Doug Wilson: Why is this Man Not in the Hockey Hall of Fame?
Filed Under (NHL) by admin on 17-01-2009
Tagged Under : Doug Wilson, NHL
To the new generation of hockey fans, Doug Wilson may be known simply as the young-looking GM of the San Jose Sharks, the man who looks a bit like Bob Saget and built that team into an NHL powerhouse.
They may not be aware that he was the first captain of the Sharks, one of the last men in the NHL to play without a helmet, that only Paul Coffey and Bobby Orr have ever scored more goals in a season as a defenseman, and that he won the 1982 Norris Trophy as the best defenseman in the NHL.
With all the talk these days that the standards for the Hockey Hall of Fame are too low (something with which I have an issue, at least with respect to post-1970 NHL players) it is astounding that each year, when the list of eligible players and injustices are thrown around in the media, we scarcely hear the name “Doug Wilson.”
And while it should not automatically guarantee one’s place in the Hall of Fame, a Norris Trophy should certainly get someone into the discussion about eligibility. Many a defenseman has entered the Hall without winning that piece of hardware, recently including such greats (and contemporaries) as Larry Murphy and Borje Salming.
In Wilson’s case, he finished his career with 827 points in 1024 games, an astounding points-per-game ratio for a defenseman (and also a stellar total). He also added 80 points in 95 playoff games.
He enjoyed his best season in 1981-82 with 85 points, though he was a model of consistency throughout his career. Most impressively, perhaps, is that while Orr and Coffey are the only two NHL defensemen to ever score 40 goals in a season, Doug Wilson potted 39 in his 1982 Norris Trophy campaign.
To this we add one of the colorful anecdotes that tend to go with Hall of Famers, the fact that he took off the tip of Paul Cavallini’s finger with one of his patented slap shots. Indeed, his shot was on par with that of the legendary Al MacInnis, and still stands as one of the greatest cannons from the point in the history of the game.
The Hall of Fame is at least one person short as long as Doug Wilson is sitting on the outside.