One of the big topics this week is the induction of the 2024 electors into the Hockey Hall of Fame. We’re all happy for Shea Weber and we wonder if Carey Price will be inducted next year.
All this is the tree that hides the forest. I think the National Hockey League (NHL) needs to do some serious soul-searching and completely review how the Hall of Fame operates.
The process is apparently very democratic, but at the same time, 18 members of a single committee have the right to life or death on admissions or not to the pantheon. It’s outdated, it’s outdated, it makes no sense…
Gary Bettman continually seeks to increase his league’s revenue, it is the most important element of his business plan, of his mandate. Increased visibility usually translates into increased revenue. I deplore that the Hall of Fame is so opaque, such a closed circle, such a boys club which often gives the impression that to enter it is not so much who you have been, but who you know.
Major league baseball is often seen as backward and ultra-conservative. However, I find that his system of induction into the Cooperstown temple is downright genius.
The Baseball Hall of Fame is an extraordinary soap opera, it’s a sports reality TV show that gets people talking a lot and is exciting to follow.
It is high time that Bettman and his thinkers followed suit. The NHL must create a pool voting panel comprising at least 100 media members assigned to daily coverage of one or other of its 32 teams, with equity between the different markets.
There is no question of having 12 voters from Montreal because there are four times as many journalists on the beat of the Canadian than that of the Columbus Blue Jackets. And then, a pool of electors would be responsible for drawing up the list of 20 active candidates who, each year, would be submitted to the vote of 100 voters.
A player’s application must have its expiration date like in baseball. After ten years, in my opinion. A player should not be eligible until five years after receiving his last paycheck from a team. Weber would therefore not have been able to enter this year and Carey Price could not be admitted next year either.
Mathematics would determine the score of the admitted possibilities, with the same type of rule as in baseball. If you do not have at least 5% of the vote, you are automatically excluded and, if you receive at least 75% of the vote, you automatically enter.
An excluded person would have the chance to be drafted by the poolelectors for a period of five years following his enthronement. As much as it seems complicated as I explain it here, I tell you it would be fascinating.
Imagine what an incredible TV show that would make. Cameras at the 20 candidates simultaneously, the unveiling of the voting results, the hot reactions… a great delirium! But above all, an opportunity for added value content for Bettman with his new best friends from GAFAM.
However, here in Canada, I think that as many people would follow this election night as there are who follow draft nights or trade deadline days. On traditional television, moreover.
Why is the NHL taking so long to get up to speed, targeting young audiences and increased market share? Except that a few dinosaurs still resist the wear and tear of time.
Time and the Temple, I guess they go together?
