Hockey Hall Makes Call

To be a hall of famer means that your just a little bit better. There have been many great athletes that have played in the National Hockey League, and also have graced the great game of hockey on the international stage as well. When those men and women play the game at such a high level, it means that they are of a chosen few who are truly great at what they do. Once your playing career is over, if you get so lucky, to get enshrined into the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto means you were just that much better than everybody else to ever do it. The 2022 class adds six new members to the hallowed halls.

Roberto Luongo, Henrik Sedin, Daniel Sedin, Daniel Alfredsson, Riikka Sallinen, and Herb Carnegie got the call that they are going in for induction this November.

Herb's legacy goes beyond his playing career. He was one of the leading pioneers for diversity in the great game of hockey, after his playing career ended in 1954. He never did make it to the NHL, but his contribution to the sport was felt when he began the Future Aces Hockey School in his retirement and tried to bring diversity to the sport.

Riikka Sallimen was the best female player to ever compete from Finland. She played for her home country on an international level from 1989 to 2019. During that time, she registered 123 points in 89 international games. During that same time frame, she played in 227 Finnish Elite League games, and registered 514 points on 240 goals and 274 assists.

As for the players going in from the NHL, lets start with Daniel Alfredsson. He played in the NHL from 1995-96 all the way through 2013-14. His final year was in Detroit, but up till then he'd spent his entire career in Ottawa, serving as the Senators Captain during the 1999 season. He holds the Ottawa records for goals (426), assists (682) and points (1,108). Alfredsson was second in games played (1.178) behind Chris Phillips (1,179) in Senators franchise history. The one year he played in Detroit, he had 18 goals and 31 assists for 48 points. He finished with 1,157 career points.

Next we have the Twins, Daniel and Henrik Sedin. They were drafted 2nd and 3rd overall by the Canucks during the 2000 draft and played their entire 18 year careers in Vancouver, retiring in 2018 Henrik was the better playmaker of the two, finishing with 830 assists and 1,070 points (to go along with 240 goals). He lead the league in assist for three years in a row from 2009 to 2012.His 2009-10 year, he lead the league with 112 points which won him the Art Ross trophy as the leagues leading scorer and he also snagged the Hart Trophy as league MVP that same season.

The next season, 2010-11, Daniel followed his brother and claimed the Art Ross as the league's leading scorer, and finished 2nd that year in MVP voting. Daniel finished his career with 1,041 points on 393 goals and 648 assists. Those 393 goals are the most in Vancouver history, while he sits second behind his brother in assists, points, plus-minus (plus-147), games played (1,306) and power-play points (367).  The twins were two of the greatest playmakers that the Canucks ever had.

Vancouver also had themselves a pretty good netminder in Roberto Lungo, the biggest bundle the New York Islanders ever had. The Islanders drafted him 2nd overall in 1997. He played in 24 games for the Islanders in 1999-2000. Then got traded to the Panthers and the rest his history. Had two stints in Florida sandwiched around a run in Vancouver, which included an appearance in the finals in 2011. By the time Luongo ended his career, he finished fourth all-time in wins with 489, and second in games played among goalies with 1,044. Luongo spent eight years in Vancouver which split up the eleven years he was in Florida. He won 230 games in Florida and 252 in Vancouver.  He finished with a .919 save percentage and a 2.16 goals against average. Luongo was known for his flexability and his fantastic mental attitude and being able to shake off bad goals and bad games.

Congratulations to the newest members of the Hockey Hall of Fame class of 2022!

Did the hall get it right? Who got snubbed?