McClanahan also had a giant rise in the rank.  He went from #43 to #20.

Another Pitcher, Tyler Glasnow, who is now with the Los Angeles Dodgers, went from #45 to #30.

The controversial and likely MLB-banned Wander Franco debuts (and likely ends) at #32.

Manuel Margot moved to #43 from #50 and is no longer with the Tampa Bay Rays.

The last new entrant is Isaac Parades, who enters the list at #47.

We thank you for your continued support of our lists on Notinhalloffame.com.

David Krejci

16 Season in the National Hockey League.  16 Seasons with the Boston Bruins.

Any player who stays that type of duration with one team regardless of the sport shows that he or she is very competent and very happy. The Bruins had that in David Krejci.

Krejci was a 2nd Round Pick in 2004 but honed his skills in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League before he joined the Bruins in 2016.  After a brief period in the AHL, Krejci proved his value quickly, leading the NHL in Plus /Minus (+37) in 2008-09, when he also boasted a career-high 73 Points.  Krejci never broke that mark, but he did match it in 2018-19 and had four other years where he broke at least 60.  Krejci also had a second Plus/Minus Title (+39) in 2013-14).

Where Krejci shined brightest was in the NHL post-season.  Krejci was the leading scorer in the 2010-11 Playoffs (23) in the year where the Bruins won it all.  He also was the leader in Game-Winning Goals with 4.  He also was the league-leader in Playoff Points in 2012-13 (26) and also recorded the most Assists (17). 

Overall, in the regular season, Krejci compiled 786 Points in 1,032 Games and was lauded for his two-way play and hockey IQ.  Internationally, Krejci represented the Czech Republic multiple times, including three Olympics and won two Bronze Medals for his nation.

Krejci will not be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, but we hope that the Bruins honor him one day.