Tuesday was a history-making day for the great sport of hockey as Angela James and Cammi Granato were inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Granato and James will be the first women to be in the Hall. They’ll be formally inducted on November 8.

James was a Canadian scoring superstar and played for Canada at the first women’s hockey championships. She was Canada’s dominant female player throughout the 70s and 80s, blazing a trail for other Canadian players to follow. James was often considered the female Wayne Gretzky, remaining as top scorer for eight seasons and winning the MVP award six times in the Central Ontario Women’s League. She also was MVP at eight Canadian championships.

Granato is the only woman to participate in each of the first nine women’s world championships sanctioned by the IIHF. She is the all-time leader in goals and points for the United States in world championships and was Eastern College Athletic Conference player of the year three straight seasons for Providence College from 1991 to 1993.

Dino Ciccarelli will also be inducted to the Hall of Fame in November as a player. His accomplishments made him one of the players that many considered as “overlooked.” After breaking his leg during his second year of junior and being told he’d never lace the skates again, Ciccarelli proved them all wrong by playing for 19 NHL seasons. He finished his career with 608 goals and 592 assists over those seasons.

In the builder category, Detroit Red Wings executive Jim Devellano and Calgary Flames founding member Daryl “Doc” Seaman will be entered.

The committee, 18 males, voted on Tuesday. Women were given their own player category for the first time this year and it was clear that this should have been done ages ago. The Hall has a maximum of two females that they can put in each year, so we can expect a few more inductees in the coming classes as the great women of the game are finally honoured properly.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

The debate is on for the Hall of Fame’s Class of 2010. The 18-member selection committee is already ramping up plenty of discussion about who’ll be in the Hall this round, with names like Joe Nieuwendyk’s getting batted around with frequency.

Another name on the list is that of Eric Lindros.

Held to only 760 National Hockey League games because of injuries, Lindros is a controversial pick for the Hall of Fame. For some, he’s a shoe-in because he put together 86 career points and helped Team Canada to gold in 2002. For others, his shortened career and lack of a Stanley Cup put him on the outside looking in.

The pessimists will say that Lindros was hardly a model player. He came on the scene feuding with management types, making his presence felt in less-than-flattering ways. Lindros refused to report to the junior Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds after being drafted and repeated the same treatment to the Quebec Nordiques after they picked him first in 1991.

But for some of those very management types, Lindros’ performance on the ice trumps anything he did or didn’t do off of it.

“Eric Lindros is a Hall of Famer,” said former NHL coach Jacques Demers. “There was a period of time when he was the best player in the NHL. He was dominating.”

Lindros has not many any public comments regarding possible Hall of Fame selection, but talk of Quebec and his attitude off the ice continues to bubble over in many hockey circles whenever his name is mentioned.

“I look at what a player accomplished on the ice,” said Demers. “I don’t hold a grudge. I can’t worry what people think that he didn’t go to Quebec City. He’s not Pete Rose. He didn’t disgrace the game. He was a dominating player - one of the best power forwards I’ve seen.”

The selection committee can pick up to four players, one official and one builder each year. This year will make history in that up to two women’s hockey players can be selected. There’s a considerable list of first-year eligibles this time out, with names like John LeClair, Peter Bondra, Tony Amonte, and Pierre Turgeon in the hunt.

There’s also the consideration that some overlooked players from other years will finally get their shot, like Doug Gimour or Pavel Bure.

The question of Lindros’ inclusion in the Hall becomes more controversial when one considers some of the players outside of it that aren’t in yet. Still, as short as Lindros’ career might have been and as difficult a human being he might have been off the ice, it’s hard to argue with the fact that he was a clearly dominant player.

Whether that dominance is Hall-worthy is, of course, another story.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

The gold-medal puck had been on quite a journey since it landed Team Canada the top prize at the 2010 Winter Olympics, but it’s finally headed to the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.

The puck Crosby put past American goalie Ryan Miller went missing after the gold medal game and somehow found its way to the International Ice Hockey Federation offices in Switzerland. Officials apparently couldn’t determine who should get the puck at the end of the game and, in the resulting celebration, simply held on to it until the decision could be made later.

“I am happy to see that the puck is going to the Hockey Hall of Fame,” Crosby said in a statement Tuesday. “I feel very lucky to have been part of that team and that game as well, and I am glad hockey fans will get the chance to share the moment by seeing things like the overtime winning puck up close.”

Crosby’s stick and glove had also gone missing after the game, but Hockey Canada was able to locate it. The equipment was simply misplaced.

The equipment and the puck should probably both go into the Hockey Hall of Fame as soon as possible, if for no other reason than for safe-keeping.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

Tonight was a special night as the Hockey Hall of Fame inducted a star-studded Class of 2009 into the record books. Forwards Steve Yzerman, Brett Hull, Luc Robitaille and defenceman Brian Leetch were inducted as Honoured Members on Monday in the players category, while New Jersey Devils GM Lou Lamoriello was enshrined as a builder.

Yzerman, Hull and Robitaille accounted for 2,101 goals over the course of their careers. They all won a Stanley Cup together, too, in Detroit in 2002. And Leetch was certainly no slouch, helping lift the Rangers to their own Cup in 1994.

There’s really no questioning any of these selections for the Hall of Fame, as each has left an indelible mark on the game of hockey.

Yzerman helped transform the Red Wings franchise into a modern juggernaut, joining the team as Detroit’s fourth overall selection in the 1983 NHL Entry Draft and never looking back. After scoring 87 points in his rookie campaign, Stevie Y spent his entire 22-year career with the Wings. During his tenure, the Red Wings won three Stanley Cups, with Yzerman winning the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP in 1998.

Brett Hull ranks third on the all-time list with 741 goals over his 19-year career. He first got his break with the Calgary Flames in the 1986 playoffs and has since been known as one of the league’s most potent offensive threats. Hull was one of the most consistent players in the league, usually good for over 30 goals a season. He laid out three consecutive 70-goal seasons with the St. Louis Blues and won Stanley Cups with Dallas and Detroit.

“Lucky” Luc Robitaille retired as the highest scoring player at his position in league history, ranking 10th on the all-time list with 668 goals. Not drafted until the ninth round of the 1984 NHL Entry Draft, Robitaille won the Calder Trophy in his debut season with the Los Angeles Kings and followed that up with seven straight seasons of 44 goals or more. His career best season came in the 1992-1993 season where he posted a total of 63 goals.

Brian Leetch was drafted ninth overall by the New York Rangers in the 1986 Entry Draft and would go on to become one of the club’s most popular players in its storied history. He enjoyed his career best season in 1991-1992 when he potted 100 points and won the first of two Norris trophies for his career. Leetch also won the Conn Smythe Trophy with the Rangers after helping them end a 54-year Stanley Cup drought in ‘94.

As for Lou Lamoriello, his contributions to the game of hockey over 40 years go without saying. He is one of the icons of organization, setting up the New Jersey Devils for three Stanley Cup victories during his time with the club and making an impact at the professional and collegiate levels of hockey.

It’s hard to argue with this list of inductees for 2009, as each has made an impact and impression on the game that will be felt for countless generations.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

It surprised few hockey fans when Mats Sundin announced his retirement. After a career spanning 18 years, the 38-year-old Swede made it official and hung up the skates.

He leaves a pretty solid career in his wake, what with a whole pile of accolades in Swedish hockey and a pretty decent run on the Toronto Maple Leafs as the club’s captain. Sundin is also one of the highest-scoring European players to ever lace the skates, notching 564 career goals alongside 785 assists.

Sundin is, without question, one of the most popular hockey players in Sweden. But his failure to deliver a Stanley Cup to the starving hockey market of Toronto coupled with a lackluster final season in Vancouver might tarnish his overall legacy in the hearts and minds of some fans.

Sure, one could argue that he won gold for his team at the 2006 Turin Olympics and that he was a captain on the men’s national team in Sweden. With three world championships under his belt and the honour of being the first European to be selected with the top pick at the NHL Entry Draft, Sundin certainly has racked up some milestones.

The real question for hockey fans now is whether or not the big Swede deserves to be in the Hall of Fame.

Obviously one of the key blemishes in Sundin’s career would be a lack of a Stanley Cup, but that didn’t get in the way of Dale Hawerchuk, who found his way into the HoF in 2001. And let’s keep in mind, too, that Sundin has scored more career goals that Hawerchuk (518).

Sundin is tied for 20th all-time in goals, 25th all-time in assists, and has spent his 18 seasons on Canadian teams. Does such a legacy make him a Hall of Famer or is his career too filled with shortcomings and blemishes to make the final cut?

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

The NHL added four new members to the Hall of Fame, selecting Steve Yzerman, Brett Hull, Brian Leetch, and Luc Robitaille for the 2009 class. The induction ceremony will take place on November 9 at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.

Also, Lou Lamoriello was named to the Hall of Fame as a builder.

According to the CBC, “there were five forwards in their first year of eligibility who combined for more than 3,200 regular-season goals in their illustrious careers: Yzerman, Hull, Robitaille, Dave Andreychuk and Alexander Mogilny.”

It’s great to see Yzerman get into the Hall. He’s always been one of my favourite players and continues to be the epitome of class as the next stages of his career unfold. No other player was more revered in Hockeytown, with the exception of Gordie Howe, than Stevie Y. Drafted by Detroit in 1983, Yzerman ranks sixth in NHL scoring with an impressive total of 682 goals, 1,063 assists and 1,745 points through 22 seasons with the Red Wings.

The Golden Brett also more than deserves his spot this year. With 741 career goals, behind only Wayne Gretzky (894) and Gordie Howe (801), Hull was a dynamic forward with a deadly scoring touch. He once scored 86 goals in a National Hockey League season, a feat bested only by Gretzky’s 92 goal season. Hull will always be remembered for his incredible release and ability to one-time a sharp pass across the ice.

Brian Leetch, the first American-born MVP in the NHL, boasted skating skills and a combination of passing and scoring ability that few defencemen would be able to match. As one of the best defenders of the 90s, Leetch ranks fifth in scoring amongst defencemen with 247 goals and 781 assists for 1,028 points. While Yzerman will forever be identified with the Red Wings, Leetch will forever be a Blueshirt. He spent the majority of his 18-year career with the New York Rangers, helping them win a Cup in 1994.

Lucky Luc leads all left-wingers in the NHL in goals and points. He ranks 10th overall in goals with 668 and sits 19th in total points with 1,394. With three seasons of over 50 goals and four seasons with over 100 points, Robitaille will probably best be remembered for his years with the Los Angeles Kings but finally won a Stanley Cup alongside Yzerman in Detroit in 2002. Robitaille’s 19 seasons in the NHL included tenures in L.A., Pittsburgh, New York (Rangers) and Detroit. His #20 jersey was ultimately retired in L.A.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.