Hockey
Established in 1943, and currently based in Toronto, the Hockey Hall of Fame is a quite simply a tribute to those who achieved excellence in hockey. Criticized by some for their failure to recognize international stars, the WHA, women and the high amount of players inducted from the Original Six era, the Hockey Hall of Fame is still one of the most impressive facilities despite its lack of size. The rich history of hockey is certainly well represented there. For our list, we have focused on players as opposed to the builders and journalists categories; although we have included some people whom we felt could not be ignored. Current enshrinement for players is based on receiving fourteen votes out of an eighteen member committee. In terms of NHL players, it is based on being out of the league for three years. We have selected one hundred figures of hockey (though honestly only a handful really has a reasonable shot) and again we encourage debate as to who you feel deserves enshrinement in Toronto.
Until Then, keep your stick on the ice.
Sincerely,
The Not in Hall of Committee.
It is hard for many fans of the Pittsburgh Penguins to imagine this now but for many years in the pre Mario Lemieux era Western Pennsylvania did not have a very good professional hockey team and they almost lost their franchise. One of the few bright spots of the Pens…
Geoff Courtnall had a nice career in hockey where he scored 799 Points with four seasons going over 70 Points. This was very impressive considering that Geoff was undrafted and was known not always affectionately as Russ Courtnall’s older brother.
The possessor of one of the coolest Scandinavian names in sports history, Ulf Samuelsson played 1,080 Games in the National Hockey League who was known for his hard hits and defensive play. Samuelsson may never have been an All-Star but he was one of the better blueliners in his day…
Undersized at 5’ 7”, Steve Sullivan used every pound he had in his small frame to make a productive career in pro hockey. Sullivan was a crafty playmaker who secured seven 60 Point seasons in a career that spanned 1,011 Games. Sullivan had his highest point totals with Chicago but…
A member of the United States Hockey Hall of Fame, Scott Young quietly scored 756 Points over his 1,181 Game career in the National Hockey League. Young played for the six NHL teams and had four 60 Point seasons and was a role player on two Stanley Cup Championship teams,…
Daniel Briere was another one of those undersized skilled forwards who had to rely on the non-physical part of the game of hockey. Luckily he was pretty good at it!
Don Beaupre may have lost more games than he won, but considering he played two seasons for a horrific Ottawa Senators expansion team early in his career, perhaps we can cut him some slack on that one.
Art Chapman is easily forgotten by many as his greatest exploits took place for the New York Americans, a team that has not existed in close to a century, however this is a two time Assists leader who in the mid 1930’s was in the upper echelon of playmaking ability. …
Mattias Ohlund spend the majority of his career with the Vancouver Canucks where he provided solid defensive play, which he combined with six 30 Point Seasons. An All-Star in 1999, the Defenseman had a respectable 343 career Points and he represented Sweden four times in the Olympics where he would…
Petr Sykora enjoyed a very nice career in the National Hockey League where the gifted two way player where he played 1,017 Games and more importantly won two Stanley Cups. Sykora won the first with the New Jersey Devils, the team where he had three consecutive 65 Point Seasons (1988-89…
One of the fastest players of his day, Hec Kilrea began his career with the Ottawa Senators where in the 1929/30 season he had a 58 Point season over a 44 Game campaign, which was good enough for fifth overall that year. Kilrea won a Stanley Cup with the Senators…
Considered one of the early tough guys in North American hockey, Ken Randall would lead the NHL in Penalty Minutes in the inaugural season of the National Hockey League. Randall would play both Right Wing and Defense and he was a two time Stanley Cup Champion with Toronto (1918 &…
From the Czech Republic, Tomas Vokoun had a fantastic career in the NHL, most notably with the Nashville Predators where he had three straight seasons where he finished in the top ten in Vezina Trophy voting with a 10th, 8th and 4th place finish in the 2003/04, 04/05 and 06/07…
Petr Svoboda quietly carved out a long and fruitful career in the NHL where he played 1,028 Games. Svoboda didn’t actually enter the National Hockey League in the quietest of ways, as he was a Czechoslovakian defector but it proved advantageous quickly as he was a member of the Stanley…
Jason Arnott played 1,244 Games with 938 Points and had over 100 Point Shares, all of which are impressive but it might make him the ultimate “compiler” as he was never considered an elite player and was an All Star only twice. Beyond being the runner up for the Calder…
It has been said by many that Jay Bouwmeester is one of the most gifted skaters in hockey history. We have to agree, and would gladly throw in that Bouwmeester is one of the more underrated players of the game. The Canadian Defenseman was the third overall pick in 2002 by…
From Finland, Center, Mikko Koivu played 16 years in the NHL, all but seven Games of with were with the Minnesota Wild. Over his career, Koivu scored 711 Points (709 in Minnesota), and had a three-year stretch (2008-09 to 2010-11) where he had at least 62 Points. A solid playmaker, Koivu…
Mike Ridley had a pretty good career for someone who went undrafted.
Early in his career it could certainly be argued that Ab McDonald was in the right place at the right time. McDonald’s first two games in the NHL were in the 1958 Playoffs where with the Montreal Canadiens he would win a Stanley Cup. McDonald would see his name etched…
Before we begin, here are two interesting (at least we think so) trivia facts about Ivan Boldirev: The first is that he is the all-time leading scorer who was born in Yugoslavia. Now considering the other three players with that distinction have a combined point total of seven and Yugoslavia…