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All Decade Team cements Washington Capitals Alex Ovechkin Hall of Fame career

By Richard Ball

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 13: Alex Ovechkin #8 of the Washington Capitals celebrates after scoring his first goal of the game in the first period against the Carolina Hurricanes at Capital One Arena on January 13, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 13: Alex Ovechkin #8 of the Washington Capitals celebrates after scoring his first goal of the game in the first period against the Carolina Hurricanes at Capital One Arena on January 13, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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The Hockey Hall of Fame is the weakest sports Hall of Fame in North America. The All Decade team concept will help make fewer bad choices in the future.

Washington Capitals left winger Alex Ovechkin was named to the NHL’s first ever All-Decade team. The NHL has taken a step in the right direction to legitimize the Hockey Hall of Fame selection process.

The Hockey Hall of Fame is by far the weakest of the four major North American professional sports leagues. The Hall should rename themselves the Hall of Very Good to recognize some of the not so fame-worthy achievements of some of the inductees.

Reference my post on Mike Gartner to understand that there are players who had very good careers enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame that should not be considered Hall of Famers. The All Decade team will help future selectors remember who the truly great players were on a decade by decade basis.

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In the past ten years, the Hockey Hall of Fame has enshrined 30 players who played the majority of the careers in the NHL. That averages out to three per year.

There were thirty teams in the NHL for the majority of the inductees careers with twenty players per team or 600 roster spots per year. Three inductees into the Hall of Fame per year equates to 0.5 percent of players making the Hall of Fame.

In the NFL with 53 roster spots and 32 teams, about five players make the Hall of Fame annually.  That represents 0.29 percent of players.

In Major League Baseball, about two players per year make the Hall of fame with 25 roster spots on 30 teams. That represents 0.27 percent of players.

As a result, the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the Baseball Hall of Fame have much stronger membership. The All Decade team in the NHL will go a long way to help the voters remember who dominated the decade.

Using similar numbers for the Hockey Hall of Fame would yield three players every two years. The current formula is putting twice that into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

The only problem with the current All Decade team process is that they don’t name enough players. There should be a third team to bring a list of 18 players forward and not two teams which names 12 players.

Related Story. How good is this Capitals team at the midway point. light

With the Hockey Hall of Fame putting in about 30 players each decade, there will still be too many players like Mike Gartner who did not dominate their peers who get into the Hall. It is too late to remove those not worthy but still not too late to help selectors in the future understand who dominated on the ice.

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