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Hockey Hall of Fame

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The Hockey Hall of Fame is located at the corner of Front & Yonge in downtown Toronto
The Stanley Cup on display at the Hockey Hall of Fame

The Hockey Hall of Fame which is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, celebrates the history of ice hockey with exhibits featuring memorabilia and NHL trophies (including the Stanley Cup) along with interactive activities. It is sponsored by the NHL and Hockey Canada [1] [2].

On August 26th, 1961 the original Hockey Hall of Fame opened on the grounds of Exhibition Place. The first Curator of the new Hall of Fame was Bobby Hewitson. Hewitson remained Curator until his retirement in 1967 when Maurice "Lefty" Reid was appointed. Hewitson & Reid's combined vision & commitment to acquiring, documenting and preserving everything related to hockey would give the Hall of Fame a tremendous foundation to build upon in the future. Maurice "Lefty" Reid would remain Curator of the Hockey Hall of Fame for the next 25 years retiring in 1992.

In 1992, a new direction was in store and a new location was sought out. The man chosen to direct the Hall of Fame on its new path was former NHL referee-in-chief Ian "Scotty" Morrison. On June 18th, 1993, the Hockey Hall of Fame relocated and opened at its new location in the former Bank of Montreal building on the northwest corner of Yonge and Front Street in downtown Toronto. In the first year at their new location, the Hockey Hall of Fame was an outstanding success setting records for attendance. This success was attributed to the vision of Scotty Morrison and the vision he shared with his predecessors. New corporate sponsors were found and Scotty Morrison and his staff ushered in a whole new approach to the marketing and the daily operations of the Hall of Fame. At the same time the game of Hockey was finding new audiences and was being exposed on a greater international level. These were all contributing factors to the Hall of Fame's new found success. The Hockey Hall of fame is currently led by Chairman & CEO Bill Hay who is a former Calder Trophy winner and NHL player with the Chicago Blackhawks. He is also the former CEO of the Calgary Flames. Jeff Denomme the current President, COO and Treasurer and Phil Pritchard the current Curator continue the Hall of Fame's tradition of passion and commitment to the accumulation, preservation and documentation of artifacts that makes the Hockey Hall of Fame the exciting facility it has become today.

The Bank of Montreal building was initially constructed in 1885 and it originally housed a branch of the Bank of Montreal. Built by architects Darling & Curry it replaced another bank building at the same location from 1845. It would remain a branch until 1982. Restored, it is now part of the architectural award winning BCE Place complex. The building was designated as an historic site under the Ontario Heritage Act in 1976.

The Hockey Hall of Fame is accessible via Toronto's underground PATH system; connected through the BCE Place complex to Union Station, Fairmont Royal York Hotel, and the Air Canada Centre.

Induction

For a person to be inducted to the Hockey Hall of Fame, the person must be nominated by an elected 18-person selection committee. They must receive the support of three-quarters (15 members) of the committee. In any given year, there can be a maximum of four players, two builders, and one referee or linesman. For a player, referee, or linesman to be nominated, the person must have been retired for a minimum three years. This period — relatively short compared to Halls of Fame for other major sports — has come under criticism because of the occasional spectacle when a Hall of Fame member comes out of retirement and resumes a career in the National League, which was the case for Gordie Howe, Guy Lafleur and Mario Lemieux.

Hockey Hall of Fame logo.
Hockey Hall of Fame logo.

The waiting period was waived for ten players deemed exceptionably notable:

After Wayne Gretzky's retirement in 1999, it was announced that the waiting period would in the future no longer be waived for any player.

As of 2006, the selection committee consists of: Al Arbour, Scotty Bowman, Colin Campbell, Ed Chynoweth, John Davidson, Eric Duhatschek, Mike Emrick, Emile Francis, Dick Irvin, Jr., Stan Mikita, Richard Patrick, Marty Pavelich, Yvon Pedneault, Pat Quinn, Serge Savard, Frank Selke, Jr. and Harry Sinden.

Future Inductees

The 2006 Class of Hall of Fame inductees was announced June 28, 2006, after the annual Selection Committee meeting. Patrick Roy and Dick Duff were elected as Players, while Herb Brooks and Harley Hotchkiss will be inducted as Builders. The official induction ceremony will take place November 13, 2006.

It has been announced that Calgary Flames' broadcaster Peter Maher has won the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award for his career in broadcasting and Scott Morrison, Managing Editor of Hockey at Rogers Sportsnet will be the recipient of the Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award for his career in writing.

For the 2007 class, four notable players will become eligible - Mark Messier, Ron Francis, Scott Stevens and Al MacInnis. If they are inducted in the same year, it would be one of the few times that four players have been inducted at the same time.

Controversies

In addition to the controversies over the relatively short mandatory retirement period, debates over inductees follow as a matter of course. Many feel that too many players are inducted, that the Original Six era is overrepresented (in some years in the 1960s, as many as a third of the players in the league would go on to HHOF membership), that WHA players such as Mark Howe and J.C. Tremblay and international players have been unjustly ignored. The Hall of Fame has recently opened an International Hockey exhibit and has said it will start looking at more International players for induction. They have already started fulfilling this promise after inducting Valeri Kharlamov in 2005, one of the few inductees to never play in the NHL.

One of the most debated possibilities is Paul Henderson. Henderson scored one of the most famous goals in Hockey and Canadian sports history when he scored the winning goal in the deciding game of the 1972 Summit Series between Canada and the Soviet Union. If Henderson was inducted, it would be due in large part to the historical significance of that goal. Although his NHL numbers were respectable (236 goals and 477 points in 707 career NHL games), they are not close to the levels of those generally selected for induction. His candidacy has led to many debates among hockey fans, because although his performance in the Summit Series made him one of the most well known names in hockey, many fans feel that it is not right to honour a player's entire career because of one highlight.

As of 2006, Dino Ciccarelli and Glenn Anderson have not been inducted, despite their impressive scoring statistics; Ciccarelli racked up 600 goals (12th on the all-time scoring list) and 1200 points in the regular season while Anderson had 93 goals and 125 assists in the postseason. This controversial was awakened that year when Cam Neely was inducted despite not coming close to 1000 points (due to numerous injuries), although Neely made a dramatic recovery from a knee injury to score 50 goals in 44 games. Anderson's playing career was clouded by problems relating to the media, and his retirement has been marred by documented failures to make child support payments, while Ciccarelli had several physical altercations with the press after retiring. He also served a ten game suspension in 1988 which could be hurting his chances, however many of the current inductees (ie. Maurice Richard) also served suspensions. Some have criticized the HHOF for focusing on issues other than hockey for their exclusion, but others point out that the induction committee has maintained such integrity in order to avoid tarnishing such an honour.

As the careers of some recent prominent female hockey players -- such as Geraldine Heaney, Danielle Goyette, Hayley Wickenheiser and Cassie Campbell -- wind down, many have debated about whether or not they should be inducted. All four are considered to be among the best womens hockey players ever, partly because their statistics in international play are similar to male counterparts who are already in the Hall of Fame as well as their play in various womens hockey leagues. Wickenheiser was also the first woman to score a goal in a men's professional league and will likely have a lot of public support.

See also

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