It hurts me somewhat personally that this guy is not going to be recognized for doing more, but it just wasn’t in the cards. He didn’t have the prolonged career necessary to get into the Hall of Fame, and while he fought more valiantly than any goalie I have ever seen in a Stanley Cup Final, when you’re facing the greatest NHL team ever assembled, sometimes you just have to be better than humanly possible to win.
What’s strange is that he’ll be remembered in the vein of Tommy John’s of the world. A revolutionary who changed how the game is played. I know Plante started the trend towards puck-handling goaltenders, but Hextall was the standard bearer in the 80’s and early 90’s. He’s the one who passed the baton to the Brodeur’s and the Turco’s.
The good news is that in February, he will be inducted into the Flyer’s Hall of Fame, and if that’s the final award for his playing career, then so be it.
Hextall is unique sports hero for me much because of the things he didn’t do. As a young child I certainly gravitated towards him as somebody to root for simply because he was violent and borderline psychotic. But in retrospect, unlike my other sports heroes at that time (the Bash Brothers and Rick Tocchet), Hextall kept his transgressions on the playing field. He was not juicing and he didn’t run a gambling ring.
Part of me wants to go to that game. Part of me wants to see him honored.
But hockey is a fickle game. General Managers who are considered geniuses one year are considered uncreative and unadaptable in others.
Paul Holmgren is doing a fantastic job. But should he falter in the future, I have no doubt in my mind that Hextall will be the next GM. And if we haven’t won a cup by then, maybe he can bring it home in a role none of us could have imagined 20 years ago.
