A few things before I get to my revamped Hockey Hall of Fame.

1) The contest ends tonight and I’ll have the results posted in the next couple of days.

2) I bought a few packs of OPC today and fared pretty well, I think. Judge for yourself:

Not too bad, right?

3) I recently picked up the following card from eBay for obscenely cheap…

2004-05 ITG Ultimate Memorabilia Autographs Harry Lumley

This will replace the non-authenticated (although I’m 99% sure it’s real) copy I have which, incidentally, will be one of the prizes for the contest.

Now onto my ongoing Hall of Fame musings. The first two installments can be found here:
1961-1966
1967-1970

So far, I’ve inducted the following players:

Maurice Richard, Max Bentley, Elmer Lach, Ted Lindsay, Turk Broda, Red Kelly

And booted out these guys:

Milt Schmidt, Harry Watson, Bill Mosienko, Butch Bouchard, Ted Kennedy, Sid Abel, Tom Johnson, Bill Gadsby

There is still hope for these guys when the Veterans Committee meets after I finish. Now, onto the next group of potential inductees.

1971
Terry Sawchuk

No brainer. Calder Trophy winner and four time Vezina Trophy winner. NHL All-Star 1st Team selection three times and 2nd Team four times. Led the league in wins for five straight seasons and is 5th all-time in that category. Also, 2nd all-time in shutouts. Add in four Stanley Cups and you have yourself a first ballot HOFer!

Inducted: Terry Sawchuk
Kicked out: No one

1972
Jean Beliveau
Bernie Geoffrion
Gordie Howe

First up, Beliveau. Not only is he a HOFer, he should have a province named after him. Do I really need to get into his credentials? Okay, I will. An Art Ross and Conn Smythe Trophy go nicely with the two Hart Trophies he picked up during his career. He was named to six NHL All-Star 1st Teams and four 2nd Teams. He finished in the top-1o in goals ten times, assists eleven times and points twelve times. And I know I’ve said that Stanley Cups are overrated when it comes to judging players but Beliveau won ten of them. TEN!

Next up is Boom Boom. This is a tough one. He put up pretty good numbers but was often overshadowed by Richard and Beliveau. During fifteen full seasons, Geoffrion finished in the top-10 in goals eight times (leading twice), assists five times, and points seven times (leading twice). He also won the Calder Trophy, Hart Trophy and twice picked up the Art Ross Trophy. He is also credited with inventing the slapshot. Certainly this would be enough to get him in, right? I’m just not sure. He was named to the NHL All Star 1st team just once and the 2nd Team just twice. He had two pretty great seasons (54-55 and 60-61) that were surrounded by a bunch of pretty good seasons. He also finished with less than 400 career goals. I hate to do this to Boom Boom because I think he constantly had to play second or third fiddle on his team, but he is out. I have a feeling the Veterans Committee may get him in though and I wouldn’t be totally opposed to that.

And finally, Gordie Howe. He is on the Mt. Rushmore of hockey players. I’m definitely not going to waste yours or my time writing about him.

Inducted: Jean Beliveau and Gordie Howe
Kicked out: Bernie Geoffrion

1973
Doug Harvey
Chuck Rayner

As a defenseman, Doug Harvey absolutely owned the 1950′s and has to be considered the best of his time. Playing in sixteen full seasons and parts of three others, he won the Norris Trophy an amazing SEVEN times including four in a row and then three in a row. IMPRESSIVE! He was also named to ten NHL All-Star 1st Teams and one 2nd Team. He finished in the top-10 in assists four times and, although I haven’t checked, I have to assume that he was in the top-1o in assists for blueliners nearly every season. Harvey is undoubtedly in.

Chuck Rayner, on the other hand, is a puzzling member of the current HOF. He only played seven full seasons and parts of three others (it should be noted that he missed three seasons early in his career because he was in the military). He has a career losing record (138-208) and never enjoyed a single winning season. He won the Hart Trophy once and that is about it. I know that he played for a crummy team in the Rangers, but c’mon. He may have had amazing numbers if he were on the Habs, but he wasn’t, so we have to look at what he did do, which was little. Sorry Chuck, but you are out.

Inducted: Doug Harvey
Kicked out: Chuck Rayner

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