The novel coronavirus has swept through the world like a wildfire in the early months of this year, making its presence felt in pretty much every aspect of our lives. For sports fans, one of its most hurtful effects was that it effectively shut down sports for months. While in most European countries, the spread of the virus was slowed down enough for sports to return and for leagues to start planning for later. The Elite Ice Hockey League, the UK’s 10-team local ice hockey league, has already outlined plans to start its season on the weekend of December 5-6, with the season-ending next May.
In North America, things are not that rosy, though. The NHL teams have recently moved into two “bubbles” in Edmonton and Toronto to play out the season in isolation, with no fans on the allowed on the grandstands in the name of social isolation, making the matches almost feel like a virtual sporting event.
And now another sublime moment has become the victim of the ongoing pandemic: Doug Wilson’s official Hall of Fame induction.
Next year
Hockey Hall of Fame chairman Lanny McDonald has announced that the induction weekend and celebration, scheduled for November 16 in Toronto, will no longer take place – it has been postponed “until further notice”.
“While it’s possible the class of 2020 could be inducted on alternative dates during the modified 2020-21 NHL season, the most likely scenario is to postpone to November 2021, either by waiving the 2021 elections or in combination with the 2021 induction class involving adjusted category limits,” a statement by McDonald published on the Hockey Hall of Fame website reads.”Since the magic of the induction from the Honoured Members’ perspective is experiencing several days of close interaction with family, friends, former teammates and fans, the Board ruled out any means of holding the 2020 inductions virtually”
Doug Wilson
Dough Wilson played 14 seasons with the Chicago Blackhawks, followed by two more for the San Jose Sharks, finishing his career with 827 points (237 goals and 590 assists) in 1,024 games, in 1993.
Wilson was selected to eight NHL All-Star games during his career, seven times with the Blackhawks, and once with the Sharks. He was named NHL First Team All-Star in 1982 and NHL Second Team All-Star twice, in 1985 and 1990.
Wilson was inducted to the Chicago Sports Hall of Fame in September 1999 and to the Hockey Hall of Fame on June 24th this year, together with Marian Hossa, Jarome Iginla, Kevin Lowe, and Kim St-Pierre in the Player Category, and Ken Holland in the Builder Category.
