Thursday, January 03, 2019
The Hockey Hall of Fame
The book is
simply entitled “The Hall”. It is a compendium of just about
everything you would ever want to know about hockey's shrine. I have
lost track, but I think it is about the twentieth book that Kevin
Shea has released. Lanny McDonald, the guy with the mustache, has
been inducted into the Hall of Fame, and now serves as its Chairman
of the Board. He prepared one of the two Forewords to the book. The
other was penned by Jeff Denomme, the President and CEO of The Hall.
The book
belongs on the coffee tables of serious hockey fans. It contains
chapters like the “Birth of the Hall”, its “Growing Pains”,
and several others introducing the reader to the history of the
game, and its players.
Understandably,
this is not the only hall of fame. You will find similar institutions
in Springfield, Massachusetts, (Basketball), Canton, Ohio, (NFL
Football), Hamilton, Ontario, (CFL Football), and Cooperstown, New
York, (Baseball). As a keen student in the history of all of the
major sports, I have visited all of those locations. Many of you have
been to the hockey hall of fame, and perhaps to Cooperstown as well.
I am sure you realized that special feeling one gets from the visit.
There will
always be great debate about the birthplace of the game. Kingston,
Ontario, Montreal, Quebec, and Halifax, Nova Scotia, all lay claim to
the place where the game was first played. The idea that the hall of
fame should have been located at the original site makes good sense.
It likely stems from the Cooperstown connection to baseball. Of
course we now know that baseball's roots are in Beachburg, Ontario!
Kingston's
noted author and hockey historian Bill Fitsell has chronicled the
dismay felt by Captain James T. Sutherland who wanted the Hall
located in the Limestone City. Alas, to no avail. There is a building
located near the Memorial Arena in Kingston that once served as a
hockey hall of fame. It contained many important artifacts of the
game. Many of the readers of this column toured that site. But its
location lacked the necessary wheels for major funding for the Hall,
and it died a slow and painful demise.
The Hockey
Hall of Fame was originally located on the grounds of the Canadian
National Exhibition in Toronto. My next door neighbour for many
years, Mike “Dime” Walsh, visited the site almost daily as it was
under construction. He chauffeured around Conn Smythe, the chief
proponent of the Toronto location. He also picked up many other
celebrities at the airport as part of the job: Elvis, the Beatles,
the Stones, to name just a few. But that is another story!
The downtown
location is perfect for out-of-town fans attending a Leafs game. A
stone's throw from the arena, it is most impressive as an historic
site, as well as a display for the memorabilia. The Hall also has a
Resource Centre in the Lakeshore West area of Toronto, housing
artifacts and important documents.
Photographs
of all inductees are in the book, as well as wonderful pictures from
the Hall. Naturally, the Stanley Cup, in its various stages of
development, is prominent in the book.
At the old
Hall at the CNE, I noticed one object that was prominently displayed.
It was an NHL puck, and it came from a game that Bob Kilger
officiated. It was in pretty rough shape. At the end of the first two
periods, when play ended, Kilger stuffed the puck in his pocket. At
the end of the game, the scorekeeper collected the puck and sent it
to the Hall. It was the only puck used in the game!!
My copy of
the book will be in the Wellington Public Library very soon. You can
get yours at most book stores.
Happy New
Year!!!!
James Hurst
January,
2019
# posted by James Hurst @ 5:38 AM 
