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AERO JOE VISITS THE HALL

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So I ended up making a quick stop by the Hockey Hall of Fame before we left Toronto on Sunday and it was sick! I can’t remember the exact year I was there from my childhood days, but I’m guessing it was probably when I was about 12, which means I don’t remember much from the visit other than the fact that I had been there before. With that said this was my first chance to take it all in – granted it was only for about 45 minutes because they didn’t open until 10:30 am and I had a bus to catch at noon to head back to the States.

There are so many displays, interesting facts and pieces of memorabilia that I could have spent four hours there and still not gotten my “fix.” I mean it was unreal. Here are some quick notes I jotted down and photos I took while breezing through the exhibits:

     o The “replica” Montreal Canadiens’ dressing room from the old Montreal Forum. You can literally sit in the stalls of some of the all-time greats – they have nameplates up from guys like Maurice “The Rocket” Richard. They have Patrick Roy’s old goalie pads and helmet in his dressing stall. Simply awesome.

     o There’s a section dedicated to NHL dynasties featuring the great Canadiens’ teams (you have several dynasties over time when you win 24 Stanley Cups), the Islanders from the early 80’s and the Oilers run of five cups in seven years.

     o Each current NHL team has a small display with their AHL and ECHL (when applicable) affiliate’s jerseys displayed. John Scott’s Aeros jersey from the first half of 2007-2008 season is in the Minnesota Wild’s / Aeros display case.

     o The Avco Cup (championship trophy from the old WHA) is also on display…the Aeros won it in back-to-back seasons beginning in 1974. Mark Howe’s Aeros jersey from the 1976-1977 season (WHA) is on display as well.

o At one of the several multimedia areas, there was a small theatre that was showing videos. When I walked up, the video that was playing was showing Mark Messier’s hat trick for the Rangers in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final against the Devils in 1994. Goosebumps…and I hate the Rangers!

o Lord Stanley’s Cup is there for you to touch and take pictures with, which is just unworldly…don’t touch it if you’re superstitious about every winning it!

There’s also a section dedicated to international hockey, defunct leagues, junior hockey broadcasters of the game and so much else, my head was spinning. There are individual displays for a lot, if not all, of the inductees and an area dedicated to some of the great individual and team NHL records. I’m not even sure I saw everything there since I was practically running through the place! The bottom line is you have to get to Toronto to see the HHOF. It’s a must.

Here are two crazy stats I saw and thought I’d share:
o The NHL record for most assists in a game is seven (7). Several players have done it, including Wayne Gretzky, who did it three times. Comprehend that for a minute.

o Theo Fleury once recorded three (3) shorthanded goals in a game. Wow!

- Aero Joe

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