Danny Heatley Makes the Hockey Dirt Hall of Shame

I was kind of shocked by this selection. Former Badger Danny Heatly makes the Hockey Dirt Hall of Shame. This is the response that I posted on this subject at the Hockey Dirt web page:

I am not so sure I would put Danny Heatly on the list.

Sure he was the driver in an accident that killed team mate Dan Snyder, the Snyder family forgave Heatly and to include him in the same list as a bunch of criminals is a disservice.

*I am not for putting Former WCHA hockey player Danny Heatley on this list that includes criminals and thugs. If people disagree with this they should go to this web-page and sound off at the Hockey Dirt site.

Building the NHL Hall of Shame

While the NHL badly trails the NFL, NBA and MLB when it comes to producing and harboring disreputable characters, the passing of Blackhawks owner Bill Wirtz is a reminder that the NHL has had and its share of crooks. Anyone unfamiliar with the Wirtz story might want to get their hands on Mark Weinberg's biography: Career Misconduct.

Wirtz, like fellow felon Harold Ballard, is among the (dis-)Honoured Members of the Hockey Hall of Fame. Another of hockey's most disreputable figures, Alan Eagleson, has thankfully been expelled from the Hall.

Hockeydirt proposes that Wirtz, Ballard and Eagleson be nominated as the founding members of the NHL Hall of Shame.

Who else "deserves" to be recognized as hockey's most infamous characters? We're looking for idea. Here are a few possibilities:

Todd Bertuzzi

Dino Ciccarelli

Mike Danton

Dany Heatley

Wayne Maki

Marty McSorley

Dan Quinn

Who else deserves consideration?

I can see Danton, Bertuzzi, McSorley all three are thugs, but some of the other ones, well its up for discussion...

Wayne Maki, In a preseason game on September 21, 1969, Maki and Boston Bruins defensemen "Terrible" Ted Green engaged in a bloody, violent stick-swinging fight; Green was hit in the head and suffered a fractured skull and a brain injury. Maki was eventually sent down to the Buffalo Bisons of the AHL. Later commentators have rated Maki's attack as one of the most vicious attacks in league history.

Mike Danton, In spring 2004, two days after the Blues were eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs, Danton was arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit murder. On July 16, 2004, he pled guilty to attempting to hire a hitman, who was actually a police dispatcher, to murder David Frost, his agent. To this day, however, Frost denies that he was the target.

Dino Ciccarelli's, career featured several controversial moments, both on and off the ice. In 1987 he pleaded guilty to indecent exposure and received probation. Then on January 6, 1988, in a game played at Maple Leaf Gardens, Ciccarelli attacked Maple Leafs defenceman Luke Richardson with his stick. As a result of this incident, Ciccarelli was convicted of assault, fined $1000, and sentenced to one day in jail.

After retiring, Ciccarelli allegedly had several physical altercations with members of the media. Some have criticized the Hockey Hall of Fame for focusing on issues other than hockey for his exclusion, but others point out that the induction committee has maintained such integrity in order to avoid tarnishing such an honour.

Dan Quinn, was traded to the Vancouver Canucks in 1990, and that started a period where Quinn played for 7 teams in 5 years. In the middle of it, in 1992, Quinn was alleged to have raped a woman at a party. He was released by the Minnesota North Stars, the team he was playing for at the time. The police did not decide to press charges, and Quinn was back in the NHL the next season.