For some reason I find Bure in the HOF a bit weird. I get that he's an immense talent and his stats per game are good too (though it's always easier to have good stats per game if you don't play well past your prime), but... I dunno, I can't put my finger on it. Maybe it's because he only went to the playoffs five times, ever, and he was on those late 90's Canucks teams which had a lot of talent but failed miserably.
Very glad Adam Oates got in. Obviously Sakic was the class of this year, but of the eligible guys, I think Oates impressed me the second most. He was just an incredibly gifted passer, and that's an ability I think a lot of hockey followers underrate due to goals being flashier.
Unlike most of the reaction I've seen, I actually consider Sundin vs. Shanahan a tossup, but maybe that's just years and years of Toronto-biased CBC coverage subtly brainwashing me! More seriously, though, I think one difference is that Sundin was "the guy" in Toronto. Shanahan was rarely ever "the guy" anywhere... the one who faced the most pressure or was keyed in on by opposing the checkers. Now there's not necessarily any shame in that (Ron Francis was that on the 90's Penguins after all, and he's one of the all-time greats), but I bet it's a reason as to why Sundin got in despite inferior numbers and arguably a less complete game.
--
The RPG Duelling League: www.rpgdl.com
An unparalleled source for RPG information and discussion