Article: Who Would the Wild Put In Their Ring of Honor?

[Justin Hein]

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[vonlonster67]

Thanks Justin, something off the regular path for discussion. I agree with most of your "No Brainers", but one, at least for right now. I'm having a hard time wrapping my mind around Gaborik.

So why not Gaborik now? He was uber talented and did impact our team in its infancy and went on to have a good career in the NHL. I just have this empty, abandoned feeling left in my gut that he left us. Had he resigned one more contract I may feel different. I feel a sense of loyalty is needed for him to get my acknowledgment. I hate to swear, but I would put Suter in before him and I'm not saying I would never put him in. Just not now.

My standard is mixed, I want loyalty, character, impact, heart, longevity, selflessness, sacrifice, team first, and leadership. Now Suter is out....but Koivu, Backstrom, Parise, Boogaard, Lemaire, Fernandez, Brunette, Bouchard, Walz, and Hendrickson...I'm all in! Gaborik someday.

Edited September 3, 2023 by vonlonster67

[mnfaninnc]

I liked the choices, but when looking at Suter subjectively, I would have to add him. But, for Parise and Suter, not now, because a prerequisite to being put in the ring of honor is retirement. Parise and Suter are not retired.

I'd also like to suggest a place for the sons of MN, perhaps there is a place already, but more of a State of Hockey HOF. I don't know if you could fit in 2 rings of honor, but I think there needs to be someplace for that to happen if it hasn't already.

I haven't visited the X in a long time, and certainly haven't walked around the whole place. Maybe in the courtyard coming up to the arena in the back, where they are planning more building, they could do something like that?

[Quebec1648]

I would gladly include Koivu in a team hall of fame or ring of honor, but I am not sold on anyone else. In my opinion, the Wild have not been successful enough to warrant the other folks getting in. I support Koivu, because he was basically the captain and face of the franchise all these years after Gaborik left.

Backstrom and Granlund were also good players and fellow Finns, but not elite ring of honor material. 

The ring of honor idea is a good one, but it's way to soon to be thinking of 5-10 nominees. The early Vikings teams were loaded with pro bowl level or hall of fame talents, which is not the case with the Wild. Coach Lemaire was a hof talent, so maybe an exception could be made for him.

I may be a little biased, but the Finns are the best players. Therefore, it should be no surprise that the best Wild player during the teams first two decades was a Finn. 

[joebou15]

Not sure I'd include Boogaard. Is there any other team in the league that has retired a number or placed in the team hall of fame that was an enforcer? The guy did very little on the ice make the hockey better.

In fact, he was on the team when Kim Johnsson was suckerpunched by Brad May. It was only after this episode that Lemaire put him on the ice. It didn't deter the injury on iota. 

We placing him in the RoH because he broke Todd Fedoruk's face? Pummeled the other team's enforcer? Didn't deter cheap shot hits by Mattias Ohlund or Matt Cooke.

Idk, I think a RoH is reserved for special players that did things that would otherwise not get then in a true hall of fame. 

Bruno, Walz, Bouchard, Rolston all come to mind. If you want, Nick Schultz. Dwayne Roloson, Manny Fernandez too. Jacques Lemaire, Bob Naegle Jr are a few off-ice people that could be placed there. But these guys showed excellence on the ice, even if it was short-lived.

Idk. I just don't know if there's a place for enforcers in a RoH.

Edited September 4, 2023 by joebou15

[mnfaninnc]

47 minutes ago, joebou15 said:

Jacques Lemaire, Bob Naegle Jr are a few off-ice people that could be placed there. But these guys showed excellence on the ice, even if it was short-lived.

I would support these 2 candidates. 

Also, if we do a ring of honor, can we trade that for unretiring #1? 

We don't want to fill up the ring of honor either. Leave plenty of space for what is yet to come. 

[Up North Guy]

26 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

We don't want to fill up the ring of honor either. Leave plenty of space for what is yet to come.

With the team we have now let's hope we will have several candidates.

[Quebec1648]

3 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

I would support these 2 candidates. 

Also, if we do a ring of honor, can we trade that for unretiring #1? 

We don't want to fill up the ring of honor either. Leave plenty of space for what is yet to come. 

I would say keep #1 retired, but no future numbers should be retired, unless someone makes the hall of fame. 

The Minnesota Twins seem to be going overboard by having a hof inductee every year now (sometimes they even have more than one). The Wild should learn from this, by keeping the proposed ring of honor small. 

Kaprizov, Boldy, Ek, Brodin, Spurgeon and soon the WallaAll seem like future members of a ring of fame, but only Koivu stands out from the previous years. Had Gaborik stayed longer, then he might be on that list as well.

[Justin Hein]

On 9/3/2023 at 10:35 PM, Quebec1648 said:

I would gladly include Koivu in a team hall of fame or ring of honor, but I am not sold on anyone else. In my opinion, the Wild have not been successful enough to warrant the other folks getting in. I support Koivu, because he was basically the captain and face of the franchise all these years after Gaborik left.

Backstrom and Granlund were also good players and fellow Finns, but not elite ring of honor material. 

The ring of honor idea is a good one, but it's way to soon to be thinking of 5-10 nominees. The early Vikings teams were loaded with pro bowl level or hall of fame talents, which is not the case with the Wild. Coach Lemaire was a hof talent, so maybe an exception could be made for him.

I may be a little biased, but the Finns are the best players. Therefore, it should be no surprise that the best Wild player during the teams first two decades was a Finn. 

I realize that your bar just seems to be higher, but after 25 years of history it's a shame that we only honor one player. There have been excellent members of Wild history who deserve this level of recognition -- by your measuring stick, why can't Andrew Brunette go up based on his Game 7 winner? Why wouldn't Backstrom's team records and Jennings trophy put him over the top? I'm curious how you'd define a ring of honor member if it's short of a jersey retirement.  

[dlhouse]

I would add Koivu, Backstrom, and Lemaire. That's about it. It would be enough for a start at the very least.

Suter and Parise were solid players, but inevitably did way too much damage to the team via rumored behaviors and landing us in cap hell. Gaborik's exit was also tumultuous. It doesn't make sense to include players in the Ring of Honor for the franchise who visibly put themselves before the franchise.

They also all played a substantial amount of hockey for other teams. If they had some playoff success, we might be able to move past that. Unfortunately, none to speak of.

The Wild already honored Derek Boogaard with the helmet sticker they wore the season he passed. No disrespect to him, but he wasn't a good player and doesn't belong in the ring. In my opinion, honoring Boogaard actually gives reverence to a very dark and ugly side of hockey. Suiting up for it caused his CTE and likely his premature death. Boogaard should be remembered, but his time on the ice should not be admired.

[dlhouse]

5 hours ago, Justin Hein said:

I realize that your bar just seems to be higher, but after 25 years of history it's a shame that we only honor one player.

It's a shame that the team has performed so poorly after 25 years of history. Bluntly, this is a legacy of mediocrity. I guess their 13 playoff appearances are a quality number, but.....

4-13 in playoff series all time is downright embarrassing.

Only two series' wins in the past 20 years too. It's a shame considering how much fan support the team gets.

[Protec]

Neageles for sure at the start. I'd say Maijka at the exec. level too. He's been around forever through the different groups. 

Players should include Brunette, Gaborik, Koivu, and others in that top tier. A few more from tier two, Darby of course, Backstrom, perhaps.

Coaches is Lemaire only IMO.

Bombardir is another guy who has played and served the Wild organization. He'd be on my overall list. 

Ring of honor to me should remain pretty exclusive. Like, one guy every few years is as frequent as I would want. 5-10 total for the Wild's existence is my take on it.