2023 Hockey Hall of Fame inductees announced; Leafs forward snubbed again
The new inductees for the Hockey Hall of Fame have been announced with Henrik Lundqvist, Tom Barrasso, Mike Vernon, Caroline Ouellette, Pierre Turgeon, Ken Hitchcock, and Pierre Lacroix getting the call.
Lundqvist was inducted in his first year of eligibility, ranks 6th all-time in wins behind only Martin Brodeur, Patrick Roy, Marc-Andre Fleury, Roberto Luongo, and Ed Belfour. He also compiled a career .918 SV% and a 2.43 G.A.A. with 64 shutouts across 15 seasons.
Barrasso has 2 Stanley Cups to his name from the 1991 and 1992 Pittsburgh Penguins, won the Calder Trophy, Vezina Trophy, and won 369 times across 777 games in 19 seasons. Vernon was a five-time All-Star, won the Stanley Cup with the Calgary Flames and the Detroit Red Wings, as well as being named the Conn Smythe in 1997.
Ouellette won Olympic gold four times in 2002, 2006., 2010, and 2014. She represented Canada 12 times, winning 6 goals and 6 silvers along the way, and amassing 68 points through 59 games. She was also appointed as an Officer of the Order of Canada and inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame.
Turgeon was the highest scoring eligible player left on the list to not have been named into the Hall of Fame - until today. The former first overall pick from the 1987 NHL draft finished with 515 goals and 1,327 points in 1,294 games across 19 seasons. He was named an All-Star four times and won the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy in 1993.
Hitchcock ranks fourth all-time in NHL history in coaching victories with 849 across 21 seasons and 5 different teams. He won a Stanley Cup with the Dallas Stars in 1999, was named WHL coach of the year twice, 2 WHL championships and 4 division titles, and was also named an Order of Canada in 2019.
Finally, Lacroix was the President and General Manager of the Quebec Nordiques/Colorado Avalanche and was behind both of their Stanley Cup victories. He was responsible for the Patrick Roy and Ray Bourque trade as well as bringing Rob Blake into the fold. Unfortunately he passed away in 2020 due to complications related to COVID.
As we can all tell from this list, Alexander Mogilny is missing yet again and has been eligible since 2009. The Russian winger compiled 473 goals and 1,032 points in 990 games across 16 seasons. He won a Stanley Cup with the New Jersey Devils in 2000, won the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy, and was a 2-time All-Star.
He produced everywhere he went with 444 points in 381 games for Buffalo, 308 points in 312 games for Vancouver, 114 points in 121 games for New Jersey, and 166 points in 176 games for Toronto.
Mogilny will always be remembered for defecting from the Soviet Union to realize his dream of playing in the NHL. He had won Olympic gold in 1988, World Championship gold in 1989, World Junior silver in 1988, and World Junior gold in 1989. He grew impatient and decided to defect and ultimately became a pioneer for his fellow Russians including Pavel Bure and Sergei Fedorov.
It seems like a total travesty and an obvious snub that he has yet to find himself enshrined in the Hall of Fame - especially since 2009. Rob Rossi tweeted earlier that someone he spoke with said not to expect Russian candidates to be named into the Hall of Fame any time soon due to the political landscape of the modern day. Apparently "it's easier not to put in a Russian right now."
As things stand today, we should not be expecting Mogilny to receive the call for at least another year and quite possibly even longer.
| POLL | ||
JUIN 21 | 145 ANSWERS 2023 Hockey Hall of Fame inductees announced; Leafs forward snubbed again Does Alex Mogilny belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame? | ||
| Yes | 133 | 91.7 % |
| No | 12 | 8.3 % |
| List of polls | ||
