Sunday, February 07, 2010
By Dave Molinari, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/
Tom Barrasso might be the most polarizing figure in Penguins' history.
He was the No. 1 goalie on their first two Stanley Cup teams, which cemented his place in franchise lore and could have made him one of the city's sporting icons, but his departure a few years after those championships inspired far more celebration than sadness among many who knew and dealt with him.
His relationship with the media here -- as seemed to be the case wherever he played -- was frosty, at best, most of the time. That was unfortunate, because he was capable of offering great insight on things that happened on the ice.Barrasso's dealings with many teammates weren't any better. To this day, there are more than a few guys who played with Barrasso who snarl at the very mention of his name, whose feelings toward him could charitably be characterized as contempt.
At the same time, he always has seemed to get along quite well with some teammates, notably Mario Lemieux and Ron Francis. The latter works with Barrasso on the Carolina Hurricanes' coaching staff, and Barrasso appears to be quite well-liked by people in and around that organization.
The issue at hand, though, is not whether Barrasso would win a popularity contest here -- his Hurricanes, who are stranded near the bottom of the overall standings, have a far better chance of claiming the Stanley Cup this June -- but whether he's worthy of induction to the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Barrasso, who played for six NHL teams, retired in 2003, which means he has been passed over by the Hall every year since 2006. Precisely how close he has come during that time isn't known, because the 18 members of the selection committee are barred from making such information public.
His primary credentials: He was Rookie of the Year in 1984, the same year he won the Vezina Trophy as the league's top goalie. He won those two Cups, was the first U.S.-born goalie to record 300 victories and retired with a career record of 369-277-66, a goals-against average of 3.23 and 38 shutouts.
Whether that's enough to make him the 36th goalie deemed worthy of induction remains to be seen, but it seems reasonable to believe that if Barrasso isn't chosen in 2010, he never will be.
After an exceptional class of players last year -- Steve Yzerman, Brett Hull, Luc Robitaille and Brian Leetch -- the group of guys eligible for the first time in 2010 isn't terribly imposing.
It is headlined by the likes of John LeClair, Eric Lindros, Peter Bondra, Joe Nieuwendyk, Tony Amonte and Pierre Turgeon. There are some quality players on the list, to be sure, but no one who qualifies as a consensus immortal.
That means the selection committee will have a chance to honor some guys who were passed over in previous years, and Barrasso is on the list of candidates.
A sampling of his competition: Dave Andreychuk, Pavel Bure, Dino Ciccarelli, Doug Gilmour, Phil Housley, Steve Larmer, Alexander Mogilny, Dave Taylor, Rick Tocchet, Mike Richter, Boris Mikhailov and Sergei Makarov.
The Hall's bylaws require that players receive votes from at least 75 percent of the selection committee -- yes, that works out to 13.5 people if all 18 members participate -- to earn induction. No fewer than 10 of the 18 members must be present to constitute a quorum.
An abridged version of the guidelines that are supposed to be applied to those under consideration: "Playing ability, sportsmanship, character and their contribution to the team or teams and to the game of hockey in general."
Precisely how members of the committee interpret those qualities, and the weight they attach to one as opposed to the others, isn't known. It's conceivable that something about a player that would convince one voter to dismiss him out of hand would have absolutely no impact on another.
This much, though, seems clear: It's unlikely that Barrasso would be kept out of the Hall solely by any writers, broadcasters or former associates with whom he had a strained relationship.
The committee includes only four active media people (ex-broadcaster John Davidson is now president of the St. Louis Blues and broadcaster Dick Irvin is retired) and Scott Bowman, who drafted Barrasso in Buffalo and coached him for two seasons with the Penguins, is the only one of the 18 who had a professional relationship with Barrasso.
Olympics preview today in D.C.
The Penguins' game against Washington at 12:08 p.m. today at the Verizon Center won't just be a matchup of two of the NHL's best and most entertaining teams; it will offer an Olympic preview of sorts, because 25 percent of the players involved will represent their country at the Games later this month.
That roll call, which includes five players each from the Penguins and Capitals:
USA -- Brooks Orpik.
Canada -- Sidney Crosby, Marc-Andre Fleury.
Sweden -- Nicklas Backstrom.
Russia -- Sergei Gonchar, Evgeni Malkin, Alex Ovechkin, Semyon Varlamov, Alexander Semin.
Czech Republic -- Tomas Fleischmann.
FOR MORE on the Penguins, read the Pens Plus blog with Dave Molinari and Shelly Anderson at www.post-gazette.com/plus. Dave Molinari: dmolinari@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1721.
Penguins Plus, a blog by Dave Molinari and Shelly Anderson, is featured exclusively on PG+, a members-only web site from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.
First published on February 7, 2010 at 12:00 am
No comments:
Post a Comment