The Hockey Hall of Fame announced changes to the Selection Committee yesterday. John Davidson will replace Pat Quinn as the Chairman of the Selection Committee as of April 1, 2014. Pat Quinn resigned from the committee due to his appointment as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Hockey Hall of Fame last August. For those who don’t know, as a not-for-profit organization the Hockey Hall of Fame must have a volunteer set of board of directors. This group consists of local politicians, members of the IIHF, NHL, NHLPA, and National Sport Organizations. This is the group that runs the Hockey Hall of Fame.
One of the main things that the Board of Directors do is appoint the members of the Selection Committee. Each member is to serve a 3 year term where it is organized to the point that 6 of the 18 person committee will expire on any given year. At that point, the Board of Directors may either re-appoint those members or select new members to the Selection Committee. This year, Pat Quinn announced that Bob Clarke, David Poile, and Luc Robitalle have been appointed to the committee, replacing Serge Savard, Jim Gregory, and Pat Quinn himself. Savard and Gregory’s terms on the Committee both ran out this year, while as mentioned before, Quinn left the Selection Committee to become the Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Hall of Fame.
Jim Gregory will stay on with the Committee in a non-voting role due to his 21 years on the Selection Committee, and 17 years as the Committee’s Chairman. Pat Quinn in his press release through the Hockey Hall of Fame spoke highly of the departing members of the Selection Committee, “The Hockey Hall of Fame owes Jim and serge a debt of gratitude for their outstanding contributions to the Selection Committee. Having the privilege of serving on the Committee with these gentlemen for the past fifteen years, I have the highest regard for Jim’s integrity and leadership, and for the consistently candid and intelligent perspective that Serge has brought to the deliberations in all categories of Honoured Membership.…
John Davidson, the current President of Hockey Operations of the Columbus Blue Jackets, has been a part of the game in the player, broadcaster, and management capacities. He won the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award given out by the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2009 due to his excellence as a broadcaster. He also won the Lester Patrick Trophy in 2004 for his great contribution to American hockey. He was the architect of the currently lead leading St. Louis Blues before leaving to take over the Columbus Blue Jackets prior to the 2012 Lockout. His perspective on all angles of hockey will be beneficial in his appointment as chair of this committee due to the paths that each nomination will have taken to get to the point of being considered into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Bobby Clarke is the current Senior Vice-President of the Philadelphia Flyers and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame as a player in 1987. He won two Stanley Cups as captain of the Philadelphia Flyers in 1974 and 1975, making the Flyers the first expansion team to win the Stanley Cup. Clarke has also served as a General Manager in the NHL with the Flyers (two stints), Minnesota North Stars, and the Florida Panthers. During his time as a General Manager, he made it to four Stanley Cup Finals.
David Poile is the Nashville Predators President of Hockey Operations and General Manager. Poile spent 15 years with the Washington Captials, setting the table for their 1997-98 Stanley Cup run. He then took over the Nashville Predators in their expansion year, where he now stands today. His 32 consecutive years at the helm of an NHL franchise is currently the 3rd longest tenured General Manager in National Hockey League history.
Luc Robitaille is the Los Angeles Kings President of Business Operations and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame as a player in 2009. Robitaille is the highest scoring left winger in NHL history with 668 goals. He won the Stanley Cup in 2002 as a member of the Detroit Red Wings as a player and won it again with the Kings in the position he is in today. He was a five-time first team all star (1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993) and a three-time second team all-star (1987, 1992, 2001), as well as taking part in 8 All-Star Games. He has the Los Angeles Kings records for goals, and is second behind Marcel Dionne in points (1,154) and in games played behind Dave Taylor (1,239). He is the second player ever to score more than 1000 points after being drafted as low as the ninth round.
To see the Hockey Hall of Fame’s full press release and for a list of those on the Selection Committee and the Board of Governors you can click here.
If anyone has any questions or comments you can contact me either through the comments section or by email at adam.kirshenblatt@hockeybuzz.com or twitter @Kirshenblatt.