The greatest Hockey Hall of Fame debate: Should Paul Henderson be inducted?

Paul Pidutti (@AdjustedHockey)
Paul Pidutti (@AdjustedHockey)
The greatest Hockey Hall of Fame debate: Should Paul Henderson be inducted?
Credit: Paul Henderson (© Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports)

On the lead up to the Hockey Hall of Fame’s announcement of the 2023 Class on Wednesday, June 21, we’ll be profiling eight hopeful candidates. Each player profile will help answer a hard-hitting question about the HHOF and what membership to the game’s most exclusive honor should look like.

“Cournoyer has it on that wing. Here’s a shot. Henderson made a wild stab for it and fell. Here’s another shot. Right in front, they score! Henderson has scored for Canada!” — Foster Hewitt, 1972, Summit Series

“Do you believe in miracles? Yes!” — Al Michaels, 1980, Winter Olympics

“Lemieux ahead to Gretzky. He has Murphy with him on a 2-on-1. To Lemieux, in on goal. He shoots, he scores! Mario Lemieux! With one-twenty-six remaining!” — Dan Kelly, 1987, Canada Cup

“Crosby scores! Sidney Crosby! The Golden Goal! And Canada has once-in-a-lifetime Olympic gold! — Chris Cuthbert, 2010, Winter Olympics

These are the singular sounds of hockey’s most iconic goals. Etched in history, the calls bring chills to generations young and old. Today is not the the day to dwell on the lack of best-on-best international men’s competition in seven years. Instead, our focus will be on the most famous and polarizing Hockey Hall of Fame debate. Two words: Paul Henderson. Should your name being synonymous with such a monumental moment bring you the sport’s highest honor?

The Narratives 🎙️

  • Big Proponent: “The HHOF is incomplete without Henderson, a solid NHL talent and national treasure in Canada whose goal-scoring heroics won the first must-see battle of hockey’s greatest superpowers.”
  • Big Opponent: “Henderson was a steady and respected professional, but having a clutch few days when everyone is watching shouldn’t secure a lifetime honor reserved for the all-time greats.”

The Stats 💻

  • NHL Career (1963-1974, 1979-1980): 13 seasons — Detroit, Toronto, Atlanta
  • WHA Career (1974-1979): 5 seasons — Toronto Toros, Birmingham

The High Noon Card 🕛

High Noon rankings are the equivalent of the world golf or tennis rankings — only for hockey. A player’s High Noon answers the question: “Where did they rank at their best in the NHL at their position?”

He’s been so famous for so long. But what kind of professional player was Henderson? Stylistically, he was quick and a natural goal scorer. What he lacked in finesse and playmaking skills, he made up for through determination and an early focus on fitness. His High Noon is #17, a respectable slot he held for two years in the late-1960s as the NHL curated its first expansion in a quarter century.

In 1972, being selected to Team Canada spoke volumes about your reputation — remarkably, all but 19 of the league’s 378 players were Canadian. Having never exceeded 60 points in an NHL season at age 29, Henderson’s spot on the Summit Series roster was far from assured. Statistically, he was the NHL’s #24 forward across the three seasons prior. But fresh off a career-best 38-goal year (with only 19 assists), he methodically worked his way up Canada’s depth chart that September.

By 1974, when he mercifully escaped tyrant Harold Ballard by departing to the WHA, Henderson had been a top-30 forward for eight years. Taken in context, the achievement lacks the same weight it does today. In a 12 or 14-team NHL, that makes him the second or third-best forward on a team. Solid, but not among the league’s best.

The PPS Card 📊

The Pidutti Point Share (PPS) system measures a player’s HHOF worthiness in a single comprehensive number. A player’s PPS score is tiered based on the HHOF standard for their position and era.

Respectfully, Henderson’s PPS score is not near the point that HHOF conversations begin. The standard is 235. A score of 215 is considered Hall of Very Good, warranting discussion. Henderson is at 148. The notable caveat is the five years he spent in the WHA in his 30s, amassing 283 points. If we tack on his WHA seasons, we can get Henderson’s PPS up to 163. For context, this is longtime Dallas forward Brenden Morrow’s score.

So if we add his WHA output — and assume the competition was equal — Henderson is an era-adjusted 51-point player over his 18 seasons. While we’d all love that on our résumé, it doesn’t move the needle historically. In terms of timing, Henderson’s was exceptional in Moscow in 1972. But when it comes to the Stanley Cup, playing your prime in Toronto from 1968-1974… the poor guy.

As international hockey events are about two weeks long, PPS allots a maximum 10 points as a bonus. They’re fun, a lot of pride is on the line, but in the grand scheme of a career, it’s a sliver. For Henderson to meet the HHOF standard, we’d have to award another 70 points beyond the max international bonus of 10. He’d need a bonus of 80… out of 10. To many, his moment is immeasurable. But by the numbers, it does feel like we’re trying too hard.

The Comparisons 🧬

Who a player profiles most similarly to statistically is revealing as it removes any influence from reputation or playing style. Using career length, adjusted scoring, and the core factors of PPS, a player’s top five matches are presented. 1,000 is a perfect match.


Our player comparison tool tells us who Henderson ranked with when he left the NHL at age 32. There are likely a few names above you haven’t heard, or at least thought about in a while. Solid NHL players with a few standout seasons that average 20-some goals in a neutral scoring environment when healthy.

Former Shark and Senator Michalek, the most recent vintage of Henderson’s matches, is a great comparison. Let’s say Michalek stayed healthy and hung on for five or six decent seasons into his 30s. No notable playoff success. That’s Henderson, sans Summit Series.

The Answer ⚖️

Should the HHOF elect individuals for being part of the sport’s signature moments?

In the minds of anyone alive in the 1970s, nothing compared to the Summit Series. The political climate. The stylistic differences. The Soviet mystique. The threat of a cultural shift in Canada’s undisputed mastery of the sport. The dramatic comeback.

But let’s try some what-ifs to draw comparisons and have some fun with hockey’s greatest HHOF debate:

  • 1972: Dennis Hull rates similarly to Henderson in PPS. He would be a logical substitute for Henderson’s heroics, having registered a point in each of Canada’s final three Summit Series games. So, let’s say it was Hull who scored the winner. He was at least Henderson’s equal as a talent, a 90-point season ahead in 1972-73. Looking back, would Hull + an iconic goal = HHOF?

  • 1980: In terms of moving the sport forward, USA’s Miracle on Ice has a claim to having the greatest national impact. To induct Henderson, we’re ignoring that his professional career fell short by rewarding the moment. While game-winning goal scorer Mike Eruzione never played an NHL game, would he have a case too?

  • 2010: Canada vs. USA. The final day of the Vancouver Olympics. Overtime. Capping an electric two weeks on Canadian soil. For my generation, nothing was bigger. It won’t be confused with the Summit Series for hostility. But this was not a two-team exhibition either. We mentioned Morrow as a dead ringer for Henderson. Morrow was on the 2010 team, scoring twice and playing all seven games. Let’s say he had the winner instead of Crosby, putting Canada into that frenzy. Brenden Morrow, Hall of Famer?

  • Looking to other sports, Roger Maris, a two-time MVP, remains outside the Baseball Hall of Fame. Maris’ signature feat is indisputably bigger, having chased down his sport’s most famous record over six grueling months.

While both the HHOF’s Player and Builder category attributes include the wording “contributions… to the game of hockey in general,” they’ve never been exercised to elect a player for a signature moment.

The Verdict 🚦

Henderson is a national folk hero, an ordained minister, a man that has fought off leukemia for 14 years. At 80 years old, he remains an inspiration. Often lost to history is that he scored the game winner in each of the last three games for Canada — all must-wins played in the hostile Soviet climate.

He and his 1972 teammates have been celebrated worldwide for five decades. Government tributes. Documentaries. Commemorative coins. Books. Movies. Song references. The HHOF has a 50th anniversary exhibit and permanent statue outside the museum memorializing the team. Individually, Henderson is a member of the Order of Canada and the IIHF Hall of Fame, among countless honors.

When asked about the matter in 2010, Henderson gracefully told the Montreal Gazette, “So many Canadians get upset that I’m not in the Hall of Fame, and I tell them all the time if I was on the committee, I wouldn’t vote for me. Quite frankly, I didn’t have a Hall of Fame career.”

If a lifetime of well-deserved accolades stops short of a HHOF call, it will not be a tragedy. Henderson will live on in immortality. After all, everyone knows that “Henderson has scored for Canada!”


Catch up on the series by @AdjustedHockey:

Adjusted Pace, High Noon, PPS System, High Noon & PPS Player Cards, Player Comparison Tool from Adjusted Hockey; All other data from Hockey-Reference.com

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