With all of the NLL award candidates being revealed, its also time to start thinking of which players should and could get elected to the hall of fame in September. A plethora of legends have recently retired, leaving us with a huge pool to decide from.
In 2014, the elections were former Toronto Rock and Colorado Mammoth player Pat Coyle and former Calgary and Vancouver head coach Chris Hall. Before that, we had three straight years of single electees who were all goalies (Bob Watson, Steve Dietrich, Pat O’Toole).
The pool gets larger every year, and we may have hit a pinnacle now. Here are some names you might see on the ballot for this season. Obviously, we might miss a few, but these are names that should be considered.
Retunees From Last Year
Last year on the ballot were Pat McCready, Kaleb Toth, and Jake Bergey who didn’t get in. They should all be on the ballot again and get a shot at being elected.
Bergey was with the Philadelphia Wings for the duration of his 10 year career. He’s second all time in franchise history in points and has two championship titles to his name.
McCready had a 17 year career split with Buffalo and Rochester where he made his impact. McCready has the third most loose balls in NLL history, third most penalty minutes, and the seventh most games played. He’s won three NLL titles and in 2011 was the league’s defender of the year.
Toth played 13 seasons, 11 of them with Calgary. He is the team’s all time leader in points, all scoring categories, and games played. He won two titles with Calgary and one with Toronto in his rookie season.
Other Candidates
Lewis Ratcliff: Ratcliff retired in the middle of the 2015 season while with the Vancouver Stealth. One of the most dominant players of his era, Ratcliff played with the Vancouver Stealth (along with Washington), Toronto Rock, and Calgary Roughnecks. Drafted in 2001 by Calgary, he helped lead the Roughnecks to a title in 2004. He also won a title in 2010 with the Washington Stealth, his first season with the organization. Ratcliff is sixth all time with 434 goals scored and 10th all time with 504 assists. Ratcliff’s 944 points are the eighth most ever in the NLL.
Blaine Manning: Retired from the Toronto Rock in 2014. He is ninth all time with 526 assists and he played his entire 12 year career with the Rock. In 2005 he scored a career high 105 points when the Rock won the Champion’s Cup. That season he averaged more than six and a half points per game. He was the 2002 NLL rookie of the year.
Gavin Prout: Prout tried to make a comeback this season with the Rochester Knighthawks before signing a one day deal with the Colorado Mammoth and retiring there along with his number being retired. He had 621 career assists, good for seventh all time. He averaged 3.38 assists per game, the second best per-game average in league history. His 922 points are the ninth most ever in the NLL. Prout played his career with Colorado, Edmonton, Rochester, and the New York Saints. He was the Saints first overall pick in 2001 and is a six time NLL all star. He won the championship MVP in 2006 with Colorado.
Mike Accursi: Is fifth all time in games played with 237. Accursi spent his career with Rochester, Buffalo, Edmonton, the Syracuse Smash, and Ontario Raiders. His career high in points came in 2007 with Rochester when he scored 77. He has Champion’s Cup titles with Rochester and Buffalo.
Shawn Williams: Williams hasn’t officially retired, but he did not play in 2015 and if he remains unsigned should be a lock for the Hall of Fame. He is second all time in games played with 257 and fifth in goals with 444. He is fourth all time with 707 assists and his 1,151 points are the sixth most in NLL history. Williams spent his NLL career with Buffalo, Edmonton, Rochester, Toronto, and Ontario. He is a six time NLL all star, and in 2010 he won the NLL sportsmanship award.
Casey Powell: It’s hard to tell if Powell has retired from the NLL, but it appears like he won’t be coming back. Powell spent his NLL career with Rochester, Colorado, Anaheim, Boston, Orlando, and New York. He was the 2010 NLL MVP after leading the relocated Orlando Titans to the eastern conference finals. He was the first overall pick to Rochester in 1998. He is a five time NLL all star and is widely considered one of the best American indoor lacrosse players of all time.
Terry Sanderson: If there is a slam dunk for a hall of fame election this year, it might be Terry Sanderson. Sanderson was the head coach of the Albany Attack for two years beginning in 2000. He went on to coach and general manage the Montreal Express for their one season. In 2002, he coached the Ottawa Rebel before settling with the Toronto Rock, where he made his lasting impact. Sanderson led the Rock to championships in 2005 and 2011. He made several blockbuster trades to better the Rock, including acquiring Josh Sanderson, Colin Doyle, and more. He was the helm when the team drafted Stephan LeBlanc, Rob Hellyer, Garrett Billings, amongst many others. He would be Toronto’s eighth Hall of Fame member.
Tracey Kelusky: Kelusky retired before the 2015 season began and became an assistant coach with the New England Black Wolves. Kelusky was the 2001 NLL rookie of the year with Columbus. His years spanned with Columbus, Montreal, Calgary, Buffalo, and Philadelphia. He was Calgary’s first pick after the Montreal dispersal draft. In 195 games in his career, Kelusky scored 823 career points. He was a first team all pro in the NLL in 2002, 2003, and 2004. He won a championship with Calgary in 2004 and 2009.
Regy Thorpe: Thorpe played his entire NLL career with the Rochester Knighthawks. The defenseman had 966 career loose balls and 385 penalty minutes. He was a part of the 2007 championship team where he was the captain. He is the first ever player in NLL history to be a player-general manager.
