One of the game’s greatest and earliest Middle Linebackers has left us.

It was announced today that Sam Huff died at the age of 87, eight years after he was diagnosed with dementia.

An All-American at the University of West Virginia, Huff was a Third Round Pick in 1956, selected by the New York Giants, but he quickly grew frustrated by how he was used, or rather wasn’t.  Giants Assistant Coach, and defensive whiz, Vince Lombardi, recognized how to use Huff, and he became one of the game’s early Middle Linebackers as the cornerstone of the 4-3 Defense, a new scheme at the time.

The Giants went on to win the NFL Championship that year, and with Huff in tow, they appeared in four more Title Games.  Huff went to four Pro Bowls with two First Team All-Pros as a Giant, and in 1964, the year he joined the Washington Redskins, he was a Pro Bowler for the fifth time.  He continued to play until 1969, with a year off in 1968.

Huff was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1980 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1982.  He is also a member of the 1950s All-Decade Team, the Washington Football Team Ring of Fame, the New York Giants Ring of Honor, and his number 75 was retired by the Mountaineers.

We here a Notinhalloffame.com would like to give our condolences to the family, friends and fans of Sam Huff.

The ECHL has announced the four new members of their Hall of Fame, who make up the 14^th official class.  This group consists of Ray Harris, Brett Marietti, Joel Martin and Tim Nowak.

Ray Harris bought the Cincinnati Cyclones in 2002, where he has served as not only the team owner but President and CFO.  Under his tenure, the Cyclones have won two Kelly Cups, won four divisions, and has increased attendance.

Brett Maretti played ten years in the ECHL, namely 550 Games with the South Carolina Stingrays (1994-2003).  He led the Stingrays to Kelly Cup wins in 1997 and 2001, and had 481 Points in the league.

Joel Martin played parts of ten years in the ECHL (Columbus, Trenton, Augusta, Elmira and Kalamazoo) and is second all-time in the ECHL in Minutes Played (22,962), third in Games Played (394) and fourth in Wins (199). 

Tim Nowak becomes the third official to make the ECHL HOF.  He would later also make it to the NHL, where he worked over 1,700 Games.

The quartet will be inducted on January 17, 2022 in Jacksonville, Florida.

We here a Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate the newest members of the ECHL Hall of Fame.

Yes, we know that this is taking a while!

As many of you know, we here at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the 50 of each major North American sports team.  We have a new one to unveil today, that of the Nashville Predators. 

The Predators made their debut in 1998, bringing hockey to the Volunteer State.

As a new team, the Predators have not yet won a Stanley Cup, but they did make it to the Finals in 2017 and have one of the more dedicated fan bases in American hockey.

Our Top 50 lists in hockey look at the following:

1.  Advanced Statistics.

2.  Traditional statistics and how they finished in the National Hockey League.

3.  Playoff accomplishments.

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

Remember, this is ONLY based on what a player does on that particular team and not what he accomplished elsewhere and also note that we have placed an increased importance on the first two categories.

This list is updated up until the end of the 2020/2021 Season.

The complete list can be found here, but as always, we announce our top five in this article.  They are:

1. Shea Weber

2. Pekka Rinne

3. Roman Josi

4. David Legwand

5. Kimmo Timonen

We will continue our adjustments on our existing lists and will continue developing our new lists.  

Look for our more material coming soon!

As always, we thank you for your support.

Yes, we know that this is taking a while!

As many of you know, we here at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the 50 of each major North American sports team.  We have a new one to unveil today, that of the Los Angeles Kings. 

The Los Angeles Kings were part of the first wave of NHL expansion in 1967, but despite being in the second-largest market in the United States, Hockey took decades to gain traction in the area.

The Kings did have stars, such as Marcel Dionne, but the trade for Wayne Gretzky made the Kings the must-watch team of the late 80s and early 90s.  The Kings made the 1993 Stanley Cup Finals, losing to Montreal, but the sport was cemented in Southern California.

In the early 2010s, the Kings were a far more complete team, and they would win it all in 2012 and 2014, with squads full of future Hall of Famers and role players.

Our Top 50 lists in hockey look at the following:

1.  Advanced Statistics.

2.  Traditional statistics and how they finished in the National Hockey League.

3.  Playoff accomplishments.

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

Remember, this is ONLY based on what a player does on that particular team and not what he accomplished elsewhere and also note that we have placed an increased importance on the first two categories.

This list is updated up until the end of the 2020/2021 Season.

The complete list can be found here, but as always, we announce our top five in this article.  They are:

1. Marcell Dionne

2. Luc Robitaille

3. Wayne Gretzky

4. Drew Doughty

5. Anze Kopitar

We will continue our adjustments on our existing lists and will continue developing our new lists.  

Look for our more material coming soon!

As always, we thank you for your support.