Ron Francis came to the Carolina Hurricanes to help establish major-league hockey in a Southern market. He not only did that during his playing career, leading the Canes to the 2002 Stanley Cup final, but has made North Carolina his home.
On Monday, Francis received word that he would be inducted into the N.C. Sports Hall of Fame, becoming the first hockey player named to the hall. The induction ceremonies will be held May 2 in Raleigh.
"I came here to play and to sell the sport, then settled here and now have had this tremendous honor bestowed on me," Francis said Monday. "It's very exciting.
"I've benefited from a lot of other people's hard work to be the first hockey player selected. I'm sure there will soon be a few others knocking on the door."
I've been banging the drum about this for years. It is embarrassing to go into the Hall of Fame at the NC History Museum and see some of the most random people and random sports there but NO HOCKEY. Next up, Brind'Amour and Wesley.
So they had inductees for hang gliding and "team handball" before hockey? Why should we care what they think? Half of their inductees are NASCAR related, so obviously we're not dealing with the brightest of people here. Francis should boycott his induction ceremony.
"(b) Any non-native who has come to the state and maintained an official residence for ten (10) consecutive years shall be eligible. Also, a non-native whose entire athletic career has been during the time of his/her residence in the state shall be eligible."
That tells you why there haven't been hockey players in the past. At best you might have some old SHL'ers worthy of consideration.
What contribution to Youth Hockey? As far as I know, he was an assistant coach on a couple of his kids rec teams and a lower level travel team. Guys like Halko, Brind'Amour, and Francis have also done the same and more.
I have no problem with Wesley making it due to his contributions as a Hurricane, but there are countless others who have done substantially more for youth hockey in this area than Wesley has.
What contribution to Youth Hockey? As far as I know, he was an assistant coach on a couple of his kids rec teams and a lower level travel team. Guys like Halko, Brind'Amour, and Francis have also done the same and more.
I have no problem with Wesley making it due to his contributions as a Hurricane, but there are countless others who have done substantially more for youth hockey in this area than Wesley has.
Not to be that guy, but Hall of Fame does nothing for me. I'm not speaking specifically of Francis either. It's a nice thing to remember the greats, but TBH, I had no clue there was an NC Sports Hall of Fame. Maybe you could sway me on specific sport's Hall of Fames, but North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame is meaningless to me.
Not to be that guy, but Hall of Fame does nothing for me. I'm not speaking specifically of Francis either. It's a nice thing to remember the greats, but TBH, I had no clue there was an NC Sports Hall of Fame. Maybe you could sway me on specific sport's Hall of Fames, but North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame is meaningless to me.
Please don't kill me.
It's a large exhibit at the NC History Museum which has 300,000 visitors a year (it's actually a pretty cool exhibit ignoring the hockey thing). It may not mean a lot and a lot of people may not be aware of it, but it's always irritated me. I was half expecting during All-Star Weekend that someone from the Canadian media would wander in there and end up writing some jackass article about it.
It's a large exhibit at the NC History Museum which has 300,000 visitors a year (it's actually a pretty cool exhibit ignoring the hockey thing). It may not mean a lot and a lot of people may not be aware of it, but it's always irritated me. I was half expecting during All-Star Weekend that someone from the Canadian media would wander in there and end up writing some jackass article about it.
Again, though, I don't see how hockey is being snubbed by a museum which has a 10-consecutive-year residency requirement for non-natives. Other than Francis, how many hockey players of significance meet that standard of engagement with the state of NC? Even Brind'Amour only makes that cutoff by about 3 years.
It's a HOF for people from North Carolina, not a HOF for people who played in North Carolina at some point.
One, I didn't know about the residency requirement until you posted it, so that explains a lot.
Two, there are a lot of people in there from my observations who had no more ties to the state than any of the Canes players.
At the very least, they could have had something in there mentioning the Stanley Cup. A jersey. A stick. Anything. I'm glad the Canes are finally getting recognized, that's all.
It's a HOF for people from North Carolina, not a HOF for people who played in North Carolina at some point.
In other words it's a totally pointless and irrelevant HOF whose qualifications are set up specifically to exclude anyone who plays an actual sport
I'd be willing to bet large amounts of money that the selection committee is comprised entirely of 400 pound guys in their 50-60s who have a cache of weapons in their houses and sit on their front porch.
Gary Bettman
