Some thoughts:

1) Campbell's selection is an absolute joke. First of all, he's still working in the league office. Why is he getting honoured at the same time as he's still working? Is there really no one else who contributed more to the game of hockey who isn't working as a current National Hockey League VP?

Not to mention, given all the scandals around this guy, it seems like just the most tone-deaf selection since Gil Stein. Just a terrible, terrible selection. The NHL has been completely roasted on twitter about this, but the league doesn't really care to listen to their fans. They believe they know best, which is one of the reasons that Campbell is still a VP and the league still does so many stupid things.

2) Shea Weber was a good player, but he seems pretty borderline for an almost direct admit. Never won a Cup. Never won a Norris. He's 48th in all-timer defence scoring (589 points in 1038 games) and the other guys around him on that list are:
Dan Boyle
Garry Galley
Ron Greschner
Keith Yandle
Teppo Numminen
Roman Hamrlik
James Patrick

Based on this, John Carlson should be a shoo-in, with 75 more points in 29 less games but if he was retired right now, I don't think he'd be as automatic. Even though he won a Cup (and again, played a significant role in that win). Weber didn't win anything other than Olympic gold. Definitely the prototype defenceman for a lot of media guys though.

Here's a few guys I think have at least as strong a case as Weber:
G. Suter - 844 pts in 1145 games (15th), 1 Cup
S. Gonchar - 811 pts in 1301 games (18th), 1 Cup
M. Duchesne - 752 pts in 1113 games (22nd), 1 Cup
M. Schneider - 743 pts in 1289 games (23rd), 1 Cup
D. Babych - 723 pts in 1195 games (28th), no Cups
R. Larson - 686 pts in 909 games (30th), no Cups

The only one of those I've even heard of getting a look is Sergei Gonchar.

The other challenge with Weber is that he isn't officially retired. He's still on LTIR for Utah HC for another couple of years. If you're still collecting cheques from an insurance company, then should you really be eligible for the Hall?

3) Roenick is deserving as the highest scoring retired player not in the Hall yet, but is a little surprising as his podcast indiscretions aren't that long ago. The NHL has given him great cover though by putting him through with Colin Campbell. What's a little misogyny next to actual corruption and incompetence?

4) Poile was around the game a long time...which seems to be the biggest thing for executives. 40 years of GM experience is a LOT. Not a lot of success in that time - one trip to the Finals in 40 years isn't amazing. But not a lot of guys last THAT long in the league so it's something. Of the NHL people on this list, he's a better selection than Weber, and waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better than Colin bleeping Campbell.

5) Datsyuk is a great pick. I don't know enough about the other two to comment.

[Updated on: Wed, 26 June 2024 09:31]

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