By Matt Blittner, The New York Extra/TheNYExtra.com
Welcome to The Hockey Hall of Fame!
That’s right. Monday night November 15, 2021, the Hockey Hall of Fame Class of 2020 finally got its due as Jarome Iginla, Marian Hossa, Kevin Lowe, Doug Wilson, Kim St. Pierre and Ken Holland were inducted into the hallowed hall.
An induction ceremony some 18-months in the making (due to COVID-19) was afforded the appropriate pomp and circumstance that accompanies such an honor. And while I want to extend my sincerest congratulations to the Class of 2020, I’d also like to turn your attention to another matter.
You see, in the long, celebrated history of hockey and the Hall of Fame, there is one group of players who consistently gets the short-end of the stick. And that’s the goaltenders.
In the many, many years since The Hall first opened, only 39 netminders have been inducted; by far the fewest of any position. I ask, why is that? Are the masked men (and women) of hockey not of the utmost importance?
The goal (no pun intended) of a hockey game is to score more goals than your opponent. While the forwards and defensemen certainly play their part in trying to keep the puck out of their team’s net, it’s ultimately the goalie’s job to stop the opposition from scoring. Goalies are the last line of defense and yet, for some reason, in regards to The Hall of Fame, they are the least appreciated.
Of the 38 netminders to record at least 300 career wins in the NHL, 13 are not enshrined in The Hall. And that number is misleading as there are 10 goalies (of the 38) who are not yet eligible for The Hall. So, in actuality, 13 of the 28 netminders to record at least 300 wins have been snubbed. That’s one shy of 50%.
Are all 13 worthy? Perhaps not. However, you cannot deny there are some notable goalies who have an unwanted membership to this club of the wrongfully omitted.
Chris Osgood, John Vanbiesbrouck, Curtis Joseph, Mike Richter, Mike Vernon, Tomas Vokoun, Evgeni Nabokov, Tom Barrasso, Andy Moog, Nikolai Khabibulin, Sean Burke, Miikka Kiprusoff and Olie Kolzig comprise the club’s unlucky 13 membership group.
You can’t tell me at least a handful of them don’t belong in The Hall. This group of 13 masked men accounts for 12 Stanley Cup championships, 10 All-Star selections, six Jennings Trophies, four Vezina Trophies, two Calder Trophies and one Conn Smythe Award.
Again, maybe not all of them are Hall-worthy, but some certainly are. So, I ask again, what gives? Why are goaltenders so underappreciated in regards to Hall of Fame induction?
On a separate, yet related note, there have obviously been others who have been wrongly snubbed from being inducted into The Hockey Hall of Fame.
For quite some time the NY Post’s Larry Brooks has been chief among those who have supported the candidacy of Alexander Mogilny, who, more than 15-years since his last NHL game, remains on the outside looking in.
So too does long-time Hockey Historian/Author/Writer/Analyst, Stan Fischler. The Hockey Maven is closing in on 70-years since he began his illustrious career and despite fervent support from those who know him, Fischler sits with Mogilny on the sideline.
Joining the two of them is Pierre Turgeon, who has the most career points (1,327) of anybody who has not been inducted and is eligible for the honor.
Obviously, there are many others I could list here. However, doing so would require much, MUCH more space than this column is provided. Let’s just hope the voters rectify their mistakes sooner rather than later. For now though, I bid you Au revoir!