Hockey Hall of Fame Induction Thoughts

This evening, the Hockey Hall of Fame inducted it's latest class. As a builder, Lou Lamoriello, as players, Brian Leetch, Brett Hull, Luc Robitaille, and Steve Yzerman. Rather than recap why they're there, I wanted to share some of my thoughts on them.

Let's start with Sweet Lou. Lamoriello I have learned has had a huge impact on the game, dating back to his days at Providence. He made what was called a Mickey Mouse organization respectable, and architected the team to consistent successes. Congrat's Lou.

Brian Leetch was always a quiet one to me. Being on the West Coast, I didn't get to see him too much. But, I have one funny set of stories about him. This was around '92-93. The Rangers came to the Cow Palace to play the Sharks. Leetch was out hurt (I think he'd been out all year), as was Kevin Lowe. That year, to get from the press box to the dressing rooms, you had to go down through the crowd. A friend of mine spotted Lowe leaving, so he took off to get an autograph. Lowe was with another player (Leetch), but my friend didn't recognize him. He'd actually bumped Leetch to get to Lowe. He was thinking he should be asking the other guy for an autograph, but didn't want to ask him who he was, or if he should be asking for an autograph. The next morning, my friend bough some packs of hockey cards. In one of the packs was a Brian Leetch Norris Trophy winner card. He recognized Leetch from the night before. Fast forward now to the Stanley Cup finals, the Rangers beat the Cannucks, and there's Leetch getting the Conn Smythe. My friend's girlfriend then asks if that was the guy he bumped that time to get Lowe's autograph. Congrat's Brian.

Lucky's career was more out here, but I wasn't following hockey quite as much, especially not as wide ranging. I remember from one of the NHL highlight videos that I used to watch all the time (probably came close to wearing out the tapes on them) Lucky talking about one of his goals. It was one where he laid out and swatted at the puck. He had said the typical confident kinds of things back when he scored it, but admitted there he had no idea how it went it. I also remember that a pitcher for the Braves (Tom Glavine?) was drafted ahead of Robitaille. Not bad for a kid that people said couldn't skate. Congrat's Luc.

The Golden One. After being called the Golden Brett as a take on his father's name the Golden Jet, people then combined Gretzky's the Great One into Brett's nickname. I'm sure lots of folks who covered the game cried when Brett hung up his skates for good. Brett was always willing to say what was on his mind. It got him in hot water sometimes, but that's just the way he is. He went from being Bobby Hull's kid to his father being Brett Hull's dad. He's also a Jedi. It's the easiest explanation I have for opposing players forgetting about a 500+ goal scorer. Brett had a quick shot release, but quite importantly, a knack for getting open in a scoring area. Gretzky's office was behind the net. Esposito's office was the low slot, right in front of the goaltender. Hull's was the high slot, above the has marks to the top of the circles. He'd find a little space, the puck would get there, and bang, it was away. His brother Bart used to write a column for The Hockey Digest. I remember one still from over 20 years ago. He talked about what you see when you look at the net. Most people see the goalie. Bobby taught them to see the holes, the places where you could score, not the goalie. That makes a world of difference. Congrat's Brett.

Stevie Y. 2006 Olympics, Yzerman had removed his name from consideration for the Canadian Olympic team. He didn't want them picking him because they felt they owed it to him, or wanted to respect the older players. Joe Sakic and Joe Thornton were on that team, and all three of them wore #19 for their NHL teams. Out of respect for Yzerman, Sakic and Thornton left #19 unworn. 2002 Olympics, gold medal ceremony. Owen Nolan had gotten his video camera to record the moment. As they got close to Nolan, Yzerman asked for the camera to record Nolan getting his medal. Yzerman always exuded a quiet intensity to me. Immensely respected in Detroit, referred to not by name, but as The Captain. (That's a capital The there. You can hear it.) Congrat's Stevie.