Welcoming a second class of inductees to the Hall of Very Good

It’s Hockey Hall of Fame day, with an announcement of the class of 2023 coming this afternoon.

None of the guys you’re about to read about are going to be part of it.

I’m pretty sure on that. Granted, we do get the occasional Guy Carbonneau-level surprise, thanks to a committee that never tells us what it talks about or how close any of the candidates come. Still, it’s not all that hard to guess who is or isn’t being considered, and lots of very good players fall into that latter list.

That’s what today is about. While the committee debates the Hall of Fame, we’re here to celebrate the Hall of Very Good. We did this last year, honoring names like Saku Koivu, Eric Desjardins and Tim Kerr. This year, we’re back with a new list of 20 names, each alongside the team they represented best.

As with last time, this isn’t the place to argue borderline cases. If you want to fight about Rod Brind’Amour or Henrik Zetterberg, you’re in the wrong place. In fact, this isn’t about fighting at all. We did the negatives on Monday; today is all good vibes, as we build a team of players who weren’t good enough to be legitimate HHOF cases but are still worth celebrating.

Hockey fans throw “Hall of Very Good” around as an insult, using it to diminish a player’s HHOF case. Not today, though. Today is about remembering some guys, and remembering that you don’t have to be Hall-of-Fame-worthy to have been all sorts of fun to watch. Many of these are based on your suggestions from last year’s column, so keep the nominations coming in the comments section.

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A look at the top candidates for today's Hockey Hall of Fame announcement

After J.R. said "See you at the 2013 induction!",
Scott held his "Is he serious?" face for 45 minutes.

Today's the day when the Hockey Hall of Fame will introduce us to the Class of 2013.

The Hall's 18-member committee will hold its annual meeting today in Toronto, where they'll be tasked with weighing the pros and cons of the various players, coaches and builders who are eligible for induction. After a series of confidential votes, the committee will announced their selections.

Here's a look at some of the top candidates for induction in the Class of 2013.

Chris Chelios - Is expected to be enshrined alongside Bobby Orr and Doug Harvey and Eddie Shore and other legendary defensemen who grew up idolizing him.

Scott Niedermayer - Is a slam dunk for induction, and will hopefully attend the ceremony if he can take time out of his busy schedule of wandering around Ottawa screaming "I told you so!" at sobbing fans in Daniel Alfredsson jerseys.

Rob Blake - Was a Norris Trophy winner and a Stanley Cup champion and an Olympic gold medalist and a six-time NHL all-star, and also appears briefly in The Love Guru so that's going to have to be a "no".

Brendan Shanahan - Didn't make the cut last year, and can't even begin to tell you how frustrating it is to be a victim of a ridiculous decision from some arbitrary process that nobody even fully understands and isn't even accountable to… um, why is everyone staring at him right now?

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