The 2019 Hockey Hall of Fame class has been inducted, with Hayley Wickenheiser, Guy Carbonneau, Sergei Zubov, Vaclav Nedomansky, Jim Rutherford, and Jerry York getting enshrined in Toronto.
With that, it’s time to turn the page and take a look at who Hall of Fame chairman Lanny MacDonald might call next June when the 2020 class is revealed.
Per the Hockey Hall of Fame, eligible players “must have not played in a professional or international hockey game during any of the three (3) playing seasons prior to his or her election.” A maximum of four male and two female inductees can be elected in the player category a year.
Like the 2019 class, there is one lock for 2020, and that’s Jarome Iginla. Beyond the longtime Flames captain, there are some players right on the cusp who have been waiting for the call. The voting process is secretive, so we have no idea how close any individual player is to getting inducted, but here’s our look at what the next group of Hockey Hall of Famers may look like.
THE LOCK
Jarome Iginla — “Iggy” spent 20 seasons in the NHL with five teams, but will forever be remembered as a member of the Flames. In 1,554 career games, Iginla scored 625 goals and recorded 1,300 points. He hit the 50-goal mark twice and scored at least 40 goals four times. He played in six All-Star Games and was a two-time winner of the Rocket Richard Trophy, and also won the King Clancy and Art Ross Trophies, as well as the Ted Lindsay Award. Before he reached the NHL, Iginla won two Memorial Cups with the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers. On the international scene, he represented Canada at various levels, winning two World Junior Championships, one World Cup of Hockey, and two Olympic gold medals. It was his pass that led to Sidney Crosby’s golden goal during the 2010 tournament in Vancouver.
THE PROBABLY-SHOULDS
Marian Hossa – He’s a first-ballot HOFer to me, but given how under-appreciated he was during his 19-season NHL career it would be fitting if he’s overlooked in a year absent a large number of locks. For his resume, Hossa has a Memorial Cup title and three Stanley Cup rings to his name. He represented Slovakia at the World Championships eight times, Olympic Games four times, and played in two World Cup of Hockey tournaments — once for his home country and the other for Team Europe. In 1,309 NHL games, Hossa scored 525 goals and recorded 1,134 points. The production continued into the postseason with 149 points in 205 playoff games.
His trophy case lacks a number of individual honors, however. He was runner-up for the Calder Trophy in 1999, the only time in his career he was a finalist for an NHL award. His two-way game was sorely underrated and that was reflected in Selke Trophy voting where he finished 10th or better only three times.
Alex Mogilny – He was the first Soviet player to defect west and when he arrived he quickly made his mark. His 76-goal season in 1992-93 tied him for the NHL’s goal scoring lead with Teemu Selanne. He would finish with a 127 points that season. A year later the Buffalo Sabres named him the first European captain in league history. When it was all said and done, the six-time All-Star scored 473 goals and recorded 1,032 points. He’s a member of the IIHF’s Triple Gold Club after winning the Stanley Cup, Olympics and World Championship.
Daniel Alfredsson – Will the second time around be the charm for Alfie? A veteran of 18 NHL seasons, Alfredsson has an impressive resume and strong international credentials to make the cut. He scored 444 goals and recorded 1,157 points during his NHL career, and has a trophy cabinet that features Olympic gold and silver medals, the 1996 Calder Trophy, six NHL All-Star appearances, and the King Clancy Trophy. He’s also known for scoring the first shootout goal in league history, and sported Hall of Fame worthy hairstyles over his career.
THE POSSIBLES
Jeremy Roenick – 513 goals, 1,216 points, nine-time All-Star, silver medals at Canada Cup and Olympic Games. JR’s elite level status only lasted for a few seasons in the early 1990s. After three-straight 100-point and 45-plus goal seasons, his production settled into the “very good” range in the mid-90s. He certainly has the “fame” part down with the personality he’s shown during and after his NHL career as an analyst for the NHL on NBC, as well as his influential role in the 1996 movie “Swingers.” Roenick, however, did not win any individual hardware, so even in classes where there appears to be an opening, the door might remain closed for him.
[MORE: Meet the 2019 Hockey Hall of Fame class]
Doug Wilson – 237 goals, 827 points, 1982 Norris Trophy winner, eight-time All-Star, Canada Cup gold. You don’t hear the San Jose Sharks general manager’s name much when these discussions come up. He played during an era dominated by Paul Coffey and Ray Bourque, but examine his career and it was a pretty solid one. He finished his career top 20 in points by a defenseman and top 10 in points per game. This is a good note from Sean McIndoe of The Athletic that bolsters his case: “Here’s the complete list of players who both won a Norris Trophy (peak) and finished in the top 25 all-time in defenseman scoring (longevity), but haven’t been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame: Doug Wilson, and that’s it.”
Curtis Joseph – 454 wins, 51 shutouts, Olympic gold medal, three-time All-Star. A three-time Vezina Trophy finalist, Joseph had himself a fine career, but did not win a Stanley Cup or any individual hardware. Is he Hall of Fame class or Hall of Very Good class? Only seven goalies, including Martin Brodeur, who was inducted in 2018, have been inducted into the Hall since 1990. Are more coming soon?
Boris Mikhailov – The man Herb Brooks loved to remind his “Miracle on Ice” team looked like Stan Laurel had a decorated career playing for CSKA Moscow and representing the Soviet Union internationally. Domestically, Mikhailov scored 429 goals for CSKA and recorded 653 points, leading them to 11 Soviet League titles. On the international scene, the long time captain captured two Olympic gold medals and eight World Championships. Could Nedomansky’s support a year ago help Mikhailov or another player who played significant time in Europe?
THE REST
Tom Barrasso – 369 wins, 38 shutouts, 1984 Calder Trophy, 1984 Vezina Trophy, 1985 Jennings Trophy, 1991 and 1992 Stanley Cup titles, 2002 Olympic silver medal.
Rod Brind’Amour — With Carbonneau’s two-way play earning him love and Hossa potentially getting in with the 2020 class, why not the Hurricanes head coach? He finished his career with 452 goals and 1,184 points in 1,484 NHL games and has two Selke Trophies on his mantle, along with a Stanley Cup.
Shane Doan — (First year of eligibility.) 1,540 games with the Winnipeg Jets/Arizona Coyotes franchise, 402 goals, 972 points, two World Championship gold medals, one World Cup of Hockey gold medal, two-time Memorial Cup winner, two-time NHL All-Star, King Clancy Trophy winner. A very fine career, but worthy of induction?
Patrik Elias – 408 goals, 1,025 points, Olympic bronze, two World Championships bronze medals, two-time Stanley Cup winner, nine 20-plus goal seasons.
Theo Fleury – 455 goals, 1,088 points, seven-time All-Star, gold at the World Junior Championship, Canada Cup and Olympics, silver at the World Championship and World Cup of Hockey, 1989 Stanley Cup winner.
Sergei Gonchar – 220 goals, 811 points, five-time All-Star, 2009 Stanley Cup title (two more as a coach), silver and bronze medals from the Olympics and World Championships, eight 50-plus point seasons, five straight seasons with at least 18 goals.
Steve Larmer – 441 goals, 1,012 points, 1983 Calder Trophy, two-time All-Star, 1991 Canada Cup gold, 1994 Stanley Cup title, owns third-longest consecutive games streak in NHL history.
Vincent Lecavalier – 421 goals, 949 points, 2004 World Cup of Hockey gold and MVP, 2004 Stanley Cup, 2007 Rocket Richard Trophy, 2008 King Clancy Trophy, four-time NHL All-Star. It’s not quite the trophy case of 2018 inductee Martin St. Louis, so that could probably leave Lecavalier stuck in the Hall of Very Good.
Jere Lehtinen – 243 goals, 514 points, three-time Selke Trophy winner (as a winger), one Stanley Cup, World Championship gold and three silvers, one Olympic silver, three Olympic bronze medals, one World Cup of Hockey silver, IIHF Hall of Fame inductee.
Kent Nilsson – 262 goals, 686 points, two-time NHL All-Star, 1987 Stanley Cup title, 1978 WHA rookie of the year, IIHF Hockey Hall of Fame, Canada Cup and World Championship silver medals.
Chris Osgood – 401 wins, 50 shutouts, three-time Stanley Cup champion, two-time Jennings Trophy winner. A good goalie on some great Detroit Red Wings teams for a long time. How much has that hurt his candidacy?
Keith Tkachuk – 538 goals, 1,065 points, 1996 World Cup of Hockey champion, Olympic silver medal. Like Roenick, Tkachuk’s numbers are good, but he’s in a range where there are a handful of players with similar stats. While Joe Mullen’s inclusion may help Tkachuk or Roenick at some point in time, right now, he’s just on the outside.
WOMEN’S CATEGORY
Karyn Bye-Dietz – She was part of the gold medal winning U.S. team at the 1998 Olympics and took home silver at the 2002 Games and six World Championships. During the ’98 Games, Bye Dietz led the Americans with five goals and eight points and finished her international career with 84 points in 51 games. In 2011 she was only the fifth woman to be inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame and in 2014 was named to the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame.
Maria Rooth – A 2015 IIHF Hall of Fame inductee, the forward represented her country at the Olympic four times, taking home silver and bronze. She played 265 times for Sweden and finished with 105 goals. Before her international career, Rooth played at Minnesota Duluth where she ended her collegiate career as the second-leading scorer in school history (119 goals, 232 points) and a three-time All-American. She’s also the only woman to have her number retired in the history of the program.
Kim St. Pierre – There’s a lot of gold medals in St. Pierre’s trophy case. Inside you’ll find three from the Olympics, five from the World Championships, and one from the Four Nations Cup. The longtime netminder recorded 15 shutouts and 24 wins representing Canada on the international stage. She also won the Clarkson Cup with Montreal Stars of the CWHL and was named the league’s top goaltender two seasons in a row.
BUILDER CATEGORY
Red Berenson – After an NHL career that lasted 987 games and saw him win a Stanley Cup with the Canadiens, score six goals in a game once, and represent Canada in the famed 1972 Summit Series, Berenson went into coaching. After six seasons as a coach with the Blues and Sabres, he left for the college game and was behind the bench for the University of Michigan until 2017. In those 33 years, he’s helped the program to a pair of national championships, 11 Frozen Four appearances and 11 conference titles. Personally, he’s a two-time CCHA coach of the year, the 2008 Spencer Penrose Award winner for top D-I coach, and going back to his NHL coaching days, the 1981 winner of the Jack Adams Award.
Ken Hitchcock – After six stints as an NHL head coach, it appears Hitchcock’s coaching days are behind him, but after his brief retirement to come back coach the Oilers last season, you never know. For now his coaching resume lists 849 wins (third all-time), one Stanley Cup title, and numerous players thankful for his influence and teams who were improved with him behind their bench. He’s also owner of a HOF-worthy sweatshirt.
Mike Keenan – Whether it was his quick hook with goalies or clashing with his players, there was never a dull moment when “Iron Mike” was coaching your team. But he also did win as his 672 NHL victories and 1985 Jack Adams Award shows. His teams won four conference titles and he helped lead the Rangers to the Stanley Cup in 1994, ending their 54-year drought. He also won in Russia, guiding Metallurg Magnitogorsk to the Gagarin Cup title in 2014, making him the first North American coach to win the KHL championship and the first coach to win both the Gagarin Cup and the Stanley Cup. Keenan’s championships also include the 1983 AHL Calder Cup and two Canada Cups, including the legendary 1987 tournament.
Bryan Murray – He compiled 620 wins as a head coach for five teams over 17 NHL season and made the Stanley Cup Playoffs 12 times in 13 full seasons behind a bench. He won the Jack Adams Award in 1984 and was named NHL Executive of the Year after building the 1995-96 Panthers team that reached the Cup Final.
Viktor Tikhonov – The head coach of the dominant “Red Machine” passed away in 2014 and is long overdue for induction into the Hall of Fame. Tikhonov, a 1998 IIHF HOF inductee as a builder, led the Soviets to the 1981 Canada Cup, eight golds at the World Championships, two at the Olympics and another coaching the Unified Team in 1992. He also coached CSKA Moscow and led them to 12 straight league titles.
————
Sean Leahy is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @Sean_Leahy.
