Hall of Fame prepared to finally celebrate, enshrine Class of 2020

Lanny McDonald feels great pride when he considers how the Hockey Hall of Fame has weathered a pandemic that literally has changed the world.

On Monday in Toronto, nearly 17 months after they were elected, five players and a Builder will be inducted as the Class of 2020. McDonald, the Hall's chairman who was enshrined in 1992, will preside over a gala ceremony crowning four days and nights of festivities, welcoming players
Marian Hossa
,
Jarome Iginla
,
Kevin Lowe
, Kim St-Pierre and
Doug Wilson
, and Ken Holland in the Builders category.
It's not yet back to business as usual for the Hall, but it's a step in that direction for the shrine that, like all else, has been impacted by the pandemic.
The Hall of Fame has endured two shutdowns -- the first from March through July 2020, then again from late 2020 through July 2021 -- and it chose not to name a Class of 2021, using this induction weekend to properly celebrate those elected in June 2020.
From Friday through Monday, McDonald will present "the new kids on the block," as he calls them, with their Hall of Fame rings, introduce them to a Scotiabank Arena crowd before the Hall of Fame game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Calgary Flames on Friday, help them into their crested jackets before the Legends Classic game Sunday, and address the induction audience to begin their ceremony Monday.

Guy Carbonneau speaks to the audience in the Allen Lambert Galleria of Brookfield Place during his Class of 2019 Hall of Fame induction
McDonald will be delighted through the weekend to see fans in greater numbers visiting the Hall of Fame.
"The past 18 months have been so challenging but our people have been extremely resilient," McDonald said of the Hall's staff. "We had to cut back because we completely closed twice, and even when we were open there were very few people going through the Hall.
"We can't wait to get back to some sort of normalcy. I think that will eventually come but it's going to take a while to build ourselves back up. Our staff has been doing whatever they can to help make ends meet, doing all kinds of different jobs, whether it's on the floor, selling tickets, or basically being security. Everyone's been rolling up their sleeves."
A year ago, on what was supposed to be the 2020 Hall of Fame weekend, a small number of masked visitors wandered through an almost ghostly Toronto shrine while McDonald sat at home in Calgary and watched The Masters golf tournament, being held seven months after it had been postponed by the pandemic.
"I love The Masters, it's a primo event," he said. "But I wasn't supposed to be in front of the TV that weekend."
The Hall made certain to pay tribute to its 2020 class last November, even if the six new members weren't in the building. Their Esso Great Hall plaques were unveiled to them virtually during a one-hour TSN television special titled, "The Hall: Hockey's Treasure."
Attendance plummeted during the summer of 2020, from the usual 1,500 to 2,000 visitors daily to 150 or so, one day bottoming out at 11. McDonald is encouraged by the bump back up since the July 2021 reopening, hovering around 500 daily until the predictable slip after Labor Day and the return to work and school.

The Class of 2013 in the Hall of Fame's Esso Great Hall during the popular annual Fan Forum, an initiative of Wayne Gretzky when he was inducted in 1999.
The induction ceremony will be held Monday evening at Meridian Hall, a theater across the street from the Hall's home at Brookfield Place. That's a historic change; inductions have been held in the Allen Lambert Galleria of Brookfield Place since 1993, when the shrine relocated to its current downtown site from the lakeshore grounds of the Canadian National Exhibition.
Meridian Hall is a safer setting, allowing for better social distancing, and like every event on the weekend will require guests to be masked and fully vaccinated.
"We were very worried that we'd not be allowed to have the number of people we'd like to gather to honor the Hall of Famers," McDonald said of the venue switch from the snug seating at Brookfield Place.
"To be able to go across the street and spread people out a little bit more in a theater setting should work fantastically. I'll be very interested to hear, when it's done, not only what our people are saying, but what the newest Hall of Famers are saying as well. Under the circumstances, Brookfield probably wasn't going to work. We'll analyze the ceremony and decide whether this is the new way to go, or whether we return to how we've done it."
Everyone in attendance, and those watching on TV, will hope for at least a glimpse of McDonald's legendary mustache, now mostly undercover beneath a mask.
"It's just terrible," he joked. "It goes up at one end, down at the other, a complete mess. I just laugh about it.
"I feel badly that it's taken this long for the 2020 inductions. That was beyond our control. But when our new class are in the Great Hall on Friday to be presented with their rings, they'll see their plaques that have been enjoyed by Hall of Fame visitors for a full year. If there's a silver lining, it's that. Now, we'll make sure this class of deserving new members gets the attention they deserve."
Beyond that, McDonald says, is the anticipation of the Hall's selection committee meeting in June to elect the Class of 2022.
"Absolutely," he said. "After this year and a half, we certainly look forward to it."

Class of 1992 Hall of Fame inductees Bob Gainey (left), Marcel Dionne (center) and Lanny McDonald display their Hall of Fame rings.
Photos: Matthew Manor/Dave Sandford, Hockey Hall of Fame