The Hockey Hall of Fame will not name a 2021 class, instead deciding to give the entire spotlight to the six people elected in 2020 that have yet to have an induction ceremony. Marian Hossa, Jarome Iginla, Kevin Lowe, Kim St-Pierre, Doug Wilson, and Ken Holland were all supposed to be inducted earlier this year but had their ceremony postponed when the coronavirus pandemic put things on hold. Now, the hall has decided to make sure they get their moment. Chairman Lanny McDonald:
The magic of the induction weekend from the perspective of the new inductees is participating in several days of close interaction with family, friends, former teammates, fellow legends and fans. On that premise, the Board felt that this was the right decision to bestow upon the Class of 2020 the recognition and lifetime experience they so richly deserve in all ways consistent with past induction classes.
With no new 2021 class, the debate regarding players like Alexander Mogilny, Rod Brind’Amour, and Daniel Alfredsson will have to wait another year.
- The Seattle Kraken have loaded up their scouting department even further, hiring another dozen scouts today. The group is headlined by Robert Kron, who will serve as director of amateur scouting and also includes Mike Dawson, Darren Yopyk, Jeff Crisp, Tom O’Connor, Tony MacDonald, Trevor Steinburg, Thomas Plante, Pelle Eklund, Marcus Fingal, Aleksandr Plyushev, and Sasu Hovi. Seattle is determined to find the best players both in the NHL and abroad as they start on their journey of creating the league’s 32nd team.
- It may be a long negotiation for the Columbus Blue Jackets and restricted free agents Pierre-Luc Dubois and Vladislav Gavrikov, but GM Jarmo Kekalainen isn’t worried. As he told Aaron Portzline of The Athletic, “if they want to play in the NHL, we have to agree on a contract.” Dubois is arguably the team’s best forward already at age 22, and Gavrikov has grown into a valuable top-four piece for the team. Both players are due substantial raises but don’t have a ton of leverage in this negotiation. Dubois technically could be signed to an offer sheet (while Gavrikov could not), though as Portzline points out, that was likely only a threat near the beginning of free agency, not now.
Ken Holland is going to cap off his induction year with a cup..am I right ;) #smith4vezina
Hossa is inducted, despite still being under contract? What a joke the cap recapture penalty became!
Just the Canucks get screwed. Wonder if Seabrook will end up on LTIR as well.
Lanny McDonald, best hockey stache ever.
Some really awesome hockey people, deserving of a great ceremony. But what am I missing? Everything else was held virtually, the cup inside a bubble, and the new potential inductees have to wait? Seems strange to me.