Wilson finally elected to Hall of Fame
SAN JOSE — It was the type of phone call that Doug Wilson said he never expected to receive.
But when it came Wednesday afternoon, with Lanny McDonald beginning to tell him that he had been elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in his 24th year of eligibility, Wilson put his wife, Kathy, on the line so they could relish in the news together.
“She’s been the foundation and the rock of our family,” Wilson said of his wife. “And I thought it was important that Lanny be able to share it with both of us at the same time.”
Wilson, one of the most prolific offensive defensemen of his generation and the Sharks’ general manager for the last 17 years, is part of a 2020 class that includes players Jarome Iginla, Marian Hossa, Kevin Lowe and Kim St-Pierre and Edmonton Oilers general manager Ken Holland.
The class was elected by a 18-person committee, which could select a maximum of four male players, two female players, and either two builders or one builder and one referee or linesman. All nominated candidates needed to receive at least 14 votes (75%) to get in.
The 2020 induction ceremony is, for now, scheduled for Nov. 16 in Toronto.
“This was very unexpected,” Wilson said. “I look at it and I truly believe this, that just for me to have been considered and mentioned in this category, is beyond any of the dreams that I had when I started playing this game.”
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Wilson, 62, has been eligible for induction since 1996, three years after he retired. He played his first 14 seasons from 1977 to 1991 with the Chicago Blackhawks, and his 779 points in that time ranked third among all defensemen, behind only Paul Coffey (1,045) and Ray Bourque (934).
Wilson won the Norris Trophy in 1982 after an
85-point season, and his 39 goals that year remain the fourth-most ever scored by an NHL defenseman. He finished amongst the topfive in Norris Trophy voting three other times.
Wilson, an Ottawa native, played the last two years of his career with the Sharks. In 16 years, Wilson played 1,024 games and had 237 goals and 590 assists, which ranks 15th among defensemen on the NHL’s all-time scoring list. Now, only one defenseman in the top 15 in scoring, former Shark Gary Suter, has not been elected to the Hall of Fame.
Last year’s election of defenseman Sergei Zubov perhaps opened the door for Wilson, as the two finished their careers with similar statistics. Zubov, a twotime Cup winner, had 771 points in 1,068 regular season games over 12 NHL seasons.
Wilson also had 80 points in 95 career playoff games, as his points per game average in the postseason (0.84) is tied for fifth all time. Wilson, however, never won a Stanley Cup in his playing career, a possible reason for why he wasn’t elected to the hall before Wednesday.
Lowe, a six-time Stanley Cup winner, was in his 20th year of eligibility.
Why were they selected now? “People have to understand that, it’s not only that you have to get 14 of 18 votes,” said McDonald, the Hall of Fame chairman. “But it’s also sometimes, who you might be up against when you’re nominated for that year. I’m not saying whether (Wilson and Lowe) were ever nominated before or not. It’s just sometimes, it’s time.”
Wilson was selected to eight NHL All-Star Games — seven with Chicago and one with San Jose. While with Chicago, Wilson was named as an NHL First Team All-Star in 1982 and twice was named as an NHL Second Team All-Star (1985 and 1990).
Twenty of the 21 retired Norris Trophy winners have now been elected to the hall. The exception is Randy Carlyle, who won the award in 1991.
“Privileged to play in this league, privileged to be able to play as long as we were able to play, and then to have something like this happen is to me, unexpected,” Wilson said. “There’s so many players and people that I feel are deserving of this and at least equal or more than me. But the timing, really, I didn’t even think about it.”
Wilson was chosen sixth overall by the Blackhawks in 1977 after a stellar junior career with the Ottawa 67’s of the OHL. Wilson had 254 points in 156 regular season games with the 67’s, who retired his No. 7 sweater.
Internationally, Wilson represented Canada at the 1984 Canada Cup and the 1987 Rendez-vous ‘87 series, which pitted the top NHL players against the Soviet Union men’s national ice hockey team.