Bob Johnson was a very successful coach at the University of Wisconsin, leading the Badgers to three NCAA championships, and internationally would be named the coach of three U.S. Canada Cup teams and the 1976 Olympic squad. His skills transferred well into the NHL, where he would take the Calgary Flames to the Stanley Cup Finals (where they lost to Montreal), and would be the man who coached the Mario Lemieux led Pittsburgh Penguins to the Stanley Cup in 1991. Johnson would be the first American born coach to host the Cup in over fifty years.

Bob Gainey many not have appeared on any end of year top ten offensive statistical lists, but that was not was Bob Gainey was asked to do. He spent his entire career with the Montreal Canadians and though he had “only” 501 career points, it was the thousand plus that he prevented that made him special. Bob Gainey won the Frank J. Selke Award which is given to the NHL’s top defensive forward four years in a row. His amazing checking skills may not have always appeared in box scores, but fans and players alike knew the value of Gainey and it was not an accident that he was a multi-time All Star game participant.   Gainey was also part of five Stanley Cup wins with the Habs, and in 1979 he won the Conn Smythe as the MVP of the playoffs.   He may not have had what a casual fan would see a Hall of Fame career (especially if they only look at offensive statistics), but he certainly belongs.

Although we have covered players who returned to the ice after they were inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, and owners who completely should have been kicked out after they were inducted, we now have a builder who continued to have a Hall of Fame career AFTER he was inducted.

As the goal scoring machine for the New York Islanders dynasty, Mike Bossy won the Calder Trophy in 1978 and spent the next nine seasons lighting the red lamp on a frequent basis. Bossy would become the second player to net fifty goals in fifty games and would hit the half-century mark in his first nine NHL seasons. More importantly, Bossy would lead his Islanders to four consecutive Stanley Cups.