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.
From Boston, Keith Yandle began his NHL career with the Phoenix/Arizona Coyotes in 2006, the team with which he easily had his best seasons. Yandle was a Coyote for eight years, peaking with a 59 Point year in 2010-11, where he was fifth in Norris voting, his highest finish. The Defenseman…
Paul Reinhart played nearly his entire professional career with the Flames (Atlanta/Calgary), and, as such, he did not achieve much 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 of the…
From Rhode Island, Keith Carney would play scholastically for the University of Maine before joining the Buffalo Sabers. 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. Carney would…
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…
Eric Nesterenko may have barely been a half a point per game forward over his career, but he was a glue guy who was known for his elbows and ability to aggravate opponents and throw them off their game. He was an important piece in the Chicago Blackhawks' Stanley Cup…
A fifteen-year veteran of the National Hockey League, Keith Primeau probably would have had a few more had it not been for post-concussion syndrome. Primeau was known as a player who was good at almost every aspect of his game (not necessarily great, just very good), and he was a…
Shayne Corson was a highly regarded player wherever he went. Corson may never have been an elite scorer, but the veteran of 1,156 Games accumulated 693 Points over his career, and he was a team captain twice. Corson was considered a gritty leader who played predominantly for the Montreal Canadiens…
Arguably, Scott Gomez is one of the greatest players from the state of Alaska, and in his rookie year with the New Jersey Devils, he won the Calder Trophy and the Stanley Cup. The Alaskan would win another Stanley Cup in 2003 and would have four 70 Point seasons in…
Alexei Zhamnov was a product of the Soviet Union and the Moscow Dynamo, and unlike many of his older peers, he was able to enter the National Hockey League early in his playing career.
After playing for the New York Islanders, Vancouver Canucks, and Chicago Blackhawks, Bryan McCabe arrived in Toronto, where his game reached a much higher level. Already a good defenceman, McCabe took on more offensive facets to his game, and he would have three seasons with the Buds where he scored…
Sylvain Cote may not seem like he belongs on this list at all, even if we were just talking about a “Hall of Very Good”. However, this was a player who competed in 1,171 Games in the National Hockey League and was a steadying defensive presence for years in both…
A member of the Montreal Canadiens 1916 Stanley Cup Championship team, when it was won when they were in the National Hockey Association, Bert Corbeau would have a few distinct firsts in the NHL. Corbeau was the first player to play for both the Canadiens and the Toronto Maple Leafs,…
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.…
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.
Jim Schoenfeld is likely best known for his coaching tenure (especially for that altercation with referee Don Koharski, when he allegedly pushed him and called him a fat pig in the 1988 Conference Finals), but he was a pretty good player whose accomplishments were solid.
Brian Gionta was a good two-way player over his sixteen seasons in the National Hockey League, and everywhere he went, he was lauded for his leadership. This includes his pre-NHL days where he was the captain of his Boston College team that would win the NCAA Championship.
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 for most of his career, namely in Calgary and Phoenix. Over his career, he…
A veteran of 1,108 Games in the National Hockey League, Adrian Aucoin was an underrated player who may have been labeled 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…
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 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, over two seasons, he posted…