Ottawa great could be first ballot hall-of-famer
BRUCE GARRIOCH
POSTMEDIA NETWORK
CHICAGO — So, is Daniel Alfredsson a first ballot hall-offamer?
We’re about to find out and Ottawa hockey fans will be waiting on pins and needles.
The Hockey Hall of Fame will announce its inductees Monday at 3 p.m. on TSN and this will the first year the Ottawa Senators’ former captain will be eligible to be voted in by the committee that will meet in Toronto in the morning before making the announcement.
While former Winnipeg Jets’ winger Teemu Selanne, who finished his career with the Anaheim Ducks, is expected to be an automatic for induction the first time he’s eligible, there is a debate whether Alfredsson will be among the group selected. Seventy-five per cent of the 18-member committee has to approve entry into the Hall.
After finishing his career with the Detroit Red Wings in 2013-14, Alfredsson, 44, who was named Ottawa’s captain in 1999 and has moved into an advisory role in the club’s hockey operations department, finished with 444 goals, 713 assists and 1,157 points in 1,246 games. He also won an Olympic gold medal with Team Sweden in 2006.
“Without a doubt, Daniel should be in the Hockey Hall of Fame,” Senators GM Pierre Dorion said Saturday after the NHL draft at the United Center. “I think for all his accomplishments in the NHL and internationally, being a gold medallist and being one of the game’s best players, at a certain time in his career, he definitely meets the criteria to be in the Hockey Hall of Fame.”
Alfredsson, who led the club to the Stanley Cup final in 2007 but never won a title, became the first player in the modern history of the Senators to have his number No. 11 raised to the rafters during a ceremony Dec. 29th at the Canadian Tire Centre. He played 1,178 games with the Senators.
If Alfredsson doesn’t get voted in this time, he’ll remain eligible but this would be a major step for the organization if he was to get inducted in November.
“I think it would be great for our franchise,” Dorion added. “Daniel has been this franchise’s best player and for a young franchise of 25 years, to have somebody of Daniel’s calibre get in the Hockey Hall of Fame it would show this franchise is growing and great recognition towards Daniel with his accomplishments.”
Alfredsson was a great player because of his consistency.
“What made Daniel so different as a hockey player is that every game he gave it his best,” Dorion said. “Daniel’s ability to score the big goals was secondto-none, his ability to lift his game in bigger games was (something) special he had, Daniel was the ultimate performer and that’s why he was so successful for such a long time.”
LANCE HORNBY
POSTMEDIA NETWORK
Many people complain about the traffic snarl in the Hockey Hall Of Fame’s veteran player parking lot.
But, only a few can do something to untangle it, only once a year and only after any deserving first-year eligibles are taken care of. That opportunity to clear a backlogged name or two comes Monday in Toronto when the 18-member Hall selection committee gathers.
While they can accept suggestions from hockey brethren or receive entreaties from the public throughout the calendar year, only a committee member can put a name forward and then make a case for the 75 per cent vote needed for induction among peers.
In 2016, considered one of the more open fields in past years, there was room after Eric Lindros and Sergei Makarov to add threetime Cup winning goaltender and Canada Cup champion Rogatien Vachon, almost four decades after his retirement. The latter said he’d just about given up on getting a Hall call, but his inclusion has renewed hope for others.
Teemu Selanne, the 15th highest score in league history with a batch of trophies, is considered a lock to be announced in his first year, one of four spots open in the player category, including up to two female candidates. Of 14 skaters joining the waiting list this year with a common link of 1,000 NHL regular season games, 300 goals, 400 assists or 700 points, three besides Selanne have improved chances as winners of a Cup or Olympic gold medal, Daniel Alfredsson, Alex Kovalev and Ray Whitney. Among goalies, Nikolai Khabibulin comes in with 333 wins, 46 shutouts and a Cup and Olympic gold.
Beyond Selanne, there aren’t any sure-fire picks, perhaps opening a crack for a lengthy list of players that go back to the Original Six. Many arguments have been heard through the years on behalf of multi-Cup winners Claude Provost (nine), Jean-Guy Talbot (seven) and Ralph Backstrom, Larry Hillman and Kevin Lowe (six each.) It follows the narrative that not just points make a player Hall-worthy.
It’s believed one of the strongest pushes behind the scenes this year was for four-time champion Butch Goring. The veteran centre of 16 seasons as the two-way demon for the Islanders dynasty, Goring took just 102 penalty minutes in 1,107 games, while notching 40 shorthanded goals. Like Selanne, Goring won the Calder Trophy, later adding the Conn Smythe and Lady Byng to his collection. He retired in 1985 as the 27th highest scorer in the league, with the 26 ahead of him all eventually getting in. Contributions before his NHL days, such as a Calder Cup win, and afterwards in the media, are part of his case.
Goring would have played against a few members of the selection committee such as Bobby Clarke, Mike Gartner and chairman John Davidson and been coached against by Scott Bowman who might be in his or someone else’s corner. But the committee is also comprised of writers (Michael Farber, Eric Duhatschek, Marc de Foy), broadcasters (Bob McKenzie) junior hockey reps (Dave Branch), NHL managers (Brian Burke, Bill Torrey) and former European players (Anders Hedberg, Igor Larionov and Jari Kurri) with the goal of keeping an open mind to all names put forward. Individual committee members are not permitted to make public comments about their deliberations before or after the annual meeting and the ensuing announcement.
The committee will get younger as time goes on, which could see players such as Goring face even longer waits as more names in the 21st century end their careers. Up to two people in the builders’ wing can be chosen with the four players, unless one or more referees and linesmen are approved in the officials’ category.
Here are some other names denied a Hall pass so far:
• Mark Recchi: 1,533 points, 12th in all time NHL scoring, three Cups, one world championship.
• Dave Andreychuk: 640 goals, 14th in NHL history, 1,338 points, one Cup.
• Chris Osgood: 401 wins in goal,
• Brian Bellows, 1,022 points, one Stanley Cup, one Canada Cup.
• Boris Mikhailov, 169 world championship points, eight world titles, two Olympic gols medals.
• Anatoli Firsov, 101 world championship points, three Olympic gold medals.
• Rod Brind’Amour, 1,184 points, one Stanley Cup, championship. one Olympic championship.