Mogilny, snubbed again in 2020, deserves to be in the Hall. We make the case for him and 10 others, remember the 1995 Stanley Cup, name winners and losers of the week and more.
The most frustrated I’ve ever been with the Hockey Hall of Fame selection committee was 10 years ago, when its members snubbed coach Pat Burns.
He was dying of cancer. « I know my life is nearing its end, and I accept that, » Burns said in April of that year. The Hall of Fame chose not to select him in the builders’ category that summer, opting to posthumously induct Calgary Flames co-owner Daryl Seaman, a practical redundancy after they inducted Flames owner Harley Hotchkiss in 2006.
Burns died in November 2010. The following year, the Hockey Hall of Fame not only didn’t select Burns, but it didn’t admit a builder in an election class for the first time since 1981. He was snubbed again in 2012, and then again in 2013, when two of his former players — Scott Niedermayer and Chris Chelios — were inducted and said he belonged in the Hall. In 2014, four years after he could have celebrated his induction with friends and family, Burns was selected as a builder. The timing was infuriating.
My bewilderment with the selection committee over its ongoing snub of Alexander Mogilny doesn’t burn as intensely as it did for Burns. But it’s getting there.
Players are selected based on « playing ability, sportsmanship, character and contributions to his or her team or teams and to the game of hockey in general. »
Mogilny’s 0.478 goals per game average is better than this year’s selectionsJarome Iginla (0.402) and Marian Hossa (0.401), for a total of 473 goals. His 1.04 points per game average is better than over 30 Hall of Fame forwards.
Apply any test, and he passes it.
Best player in the NHL at his position? The right wing made the postseason NHL All-Star team twice.
A dominant stretch of peak performance? He scored 76 goals in 1992-93 and followed it with 55 more in 1995-96.
Contributions to his team? Mogilny is one of only 29 players in NHL history in the Triple Gold Club, winning a Stanley Cup, Olympic gold and an IIHF world championship.
Sportsmanship? He won the Lady Byng in 2003.
Character? He was the first Russian-born player to serve as an NHL team captain.
Contributions to the game of hockey? Mogilny was the first player from the Soviet Union to defect to the United States as a 20-year-old, in a story that plays out like a spy thriller.
What’s the argument, exactly, for keeping him out? We’re never finding out, at least on the record. Part of the Hockey Hall of Fame’s unique charm is that the candor of its internal processes makes a Scientologist look like a YouTube vlogger.
Like when Lanny McDonald, the venerable chairman of the Hall, was asked Wednesday why 2020 inductees like Kevin Lowe (eligible since 2001) and Doug Wilson (eligible since 1996) had to wait this long.
« A couple of years ago, Rogie Vachon waited 37 years to get into the Hall. What a thrill and what an honor it was for him. Doug and Kevin certainly didn’t have to wait 37 years. They’re richly deserving of this honor, » said McDonald.
« It’s not only that you have to get 14 of 18 votes, but it’s also sometimes who you may be up against when you’re nominated for that year. Sometimes, it’s timing. Regardless of whether they go in like Marian and Jarome, it was so cool to make those calls today to let them know it was richly deserved. They are now the class of 2020. If you ask them, they are honored and thrilled and couldn’t care less that it took maybe a few more years than it could have. »
With that, the wait continues for deserving candidates like Mogilny. The class of 2021 brings Daniel and Henrik Sedin, whose induction as a duo would seem like a certainty, were this not the Hall of Fame selection committee we’re talking about. Here are some other candidates worthy of induction that could finally have their Rogie Vachon moment in 2021 or beyond:
Jennifer Botterill, Caroline Ouellette, Julie Chu and Natalie Darwitz
Kim St-Pierre was a very deserving nominee, but one of this class’s biggest stunners was Botterill falling short of the Hall. She was great on the international stage, a leader for Team Canada and the only NCAA player to win the Patty Kazmaier award twice. Chu was a solid player for the U. S. in every role in which she was cast and an incredible ambassador for the sport. Darwitz was a national team captain and a tremendous NCAA player. Ouellette was a Team Canada star who dominated the Canadian Women’s Hockey League. The dream: Spouses Chu and Ouellette are inducted together, as their two children look on.
Rod Brind’Amour
Look, we didn’t put Guy Carbonneau in the Hall of Fame, they did. And since they did, the door has swung wide open for Rod the Bod, the current head coach of the Carolina Hurricanes. Back in his playing days, he had 1,184 points (51st) in 1,482 career games, including 452 goals (59th), and played through the trap era. He won the Selke Trophy in consecutive years (2006 and 2007) in his mid-30s, and he had 18 points during the Hurricanes’ 2006 Stanley Cup run.
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Mitch Korn
As former NHL goalie Mike McKennasaid this week, it’s far past time the Hockey Hall of Fame honored goaltending coaches. « They’ve made an indelible mark, casting a wide net of influence and elevating goaltending to the science we know it as today. They are trailblazers and mentors that deserve recognition, » said McKenna. For our money, that coach is Korn, the director of goaltending for the New York Islanders. He’s the goalie whisperer, having helped develop Dominik Hasek, Pekka Rinne, Braden Holtby and many others.
Viktor Tikhonov
The typical reaction when you tell someone that Tikhonov, the Soviet hockey coaching icon, is not yet in the Hall is astonishment. His accomplishments in international play include three Olympic golds, eight world championships, the 1981 Canada Cup and more. The knock on him was that Anatoli Tarasov, who is in the Hockey Hall of Fame as a builder, was the innovator, and Tikhonov just rode his coattails.
But as my former colleague Dmitry Chesnokov once wrote: « If Tarasov was the patriarch, Tikhonov was his archbishop. Assuming the reign of power at CSKA in 1977, Tikhonov was the architect and the engineer of the Red Machine that was the pride of the entire country for the next 15 years.
