The problem with running a Hall of Fame-related website is that many of the big ones we cover all have announcements within months of each other.  The backbone of what we do is list-related, resulting in a long push to revise what we already have, specifically now with our Football Hockey and Basketball Lists.

At present, we have a minor update as we have completed the next ten of the 2024 Hockey List, which you can comment on and vote on:

The new 61 to 70:

61. Teppo Numminen
62. Brian Bellows
63. Sandis Ozolinsh
64. John Vanbiesbrouck
65. Wendel Clark
66. Shane Doan
67. Rick Vaive
68. Larry Aurie
69. Tim Kerr
70. Adam Graves

Rankings are impacted annually based on your comments and votes.

Thank you all for your patience. We will soon unveil more changes to the football and basketball lists.

If this list were based purely on popularity, Wendel Clark would be near the top.

Clark was taken number one in the 1985 Draft, and he joined a struggling Maple Leafs team that lacked an identity.  The Left Wing immediately became a fan favorite for his no-nonsense play, willingness to fight, and ability to score.  As a rookie, Clark scored 45 Points and finished second in Calder voting to Gary Suter.  The Left Wing had 60 Points as a sophomore, but in his third year, he began to be plagued with back problems that affected him for the rest of his career and resulted in many games lost.

Despite his medical setbacks, Clark remained the heart of the team and became the team captain.  A trade from Calgary brought Doug Gilmour to the Leafs and with other pieces in tow, the Maple Leafs made a deep run in the 1993 Playoffs.  Clark had his best year the season after, with a career-high 76 Points, but the Leafs dealt Clark to Quebec for Mats Sundin, and the Leaf Nation wept for days.

Clark returned two years later, where he was again oft-injured but always popular and pugilistic.  He signed with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 1998 but made one more stop in Toronto to finish his career.  

Of the 564 career Points Clark scored, 441 came in a Maple Leafs uniform.  Toronto would hang his banner in 2008, with his number 17 retired in 2016.

If the rabid fan base in Toronto had anything to say about it, the hard hitting Wendel Clark would have skated into the Hockey Hall of Fame on the first ballot. Clark was the bright spot on dismal Leaf teams, and his gritty take no prisoners style of play made him one of the most popular (if not the most popular) Leaf of all time. He wasn’t the largest player on the ice, but he may have been one of the toughest of his era. In addition, Clark was able to produce decent offensive numbers as he netted 30 goals a season on four occasions. If the Hall put players in just on heart alone, Wendel Clark would be a lock but as such he probably doesn’t have the career stats to get in.