He's not allowed in the Hockey Hall of Fame

"Don't look at me like that ... you know what you did
and you're going to the box".

30 years ago, I was on a committee of four who presented NHL referee, Bruce Hood, for induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

He was being presented as a candidate for the first time following his 21-year NHL career.

We had a dedicated group but we had no idea what we were doing. We needed a proper strategy because we thought Bruce had earned the Hall's consideration and we didn't want to make a mistake with our presentation.

But before I describe our plan, I must give you a little backstory.

I was at Maple Leaf Gardens for a Leaf home game in 1984 when, following the 1st period, the announcer introduced Bruce and his wife on the ice to accept recognition from the NHL for officiating his 1000th game - the first ref to do so. The crowd gave him an appreciative cheer. He and I didn't know each other.

 Scotty Morrison is all smiles for now ...
but "The Book" will be out shortly.

Weeks later, I was standing in a line of autograph hounds at Guelph University as Bruce signed copies of his new book. I wasn't there for an autograph. I thought I might be able to coax him into appearing at a Special Olympics Canada event in Toronto.

After introducing myself and stating my fabulous offer of no appearance fee, I found out that he'd already been an active supporter of what he called his "fellow athletes" for almost a decade. "Of course, I'll show up ... what do you want me to do?"

You know when you meet someone for the first time and something unusual occurs -- a connection of some sort like you were about to become friends for a very long time? That's what I felt - I'm certain he felt the same.

      Sports Celebrities Festival for Canadian Special Olympics

Jim McKenny, Dick Redmond, Bruce, Me, Leif Pettersen, Rene Robert

Long story short, he showed up like clockwork to support our Special Olympians for 16 consecutive years ... always in a tux with a ref jersey under it and his whistle which he'd blow every time a silent auction bidder wasn't bidding high enough. He was always a star at the event which also attracted another 25 famous athletes from around the world, also at no fee.

But, back to our Hall of Fame pitch. I'm going to touch on only a few of Bruce's highlights to help you decide if he is worthy to be a member of the Hall.

*First to ref 1,000 games ( a 21-year career begun in '66).

*157 Cup games - including Orr's winning goal game.

*3 All-Star Games.

*3 Canada Cup Games.

NOTE: only premier referees and linesmen are invited to participate in Stanley Cup and All-Star Games. For the Canada Cup Games, he was the only choice.

*An architect of the creation of the Referee Association.

*Designed safety equipment for on-ice officials.

*Schooled European on-ice officials on NHL officiating.

*and, fittingly, he was the last ref to wear #1.

So, armed with this great resume, we thought he was a shoo-in. We also had an agreement from one of the selection committee members who said he "would stand for Bruce" once his name was presented.

But, I wanted to seal the deal. I secured the names and addresses of the committee members and couriered them a petition signed by Honoured Hall Members claiming he should be with them.

We the undersigned ...

Bruce said, "This petition was the second best thing to being selected for the Hockey Hall of Fame". He was so honoured that superstars from his NHL era were willing to step up and tell the Hall that he should be with them.

Top Left: "Rocket", Delvecchio. Keon, Ullman, Pilote, Stanley
Bathgate, Kennedy, 'Boom-Boom" Dickie Moore & "Red" Kelly

Sound good?

Wrong. 

All of it was wrong.

Bruce's book mentioned earlier had a few unkind passages about his former boss of referees, Scotty Morrison. 

But, that's not the bad part. Yet.

At just the time that we were presenting our guy for Hall consideration, Scotty was announced as the new chairman of the Hockey Hall of Fame. We assumed Scotty had lots of influence on the selection committee members especially the one who claimed he'd "Stand for Bruce"

Next, uncovering the names and addresses of the "secret" selection committee was a no-no. A very big no-no. They cared less about the endorsement of "Rocket" and Keon and Pilote and Hull and more about how I found their names and addresses. They were not happy.

I'm a hockey person. I know names - even obscure ones -- like the "best NHL hockey player name ever" ... Bart Crashley. But, the selection committee of 15 people from 30 years ago was an odd group. Several were easily recognizable hockey names. Tough guys. Guys who could never be pushed around on the ice. The rest were no-names including a lawyer from Philadelphia and a woman with no connection to sport or hockey. 

We wondered ... how could this group unanimously overlook

the importance and impact that Bruce had on the game? 

None of it mattered if Scotty was ordering them how to vote.

Incidentally, at a meeting with Scotty, unrelated to this issue, I asked him why Paul Henderson was not a member of the Hall of Fame since he scored 3 of the most important game-winning goals in the history of Canadian hockey and allowed the country to breathe again ... but, the losing goalie who never played one game in the NHL is in the Hall. He told me Henderson's achievements in the "one-off tournament" weren't reason enough to be chosen - he was stuck for an explanation about the goalie, Tretiak. Maybe Canadians feel sorry for those we beat? 

Welcome to the Hall, Vlad. But our nomination of Bruce was rejected.

We let some time go by and Bruce's son Kevin presented his father's name a second time ... again with a selection committee member stating he would "Stand for Bruce". That person didn't either. 

The reach/influence of Scotty Morrison was long and powerful. We wished Bruce hadn't written that book.

But, things change.

The new chairman of the Hockey Hall of Fame is Lanny McDonald - a guy I love. But, in my opinion, the chairman of the Hall should never be a player, ever. Players, every player, just like you and me have grudges. Some of the grudges last a long time. Would any former player with a grudge who happens to also be the Hall chairman be fair and unjudgemental? 

Scotty Morrison proved my point.

So, maybe you already know what will happen next. Bruce will eventually be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Not today.

Maybe not next year or the next or even 10 years from now.

But, he will be inducted.

Unfortunately, nobody would have enjoyed his induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame as much as Bruce but he won't be around.

Epilogue:

Following his NHL career, Bruce had a very successful Travel Agency and then moved to a winter home in Florida, close to me and The Igloo and Norm Foster Hockey in Ellenton where he could play a little hockey and regale the old-timers with tales of the NHL. If you joined us for hockey, you had to go to Peaches for breakfast with Bruce - nobody left early because you didn't want to miss anything.

The Elder Statesmen of Foster Hockey @ The Igloo
Norm Foster on Bruce's stitches... "I told him to duck"!

    1999 ... Foster Hockey Annual Luncheon 

Bruce, seen here singing the Russian National Anthem before lunch
He performed it perfectly from top to bottom with lots of hand gestures 
but he faked it ... he didn't know one word of actual Russian.

Nobody hated referees like Ted Lindsay.

Nobody.

He threatened many of them, mostly "Red' Storey, sometimes with his life -- and he meant it. So Ted was a little surprised when I told him that former ref, Bruce Hood, was going to join me on a visit to Ted's home in Detroit. He didn't know Bruce because he started his NHL career in the same year that Ted finished. "Why are you bringing a ref to my house" shouted Ted on the phone ... "you'll like this ref", I said.

We sat in Ted's kitchen for 4 hours. 

You would have paid to be there.

They told story after story ... the crazy players ... the crazy games, the people, the nonsense. I said nothing. I just listened and laughed and watched while these two became pals like the ones that I mentioned earlier.

"Terrible Ted" and the ref
Do these two look like hockey buddies?

Following our visit with Lindsay, Bruce and I retired to the Caesar's Hotel in Windsor where we shared a bottle of wine, replayed our day with Ted and later fell asleep with Bruce snoring one of the great arias by Mozart. 

What a fabulous day!

What a fabulous memory.

 

(Incidentally, regarding "Terrible Ted", he and I were celebrating his 88th birthday at his favourite Italian restaurant (medium steak and pasta with a generous portion of red wine), when, out of the blue, he asked, why do you think they called me "Terrible Ted"? "I always thought I was good". I didn't think he was joking with me. His expression told me that he was legitimately confused by the 50-year-old nickname.) 

Following our visit with Ted and every time we met, Bruce concluded our get-together with a hug. Every time. I didn't understand it but I liked it. It wasn't until later that I understood that he knew what was wrong and what was about to happen to him. He wanted to show his affection for me. I remember every hug.

When his life was coming to an end, his wife said I shouldn't delay. When I arrived at the hospice, he couldn't speak - only stared at the ceiling. I didn't know what to do so I talked about Foster Hockey and his Florida buddies and choked my way through some silly hockey stuff and hoped my voice and those stories brought him some comfort.

He was a once-in-a-lifetime guy. He departed ...

on this day, January 5, 2018