The Hall stops here

Tomorrow is a big day in the lives of former NHL superstars as the Hockey Hall of Fame will announce its next inductees.

The most obvious of this year's cohorts is Patrick Roy, the all-time leader in games played and victories by a goaltender, in both regular season and playoffs, and holds a record three Conn Smythe trophies as the most valuable player in the post-season. That he should be in the Hall is a no-brainer.

Somewhat less obvious, yet still likely, is the induction of Doug Gilmour, the former star centre of, most notably, St Louis, Calgary and Toronto. The former perennial 100-point man did more than any other player to bring the Leafs to the Stanley Cup finals and even scored a Cup-winning goal himself in 1989 while with the Flames. In his prime, there were few who could match either his intensity or his exceptional two-way play, and, because of this, the little man from Kingston has earned his place amongst the greats.

An outside shot is the great Pavel Bure. The Russian Rocket was small in stature but he stood shoulder-to-shoulder beside the most exciting players the game has ever seen. When he was healthy, his numbers were outstanding, including a pair of 60-goal seasons in the mid-ninties. Yet it wasn't just the number of goals, but how he scored them. Bure blazing down the right side after picking up a headman pass put the fear of God in many a poor sap who was unlucky enough to be quivering in the blue paint, and his laser-like release was almost unstoppable. He was the closest the NHL had had to re-creating the electric atmosphere of the Montreal Forum in the 1970s, where a torrent of blonde hair would act in much the same fashion in front of mesmerized crowds then.

There are plenty of pros in favour of this formidable pro. His cons, however, might hinder his nomination, strikes against him including a shortened career due to recurring knee injuries, and the lack of a Stanley Cup. The latter might be forgiven considering the woefully mediocre Vancouver teams with which he was associated, one version of which Pavel himself led to within 1 goal of a Cup in the 1994 finals. Still, along with Cam Neely and Brett Hull, both of whom had careers worthy of immortalization, he was the elite right winger in the game at the time. If I was in charge of the Hall of Fame -- a goal towards which I am desperately working -- Bure would be in on the first ballot.

Other potential inductees include the championship netminders Mike Richter and Tom Barrasso, who may get in eventually, as well as 600-goal man Dino Ciccarelli, Dale Hunter, Kevin Lowe, Steve Larmer and Rick "the Racketeer" Tocchet, all of whom would be excluded if it weren't for the "but Clark Gillies is already in there" clause.

Lest we forget, as is becoming a yearly ritual, Oiler winger Glenn Anderson. The former post-season wreaker of havoc will not get in, not because of the lack of numbers (he had netted close to 500 regular season goals and is among the top-five in post-season scoring) nor due the lack of finger jewelery (6 Stanley Cups, most of which were won within the prime of his career). No, there are two reasons why Glenn Anderson will not be inducted into the Hall of Fame any time soon: the first is because of a group of individuals with the given names Wayne, Mark, Jari, Grant and Paul; the second is because there wasn't a turned back which wasn't hit, a team crest which wasn't speared, a flagrant dive which wasn't committed while Edmonton number 9 was patrolling the left side in the 1980s.

Anderson was as disliked as any player in the league, a loathing unmatched by virtually everyone whose name didn't begin with Claude and end with Lemieux. For most of his career, and especially in the post-season, he was a classless asshole on the ice, plain and simple, and, like it or not, entry to the Hall of Fame is guarded by men who remember quite clearly the type of player Anderson had been.

Indeed, the thought of Anderson sitting patiently outside the doors of the Hall year after year allows this adoring fan of the game to believe that, yes, dear reader, there is justice in the world.