Morning Flurries: going into the Hall of Fame

It’s been nearly sixty years since Willie O’Ree was last on an NHL roster. But at long last, the player who broke the NHL color barrier has made his way into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

O’Ree found his place among the 2018 induction class for the incredible work he’s done in the aftermath of his playing career, which was no easy feat in itself. A former Boston Bruins winger, the Fredericton, New Brunswick native spent the majority of his time on the ice in the minors — but then went on to dedicate his life and time to helping others feel more welcome and included in the hockey community.

The rest of the induction class was no slouch, either, of course.

With Martin Brodeur now in the Hall for his eras-spanning career, here’s an excellent look from last year at why it’s high time a goaltending coach ended up in the HHOF as well — especially one of the pioneers of the coaching position. [InGoal Magazine]

We’ve also got a great story from our sister site in Tampa Bay on the journey to the Hall of Fame for Martin St. Louis, who was always considered too small to make it. [Raw Charge]

For our pOLiTiCaL Bs of the day, this is a worthwhile Twitter thread to read on why the current selection process makes it incredibly difficult for deserving women to find their way into the Hall of Fame, despite the number who have more than earned their chops over the years:

Which, of course, is also a great reminder that there are some on the selection committee who genuinely don’t believe women should be inducted to begin with. Here’s a little more on that from behind the scenes with a member of the HHOF selection committee himself. [The Athletic NHL]

In Avalanche news, sincerest apologies for not giving Tyson Barrie his due yesterday. Here’s a full piece about the milestone he reached. Bon appetit! [Mile High Hockey]

Around the league, Brent Seabrook absolutely wrecked Carolina’s Andrei Svechnikov on Monday night — so Sebastian Aho absolutely wrecked him later:

Finally, the Los Angeles Kings have lost another goaltender.

To recap, they’re now without :

• Jonathan Quick, for the forseeable future. He’s out with a meniscus injury, which is his second injury of the season. He was riding the struggle bus straight out the door and away from even a .900 save percentage when healthy, but his veteran presence may have helped the floundering team.
• Jack Campbell, for 4-6 weeks. He’s also out with a meniscus injury, which seems to be a thing in LA this year. He’s been excellent trying to keep the Kings afloat, so now it’s up to Peter Budaj. No pressure!
• They’re also without ECHLer Cole Kehler, who was injured in Manchester and isn’t available to fill in for Budaj and the recently-recalled Cal Petersen in the AHL for Ontario. No details on his injury at the moment, but he’s been out at least since Quick was injured the second time, so it may be a while until he’s back.
• Finally, they can’t even recalled their juniors player Matt Villalta, who starts for the OHL’s Soo Greyhounds. He would need an emergency recall to get snagged from the Soo mid-season, but he was cut by a skate recently and isn’t available, either.

That leaves the 36-year-old Peter Budaj and the second-year AHLer Cal Petersen to hold down the fort together at the *checks notes* NHL and AHL level combined, which is a wild ride. Currently, 26-year-old minor league journeyman Charles Williams is on loan from Manchester at the AHL level, and he seems to actually have done okay in his first start. But after him, it’s slim pickings in Manchester — and all would require either a loan from another NHL club or a PTO to get shuffled over.

The last time this happened (also to LA, which is a little insane), the team’s goaltending coach and his son served as starter and emergency back-up for a game — which was a feel-good story, but probably not how Dusty Imoo planned to spend his year again.

Stop doing this to yourself, Kings. It’s not healthy.