The Hockey Hall of Fame announced its class of 2022 and as usual, it’s an eclectic mix — a few sure things, or near sure things, plus a couple of out-of-left-field candidates that finally made the grade after long waits.
Officially, the HHOF selection committee selected five players in Roberto Luongo, Daniel Alfredsson, Daniel and Henrik Sedin and Riikka Sallinen as well as Herb Carnegie in the builders’ category.
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The 18-member selection committee was meeting in person for the first time since 2019. The process was more complicated and contentious than usual, in part because there were two groups of first-year eligible players under consideration this time around.
That’s because the selection committee didn’t meet at all in 2021, given that the previous year’s class (headed by Jarome Iginla and Marian Hossa) hadn’t been officially inducted yet.
It meant, for example, the Sedins had to wait a year to be considered for the first time, and in that span, it also made eligible their longtime teammate in Vancouver, Luongo.
Let’s deconstruct what happened.
The newest members of the Hockey Hall of Fame have been announced:
◽️ Roberto Luongo
◽️ Daniel Sedin
◽️ Henrik Sedin
◽️ Daniel Alfredsson
◽️ Riikka Sallinen
◽️ Herb Carnegiehttps://t.co/IBUFzbBeIO— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) June 27, 2022
What are my thoughts on this Hockey Hall of Fame class?
The Sedins were almost certainly going to get in at some point. The main question was, would they be elected in their first year of eligibility, given that it would be unlikely that one would be chosen and not the other? Their careers followed parallel paths, ever since then-Vancouver Canucks general manager Brian Burke orchestrated a complicated trade at the 1999 draft, which allowed him to select both players.
It might have been Burke’s greatest achievement as a GM, given the other two players selected at the top of that draft, Patrik Stefan and Pavel Brendl, barely registered a ripple at the NHL level.
Burke is a member of the HHOF selection committee, and while the committee’s deliberations are held in secret, it’s certain he was a strong advocate on their behalf. Under the Hall’s protocols, Burke would have only been able to nominate one Sedin himself. Another member of the selection committee would have been required to nominate the other.
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The Sedins’ NHL careers got off to a relatively slow start — averaging under half a point per game in their first three seasons — before escalating in Year 4 and eventually becoming stars in the league. They each won multiple major awards — Henrik the Hart in 2010, the Art Ross in 2011 and Daniel the Ted Lindsay in 2011 and the Art Ross in 2011 — and they shared the King Clancy in 2016. They were also mainstays of Sweden’s national team and won a gold medal in 2006 in Torino, but the closest they came to winning the Stanley Cup was in 2011, when the Canucks lost a heartbreaker in seven games to the Boston Bruins.
Luongo was also a member of that Vancouver team.
Alfredsson’s resume, in some ways, was quite similar to his countrymen, the Sedins. He was also a member of Sweden’s 2006 gold medal-winning team and had an exceptional Olympics — 10 points in eight games. The Calder Trophy winner in his rookie season with the Ottawa Senators in 1995-96, Alfredsson led the 2007 NHL playoffs in goals (14) and points (222), though the Senators ultimately lost in the Stanley Cup Final to the Anaheim Ducks. But his resume wasn’t all that different from other candidates, who’d been eligible for years and hadn’t made the cut. More on that below.
Why do so few goalies make the Hockey Hall of Fame?
Of the players in the male category, Luongo was the closest to a certainty, given that he is currently fourth all-time on the goalie wins list with 489, trailing only Martin Brodeur, Patrick Roy and Marc-Andre Fleury. Luongo was third all-time when he retired (Fleury has passed him since). He is second in games played at 1,044 and ninth all time in shutouts with 77.
Historically, goalies have been underrepresented in the Hall of Fame’s male player category, especially in recent years. Since Billy Smith was elected in 1993, there have been only seven goalies chosen in a 29-year span (Grant Fuhr, Patrick Roy, Ed Belfour, Dominik Hasek, Rogie Vachon and Martin Brodeur).
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There is a certain symmetry to Luongo entering the Hall alongside his long-time Canucks’ teammates, the Sedins. It’s reminiscent of the class of 2017, when a pair of Ducks’ teammates, Teemu Selanne and Paul Kariya, were inducted together.
Why did it take so long for Herb Carnegie to finally make it?
In the builder’s category, Carnegie probably should have been selected a long time ago, a player who was basically denied a chance to play in the NHL in the 1940s and 1950s because of his skin color. Carnegie starred at the senior hockey level in Canada and though had a chance to try out for the New York Rangers, was never given a chance to play on the NHL team. Given that he could earn more in Canada’s minor leagues, he turned the opportunity down.
When asked on the Hall of Fame’s live broadcast unveiling the class of 2022, Mike Gartner, chairman of the HHOF selection committee, explained it this way:
“So, when you have someone like Herb Carnegie, because of the color of his skin, was not allowed to play in our league, because of the way it was at the time. That’s a problem. We’re looking at it. We’re looking at the type of legacy that he’s left and the way our society is going right now and it felt like the right thing to do. Herb Carnegie is part of the whole healing process — and the process of moving forward in a positive manner.”
Announcing Class of 2022 Builder Inductee Herb Carnegie, honoured posthumously.#HHOF2022 | #HHOF pic.twitter.com/tkBSHwKDi7
— Hockey Hall of Fame (@HockeyHallFame) June 27, 2022
Why wasn’t Caroline Ouellette selected?
Arguably, the biggest surprise came on the female player side where the long-time star of the Finnish national team, Riikka Sallinen (née Nieminen and previously also known under the name Välilä) was elected ahead of Caroline Ouellette. Internationally, Sallinen represented Finland at the IIHF Women’s European Championships, winning three times, participated in eight IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championships taking home six bronze medals and one silver, and made four Olympic Winter Games appearances, collecting two bronze medals.
But Ouellette is arguably one of the top five female players of all time and produced a glittering resume, from the time she played college for Minnesota-Duluth to 16 years on Canada’s national team and to a long career in the Canadian Women’s Hockey League.
Ouellette was a four-time Olympic gold medalist and was captain of Canada’s 2014 team in Sochi. Additionally, she won six gold and six silver medals at a dozen world championships, four Clarkson Cups (CWHL championships), and is third all-time in games played for Canada’s national team, behind two Hall of Famers, Hayley Wickenheiser and Jayna Hefford.
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It’s hard to imagine her getting overlooked next year.
What Hockey Hall of Fame speech are you looking forward to the most?
Unquestionably, Luongo’s. He is one of the most charming and genuinely funny men you’ll ever come across. If hockey hadn’t worked out, he would have had a long and successful career in stand-up comedy. For years, in Vancouver, he’d do little TV schticks on TSN, the sports network, gently sending up himself and his long-time partner in goal, Cory Schneider.
His Twitter handle: Strombone1 has, off and on, been one of the most entertaining follows on social media (770,170 followers at last count) — though he hasn’t been nearly as active post-career as he was during his career, he was always good for a laugh. He will be sensational on the stage in November, during induction ceremonies.
Never easy seeing an ex-teammate get traded. Good luck in Vegas @Ryan_Kesler 🥴
— Strombone (@strombone1) March 21, 2022
Who’s next to make the Hockey Hall of Fame?
No HHOF discussion is ever complete without the usual discussion of who’s next, and who’s been overlooked. First, let’s look quickly ahead of the class of 2023, which will feature another almost sure thing in goal — the legendary Rangers’ goaltender Henrik Lundqvist — and one very interesting candidate, because of his big-game reputation, Justin Williams.
Why didn’t Alex Mogilny make it this year?
Here at The Athletic, we’ve chaired our own selection committees twice now, in a bid to mirror the Hall’s actual process. Twice, we’ve elected Alex Mogilny, who has been eligible since three years after his retirement — and still hasn’t made it over the line yet. Mogilny was a trailblazer for Russian players wanting to play in the NHL, defecting in 1989, and completing his NHL career with 1,032 points in 990 games, which also included a spectacular 76-goal season in 1992-93.
Career point totals only tell part of the story, because some players produced their best seasons during the height of the NHL goal-scoring era and others had to suffer through the downs of the dead-puck era. In terms of pure raw numbers, there are four players with above 1,200 career points still not in the Hall (Pierre Turgeon, Jeremy Roenick, Bernie Nicholls and Vince Damphousse) — and one not far behind (Rod Brind’Amour at 1,184).
A handful of others (Keith Tkachuk, Dave Taylor, Pat Verbeek, Brian Bellows, Theo Fleury) produced numbers comparable to the Sedin twins, though they may not have had the same impact internationally. Defencemen too frequently are as overlooked as goaltenders, and the likes of Sergei Gonchar and Gary Suter also remain on the outside looking in, though they have stats that put them in the same company as other successful Hall of Fame candidates.
Who would I pick for this year’s Hockey Hall of Fame class?
Full disclosure. I served on the Hall of Fame selection committee for 15 years between 2004 and 2018, before reaching my term limit. You sign a confidentiality agreement before you join, promising not to discuss the committee’s inner dialogue so committee members can freely exchange opinions, pro and con, over a candidate’s merits. There are maximums in each category as well — four male, two female and two builder and/or referee/linesmen in each year. One thing I always tried to do was go into the proceedings with an open mind which is critical, I believe, to genuinely consider the merits of any candidate in any given year.
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In my mind, looking at what the selection committee had to consider, I thought Luongo would surely get in on the male players’ side, Ouellette on the female players’ side, and I thought the odds were better than 50-50 that the Sedins would get in, though there was no guarantee. That would have left only one spot open in the male player category; and without knowing who was actually nominated (because the committee doesn’t disclose nominees, only successful candidates), it would have been difficult to say how that fourth selection would have gone.
I do believe more goalies (Mike Vernon, Tom Barrasso) need to get in.
Mogilny, at some point, surely will squeak in as well. But I always go back to something that Bill Hay, the former chairman of the Hall of Fame, said to me when I first joined the committee. It’s the Hockey Hall of Fame. It’s hard to get in, and it should be hard. And getting the necessary 14 selection committee votes is further proof.
(Photo of Roberto Luongo: Photo by Joel Auerbach / Getty Images)
