Another Veteran’s Category inductee, Bun Cook was a star for most of his career with the New York Rangers where he helped bring the Stanley Cup to Broadway twice. Predominately, he was the Left Wing on the Rangers’ “Bread Line” with his brother Bill and Frank Boucher, which was among the most feared of its time. The innovator of the “Drop Pass”, Cook would be named to Second Team All Star in 1931 and he proved to be an efficient offensive producer in his career. He was a bit of a bubble candidate for the Hall in our eyes, but it is not a terrible induction overall.

Bill Torrey brought the expansion New York Islanders to prominence far faster than anyone would have thought. The former GM of the Oakland Seals, found a real home on Long Island and methodically built a team from the draft and acquired young talent who would grow into a dynasty. It is not a misrepresentation to say that Torrey built the team from scratch. He was the Islanders first employee in 1972, and the vision of team was all his. It worked, as in 1980; New York won the first of four consecutive Stanley Cups. As the architect of that dynasty, Torrey’s Hall of Fame induction was easy to justify.

Named Canada’s best athlete in the first half of the 20th Century, “The Big Train” Lionel Conacher excelled at every athletic endeavor he tried. Conacher was a latecomer to Hockey, as he only picked up the game at the age of 16, and though he would become very good, he still considered it his “weakest sport”. Conacher did not turn pro until the age of 24, when he led the expansion Pittsburgh Pirates on their blue line. Conacher would move to the New York Americans, continuing to improve his play and become a true star in his adopted sport. He would twice be a major part of Stanley Cup championships in Chicago in 1934 and in Montreal for the Maroons the following season. He was also a three time Post Season All Star in the NHL. Conacher was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame as a Veterans Category inductee; easily becoming the best player this group ever inducted.   Incidentally, Lionel Conacher also became the only man to be inducted into the Hockey, Canadian Football, Canadian Sports and Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame. It is no wonder that he was called the Jim Thorpe of Canada.

The second of two Veteran’s Category inductees in the 1994 Class, Harry Watson entered the Hall with a decent resume as a five time Stanley Cup champion and a seven time All-Star game participant. Watson was a decent scorer and rarely made mistakes, but his overall performance was usually as a complementary player and not necessarily as the top star. Granted, he did play in many All-Star games, but back then it was the Champions (of which he was on five) against the best players from the rest of the NHL. It is not a travesty to have Harry Watson in the Hockey Hall of Fame, but if he was omitted it is not exactly a huge snub.