NHL Hall of Fame Inductees

Yesterday, the NHL Hall of Fame announced the inductees for this year. There were lots of worthy players to choose from, but only 4 could go in.

With more than 10 great players to choose from, the Hall of Fame committee chose Mark Messier, Ron Francis, Al MacInnis and Scott Stevens as this years inductees.

Each player had an amazing career. Messier captained the Rangers to a cup and is 2nd an the all-time points list. Francis was one of the most consistent players ever scoring 20 or more goals in most of his seasons. MacInnis was a great defenceman and had one of the hardest shots in NHL history, and Stevens was the best hitter of his time.

"I have a lot of respect for all the guys who were inducted this year," Messier said after the announcement Thursday. "I think their stats and what they've done speak for themselves."

It is the Hall's first four-player haul since 2001 when Mike Gartner, Jari Kurri, Slava Fetisov and Dale Hawerchuk also pushed the selection to the four-player maximum

"There was a number of players eligible this year beyond the number that we could put in," said former Toronto head coach Pat Quinn, a member of the 18-person selection committee. "The deliberations were strong."

That they were.

Neidermayer Ponders Retirement

Until today, everything was looking good for the future of the Anaheim Ducks. They had solid young players in Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perrey, a good goalie in either Iyla Bryzgalov or J.S Giguere, and solid veterans in Chris Pronger and Scott Neidermayer. But one of those veterans may not be coming back.

After winning his 1st Stanley Cup as a captain this year with the Ducks, all-star defenceman Scott Neidermayer is now contemplating retirement. This morning, he informed his GM of his the possibility of retirement. ''Scott has indicated that he's thinking about retirement,'' Ducks GM Brian Burke told The Canadian Press on Tuesday.

ESPN asked Neidermayer some questions about this today. 'I think every player, as they get older, begins to think about how much longer they're going to play,'' Niedermayer told the website. ''I know I think about it.''

Scott Stevens was also questioned about this topic. He captained the New Jersey Devils to 3 Cups with Neidermayer. 'When I was playing with him, he never seemed, in my opinion, like he was planning on playing that long, or as long as I did,'' Stevens, who played 22 NHL seasons, told CP on Tuesday. ''I kept saying to him, `You'll have no trouble surpassing my amount of games and this and that.' And he'd say, 'Oh no, you won't see me doing that.' But there's no question the guy can play as long as he wants.''

Although he only turns 34 on August 31st, he still may call it quits. ''He's earned the right to walk if that's what he wants to do,'' said Burke. ''We told him we'll support him.