Hockey Hall of Fame Induction Day

Oh, of course, but I think the bad news was coming out right at the time he was initially eligible.

 

Q: If it's the Hockey Hall of "Fame," why isn't the man who scored the most famous goal in hockey history enshrined?

A: Simple. It's really the Hockey Hall of Amazing Stats and Career Accomplishments.

Q: But Paul Henderson's stats, counting the WHA, are actually pretty damn good, comparable to some of the guys who are in the Hall.

A: What, you're serious? You really think players who had any kind of significant career in the WHA belong in the Hall of Fame? Wow, next you'll be asking why Mark Howe or Anders Hedberg or Ulf Nilsson aren't in the Hall.

Q: Okay, but tell me why Vladislav Tretiak is in the Hall when the guy who scored those three straight winning goals against Tretiak doesn't qualify.

A: Duh, look at Tretiak's accomplishments in international competition, including the Olympics. Pretty much a no-brainer!

Q: So it doesn't matter that most of Tretiak's accomplishments came while he was a professional playing against the amateurs of every other country, with the exception of Czechoslovakia? Okay, whatever. So what about Angela James or Geraldine Heaney? True international hockey pioneers - women's hockey in Canada and around the world wouldn't be the same without their contributions.

A: Well, stupid, because it's the NHL Hall of Fame, where international and major junior hockey matter a little bit and the WHA and women's hockey matter not at all. Haven't you clued in yet??

Q: *sigh* Okay, but how can the HHOF justify having inducted someone like Harold Ballard?

A: That's as obvious as the nose on your face! ANYBODY can get in the Hall of Fame as a builder if they have the right friends. It doesn't matter if you don't actually have what would normally pass for credentials, ie. a significant body of work undertaken for the betterment of the game. See: Ahearne, Bunny; Campbell, Clarence; Jennings, William; Norris, Bruce; Wirtz, William; Ziegler, John.

Conclusion - as a tourist attraction and museum, the HHOF is hard to beat. As a truly representative institution, it sucks ass like a high-powered Hoover. Thank you for your time.

 

Scoreboard, JJ.

 

Mr J,

When it comes to pure, high-water quality, nobody outside the Hall is close to Mark Howe. A truly forgotten talent. Saw him a ton with the Marlies. More deserving than a lot who are in.

o-<

 

so very true. The exhibits are great. Some of the guys elected aren't. So you never were an all-star (post season), never played past the second round of the playoffs, but you played 15 seasons and scored 1,000 points, oh yeah...you're elected.
I'm sure that somewhere guys like Alex Karras, Ken Anderson and Donnie Shell wished they played hockey instead.

 

Every Hall of Fame has the same problems: who to include and who to exclude.

And although I disagree with Double J on Henderson, the hockey hall of fame really is the NHL Hall of Fame. They've completed ignored women's hockey.

It's like the Pro Football Hall of Fame which is really the NFL Hall of Fame;otherwise, someone like Damon Allen should be a shoo-in

Personally, I think they should revise the induction process. It's run too much by the old boys network.

 

Baseball seems to have it right with the Negro League inductees and same with basketball...more than NBA people in there.

 

Sirs, Madames,

I'd let Henderson into the Hockey Porch of Fame, maybe the Hockey Patio of Fame, certainly the Hockey Closet of Fame. He's such a gasbag and much unloved in the game (never had a job in the NHL), his speech would be the most dreaded in HHoF history.

o-<

 

I suspect the HHOF would rather have the puck used to score the winner in 1972 than the guy who scored it (and I don't think he shoulds be in either).

 

Call Pat Stapleton. Appa

 

http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/Sports/Hockey/2008/11/14/7407776-sun.html