Thought Of The Night

This being the internet and all, there should be a Hall of Fame-esque place where the NHL, NHLPA and hockey fans everywhere can honour players. The Hockey Hall of Fame is pretty limited to top players (Dicky Duff and Bernie Federko aside) and most franchises are pretty stingy with their retired numbers (Boston and Montreal being allowable exceptions).

But where can fan and player favourites go? Yes, fans who watched him play will remember Stu Barnes for his class, professionalism and dedication to the game. But what about everyone else? Outsiders look and see that he played for five franchises and he never won a Cup. His 14 or 41 won't wave in the rafters of any building.

And there are plenty of other players out there like Barnes that just take the jersey off and become their statistics on Hockeydb or Hockey-Reference; Dallas Drake, Wes Walz and Sean Burke to name three (even though Drake went out a champion).

Perhaps it should be something undertaken by the NHL, NHLPA or HHOF to create a place for players like them, even if it is just in the ether of the internet - a place where the stories, reputations and contributions of these guys can live on.

They deserve it ...