As Monday’s Hall of Fame induction ceremonies in Toronto approached, we heard news about two players forever linked – and who in theory could end up in the Hall of Fame together someday.
Peter Forsberg gave up on his attempt to play for the Swedish national team in an upcoming European tournament, telling Swedish journalists he never had been so pessimistic about the state of his recovery from his latest round of foot surgery. He sounded very much like a man about to give up on trying to return to competition, period – and certainly to the NHL.
On Thursday, Eric Lindros announced his retirement, essentially confirming the obvious after he was without a team in the wake of his lackluster 2006-07 season with the Dallas Stars. To his credit, he had been an instrumental part of the NHLPA leadership in seeking and hiring a new executive director, Paul Kelly, and forging a new union constitution, but the consensus was that he wouldn’t get another chance in the league – and his announcement and decision acknowledged that reality.
The June 1992 trade, in which the Flyers acquired Lindros’ draft rights from the Quebec Nordiques for Forsberg’s rights, plus Mike
Ricci, Ron Hextall, Steve Duchesne, the entire population of South Dakota and the University of Southern California Marching Band (or something like that), helped “make” the franchise … except the franchise by then was the Avalanche.
I’m among those who believed the Avs should have been among Forsberg’s most fervent suitors.
They could have used him, both on the ice and – especially – at the box office. He would have provided a short-term buzz that, if he played well in realistically doled-out playing time and roles, would eventually have been transformed into interest mounting because the Avalanche seemed bona fide Cup contenders again.
Despite this latest turn and setback, I’m not ruling out a Forsberg return, whether to Colorado or somewhere else in the NHL, before the playoffs open. The interesting thing is that Forsberg’s pride and standards in effect are operating as a screening mechanism: He won’t come here and be, say, the hockey version of Simeon Rice. If that’s the way it’s going to be, he won’t sign with anyone.
And Lindros?
What a fascinating study. There was a time, especially when he was on the Flyers’ Legion of Doom line, when he was the best player in the sport, and his 1995 win in the Hart Trophy voting attests to that. He apparently will finish with 372 goals in 760 regular-season games.
But the concussions, a product of his sometimes undisciplined on-ice wanderings, bad luck, and the attention he got from the opposition, and other injuries did him in. He must be given credit for fighting through all the problems, including a collapsed lung … to a point. Last season, though, when he followed up a largely unsuccessful two-season stint with the Toronto Maple Leafs by joining the Stars, he was in position to have less pressure on him as he played wing and wasn’t subject to major expectations. Yet he didn’t seem to have the fire or desire to shake that reputation as somewhat of an underachiever.
And nobody wanted him this season.
I’ve said he may go down as the biggest bust in NHL history, and in a sense, that’s a big compliment. The expectations were so great, his play so spectacular when he was healthy and put his mind to it, he can be considered a great player and a flop at the same time.
Hall passes. The four-man class inducted Monday – Mark Messier, Ron Francis, Al MacInnis, and Scott Stevens – is an impressive group, all in their first years of eligibility, and the first two were automatic choices.
But I still don’t think it would have been disrespecting of MacInnis and Stevens to put them on hold for one year.
Who instead?
Glenn Anderson, who had 498 career goals, has been overlooked too long, penalized by the attitude that enough Oilers from the dynastic years – now, also including Messier – were in the hall.
And Igor Larionov, one of the sport’s gentlemen who made his mark mostly in the Soviet Union during his prime before having a solid career in the NHL, has to get in. If not, they should change the name from the Hockey Hall of Fame to the NHL Hall of Fame.
SPOTLIGHT ON …
Cammi Granato, Lester Patrick Award winner
Last week, Cammi Granato – the younger sister of Avalanche assistant coach Tony Granato – was one of four 2007 recipients of the Lester Patrick Award, honored at a luncheon in New York.
The award, a joint endeavor of the NHL and Colorado Springs-based USA Hockey, honors contributions to hockey in the United States.
The other 2007 recipients are recently retired defenseman Brian Leetch, Tony Granato’s teammate on the 1988 U.S. Olympic team and also with the Rangers; former Rangers and NHL executive John Halligan; and writer-broadcaster Stan Fischler.
Cammi Granato was a trailblazer, the first major star in USA women’s hockey – and at a time when that required fighting a lot of battles for acceptance and opportunities. She was on the first two U.S. women’s Olympic teams, in 1998 and 2002, and her exclusion from the 2006 team was a disgrace.
“As a woman, getting this award is even a bigger honor because I am looked at as an equal,” Granato said at the luncheon. “As a kid, I was an equal. I never thought of myself as any different. I wanted to be a Chicago Blackhawk, exactly like my brothers. That was my dream.
“It wasn’t until I was a little older that people started pointing out that, ‘Hey, you’re a girl. Why are you playing this game? It’s a man’s game.’ So it’s nice to be honored for that.”
She got considerable support from her brothers, Tony and Don.
“She heard, ‘You can’t play in this tournament,”‘ Tony said. “She said, ‘Well, why not? I’m a good player.’ So all along, that’s the way it was. She taught me a lot about the fire inside, the drive to motivate yourself.”
Cammi is married to former NHL player Ray Ferraro, now a broadcaster, and the couple has an infant son, Riley.
