HOCKEY HALL OF FAME TOO CHEAP AND LAZY
TO UPDATE AL ARBOUR’S PLAQUE
Jim Baumbach of Newsday has the details on The Final Score. Jim texted for my reaction, but it didn’t make his story so here it is:
The people at the Hall may be too cheap and lazy to update Al’s plaque, but he is still officially credited by the NHL with his 740th win for the Islanders. I guess the HOF curators don’t mind providing inaccurate information to their visitors.
Jim is following up with the Hall of Fame staff in Toronto to find out if they updated the plaques of Mario Lemieux, Guy Lafleur and Scotty Bowman. Although Baumbach wrote around the 1,500th game that he was against officially giving Arbour the victory, it would be appropriate to show him some love in the Comments space on his blog this time for fighting the fair fight to have the plaque updated.
Comments.
34 Responses to HOCKEY HALL OF FAME TOO CHEAP AND LAZY
TO UPDATE AL ARBOUR’S PLAQUE
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Staten Islander says:
Thats terrible. it seems the league has forgotten that they were a dynasty. I went into the NHL store and saw very little Islanders stuff and if you go on the website where they have all the heratige collections, there isnt much there for the the dynasty either. What a shame
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Pat says:
I have not been there in 6 years or so – but the HHOF is a poor stepchild to Cooperstown. They could do so much more with it. The way it was laid out – It almost is like going to a local Applebee’s and seeing sports paraphanenelia from the 4 area high schools, the community college and the local Division II college in Anytown, USA.
Perhaps its changed – but its not impressive like Cooperstown. They should have moved it to Carleton Street in Toronto in the home of the old MLG.
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Chad says:
As much as some may consider this sacriledge, I think this one game thing for Al was a nice gesture, but not worthy of really being considered another victory for his career. To me, the others mentioned that had been inducted to the HOF and came back to play/coach actually had real contracts to be contributors, not a one off to pad a record. IMO, this is not something I took any further than being just a classy move on the teams and nothing else. I may be in the minority, but that is how I see it.
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Tom Barone says:
“I went into the NHL store and saw very little Islanders stuff and if you go on the website where they have all the heratige collections, there isnt much there for the the dynasty either. What a shame”
That’s what you get when you go on a losing streak like the Islanders have been on and all the incredibly bad luck the team has has with picks, trades free agency losses, etc etc.
Let’s hope that all changes and a new era will begin with the draft and TAVARES coming to the NYI!
let’s all hope so anyway.
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Paul in Canada says:
Sorry Chris, can’t show a guy who questioned Arbour’s integrity that way any love. If the NHL had have said, no way, this is bogus, THEN it wouldn’t have counted. Arbour’s agreement to participate in the event is all that mattered after that. Sure, this was Nolan’s team at the time, but if the Isles had have lost it Baumbach would have enjoyed giving it to you and the Islanders for embarrassing Al. Let Adam Graves come out to play one more for some reason and see how Baumbach would feel then. Working for Dolan, Baumbach is so used to writing things he doesn’t agree with, that this ambiguous and self-contradicting follow up must have come natural.
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Gloobenberg says:
What?! no Tavheduch story today?!
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nystrom23 says:
The HHOF should fix Al’s plaque….him and Scotty Bowman are the two greatest coaches ever to step behind a bench….that game was one of the greatest I had been to….Before that game was the Shawn Bates penalty shot vs. toronto….since 2000…those are the only times I could remember the old barn shaking like it use to….Lets go Isles
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dan from va beach says:
@#%$ baumbach,
he deserves NOTHING -
kevin27NYI says:
shame on them for not honoring arbour….
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Al Arbour signed a one-game contract to coach the Islanders.
Therefore, he was under contract as coach during that game.
Therefore, it counts. End of.
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Chris Mc says:
Exactly Nick. Well said
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lovin lethbridge says:
I think I am in the minority here, but he should stay at 739. Yes he was behind the bench for the game, but he was not the coach.
A side note, does it show on Teddy’s stats as a win? -
admin says:
(13) No, it shows on Al’s official stats as a win.
(6) He did not question Arbour’s integrity. I disagreed with it strongly, but he questioned the integrity of the NHL giving Al the win. There’s a big difference…CB
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kevin fitz says:
I don’t understand why it is a big deal that they gave him credit for the win. I mean, come on, these are just statistics. They do not effect anything regarding the game on the ice. And that is the only thing that matters. If the NHL wanted to honor one of the greatest coaches in TEAM sports history (not just hockey) than they should be allowed to without anyone thinking it is wrong.
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Hud says:
I thought when Ted Nolan let Al coach it was awesome, he embraced the history of the Isles in many ways. Would have been nice if Ted could have stayed around a few more years.
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Chad says:
11 & 12, I disagree. The “contract” is a matter of semantics, he wasn’t the real coach of that team – an honorary coach perhaps, but that’s it. The lack of this one win doesn’t make him an less of a legend, he is a top 3 NHL coach and more so, a top 10 coach of ANY sport IMO.
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Warren says:
As for Mr. Long Island Hockey he deserves that correction . Who else brought hockey on the map and the next one will be Scott Gordon if Long Island will give him a chance. Remember this could an interesting year for our “CUP” drive.
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mike says:
Dan from VA (9) – You are spot on.
Baumbach deserves nothing from Islanders fans. In fact, I have not read any of his garbage since he posted that piece on newsday.com at the time of Al’s victory. I don’t disagree with CB on much, but endorsing anything that Baumbach writes is wrong. The guy has no self-respect, as he clearly wrote that trash for the sole purpose of shock value and to gain personal name recognition. It worked. I do recognize his name to this day, and anytime his name is associated with an article, I do not even waste my time skimming it.
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Akeem says:
I think both sides have a point here. Should they change the plaque? Probably. But was Al really the coach, notwithstanding his 1 game contract? No, he wasn’t. I tried to think of a good sports parallel, and I came up with Brett Favre purposely falling down so that Strahan could get the record for most sacks in one season. Does he officially have the record? Yes. Is it not the same as if he had gotten that last sack legitimately? Not even close.
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Tony F. says:
I can’t believe this guy, Baumbach. I’d like to show him my fist instead of any love. Now he’s going to defend Al? The only feel good story of that season was that win. It made you feel good for Al Arbour and the team. For once it seemed like the team came together and fought like the old time teams and for a hockey father figure. Al deserved all that. Then the next day that chump wrote that article. It makes me so angry thinking of it, there’s enough crap in this world to deal with and then Jim has to spoil a great day.
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Shawn says:
I was a season ticket holder that year and at that game, for me it was hand down the best game of the year as well as the opportunity of a lifetime since I came well after the Islanders winning anything. In fact since ive followed the Isles when I was 6 they have failed to win a playoff series so this bad team may all be my fault. Anyway the Hall of Fame should update the plaque it’s the honorable and right thing to do to one of the greatest coaches in hockey history.
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RichM says:
I think what was done with Arbour was gimmicky. I do not like those cheap stats. Nolan was the coach of that team. It cheapens records when things of this nature are done. Al was a great coach who did not need to coach another game. The league should not encourage this type of stuff.
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Willis says:
If the NHL approved the contract and gave the win, then the NHL should change the plaque.
We’re in a recession now however so I’ll settle for a hand written note next to the plaque explaining that the plaque will be changed in the future to show the CORRECT number. That goes for all of the incorrect plaques.
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geduffer says:
What would you expect of the HOF and the NHL. Check the Stanley Cup next time you get the chance to see it. The team name for the 1980 champs is spelled Ilanders and it was never redone. Talk about a lack of respect!
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Chris A says:
Is it really that big deal for the HHOF you can just cross out 781 and put 782 in sharpie and I won’t mind. (hope it doesn’t come to that) Come on it’s really not a lot we are asking here.
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The HOF should be embarrassed by their actions of not updating items. It is very unprofessional.
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Moosie says:
Is this all we have to talk about? Ted Nolan was the coach of the Islanders. It was great to have Al behind the bench, but Ted was the coach. And it was one of the best games of the season!
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mtrico says:
If this was a legendary coach of the Maple Leafs we were talking about, the plaque would have been changed the next day. This is a disgrace, and the HOF should be taken to task for its unfair treatment of a true legend.
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KO21 says:
The best thing about Ted Nolan was his respect for the game and the elders who came before him, its the native way, to respect your elders…I also remember when they made the playoffs 3 seasons past and Nolan called up the man himself, Al Arbour, to get some advice and maybe inspiration…Nolan came out after the conversation and said “now I’m ready”…
I miss Ted Nolan for certain reasons but he just wasn’t willing to deal with losing with inexperienced players and the only way to make a winner out of this team is by starting from scratch…
I wonder why ho hasn’t had another couching job since…Makes you wonder why…
With that being said, obviously, I hope the league wil show proper respect to Mr Arbour….He one 1500 games, not 1499, thats why Nolan came up with the gesture…The NHL is run like a “Mickey Mouse operation”, Im not surprised by anything anymore when it comes to the NHL’s bias…Why should this be anythi8ng different…The league is too busy shoving Crysby in our faces so we can’t stand that guy anymore…
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thanks mike,
exactly!!!!!!
he’s a dumbass isles hater and goes out o his way to disgrace us!!!
he deserves NOTHING>>>>> -
BringBackNyles says:
I am in the minority here, and please know this is in no way reflects badly about Al Arbour the man or the career he had.
At the time, and now, it felt like a gimmick to me. The Islanders got good ink out of it, a sellout, but at the end of the day, it felt like a gimmick to me.
As for the HOF, I say leave it as is. If we want to talk about cheap, how about our own franchise care enough about our retired numbers to clean/replace the jerseys which are yellowing in the rafters?
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Jim Clark says: I thought the 1500th game was a lovely gesture by Ted Nolan and a great game to boot. As far as the HHOF goes, I’m not going to have a hissy fit over it.
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Tom says:
Supossedly Bowman’s stats & lemieix’s stats haven’t been updated after there plaques went up. Can somneone confirm that? I LOVE Al, but his win or stats are no more important than Scotty’s or Mario. IF that’s true what I heard about those two & their non-updated plaques.
I remmeber watching that game – Nolan and the players all wanted it badly for Al.
Good memories, Go Isles.