Hall of Fame committee in fog over Shero
The Philadelphia Inquirer Blog - Flyers Report: Broad Street Bull
Hall of Fame committee in fog over Shero
Sam Carchidi, Inquirer Staff Writer
The 18-member Hall of Fame selection committee has some explaining to do.
The committee shamed itself, again, by bypassing former Flyers coach Fred Shero for the Hall of Fame on Tuesday.
Nicknamed "The Fog," the quirky Shero was an innovator, and he directed the Flyers to consecutive Stanley Cups in the 1970s. In a six-year span, he led his teams to four appearances in the Finals, including 1979 with the New York Rangers.
My gut reaction is that the committee frowns upon Shero because they think the Broad Street Bullies _ the nickname given to Shero’s brawling Flyers teams of the 1970s _ soiled the NHL’s image.
But if that was the case, why did the Broad Street Bullies’ captain (Bobby Clarke), GM (Keith Allen) and owner (Ed Snider) earn spots in the Hall several years ago?
In 1974 and 1975, Shero directed the upstart Flyers to Stanley Cup titles. The Flyers won the 1974 championship in just their seventh year of existence, becoming the first expansion team to capture the Cup.
By comparison, Los Angeles, which also entered the league in 1967, won its first Cup THIS YEAR.
Since the Flyers won consecutive Cups, only three coaches have led their teams to at least two straight titles: Scotty Bowman, Al Arbour and Glen Sather.
All are in the Hall of Fame.
Shero, who died in 1990, studied game films _ not common at the time _ and was extremely innovative . He hired a full-time assistant, started game-day morning skates, and went to Russia to incorporate parts of its game into his coaching.
Quite simply, Shero was ahead of his time.
Way ahead.
During his 10-year NHL coaching career, Shero posted a 390-225-119 record, a points percentage of .612. Starting in 1973-74, his Flyers teams had a points percentage of at least .700 for four straight seasons, going 50-16-12; 51-18-11; 51-13-16; and 48-16-16.
A Winnipeg native and former bantam boxing champion in the Navy, Shero scribbled a now-famous message on the blackboard before the Flyers faced Bobby Orr and the Boston Bruins in Game 6 of the 1974 Cup Final: Win today and we walk together forever.
Final: Flyers 1, Boston 0, and an estimated two million people later attended the victory parade.
Ever since that season, Philadelphia has been one of the NHL’s prized hockey cities. Shero was highly instrumental in setting the foundation.
In a statement, the NHL said the Hall of Fame’s mandate is to
“recognize and honor the achievements of players, builders and officials
who bring special distinction to the game of hockey.”
Shero did that. Better than most coaches in NHL history.
Somehow, the 18 committee members haven’t noticed.
It's not credible IMHO to claim anti-Bully bias for The Fog when the Leader and Captain of the Bullies, the GM and Owner are all in The Hall. It seems to me more likely just simple Committee Incompetence (synonymic for negative synergy-working together in a process controlled and highly-organized environment we achieve together much less than the sum of our individual efforts). Also any attempt to apply metrics or systemic approach to largely subjective decisions routinely produces dorked-up outputs. Nevertheless the conclusion is correct, the Hall should induct Shero because on his body of work at the bench and in game preparation, he richly deserves it.
The same logic would induct Pete Rose and the other elite non-inductees into Cooperstown, as well. Recognize elite skill and contribution in the Halls, again IMHO it's not a question of character. Gode detail in the article-Thanks!— RI_Flyrs_Guy- "Win Today, And We Walk Together Forever" says it all! Shero kicked the butts of the Original Six and that was his crime. Keeping him out of the Hall was and is their only revenge. To the boorish, elitist snobs of the NHL, go pound sand!— younged
- Once again the hall of Fame is missing one of the best! This a lost to all of the current memebers of the hall of fame. The fog did more to advance hockey during his time than many of the current members ever did! until the fog is a part of the hall me and my family will never make the trip to see it and we are huge hockey fans! The time has come for the membership committe to do the right thing and vote the fog in!— srcdaddy1216
- Did you ever seee some of the selections into the hall of fame? I mean, Angela James was put in 2010 which meant and she was added in lieu of Joe Niuewndyk, Doug Gilmour, and Adam Oates that year... I dont know why this year would be the year Fred Shero got in, what was the logic behind that...Every year players retire so Shero's been getting snubbed for decades he wont be put in until some hockey historian finally wants it to seem like it was his idea
- What a disgrace, again. Forget the bullies part of things, they were a damn good team. So good, in fact, that you never thought they were going to lose, and at home, they almost never did. Those winning percentages are incredible.— tfnj42
Nice article, Sam. Without sunlight on the selection process and without accountability of the voters the block of committee members opposed to inducting Shero will continue to keep him out of the HOF.
Shero was a maverick who disdained most management types, and stubbornly did things his own way regardless of what others thought.
His Stanley Cup championships speak for themselves and most ironic thing is that it wasn't the Flyers who soiled the NHL’s image but the Habs. Anyone who saw the 1976 finals knows that the legendary Canadiens were not the image of fair play, but the dirtiest team in the league. Although the Flyers (without Bernie) lost in a sweep, they were one goal games and the Habs repeatedly pounded Philly players with head shots and brutal cross-checks. Their so-called clean play was propaganda.- An even better Shero quote: "Always get to the puck first, and arrive in ill humor". Classic.— CommonSenze
- Again. The NHL does not owns the Hockey Hall of Fame.— siriusfan
- I had followed the Flyers since 1967 and remember reading an article about Shero's first training camp and what a great teacher he was. Players were quoted saying how confident they were after going through his practice sessions. He was a student of the Russian approach of team play and it showed. It didn't hurt that he had Bernie Parent, Bob Clarke, Bill Barber and Rick McCleish, but he was able to make it all work.
— farley - I'd be interested to see what sort of (if any) lobbying was done on Shero's behalf before the selections were made. I agree it's a travesty that he hasn't made it on merit alone. Sometimes though, the older guys need a little help to get in the HOF. If I remember correctly, Richie Ashburn got in baseball's HOF only after some group really lobbied on his behalf. At the very least, Ed Snider should be calling the selection committee and giving them h, e, double hockey sticks for excluding The Fog yet again.— KDH
- Mike Emrick has been pushing Shero's induction for years.
The committee members are blinded by hate. It's too bad they don't list the votes publicly, like in the college football national rankings. - If Kiss and Rush are not in the rock n roll hall of fame, why should this be a shock?— NYPHILLYPHAN
- Besides the Flyers trying to get Fred in, maybe more help is needed from his son Ray, who is a respected GM, and the people of Winnipeg where Fred was born. This is a travesty. How can you explain the fact that Roger Neilson is in the Hall and never won the Cup, and Fred isn't?— BobbyD
- The HHOF committee has long been a joke. At least one choice a year is laughed about while others are bypassed. It took Pavel Bure 3 tries to get into the hall. Likely the most exciting player to ever play in Vancouver, at the time the most electrifying player when he got the puck anywhere outside his own blueline all the way to the opponents goal. But he was snubbed 3 times before this year. Funny thing is, in that time Doug Gilmour got in. Why? Because he's linked to Toronto. Mats Sundin is the only decent player the Leafs had since the 1970's he's the only leaf deserving of the honour in the last 40 years.— ratt1
- Malcolm Gladwell wrote about innovation in sports in a great article about Davids beating Goliath: http://nyr.kr/cS8tjT
Basically, if you read this article, Fred Shero is Doug Lenat, the computer gamer who innovated so well that he was almost physically kicked out of the wargames simulation he kept winning. Shero is Lenat. He'll never be in the Hall. His genius was invalidating the way the establishment did things; the establishment will never admit it.— janiscortese
