The Hockey Stop

The Hall of Fame's 18-member selection committee will announce the class of 2009 on Tuesday and with only four openings out of 30 viable candidates who meet the minimum three years of retirement, the decisions are sure to be tough.

So which four players have the best chance to step up to the podium at the induction ceremony on Nov. 9 to join the other 240 Hall of Famers?

The first-time eligible favorites appear to be Brett Hull, Steve Yzerman, Brian Leetch and Luc Robitaille. All four have sipped champagne out of Lord Stanley's Cup -- Hull, Yzerman and Robitaille won together with the Detroit Red Wings in 2002; Brian Leetch hoisted the Cup with the New York Rangers in 1994. Not to mention the personal achievements (they've all won at least one major individual award) such as Brett Hull's 86 goals and a Hart trophy in 1991.

But what about the other candidates? An argument could certainly be made for Alexander Mogilny. The Russian sharp-shooter was known as "Alexander the Great" when Alex Ovechkin was still learning to skate in Moscow. His career year was the 1992-93 season in which he racked up 76 goals in 77 games for the Buffalo Sabres. He won a Stanley Cup in 2000 with the New Jersey Devils. Other notables from Wikipedia:

Alexander Mogilny was the first European to lead the league in goals scored (along with Teemu Selänne from Finland), first European to be named a Captain of an NHL team (Sabres), first Russian to be named to the NHL all-star team, and is (as of the end of the 2005–06 season) the second all-time Russian scorer in the NHL. Mogilny would have also been the first Russian player to scored 1000 points in the NHL but several injuries have delayed him from reaching that goal until finally fellow Russian star Sergei Fedorov reached the mark just a few games before Mogilny.}

And don't forget that workhorse Dave Andreychuk. The left winger won a Cup 22 years into his career with the Lightning in 2004, holds the record for most power play goals with 270 and played in 1639 games.

And how can the selection committee overlook "The Russian Rocket" Pavel Bure? The Calder trophy winner for best rookie also nabbed two Maurice "Rocket" Richard trophies as the top goal scorer before his early retirement in 2005 because of a chronically injured knee.

But the real question no one is asking relates to the potential North American bias amongst the 18 voting members. With the addition recently of Canadians David Branch, president of the Canadian Hockey League, and former player and Hall of Famer Mike Gartner, could there be a prejudice against international players or is the committee objective? If you just go by the names on the committee they align more closely with Yzerman, Hull, Leetch and Robitaille then Mogilny or Bure.

The selection committee members are: James M. Gregory, Pat Quinn, Scotty Bowman, David Branch, Colin Campbell, John Davidson, Eric Duhatschek, Jan-Ake Edvinsson, Mike Emrick, Michael Farber, Mike Gartner, Dick Irvin, Jr., Lanny McDonald, Yvon Pedneault, Serge Savard, Harry Sinden, Peter Stastny and Bill Torrey.

I certainly hope these members don't listen to Don Cherry and instead vote for the most deserving players, regardless if they come from Saint John or Saint Petersburg.