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 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 to be a player who was good at almost every aspect of his game (not necessarily great, just very good) and he…
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…
From Boston, Keith Yandle began his NHL career with the Phoenix/Arizona Coyotes in 2006, the team 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 never finished…
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,…
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.
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…
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…
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 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”…
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 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…
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…
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,…
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.
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 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…
On the surface, Kari Lehtonen is a strange player for us to rank. The Finnish Goalie has 310 Wins, but never finished higher than eighth in Vezina voting. He has over 110 Goalie Point Shares, and is in the top 50 all-time in that category, but has only been in…