Hall of Fame

Recently the AHL announced their own Hall of Fame nominations I am neither old enough nor have I been knowledgeable enough to be able to talk at length about any of the nominations. But it is an interesting piece of history.

Credit: AHL website

My knee jerk reaction was to think this was a really cool way to honor players and coaches and build upon the AHL's history. Second knee jerk reaction was why are people from the NHL hall of fame also being inducted? Then third knee jerk reaction was well, its whoever made the AHL special, though I'm still a bit confused at what exactly the criteria is that separates an NHL nomination from the AHL nomination. I've discussed the volatility of the league before and this was a smart way to ground the AHL a bit with names.

It seems like teams change their names, change locations, affiliations, lose players to moving up or trades. It's nice to keep track of the players who are good enough to make the AHL special, though perhaps more likely those players are probably owners, coaches or managers of AHL teams. Right now I'm trying to dig through it all to get a good glimpse of that history, though its pretty dry. They also seem to have a lot of ground to cover before they will get to the players and coaches of recent years that seem to make the Hall of Fame situation special for fans who might grow up watching the AHL. (It might even behoove them to add on a more contemporary inductee to their list to compliment more historical inductees while they get caught up.)

I would say, since its all online, pay it a visit. I'll be trying to get caught up before the season, and maybe look into doing some blogs on the history of the AHL teams / players. Ra-Ra.