In any selection process, there will be parties who are excluded. When it comes to the Hockey Hall of Fame, it might just be a matter of time for some (like, say, Joe Nieuwendyk) while many worry if they’ll never see the day when they are inducted (sadly, that might apply to Pat Burns). While some retired players might be nursing their wounded egos, I couldn’t help but wonder: “Who will make it next year?”
Great hockey history blogger Joe Pelletier posed that question, too, and looked at which players will be eligible for the first time in 2011.
2011 first-time eligible players:
* Ed Belfour
* Trevor Linden
* Glen Wesley
* Derian Hatcher
* Stu Barnes
* Mattias Norstrom
* Dallas Drake
Of that group, only Belfour has a shot. Trevor Linden is my hero, and Derian Hatcher was my favorite villain, but neither are Hall of Fame worthy. Trust me, that hurts to say it, but it’s true.
The jilted potential Hall of Famers might have to put a lot of eggs in the 2011 basket, though, because Pelletier points out the stacked 2012 class.
2012 is a much deeper class:
* Jeremy Roenick
* Mats Sundin
* Joe Sakic
* Curtis Joseph
* Brendan Shanahan
* Olaf Kolzig
* Teppo Numminen
* Markus Naslund
* Gary Roberts
* Claude Lemieux
* Bobby Holik
Wow, what a list! You would have to think Sakic and Shanahan are locks. Sundin will make it too, though maybe not in the first year.
That doesn’t change the fact that I’m disappointed Pat Burns was overlooked.