Hall of Fame day thoughts…

Today is Hall of Fame induction time for hockey, and it’s a great group being inducted.

But it makes me think back a bit and ponder the history of the game, and that leads to a few thoughts.

First: some players I’d like to see in the Hall of Fame that currently aren’t:

Sergei Makarov — As worthy as Larionov, but without quite the NHL chops.

Pavel Bure — In his time, as dominant as anyone. but injuries cut it shore.

Adam Oates — look at his stats. Look at who he’s helped in already.

Doug Wilson — a falling out with the Hawks seems to have kept him out; maybe with Rocky in charge now? Between his play, his time at the NHLPA and now his time with the Sharks, sooner or later he’ll probably go in as a builder if not as a player, but he ought to go in as both eventually.

Rogie Vachon — best goalie not in the HOF.

Hayley Wickenheiser and Cammie Granato — the HHOF (not the NHL HOF!) needs to get over it; it’s a shame the women who helped turn the sport from a sport for the guys to a sport for everyone got inducted internationally before they got inducted by the HHOF. If you can’t handle the concept of inducting them for their hockey skills, name them as builders.

Dave Taylor — Okay, my Kings heritage is showing a bit, but before Gretzky put LA on the map, Taylor was there keeping the franchise competitive and interesting enough that it survived in LA to succeed.

* * *

Igor Larionov is the first Shark to be inducted into the Hall, and well-deserved. He’s not remembered primarily as a Shark, but he does need to be remembered as someone who helped turn San Jose from a fairly mediocre expansion team into a decent and competitive hockey team. His impact on the success of San Jose ought to be recognized. And so I do.

* * *

Some folks think too many are let into the Hall. Others think too few. Me? I think both sides are thinking too much. There is no right answer; I think on balance if both sides are complaining then the rules are probably balanced pretty well — I definitely prefer the hockey induction over how baseball does it.

But I DO think the league and teams are retiring too many jerseys right now; it’s a fine tradition and all that, but with some franchises (Toronto, Montreal) it’s basically impossible to do it right and not end up with current players in three digits.

The problem is there’s really little middle ground between “Hockey Hall of Famer” and “Franchise retired jersey”. I remember when Tie Domi retired listening to a talk show where someone called up and asked; in all seriousness, if he should go into the Hall of Fame. A Toronto fan, obviously, and the answer was equally obvious.

But the fan had a point: in Toronto, Tie is close to a god in some eyes; does he deserve recognition by the Leafs? Hell, yes. Does that mean HHOF? No. Retire his number? I wouldn’t. And there’s the rub.

So what I’d like to see is the league work with the teams to create a Hall of Fame roster for each team. Let each team recognize their key players; create a place in the HHOF where those players can be recognized and information/jerseys/etc displayed. Let teams do the same in their arenas, and raise the NAMES to the rafters if they want without having to retire numbers as well.

Make retiring a NUMBER something special again, something reserved for the very few, very special players in the franchise history — but also recognize the other key contributors to a team.

In San Jose, there isn’t a player yet that I feel deserves HHOF induction as a Shark. I think we may see that change with the current crop, but they need to prove out (I expect Joe Thornton is a hall of famer some day; I think the Patrick Marleau that arrived late last season could well be if this continues). I certainly don’t see any player to date that deserves a number retirement, either, although if Doug Wilson as GM wins a cup, I’d retire his number when he retires from the team for his contributions on and off ice.

But a Sharks Hall of Fame?

Definitely. And here’s my short list:

Doug Wilson
Kelly Kisio
Igor Larionov
Sergei Makarov
Arturs Irbe
Mike Rathje
Jeff Odgers

And when they retire:
Owen Nolan
Jeff Friesen
Joe Thornton
Patrick Marleau

And off ice honorees:

Dean Lombardi
Doug Wilson
Art Savage
Greg Jamison
Kevin Constantine

* * *

Congratulations to all of the inductees!

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