Glenn Anderson had the schmooze thing going on as well as any politician might in a rope line.
You couldn't see it because Anderson was on a conference call this week to talk about his induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame, one of the promotional requirements that comes with the honor. But you could hear it, and for someone who equated this kind of thing with a root canal when he was a player, that meant he was in fine form.
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| Glenn Anderson had 1,099 points in his stellar career. (Getty Images) |
Now, Anderson wasn't hostile with the media during 16 seasons with Edmonton, Toronto, St. Louis and the New York Rangers, but he often seemed like he could care less. He was like that on the ice some times as well, and several ex-teammates will tell you he took his level down a notch when games were meaningless.
"Disinterested was probably the best description for him," said Oilers president Kevin Lowe, a teammate of Anderson's on five Cup winners in Edmonton and the 1994 New York Rangers. "It was like, 'Give me a big game and I'll play, but I'm bored with all this tedious stuff.'"
It's no wonder there are those who insist the attitude of someone who readily admits marching to his own drummer extended Anderson's wait time for induction. The former net-crashing winger was an annual 30-goal scorer in his prime and has been eligible since 1999, three years after he retired with 1,099 points in 1,129 regular season games. Granted, he fell two short of the apparently magical 500-goal mark for his career, but Anderson was a big part of the dynasty years in Edmonton because of his ability to really step it up in the playoffs.
Naturally there are those who feel their arguments against Anderson are legitimate, claiming he was really a modest talent who just happened to be a "right place, right time" kind of guy with those high-flying Oilers. But Anderson still ranks fifth with 93 career playoff goals and his 214 points is the fourth-highest postseason total ever. To public supporters like former teammates and Hall members Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Grant Fuhr, Paul Coffey and coach/GM Glen Sather, those numbers alone should have brought Anderson in with them several years ago.
"All those Hall of Famers respect the Hall and they are not going to say a guy belongs there because he's a buddy," said Lowe. "They know there's certain merits and, to a man, those five would say it's ridiculous because Anderson was at their level.
"He was really a big-game guy."
But one who didn't befriend many outside his immediate circle, and didn't really have anyone to carry his flag when the selection committee would meet over the years. And Anderson became easier to shun when a child-support case brought against him became public in 2002 and there were suggestions he could face jail time.
He didn't, although in the interim, Anderson was bypassed repeatedly for induction, at times by players with numbers who weren't quite as illustrious. But Anderson has spent the last few years in New York with his wife and 6-year-old daughter, doing some promotional work with the Rangers and maybe repairing the perception of him in the process.
"Over the last years, I think he's recognized the importance of the media in the business in a way he didn't when he was younger and wanted to keep to himself," Lowe said.
And now he has been shown enough love to get into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Finally.
"I think the bottom line is championships because it exemplifies the fact that you're a true team player and you know what it takes to be part of a team," Anderson said. "But I know it was my off-ice activities.
"It's tough to judge what determines what you get in and what keeps you out. But if I was sitting on the committee I'm sure I'd kind of be able to say, 'OK what makes this guy get in. Is it the stats, is it his championships, you know, what is it exactly?' If the criteria for getting in is this, and you meet this, this and this, what you do off the ice is immaterial."
That's a debate he doesn't have to worry about any more.
