Maple Leafs vs Senators: Toronto Occupies Hall of Fame

Who: Toronto Maple Leafs (9-5-1; 19 points; 5th in NHL) vs Ottawa Senators (7-9-1; 15 points; 23rd in HL)

What: Game #17 of the Regular Season

Where: Air Canada Centre, Centre of the Universe, Milky Way

When: 7:00pm Hockey Night in Canada on the Mother Corp.

Why: Because tonight we celebrate three former Leafs entering the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Doug Gilmour, Joe Nieuwendyk, Eddie Belfour, and Mark Howe will be honoured for their impending induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame at tonight's game. All four have a Toronto connection while the first three were big parts of strong Maple Leafs squads pre-lockout.

Ben Scrivens will be getting the start and one might remember that it was against the Senators that James Reimer annunced his arrival on the NHL scene. He`s coming off of an incredible performance in St. Louis which helped the Leafs steal a win which means that hopefully the fans won't be wishing that Belfour had remembered his equipment.

Phil the Thrill Kessel still leads the NHL in goals and points but he has James Neal and Daniel Sedin nipping at his heels. Luckily, he has a track record of feasting on the Senators including a hat trick the last time Ottawa visited Toronto.

This is the MVP video the Leafs made for Dougie in 1993

Doug Gilmour

Killer, like the Leafs' current captain, came to the Leafs in a hilariously lopsided deal with the Calgary Flames. He was, for two glorious years, probably one of the top five players in the NHL. We've had a few good posts on his body of work over the past few years:

Leaf of the Day - January 30, 2009
Righting A Terrible Wrong - Why Gilmour should have been inducted before this weekend.
Top 10 Doug Gilmour Moments - Actually a DGB post but we have to include the MSM too
Doug Gilmour Day! - A couple of stories of meeting the man himself /

Joe Nieuwendyk

Was there any doubt what the greatest memory of Joe would be? Ah, memories.

Eddie Belfour

There have probably only been a handful of playoff series as dominated by one goalie as the 2004 series between the Leafs and the Senators. Ottawa looked poised to finally end the heartbreak of three straight springtime eliminations at the hands of the Leafs after a strong win in game one. While they won two more games, Belfour shut them out THREE TIMES and would have made four if not for a bad break in game seven. His last season in Toronto after the lockout was disappointing but that series should cement his place in the pantheon of great players to don the Maple Leaf if only for a couple of season.