It's that time of year again: Hall of Fame Inductees Day. The day where anyone with the barest connection to the Leafs' will have their accomplishments derided because the Hall is so Toronto-centric. Proof of that particular slur is that there are so many Leafs in the Hall of Fame. That couldn't have anything to do with the Leafs being one of six teams in the league or being the second most successful club of that period.
Let's forget that one of the top-five winningest goalies of all time still hasn't been inducted, that a great two-way centre that was dominant for a handful of seasons is still waiting for the hall, or that one of Canada's greatest heroes hasn't received the kind of bump in voting that one would expect comes from such a corrupt voting process. Then there was the truly unforgivable and still unbelievable decision when Pat Burns was not selected for induction last year despite the mental midgets on the committee being well aware of his battle with cancer that would eventually see him pass away in November.
This year's class of Hall-eligible former NHLers (not exhaustive) includes a number with connections to the Maple Leafs. Down Goes Brown had a great post last year about Bure and Gilmour who both missed being inducted. If I had to choose four (and let's pretend we have to) players that would be announced tomorrow at 3pm it would be: Doug Gilmour, Joe Nieuwendyk, Ed Belfour, Eric Lindros (or Pavel Bure in the "Guy that would have been all-time great if not for injuries" category). And of course, Pat Burns.
Which former Leaf is most likely to be voted into the Hall of Fame?
| Ed Belfour (3rd in wins, 10th in shutouts) | 59 |
| Doug Gilmour (1414 points in 1474 games) | 155 |
| Phil Housley (4th in points as a defenceman) | 4 |
| Eric Lindros (865 points in 760 games) | 4 |
| Joe Nieuwendyk (3 Stanley Cups, 2 Conn Smythes and 564 goals) | 34 |
| Pat Burns (3 Jack Adams with 3 different teams, 1 Stanley Cup) | 142 |