The Hockey Hall of Fame, located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, opened its doors to the first class of inductees in 1945. Every year since then, fans and writers across the globe have debated the merits of every player lacing up a pair of skates and whether they deserve enshrinement.
There are 294 players, 113 builders, and 16 on-ice officials with plaques in the Hall of Fame. Furthermore, when we take a deeper dive into the numbers, the players include 181 forwards, 77 defensemen, and just 36 goalies who are inducted to this point. The pool for forwards is far greater than that of defensemen and goalies, but as history showcases, some of the game’s greatest players were the guys guarding the net.
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Whether they were Georges Vezina, Terry Sawchuk, Johnny Bower, Jacques Plante, Ken Dryden, Patrick Roy, Dominic Hasek, or Martin Brodeur, each player carved their legacy in the league. Coincidentally, the only two goalies in the HHOF without any NHL experience are Vladislav Tretiak (class of 1989) and Kim St. Pierre (class of 2020). The pair have six Olympic gold medals and 16 World Championships, meaning they earned their way into the HHOF by dominating the international stage.
Only six goalies, including Tretiak and St. Pierre, are enshrined in the HHOF and don’t have their names engraved on the Stanley Cup. These players are Roy Worters (class of 1969), Chuck Rayner (class of 1973), Eddie Giacomin (class of 1987), and Roberto Luongo (class of 2022). Moreover, Rayner and Luongo stuck out from the crowd because not only did they fail to win the Cup, but neither netminder won a Vezina Trophy as the league’s best goalie. However, Rayner is one of seven goalies to win the Hart Trophy (1950), while Luongo is one of three to play in over 1,000 games, collecting the fourth most wins (489).
Interestingly, this particular group of Hall of Famers will expand (again) this year when Henrik Lundqvist enters the HHOF on Nov. 13, 2023. During his illustrious 15-year career with the New York Rangers, the Swedish netminder rewrote the team’s record book while capturing the Vezina Trophy in 2012. Despite becoming one of the winningest goalies (459) in league history, he never won a Stanley Cup title, losing his only chance for a ring in 2014.
Realistically, Lundqvist gets a nod to join the immortals in the HHOF based on his accomplishments in professional hockey. Internationally, he led Sweden to an Olympic Gold (2006) and Silver Medal (2014) before claiming a World Championship with his twin brother Joel in 2017. Furthermore, he was an outstanding goalie in the Swedish Hockey League, winning two championships with Västra Frölunda HC in 2003 and 2005, honors he once again shared with his brother.
Despite the lack of NHL hardware in his trophy case, there is no denying that Lundqvist is one of the best goalies of his era and is more than deserving of enshrinement into the HHOF as a first-ballot candidate. However, there is an argument that, although deserving, he’s skipping the line of many other fantastic players, including the man whose records he broke in New York, who have been waiting many years to see their names on a plaque.
Here is a list of three goalies still waiting for the proper recognition for their outstanding careers.
Mike Richter (1988 – 2003)
Mike Richter is considered a legend in New York City after his playoff heroics in the 1994 Stanley Cup playoffs, resulting in the Rangers breaking a 54-year championship drought by hoisting the Stanley Cup at Madison Square Garden. Although their run to the title is most remembered for Mark Messier’s “guarantee” win in Game 6 and Stephane Matteau’s Game 7 overtime winner in the Eastern Conference Final, it could be argued that a penalty shot save against Pavel Bure in Game 4 of the Final is still one of the game’s most talked moments in time.
Related: Mike Richter: New York Rangers’ Legendary Cup-Winning Goalie
At the 1985 Entry Draft, the Rangers made Richter a first-round selection (28th overall), believing the talented kid from Abington, Pennsylvania was their guy for the future. However, before he stopped pucks on Broadway, he played with the University of Wisconsin (two years) and represented the United States at several international competitions, including the 1998 Winter Olympic Games. Even though he is fondly remembered for his time in New York, most of his professional hockey accomplishments occurred while representing his country.
When the NHL introduced the World Cup of Hockey in 1996, Richter led the United States to the first championship and was named Most Valuable Player. As the unanimously number one netminder for the U.S. at international events for over a decade, he was their starter at the first-ever NHL Olympic Games in 1998, earning a 1-3-0 record. Despite walking away without a medal that year, he gave a career-defining performance at the 2002 Winter Olympics on home soil in Salt Lake City, walking away with a Silver Medal.
Unfortunately, concussions led Richter to retire at 36, departing the Rangers as their winningest goalie (301) and finishing his distinguished career as one of just 20 goalies to surpass 300 wins by 2003. However, since leaving the game two decades ago, he’s dropped to 38th on the all-time list. Within a year of hanging up his skates, the Rangers honored him by retiring his #35, becoming only the third player (at the time) in team history to see their number in the rafters.
Since retiring, Richter has been busy, first becoming a student at Yale University (where he later coached) and serving as President for Brightcore Energy. Although he’s never run for political office, he’s talked about it several times. In 2008, he entered the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame, and in 2014 the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletics Association) established the Mike Richter Award, given annually to the best goalie in college hockey.
Surprisingly, Richter has been eligible for the HHOF for 17 years but has not received the call yet. As one of the few netminders with a retired number, a Stanley Cup, and a ton of international experience, many wonder if and when one of the greatest American-born players will receive this recognition.
Andy Moog (1980-1998)
In 1955, Don Moog, Andy Moog’s father, won the International Ice Hockey Federation World Championship as a member of the Penticton Vees. Twenty-five years later, his son Andy became a member of the Edmonton Oilers as the 132nd overall pick in the 1980 NHL Entry Draft. The Oilers already had their goalies, so Moog waited his turn before debuting on Dec. 23, 1980.
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After only seven games in the regular season, Moog stepped up and became the number one goalie for the Oilers, who shocked the hockey world by upsetting the heavily favored Montreal Canadiens in a three-game sweep. Eventually, the Oilers fell to the New York Islanders in six games during the second round, but Moog showed he could be the goalie of the future. The following season (1982), he suited up for only eight games before management shuffled the deck and built their tandem with Moog and 20-year-old Grant Fuhr for 1983-84.
Moog earned the number one job in 1983, which resulted in a Stanley Cup Final loss; however, he rebounded in 1984, taking over for an injured Fuhr to lead the Oilers to their first championship. The duo repeated as champions in 1985 and secured another ring in 1987. A year later, on Mar. 8, 1988, Moog found himself on the way to the Bruins for a second-round draft pick in 1988 (Petro Koivunen), Geoff Courtnall, and Bill Ranford. As fate would have it, Moog and his new partner Reggie Lemelin led the Bruins to the Final against the Oilers. Two years later, the two teams met again in 1990, when Ranford led his new club to the title and won the Conn Smythe (playoff MVP).
While in Boston, Moog led the Bruins to the playoffs for six seasons and served as Vice-President of the National Hockey League Players Association. After developing a lousy relationship with then-Bruins coach Brian Sutter, Moog became a member of the recently relocated Dallas Stars in a trade for Jon Casey.
After being pushed out of the crease when the club signed Ed Belfour in 1998, he opted to sign with former rival, the Canadiens, that summer. Despite a history of eliminating the franchise in four playoff races, Moog led the team to their first series win since winning the Stanley Cup in 1993.
Historically, Moog became the second-fastest goalie to reach 300 wins, which took only 543 games, falling short of Plante’s record of 526. At the time of his retirement, he was the fifth goalie in league history to surpass 370 wins and currently ranks 19th all-time. Out of the goalies above him, only Marc-Andre Fleury, Curtis Joseph, Chris Osgood, Ryan Miller, John Vanbiesbrouck, and Jonathan Quick are not in the Hall of Fame. Conversely, the majority of these players all played after Moog retired, meaning he ranked higher when he hung his skates up.
Moog has three Stanley Cup rings, a William M. Jennings Trophy, and four All-Star Game appearances in his trophy case. Internationally, he played at the 1988 Olympic Games, producing a 4-0-0 record with a shutout, but he didn’t win a medal.
Twelve goalies have four or more championships, leaving Moog tied with eight other netminders with three. Twenty-two years after he became eligible for the HHOF, he still has not heard his name called for the introduction. It is unfair that one of the game’s best puck-stoppers continues to get bypassed.
Chris Osgood (1992-2011)
During the 1991 NHL Entry Draft, the Detroit Red Wings found their goalie of the future, Chris Osgood, with the 54th overall pick. However, he didn’t debut until the 1993 season, suiting up for 41 games before taking the brunt of the heat when the young San Jose Sharks upset the Red Wings in the playoffs. During the team’s run to the 1995 Stanley Cup Final, he saw limited action in the regular season (14 games) and postseason (two games).
He was given another chance in 1995-96 before the Red Wings acquired Vernon to lead them to the Stanley Cup in 1997. That year, Vernon won the Conn Smythe, departing in the offseason, leaving Osgood to man the fort again. However, he didn’t disappoint, leading the team to their second consecutive championship in 1998.
By 2001-02 the Red Wings were going head to head with the Colorado Avalanche for Western Conference supremacy; however, they could never get past their rivals. Additionally, the team exposed Osgood, so the Islanders picked him up in the waiver draft. After 103 games in New York, he made his way to the St. Louis Blues in a trade, where he suited up for 76 games. Then, in the summer of 2005, he reunited with the Red Wings as a free agent.
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After coming full circle in his career, Osgood led the Red Wings to another Stanley Cup title in 2008, winning a thrilling six-game series. Additionally, in 2009, at 36 years old, he led his team back to the Final in a repeat matchup against the Penguins, this time losing in a heartbreaking Game 7.
Osgood led the Red Wings to Stanley Cup titles ten years apart, a feat not accomplished since Sawchuk in 1955 and 1967. He ranks 13th all-time in wins (401), becoming the last goalie in league history to reach the 400-win plateau in 2010. During his 17-season career, he had one losing season, 7-9-4 in 23 games, in 2009-10. He earned the William M. Jennings Trophy twice and played in two All-Star Games.
Despite all the team success Osgood experienced, his crowning achievement may have occurred on Mar. 6, 1996, when he became just the second goalie in NHL history to score a goal by shooting the puck into his opponent’s net.
When Osgood’s name comes up in HHOF debates, people usually point out that he was fortunate enough to play behind a powerful Red Wings organization loaded with future Hall of Famers. However, it is an unfair argument because if he was a byproduct of the environment, how many wins can we credit the game’s winningest goalie Brodeur? Furthermore, Osgood played in New York and St. Louis and didn’t produce a losing record in either city. Moreover, he was stapled to the bench numerous times during his career and called upon when someone else failed.
Twelve years after retirement, Osgood has yet to earn his plaque at the HHOF. Of the goalies ranked above him in wins, only Joseph (454) has yet to earn enshrinement since Fleury is still playing and Lundqvist is a member of the 2023 class. The longer it takes the selection committee to pull the trigger, the longer one of the game’s greatest netminders has to wait for his rightful place amongst his former teammates.
Every year, the debates continue about which players are not in the HHOF yet and who gets inducted that doesn’t measure up. We just gave you three Stanley Cup-winning goalies with this debate, and we can’t wait to see who you want to talk about in the comments.
