Hall of Fame Snubbery Over the Years

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HALL OF FAME SNUBBERY OVER THE YEARS

 

Hello Victory Hockey League, I really had no idea what I wanted to do with this theme week.  The first thing that admittedly came to mind was the one Aidan Shaw Trophy that I felt Brick Wahl should have won, which was due to a GM actually admitting that he didn’t pay attention when casting his vote.  But honestly, I didn’t really want to go on for 500 words on something like that and quickly transitioned to my position on the Board of Governors.  I witness a lot of “snubs” in that forum due to us being the ones who vote on VHL Awards and what I will be talking about today, the VHL Hall of Fame. 

 

One of the parts I take the most pride in as a member of the Board of Governors is the VHL Hall of Fame.  Over the years we have made many inductions that were pretty obvious and really were inevitable when you consider the magnitude of their careers.  Thomas O’Malley…..Aidan Shaw……Brick Wahl…..okay the last one was pretty arguable and hardly inevitable but you knew I was going to get that flex in somewhere.  There have been a few players I really have pushed for that took a little more time to get inducted or were receiving next to no attention at one point, and there have also been players that I didn’t really consider until others dropped in with the cold hard facts supporting a deserved and frankly far overdue induction.  That’s what I will be focusing on with this article, so let’s get into it.

 

Alexander Sauve was a player that was inducted just after I became a member of the Board of Governors and I remember being fairly involved in pushing for him to be inducted.  Sauve was drafted 1^st overall in Season 13 and retired after Season 19.  However, it wasn’t until the Class of Season 34 that we saw Sauve get inducted.  This one sadly was partially a complete overlook where Sauve was never put on the ballot in years prior to be being part of the BOG and then once he was on it, seemed to get overlooked due to a different era resulting in a pretty contrasting style to the now high-scoring VHL.  Sauve finished his career with 607 points in 506 games and fell just 9 blocked shots short of the 1000-1000 club with 1080 hits and 991 blocked shots.  Sauve’s only individual success was a Sterling Labatte Trophy in Season 15, but he was on several strong teams as their number one defense, winning Continental Cups in both S18 and S19. 

 

Of course, I can’t speak about this topic and not mention the most prolific long-time snub to eventually get in the Hall of Fame.  Mathias Chouinard was a player drafted in the famed Season 18 Draft and went on to have an incredible career that was sadly cut short a little early.  In 434 career games, Mathias Chouinard recorded a remarkable 624 points and while that puts him well outside the top-100 all-time in points, one cannot ignore the legendary status of his offensive accomplishments given the limited amount of games.  The lack of games was the whole reason he found himself off the ballot, but finally in Season 68, the BOG not only had taken another look but had decided that it was long overdue to see Chouinard get recognized.  Finishing a three-time Continental Cup winner in Season 24 and Season 25, Chouinard led the league in points in Season 24, was an All-Star in every season except for his rookie one and most importantly won the Gordie Howe Trophy (since renamed Daisuke Kanou Trophy, for Playoff MVP) during Calgary’s Season 23 Championship run.