Paul Henderson does NOT belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame

Let's clarify that. If Henderson does deserve to be enshrined among the greatest in hockey history, there are a lot of other guys who deserve the honour just as much

It was 50 years ago tomorrow night that Paul Henderson scored the first of his three game-winning goals in the 1972 Summit Series, three goals that would put him firmly and forever in Canadian lore, not to mention the International Hockey Hall of Fame, the Canadian and Ontario Sports Halls of Fame and the Order of Canada.

(Amazingly, Henderson also scored to put Canada ahead 3-0 and 4-1 in Game 5 of the series, goals that would have stood up as the winner if Canada had not blown a three-goal lead in the final 11 minutes of the game. That would have given him the game-winner in each of the four final games.)

Missing from that list of honours is, of course, induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame. And that’s as it should be. It’s actually quite remarkable that an 18-person selection committee that has made some really, really questionable choices over the years – even with different members of the committee - remains steadfast in its insistence Henderson should not be enshrined.