Time To Right A Wrong: Hockey Hall of Fame Must Induct Rogie Vachon

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COMMENTARY: On October 26, Montreal Gazette writer Dave Stubbs wrote a story on former Los Angeles Kings goaltender Rogie Vachon, “Honour Overdue For Ex-Habs Goalie Vachon.” To provide more of a Los Angeles Kings angle to the Vachon story, I decided to spruce up, update and re-publish a story I wrote way back in March, 1998 about Vachon, who should have been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame years ago, but remains on the outside looking in.

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LOS ANGELES — Compared to many of today’s goalies who are six feet tall or more, former Los Angeles Kings’ superstar goalie Rogie Vachon is small by comparison, probably around 5-7 (I’m 5-9 and I am taller than Vachon). But despite his relatively small physical stature, Vachon’s place among National Hockey League goalies, past and present, looms large. Based on his performance throughout his sixteen-year NHL career, Vachon is clearly among the elite.

So why, then, has he not been elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame (HHOF)?

When you look closely at the numbers, Vachon certainly deserves to be enshrined among his peers. No one can deny that he was one of the great goalies to ever play the game. Consider that:

In 1998, Vachon was fifth all-time in career wins with 355. Only Glenn Hall (407), Tony Esposito (423), Jacques Plante (434) and former Kings’ goalie Terry Sawchuk (447) had more (all are honored members of the HHOF). Twelve HHOF goalies had Read more of this post