A couple of years ago, I was part of a panel put together by hockey historian Paul Patskou to talk about people who deserve to be in the Hockey Hall of Fame. I suggested Bob Goodenow. Suffice to say, it was not a popular opinion. But Goodenow, who died suddenly Saturday at the age of 72, belongs in the Hall of Fame every bit as much as former Major League Baseball Players' Association executive director Marvin Miller belongs in Cooperstown, where he was enshrined in 2020.
Goodenow took over the NHLPA on the heels of the Alan Eagleson scandal and instantly made it more professional and credible. And there has not been an executive director, before or after, who cared more about the players than Goodenow. Every player who now makes generational money to play the game he loves owes a debt to Bob Goodenow.
It was Goodenow who decided to make all players' salaries public with salary disclosure, which led to an explosion in salaries for everyone from stars to fourth-line pluggers. It also led to the implementation of the salary cap, one which probably would have come anyway, a seismic move that changed the landscape of the game and cost Goodenow his job. Rather than agree to a deal he thought was terrible for the players, Goodenow fell on his sword and lost his job when the players went back to work after the 2004-05 lockout.
Here's more in today's video column, which was done at the annual Terry Fox Run:
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