After polling the gang at PHT and 10 hockey bloggers, Joe Nieuwendyk stood head and shoulders above all of the other Hockey Hall of Fame candidates as the most deserving inductee for 2010. The four most competitive runners-up were Doug Gilmour, Adam Oates, Dino Ciccarelli and Dave Andreychuk. Cammi Granato, Alex Mogilny and Eric Lindros were the only other eligible candidates to receive more than one vote while a wide range of people earned at least one.
Let’s take a look at the possible inductees, from most votes to one vote each. The maximum number of votes is 13 and every pick counted as one vote - there were no bonuses given to a “first place winner.”
Overall Tally
Niewendyk - 10
Gilmour - 7
Oates - 6
Ciccarelli - 5
Andreychuk - 4
Granato - 2
Mogilny - 2
Lindros - 2
Loob
Chabot
Vernon
Vanbiesbrouck
Housley
Rheaume
Lowe
Lindros
Makarov
So, the closest thing to a consensus four-person ballot would be:
1. Nieuwendyk
2. Gilmour
3. Oates
4. Ciccarelli
That only person to come up with that exact ballot (though not necessarily in that order) was PHT’s own Joe Yerdon.
I was pleased to see the name Cammi Granato come up quite often and also noticed that Pavel Bure might have been the dominant force in the “honorable mention” category. I wonder if that’s a sign that the two very different hockey players might have a chance to make it into the Hall of Fame, even if it doesn’t happen in 2010.
Now that we’ve covered a big chunk of the hockey blogosphere’s opinion on the subject, I’d like to ask PHT readers out there. If you had a four-person ballot, who would you pick? Are there any candidates who shouldn’t have gone unnoticed or didn’t receive enough votes? Tell us in the comments.
Here are the two in-depth voting posts one more time, if you need some food for thought.