frightenedinmatenum2
Registered User
If he did not pass away and retired today for personal reasons, most people would say his resume does not make him a sure thing HHOF candidate. They would not be wrong, but I think you have to ask yourself, what values do you think the hockey world should celebrate? Is empathy or doing the right thing one of them? Along with the fact that a HHOF is purely subjective (not objective), I don't think it would be unreasonable to put him in the HHOF.
This isn't the same as saying that if a 4th liner passes away tomorrow, they should put a 4th liner in just to do something nice for his family, friends, and colleagues. Gaudreau was a legitimate superstar for most of his career. I think there is enough accomplishment there with Gaudreau that you can overlook the gap between what he has done so far and what he would need to do to get in, and put him in because it's the right thing to do in the situation. Basically, had he not passed away there is a reasonable enough chance that he may have bridged that gap. He might not have bridged it, but he could have. For the sake of doing what is right and showing empathy to his family, friends, and colleagues, they should put him in.
You have to also take into account what values you want the HHOF to represent. Some people are going to take a hardline stance that is he shouldn't get in because he didn't do enough, and by putting him in they taint the requirements. My answer to that would be that HHOF Inductions are subjective, there is not an objective criteria that a player has to meet. In this scenario, the empathetic thing to do would be to put him in the HHOF. Same deal with Calgary and Columbus retiring his number.
This isn't the same as saying that if a 4th liner passes away tomorrow, they should put a 4th liner in just to do something nice for his family, friends, and colleagues. Gaudreau was a legitimate superstar for most of his career. I think there is enough accomplishment there with Gaudreau that you can overlook the gap between what he has done so far and what he would need to do to get in, and put him in because it's the right thing to do in the situation. Basically, had he not passed away there is a reasonable enough chance that he may have bridged that gap. He might not have bridged it, but he could have. For the sake of doing what is right and showing empathy to his family, friends, and colleagues, they should put him in.
You have to also take into account what values you want the HHOF to represent. Some people are going to take a hardline stance that is he shouldn't get in because he didn't do enough, and by putting him in they taint the requirements. My answer to that would be that HHOF Inductions are subjective, there is not an objective criteria that a player has to meet. In this scenario, the empathetic thing to do would be to put him in the HHOF. Same deal with Calgary and Columbus retiring his number.
