The Pro Football Hall of Fame has announced that Art McNally is the Contributor Nominee for the Class of 2022.

McNally is considered to be the “Father of Modern Officiating”, and if elected would be the first official to enter Canton.  Considering how important the officiating crew is in football in relation to other sports, it is surprising that nobody in stripes has yet to be honored with a bust

McNally began his NFL career in 1959 as a field judge, and would be a referee from 1960 to 1968.  Afterward, McNally would become the supervisor of officials, and he modernized the role through extensive training.  In 1986, McNally brought in instant replay, and helped to bring modern technology to the role.  McNally, who is now 96, was a consultant up until six years ago.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to extend our congratulations to Art McNally for achieving this step, and we hope that he will be inducted in 2022.

Mark Fitzpatrick had gone through a lot before he became a Florida Panther.  When he was playing with the Islanders, he contracted Eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome, a neurological disease that held him out of most of the 1990-91 Season and a large part of the 1991-92 campaign.  He came back and was rightfully the recipient of the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy.

Fitzpatrick, who was traded to Quebec in 1993, was promptly chosen by the Florida Panthers in the Expansion Draft, and he played for Florida for five seasons, serving as John Vanbiesbrouck’s backup.  In this period, Fitzpatrick had a respectable 43042-22 record with a 2.71 GAA, and while he only had 60 logged minutes in Florida’s shocking run to the 1996 Finals, he was part of the reason that they got there in the first place.

Due to serious issues that led to an order of protection against his fiancée, from his teammate’s (Erik Karlsson) wife, the Ottawa Senators needed to trade Mike Hoffman, and his landing place was San Jose – for two hours.  Hoffman was then traded to Florida.

Hoffman responded well to the change of scenery, breaking Pavel Bure’s team record for consecutive games with a Point (17).  He finished his first season (2018-19) with 70 Points, a personal best, and he followed that with a strong 59 Point season.  This would be the end of Hoffman’s stay as a Panther, as he signed with St. Louis as a Free Agent.

With Florida, Hoffman scored 129 Points, 65 of which were Goals. 

Mike Matheson was a First Round Pick (23^rd Overall) from Boston College, and after appearing in three Games in 2015-16, the Defenseman was in a permanent pairing as a Florida Panther.

Matheson emerged as a prototypical defender, focusing on his side of the ice.  While he would be mistake prone on occasion, he did have back-to-back 27 Point years (2017-18 & 2018-19), the former year seeing him score 10 Goals.  Traded to Pittsburgh before the 2020-21 Season, Matheson had 94 Points as a Panther.

While it can be argued that Matheson’s accomplishment as a Panther did not live up to the potential, on an expansion team with no Stanley Cups, Matheson belongs on this list.