WEDNESDAY COMMENTARY – HALL OF FAME?
(Listen daily for the Rod Pedersen Commentary on Cat Country 98 & Rock 98.5 FM)
DISCLAIMER: YOU’VE LIKELY HEARD THIS RANT FROM ME BEFORE BUT YOU’RE GOING TO HEAR IT AGAIN.
ONLY THIS TIME I’VE ADDED TO IT.
THE HOCKEY HALL OF FAME ANNOUNCED ITS 2022 INDUCTION CLASS ON MONDAY AND, AGAIN, THE LIST DID NOT INCLUDE THEOREN FLEURY.
KUDOS TO THE DESERVING INDUCTEES WHO PLAYED IN THE NHL, SUCH AS DANIEL AND HENRIK SEDIN, ROBERTO LUONGO AND DANIEL ALFREDSSON.
BUT NOT ONE OF THEM BOASTS THE CAREER THAT MY GUY THEO DID, THE PRIDE OF OXBOW, SASK.
NONE OF THEM WON A STANLEY CUP. THEOREN DID OF COURSE, ALONG WITH AN OLYMPIC GOLD MEDAL, WORLD MENS CHAMPIONSHIP, AND HE FAMOUSLY REPRESENTED CANADA AT THE WORLD JUNIORS IN PIESTANY.
I NEVER REALLY THOUGHT ABOUT FLEURY’S EXCLUSION UNTIL I HEARD A TSN COMMENTATOR SAY A FEW YEARS AGO THAT THEO’S NOT IN THE HALL OF FAME DUE TO A “STIGMA”.
AND THAT’S WHEN I LOST MY MIND. YES, THEOREN FLEURY BATTLED ADDICTION, WHICH HE OVERCAME 16 YEARS AGO. YOU THINK IT MIGHT’VE HAD SOMETHING TO DO WITH BEING A VICTIM OF CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE?
I’VE BEEN TOLD WE’RE MAKING A DIFFERENCE BY CARRYING THE TORCH OF RECOVERY AND SHARING OUR STORIES BUT AS LONG AS INJUSTICES LIKE THIS CONTINUE, I HAVE MY DOUBTS.
BUT IT’S NOT JUST THEO.
APPARENTLY JEREMY ROENICK IS BATTLING THE SAME THING. A GUY SENT ME THE CAREER STATS OF ROENICK AND HENRIK SEDIN AND IT’S NOT EVEN CLOSE.
J-R’S PLAYED MORE GAMES, SCORED WAY MORE POINTS AND HAS DOUBLE THE PLAYOFF POINTS.
SO WHAT EXACTLY IS WRONG WITH THE HOCKEY HALL OF FAME VOTERS?
I’VE LONG SAID THAT THE HALL OF FAME DEBATE IS MY FAVOURITE AND I MUCH PREFER IT OVER DRAFT TALK.
BUT WHEN DESERVING HALL OF FAMERS ARE SNUBBED DUE TO GRUDGES, EGO OR IGNORANCE, I REALLY START TO LOSE INTEREST IN THE WHOLE CONVERSATION, AND THE INSTITUTION ITSELF.
AND DON’T GET ME STARTED ON FOOTBALL.
THAT’S TODAY’S ROD PEDERSEN COMMENTARY
(The Rod Pedersen Show airs daily on Game+ TV at 12 pm ET & 10 pm PT across Canada and the USA. Call your cable provider for details. You can also watch on YouTube Live or listen 24/7 at RodPedersen.com/ListenLive)
This year it was simply a matter of forgive them they know not what they do. Luongo, Alfredson, and those twins would not have seen the ice in these Stanley Cup finals. Why? They have no heart. Putting these female players in I can only surmise at this point it is their sneaky fish way to try to hook up with them. Theo Fleury is a Hall of Famer. End of story. After that guys like Dave Taylor, Roenick, and Alex Mogilny need to go in there. I dont believe Fleury is overlooked due to stigma. He has the same… Read more »
Rod, how about posting a poll whether Fleury should be in the HHOF?
I’ve done it in the past. It’s always an avalanche in Theo’s favour.
His Captain was Lanny McDonald. I was 14 when they put him in a game in the final and he scored a goal. The rest of the time this guy rode pine with Tim Hunter and Jim Peplinski. Tim and Jim served a major purpose getting that far, but against Montreal they had to go run and gun. Lanny had no business on the ice, yet he gets his Stanley Cup. This is not about taking away from one to make another look better. I’ll ask it a separate way. Do you want a 23 year old Dale Hunter on… Read more »