Dion Phaneuf: Future Hall of Famer No.7

In this ten part series, I will be dissecting ten different careers thus far. The series is fully called “Players Ages 28 and Younger who will end up in the Hall of Fame.”  Feel free to argue a selection or the rankings at the end of the series.

Dion Phaneuf is a really tough guy, who is very hard to play against.

Okay, let’s try that again.

Dion Phaneuf is one of the toughest, most intimidating NHL defensemen to play against, says one NHL player.

Phaneuf, like many players, started playing hockey at an extremely young age.  When he was fifteen, he played in the AMBHL (Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League), scoring 65 points in just 35 games. 

This led him to the WHL, where he played for the Red Deer Rebels.  In 255 career games in the WHL, Phaneuf recorded 64 goals, 82 assists, 146 points, and 554 penalty minutes.  These stats astounded the Calgary Flames, who decided to pick him ninth overall in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft.

Phaneuf continued to play in the WHL, and was named the third-best prospect in the NHL by The Hockey News in February 2005, behind Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin.

In his first year in the NHL, Double Ds recorded 49 points in 82 games, earning him a Calder Trophy nomination.  However, he fell behind in the glory of Crosby and Ovechkin, leaving him third in the voting.  In any other year, he most likely would have won the Calder Trophy—but not in 2005.

This year, Phaneuf signed a six-year contract extension with the Flames, worth $6.5 million per year.  In 2007, a poll of NHL players named Phaneuf the NHL’s hardest hitter.  He also scored the longest empty-net goal in All-Star Game history, when he banked the puck 200 feet down the ice off the boards for the score.

Phaneuf is one of, if not the best young NHL defenseman.  He is going to have great success in this league for years to come, and he will be a sure pick for the Hall of Fame once he retires.

Others in this series

10. Jason Speeza
9. Henrik Lundqvist
8. Rick Nash

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