Should Paul Henderson be in the Hall of Fame?

Question

Henderson scored three straight game-winning goals in Moscow during the 72’ summit series and led the tournament with seven goals in eight games. So why does the Hall treat this Canadian hero like he was covered in leeches? It has nothing to do with his performance on the ice.

According to the Hall these are the attributes players need to qualify: Playing ability, sportsmanship, character and their contribution to teams and the game of hockey.

1) Playing ability: Henderson played 1,067 games in the NHL and WHA, scored 376 goals and collected 760 points. Thirty-six inductees can’t match those numbers. He also played in two Stanley Cup finals and two all-star games. He never won a Cup, but there are 40 inductees in the Hall who also failed in that department, including Cam Neely.
2) Sportsmanship: In 19 years of major professional hockey, he received one fighting major.
3) Character: Any player who could work for over a decade under the likes of Sid Abel and Punch Imlach should never have his character questioned.
4) Contribution: In 1962, he led Hamilton to its one and only Memorial Cup championship and his performance in 1972 resulted in the Hall naming Team Canada the greatest of the 20th century.

What should anger you most as a hockey fan is who has been inducted. In a political move to pave the way for Russian players to join the NHL, goalie Vladislav Tretiak was honoured in 1989. Tretiak gave up six goals in that final game in ‘72, including the winner. The same politics that got Tretiak in have kept Henderson out.

In 1974, Henderson jumped from the Toronto Maple Leafs to the Toronto Toros of the WHA. At the time the general manager of the Leafs was Jim Gregory, now chairman of the Hockey Hall of Fame selection committee. It would appear Gregory will never forgive or forget.

What are you thoughts? Should Henderson be inducted?

Answer 1

Yes, without a doubt Paul Henderson belongs in the Hockey Hall of Fame. So his stats are not the same as Wayne Gretzky's..................his skill was thought of highly enough that he was able to represent Canada at that series. If his skill was that good, and he proved it was by scoring the game winning goal in games 6,7, and 8...........then he is fully deserved og a spot in the Hall of Fame.

Henderson didn't 'jump' to the WHA. His contract expired, and the WHA offered more money than the NHL. Similar situation to Bobby Hull, Bernie Parent, Derek Sanderson, Frank Mahovlich, etc. You make it sound like he abandoned the Leafs.


To Tim O
The Avco Cup was sponsored by a Finacial Services company which specialized in business start-up loans to clients who didn't qualify at one of the big banks.

It wasn't until 1984 that Avco was bought by Textron (maker of Cesna's, golf carts and smart bombs)

Answer 2

I understand Henderson's contribution in the most significant hockey series in history, but the Hall of Fame is not about a couple of good weeks. It's about putting together a lifetime of numbers. Henderson was a good player but not a great one throughout his NHL career. It's not the Hall of Pretty Good, as some would say.

The interenational picks are always difficult, because the standards are different. Tretiak was a great goalie for a long, long time. I wouldn't disqualify him because Henderson was left alone in the slot in the final moments of Game Eight. Igor Larionov is an odder case because of his split career, but there's no doubt he was one of the sport's all-time greats and will make it someday.

And, for what it's worth, I got to know Jim Gregory a bit a while back. I'd say he has more integrity than more than 95 percent of the people I encountered in the game. He is one of the last persons I know who would put personal considerations into the discussion. Even if he did, he would be quickly outvoted by the rest of the committee.

Answer 3

Henderson was a very good player, but not a great player. What he did is remarkable, but ask yourself this: If he'd been sick in September 1972, and somebody else had scored those Summit Series goals, somebody whose HOF credentials were unquestionable -- or, at the other end of the spectrum (if not the Wachovia Center), somebody who was mainly a defenseman, and not a scorer, and got lucky, and wouldn't normally be considered for the Hall...

If Paul Henderson had not played in the Summit Series, but his career and his character were otherwise the same, would you vote him in? I'd have to say no, he falls a bit short.

Disclaimer: As an American, I'm not begging for any member of the 1980 U.S. Olympic team to be elected, although a few of them, like Neal Broten and Mike Ramsey, were very good for a long time.

Answer 4

You won't get any arguement from me. Henderson was involved in one of hockey's most famous series and was the key character is what may arguably be the single most memorable goal in hockey history. He's a great ambassador for the game and he should be included in the HHOF. But then haven't I been saying this for months now?

What if he'd been sick? Some one else would have scored those goals? Do you have the ability to look across dimensions and see alterantive pasts? You don't know that. You're just guessing. And to decide to make it an Nationalistic thing is a little low brow as well.

Answer 5

Hall of Famers are chosen by sports writers; and who are bigger political hacks than those? That, Henderson jumped to the WHA and stayed in Toronto, no less, the territory of Howard Ballard probably did not help his chances. The WHA was a minor league compared to the NHL with most players jumping to get out of their NHL contracts for more money or a better situation. This is an action which is bound to step on a few political toes when you consider what a threat AND A PAIN IN THE NECK THE WHA WAS TO THE POWERS THAT BE IN THE NHL. AT THAT TIME IN THE EARLY SEVENTIES.The NHLHAD JUST STARTED TO EXPAND THEIR LEAGUE AND WERE GARNERING NEW SUCCESSFUL NHL MARKETS ALONG WITH A FEW WHO WERE BARELY GETTING BY, IF AT ALL. The WHA trashed the NHL's momentum. The league was run largely by an American Weapons Company AVCO. They also owned Gordie Howe's team The Houston Aeros. Henderson was great, but it is fair to say that WHA stats are invalid compared to those of players in the NHL. The Avco Cup being more cheaply bought than the Calder most years. The WHA drew most of its legitimacy from the contreversy it created at its inception. Over the next decade the league proved to be a joke, and not a very good one.

Answer 6

It's seems a bit iffy there. The stats are okay (nothing flashy) but the Stanley Cup thing would definitely hurt. However, with those goals, he should at least be seriously considered.

As for Vladislav Tretiak, I think he does deserve the spot. He's a decorated Olympian, with 3 gold and a silver (1980). He was league MVP in Russia five times (including three straight years in the 70's) and helped his team win 13 titles in 14 years.

Answer 7

I saw the series on TV in 1972.If he isn't inducted into the HOF it is a travesty.That moment brought a country and it's national sport together.He is in the history books, never mind the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Of course he should be inducted.

Answer 8

Absolutely not. If it were not for the big goal, nobody would even know who he is.

Hall of Fame is for great players, not good players and that is all he was.

As far as Tretiak, you dismiss him on one bad game? Bullocks, he was a GREAT goalie.

Answer 9

i'd vote for him