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.
A veteran of 1,108 Games in the National Hockey League, Adrian Aucoin was an underrated player who may have been labelled as such because he was a slow starter. A middle round draft pick, Aucoin would have six 30 Point Seasons (one with Vancouver, three with the Islanders and two…
Arguably, Scott Gomez is one of the greatest players from the state of Alaska and as a New Jersey Devil in his rookie year he would win the Calder Trophy and the Stanley Cup. The Alaskan would win another Stanley Cup in 2003 and would have four 70 Point seasons…
John MacLean’s long career would see him finish six games shy of 1,200, an incredible feat considering that he would miss an entire season in his prime (the 1991-92 campaign) due to a knee injury.
From Rhode Island, Keith Carney would play scholastically for the University of Maine before he would join the Buffalo Sabres. The American Defenseman would become a defensive anchor everywhere he played in the sixteen seasons he was in the NHL, which included stops in Chicago, Phoenix, Anaheim, Vancouver and Minnesota. …
From the upcoming hockey nation of Germany, Christian Ehrhoff had a good career in the National Hockey League where he broke in with the San Jose Sharks. After a 42 Point season with San Jose in 2008/09 he was traded to the Vancouver Canucks where for two seasons he put…
Jeff Brown did not receive a lot of press nor a lot of notoriety but it was workmanlike blueliners like him that were essential in the game of Hockey. Brown’s overall ability to make the most of his skills allowed him to net 584 Points in 747 Games, a decent…
There were a lot of colorful characters who played for the famed Philadelphia Flyers’ “Broad Street Bullies” team of the 1970’s and Jimmy Watson fit right in with that bunch.
Marty Turco played for the University of Michigan where he would help the Wolverines win the Frozen Four twice. He would slowly work his way up the Dallas Stars system and in his rookie season he played 26 Games and was the leader in Goals Against Average and Save Percentage…
Paul Reinhart played nearly his entire professional career with the.Flames (Atlanta/Calgary) and as such he did not achieve a whole lot of notoriety because of the team he played for at the time. Still, the native of Kitchener, Ontario had a career Points per Game near .90 (0.86), which regardless…
While Jamie Macoun could be accurately described as a stay-at-home Defenseman it just does not seem enough, as he was so much more.
Derek Morris played a whopping 1,107 Games in the National Hockey League and was regarded by the pundits as a solid two-way blueliner. While this was true, Morris had the misfortune of playing on mediocre teams through the bulk of his career, namely in Calgary and Phoenix. Over his career,…
A member of four Stanley Cup Championship teams for the Toronto Maple Leafs (1942, 1945, 1947 & 1948) Wally Stanowski was the runner-up for the Calder Trophy in 1940 and was a First Team All-Star the following season when he had a career high 21 Points. Nicknamed the “Whirling Dervish”…
Jim Schoenfeld is likely best known for his coaching tenure (especially with that altercation with referee Don Koharski where he allegedly pushed him and called him a fat pig in the 1988 Conference Finals) but this was a pretty good player whose accomplishments were solid.
Ilya Bryzgalov may never have been an All Star but there were a couple of seasons where the Russian was considered among the best netminders in the National Hockey League.
A more than above average hockey player from the Czech Republic, forward, Martin Havlat is a well travelled hockey player who has played professionally for multiple teams most notable for the Ottawa Senators and the Chicago Blackhwaks. Havlat has been an All Star twice and has scored 30 or more…
Brent Seabrook played all 1,114 of his NHL Games with the Chicago Blackhawks, where he provided leadership, solid defense, and offensive rushes when needed. Seabrook was an Alternate Captain but it was not that long ago that he was part of a youth movement that would bring the Blackhawks their…
Winning the Calder Trophy in the 1998-99 Season with the Colorado Avalanche, Chris Drury made history as the person to win that piece of hardware who had also won the Hobey Baker Award as the top hockey player in the NHL, which he won with Boston University the year before. …
This one might be a little difficult to justify putting him on this list at all as many considered the career of Sergei Samsonov’s career was a disappointment but while he may not have lived up to lofty expectations there is no doubt that the Russian had a good career.
From the Czech Republic it could be argued that Vaclav “Vinny” Prospal did not live up to the potential that many hockey writers thought he would reach. He wasn’t the most consistent player in his professional career, but this was still a player who was intense and found a role…
Bryan Smolinski could be considered a journeyman of sorts in the National Hockey League (he did play with nine teams) but his skill set was always coveted as every team can use a player who could score when needed and was adept at the penalty kill. The Centre would score…