Goalies finally get some respect, hobby love at Hockey Hall of Fame, Toronto Expo

If hockey goalies could be compared to stand-up comedians, they would be Rodney Dangerfield.

That’s because they don’t get no respect, no respect at all.

But Dangerfield’s signature punch line was put to the test when the Hockey Hall of Fame inducted five players — three of them goaltenders — during a Nov. 13 ceremony in Toronto.

A game known for players who can skate at top speeds with the purpose of putting a puck into the net puts much value into scoring. Goaltenders, on the other hand, are responsible for stopping shots. When they do, it’s often considered routine. When they don’t, they come under extreme criticism.

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It’s a reason why puck-stoppers don’t get hobby love. It mattered little at the fall edition of the Toronto Sport Card & Memorabilia Expo — held simultaneously with the Hockey Hall of Fame festivities — which saw goaltenders Henrik Lundqvist, Mike Vernon and Tom Barrasso inducted into the Class of 2023. It marked the first time that three NHL goalies were enshrined at the same time.

The Expo and the various Hall of Fame events proved to be a collectors paradise, giving thousands who descended on Toronto the chance to see their heroes up close, get autographed pucks and even snag a photo. Vernon and Barrasso — two of the best goaltenders from the 1980s and ’90s — appeared on the list of Expo signers that included headliners such as former boxing great Mike Tyson and wrestler Ric Flair.

At the same time, NHL Auctions, in collaboration with Fanatics, made limited-edition plaques, pucks and stick blades autographed by the inductees available online for anyone to bid on.

“I’d like to see more goalies get in,” said Andy Papa, who rummaged through discount boxes at the Expo in search of goalie cards. “I think having more goalies in the Hall could help their values go up.”

This year also commemorated the 40th anniversary of Ken Dryden’s Hall of Fame induction. Dryden, a five-time Stanley Cup winner with the Montreal Canadiens, is arguably the greatest goalie in NHL history.

Papa said there’s “no doubt this is the year of the goaltender, even though most people still seem to be chasing Connor McDavid at this show,” referring to the Edmonton Oilers star center.

But collectors who specialize in goalie cards and memorabilia were happy to see this newfound focus on the position. Bruce Howard, and his sons Cam, 14, and Brandon, 8, attended the Expo to get Vernon’s autograph.

“Vernon was a wonderful goalie,” Howard said. “It’s nice to see him get in.”

Howard had Vernon sign a giant poster featuring some of the greatest netminders in NHL history.

“I started on this project a few years ago,” he said. “A friend of mine had it lying around so I thought it would be fun.”

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Howard agreed the decision to induct three goalies this fall shows that the Hockey Hall of Fame is “more inclusive” compared to other sports like baseball that “rely largely on records for a player to make it in.”

“In hockey, it’s more about a player’s total career and what they did for the game,” he said. “It’s nice to have the chance for everyone to recognize their accomplishments.”

Prior to this year, netminders have been notoriously underrepresented in the Hall — only seven have been inducted over the past 20 years. When the 2023 class was announced this past June and three goalies were on the list it set up a historic moment for the sport and potentially one for the hobby going forward.

For starters, the symbolism of inducting three goalies at once was not lost on Vernon.

“It means a lot to us,” he said, “and to the goalie fraternity, which I think is pretty happy right now.”

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Vernon, Barrasso and Lundqvist were part of a five-player and two-builder class inducted this year. Pierre Turgeon and Caroline Ouellette were also elected as players; Ken Hitchcock and Pierre Lacroix made it as part of the builder category.

Since the induction of New York Islanders netminder Billy Smith in 1993, the other seven goalies elected in the three decades that followed were Grant Fuhr (2003), Patrick Roy (2006), Ed Belfour (2011), Dominik Hasek (2014), Rogie Vachon (2016), Martin Brodeur (2018) and Roberto Luongo last year.

From 1983 to 1992, only five other goalies were inducted: Ken Dryden (1983), Gerry Cheevers (1985), Ed Giacomin (1987), Tony Esposito (1988) and Vladislav Tretiak (1989).

In all, there are 294 players in the HHOF and only 40 of them are goalies. The list includes Kim St-Pierre, who was inducted in the female player category in 2020, and Tretiak, who never played in the NHL but is famous for being a standout with the Soviet Union.

Starting his NHL career in 1982, Vernon won the Stanley Cup with the Calgary Flames in 1989 and the Detroit Red Wings in 1997. Vernon won 16 of 20 games during the Stanley Cup Playoffs that season en route to capturing the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.

Barrasso, meanwhile, started his career with the Buffalo Sabres during the 1983-84 season. He won the Calder Memorial Trophy and Vezina Trophy that year, while also being a member of the NHL All-Rookie and First All-Star teams. After being traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins, he won back-to-back Stanley Cups in 1991 and ’92. Barrasso retired in 2003 with 369 career wins, second-most among U.S.-born NHL goaltenders at the time.

During a Q&A at the Inductee Fan Forum held inside the Hall of Fame’s Great Hall, most of the questions put to the heavy-goalie class involved those who had scored against them.

Asked by a fan to reveal the player who they hated playing against, a self-deprecating Vernon joked, “Half the NHL.”

Specifically, Vernon named two players. He said Claude Lemieux “because he’d run me all the time,” and Luc Robitaille because “he could score goals sitting on his butt.”

“It drove me nuts,” he added.

Barrasso named Michel Goulet, a Hall of Famer he ran into just days before this year’s induction ceremony.

“He said, ‘I remember scoring my 450th goal against you,’” Barrasso recalled. “I said, ‘You probably scored more than that [just against me].’”

Considering the impact goalies have on the game, they get little to no love by card and memorabilia collectors. The reasons vary.

“It’s a unique position,” said dealer Jason Martin, an Expo mainstay. “It’s the only sport where one player is so radically different compared to the rest of a team, except maybe for a kicker in football.”

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Martin said the hobby should give goaltenders more respect, but was skeptical the Class of 2023 will change attitudes.

“I think it’s the most important position of all,” he said. “You need a goaltender to get hot in the playoffs, but hockey is a sport that values goals so the scorers get all the attention.”

It doesn’t help that Vernon and Barrasso played during the junk wax era when cards were overproduced. Raw cards of each player can be had for a few dollars, while graded versions sell for higher. That doesn’t explain why Lundqvist’s card values are also low given that he was drafted by the New York Rangers in 2000. Lundqvist never lifted the Stanley Cup, but won the gold medal with Sweden at the 2006 Olympics in Turin.

“There have been so many great goalies in the past like Brodeur and Roy,” said Kevin Ivory, a dealer who sells autographed jerseys. “I think the issue is that there are a lot of goalies that come and go.”

Ivory added that inconsistency doesn’t help sustain interest on the part of collectors.

“These days, there are more teams and even more goalies,” he said. “Teams also use more goalies. Even very good goalies go hot and cold.” 

PHOTO GALLERY: Touring the Hockey Hall of Fame