To be a Hall of Famer is to be considered as one of the very best in your sport. On Tuesday, The Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto is set to announce The Class of 2024. And while many will debate the merits of those who made the cut and argue over those who were snubbed, it will still be a special day.
In just under three weeks from now, on Saturday, July 13, 2024, another Hall of Fame will induct its Class of 2024. That Hall of Fame is The New York State Hockey Hall of Fame and this year’s class will be the third ever to be inducted. So, to shine a light on this newer Hall, Blittner’s Blue Line caught up with The Hall’s Executive Director, Rene LeRoux to preview this year’s ceremony and find out what the future holds.
*Editor’s Note: questions and answers have been lightly edited for clarity.
PLANS FOR THE FUTURE: “Well, it’s a little premature, but it is entirely possible that The New York State Hockey Hall of Fame might be located at UBS Arena, the home of The New York Islanders. I really think that’s the best possible choice for us in terms of exposure and visibility for The Hall of Fame. So that would be my number one choice.”
THE CLASS OF 2024: “I am really very awestruck with the accomplishments from these inductees. Starting with Eddie Westfall, who I followed when he was with Boston playing with Bobby Orr. Westfall was really the first Islanders’ draft pick and really set a strong tone for the Islanders’ organization. Then, that transition right into Denis Potvin, who, really, many people think could be the second-best defenseman to ever play the game.
“I mean, his numbers were off the charts. And obviously, succeeding Eddie as The Captain; what a great tandem that is to induct in the same year. Then, Denis told me last week that he really enjoyed playing with Kenny Morrow. They’re close friends and he told me that Kenny’s contributions on the ice weren’t measured in goals, but how he played defense. So, those three right there are just amazing to the legacy of hockey itself. We’re really thrilled with that. And, of course, Sam Rosen is right in that legendary status as a broadcaster. We’re really thrilled with the quality of inductees this year. It’s really sort of mind-boggling.”
MAKING THE “PHONE CALL”: “I really enjoy making “The Phone Call.” When I make the induction phone call, the congratulatory phone call it’s the same kind of phone call that Jack O’Connell makes for Cooperstown for baseball. When you get that phone call, I don’t think you’re ever expecting to get it. So, in many cases, someone’s first reaction is a little bit of a surprise. They’re speechless for a while and then, when they hear who is in The Class, there’s a sense of joy and accomplishment. You can see how much it means to each of them. They all treated the news this year in the same way Butch Goring did (two years ago) and Bobby Nystrom and Pat LaFontaine. They’re humble and very appreciative.”
BUILDING THE HALL OF FAME BRAND: “Interestingly, when I started this, my name was not synonymous with hockey. However, it is synonymous with The New York State Baseball and New York State Basketball Halls of Fame. So, when people started to research who I was and they saw that our parent company has been in business for 15 years, they all came back enthused. We’ve sold out 32 consecutive events. It’s amazing. We’re followed nationally in both of our other sports. Bob Costas and Brian Kenny do a lot of our promotion for Baseball. We opened our building last year for Baseball, which was a huge success and we got a $2.8 million donation of autographed balls from Stanley Silver in Beverly Hills. We’ve done so well that people now identify me interchangeably with each of the three sports.”
DREAM HOCKEY INDUCTEE: “If you asked me that question six months ago, it would’ve been Mike Eruzione, who’s coming this year and we’re thrilled. I was 24 years old in 1980. I was working for The Xerox Corporation in Lake Placid, handling The Olympic Games, which was a tremendous job. I was there every step of the way with that team. So, in a couple of weeks, I’m gonna be 24 years old again when Mike and Kenny Morrow walk in the room. But I guess my new answer would be Jim Craig. Craig played out of his mind in that Olympics. When we beat Russia, they had 46 shots on goal. We had 18. If they played that game a hundred times, we were probably gonna win twice. So the fact that we won that game, it truly was a miracle on ice and it was largely because Craig played out of his mind.”
INDUCTION LIMITS: “We’re a big Hall organization. Baseball, Basketball, and Hockey are 12, 13, and 14 inductees for each sport because we believe in honoring people. As much as I love and respect Cooperstown, the process of being inducted there is brutally hard. It’s tough. It’s a lot of steps to go through. If we have the opportunity to squeeze somebody in, we’re gonna take every opportunity, especially with someone who’s older, who’s been around. We don’t have limits in categories.
“Our diversity is sort of what makes us special. Youth hockey, college hockey, high school hockey, semi-pro hockey, etc. Our diversity is what we’re probably most complimented about. We don’t just stick with a particular category. There’s no ratio of men to women or anything. Each person gets inducted, really, by the general public. The campaigns people run make my job a lot easier. We don’t originate any of the nominations. They come from other people.”
