Toronto Maple Leafs: Another Ex-Leaf Snubbed By Joke That Is Hall of Fame

The Hall of Fame refused to grant admittance to ex-Toronto Maple Leafs star Alexander Mogilny yesterday.

And while Mogilny’s snub as as confusing as it was indefensible, another Toronto Maple Leafs superstar was also left on the sidelines.

Curtis Joseph.

While not quite as egregious as Mogilny’s snub, Joseph still deserves to go to the Hall of Fame, and he definitely deserves to go in ahead of joke selections like Doug Wilson and Kevin Lowe.

Toronto Maple Leafs and Curtis Joseph

I’m not a conspiracy guy, and I would never suggest that people have it in for the Leafs on purpose, but you do have to wonder if the Hall of Fame is susceptible to maybe a bit of bias.

What I suspect is that in an attempt to avoid looking like they have a pro Toronto bias, the committee over-compensates the other way.

Could the reason that Alex Mogilny and Curtis Joseph are not in the Hall of Fame be the same reason that Morgan Rielly does not have a Norris Trophy?

The Hall of Fame is in Toronto, and the selection committee includes at least 5 ex-Leafs (2 GMs, a coach, and two players) not to mention the two biggest names at HNIC and TSN, both organizations regularly leveled with pro-Leafs bias.

Both the organization and the actual Hall of Fame are based in Toronto, so this wouldn’t exactly be an unusual phenomenon as much as it’d just be normal human psychology at play.

Either way, the selection committee is decrepit and bizarre.  It would definitely be advised that the committee become more racially diverse, include a bunch more women, and get way, way younger.

Aside from the obvious problems with an exclusively white and male and 50+ committee, the NHL has also undergone a statistical revolution.

At least 2 members of the committee (Burke and McGuire) are on record saying they don’t “believe” that measuring things can improve our understanding of them – a concept so ridiculous it’s amazing that anyone still listens to them.

Measuring things beyond goals, assists and penalty minutes has completely changed the NHL, player evaluations and even the kinds or players we understand to be good.

Part of the reason the Kevin Lowe selection is so ridiculous is that analytics has shown that for decades we massively overvalued the contributions of “stay at home” defensemen.

For the Hockey Hall of Fame to maintain its status and reputation, it has got to change with the times.  That starts with installing some younger people on the selection committee, it starts with adding some women, some people of colour and some people who understand and respect statistical analysis.

As for Curtis Joseph, he is sixth all-time in games played.  His save percentage is the same as Ed Belfours, and they played at the same time (Belfour is in the Hall). (All stats quanthockey.com).

Joseph is 7th in wins.  50th in shut-outs.  6th in all-time minutes.

Curtis Joseph is a slam-dunk hall of famer.   A better selection committee would have elected him already.