We can’t say that we love any Hall of Fame inductee with the nickname of “Porky”, but the induction of Woody Dumart in the Veteran Players category is one that we really don’t have an issue with.   Dumart was a solid two way player who played his entire career with the Boston Bruins. Three times he was a Second Team All Star and twice a Stanley Cup winner. Dumart served in the Canadian military during World War II and lost three prime years of his career and probably could have dominated in that era had he remained in the NHL. Overall, Woody Dumart was a popular star in Boston and we don’t have any issue with this Veterans category induction.

Marcel Dionne may very well be the greatest NHL player to never have won a Stanley Cup. Actually, he never really came close, as he was never really on great teams. Because of this, Dionne may not have achieved the level of popularity he should have, but his peers knew what skill that the offensively gifted Centre had as he won the Ted Lindsay Award twice; the award given to the MVP as voted by his peers. Dionne also won the Lady Byng twice and was a post season All Star four times. Eight times he would top the 100 point mark, and won the Art Ross in 1980. As good as he was, we can only imagine how much greater his legacy would be had he ever came close to a Cup.

Possibly best known for his walrus like moustache more than anything he ever did on the ice, Lanny McDonald ended his professional career in about as perfect fashion as possible, by lifting up the Stanley Cup for the first time in his final game as a member of the Calgary Flames. Everywhere McDonald went, he proved to be productive player on the ice, and popular man with the fans. He is a 1,000 career point producer and twice was a Second Team All Star. As evidence of his perseverance, McDonald won the Bill Masterton Trophy in 1983 and the respected King Clancy Award in 1988.   Lanny may not have been the best player in the game, but he was a player that everybody wanted to have on their team.

Granted, Keith Allen won a Stanley Cup Ring as a player with the Detroit Red Wings in 1954, but that was more for being at the right place at the right time, as the Defenceman only played 28 career games in the NHL and never got a goal. However, as often the case with career minor leaguers, they make outstanding coaches. Allen would become a successful coach in the Western Hockey League, and when the NHL expanded in 1967, he moved to Philadelphia to coach the Flyers. After Bud Polie stepped down as the General Manager, Allen stepped in and maintained the course that the Flyers were on. As such, Philadelphia became the first expansion team to win the Stanley Cup (which they did in consecutive years) and Keith Allen would see his name etched on the Cup again. He would enter the Hall of Fame in the Builders category, primarily for his work with the “Broad Street Bullies”. It is funny how the NHL brass seemed to hate that team when they played, but so many of them (even those who put the squad together) got into the Hockey Hall of Fame.