Reflection, and some sadness, at the end of Vachon’s long Hall of Fame wait

The week was mapped out conveniently with the Los Angeles Kings in the middle of a mid-November Eastern Canada swing. Rogie Vachon, who today becomes the 16th King inducted into the Hall of Fame as a player, was honored at the Bell Centre in Montreal during a pre-game ceremony last Thursday that paid homage to the five-plus years he spent with the Canadiens and the subsequent seven seasons with the Kings. Today, some 34 and a half years after he played his final NHL game, the Kings legend will be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame for a career that seemed to become all the more appreciated with each passing year in which he wasn’t fitted for a Hall of Fame blazer.

These honors were so long in the making that Vachon, who played his last game in 1982, has spoken regularly about having simply moved on from the hope of his Hall of Fame recognition. And then, while his son Nick was nearby using the computer and he was at home on an otherwise routine early June day, his life and his legacy within the sport was accentuated by a simple phone call. Chairman of the Hockey Hall of Fame Lanny McDonald was on the other end.

“I haven’t talked to Lanny McDonald for years and years, you know, [I’m] trying to figure out why he’s calling me,” he said. “So, anyways, he said ‘congratulations, you’re in.’ And I said ‘OK, in what?’

“He said, ‘well you made it, you’re in the Hall of Fame,’ so all of a sudden bang, it hit me.”

Vachon, who will be inducted this evening along with Eric Lindros, Sergei Makarov and the late coach Pat Quinn, estimated that there were 23 family members in Montreal and 17 in Toronto for the induction.

Such intimate support is fitting. Tonight’s ceremony honors Vachon’s accomplishments inside a hockey rink, but he more broadly identifies as a family man; a loving father, a devoted husband. His family is his life, and the only blemish – “the toughest thing in the whole scenario” – is that his wife, Nicole won’t be by his side after passing away last February.

“…Unfortunately if it could have happened a couple years ago then I could’ve enjoyed it with her and the grandkids and the kids, everybody’s going to be there,” he said.

“But you know, it’s a big hole. It’s not fair that she’s not there either [last Thursday] or Monday. I know there’s certain things you can’t control in life but that’s one of the things that I really regret. That they waited a little too long, and then it would’ve been much nicer for me, even though it’s going to be great, if she would’ve been here with us.”

Part of her family was also there with him in Montreal, where he was honored in a pre-game ceremony that culminated in him dropping the puck for a ceremonial faceoff. The two teams’ histories are intertwined not only in their (occasionally lopsided) trades and the 1993 Stanley Cup Final, but because of the circumstances in which Vachon, who had won three Stanley Cups in Montreal, joined Los Angeles during Ken Dryden’s emergence.

“When Kenny came in, obviously he comes in and wins the Cup and he’s the MVP of the playoffs,” Vachon said. “For me, I could’ve stayed for Montreal as the number two goalie at the time and win maybe three, four, five or six Cups more but I was still young and I decided that it was time for me to move on, go to another team. I didn’t care where I was going, I just wanted to be the number one goalie. And I was very lucky I would end up in Los Angeles and I spent a lot of great years in Los Angeles.”

And Kings fans are very lucky that Vachon’s tenure with the Kings developed as it did. There weren’t any lofty team goals met – the team won just two playoff series with Vachon in net, both coming in the Preliminary Round against the Atlanta Flames in 1976 and 1977 – but Los Angeles’ permanence in the NHL was solidified by the presence of the franchise’s first real in-his-prime star player.

“The most important parts of those 50 years are Rogie Vachon, Wayne Gretzky and two Stanley Cups, right?” Darryl Sutter said. “Think about it, what he did, quietly, and what Wayne did and what the Cups did. It’s significant, those three things.”

His accomplishments in Los Angeles have become even more impressive with the full context of his statistics during a time and era that isn’t quite as tight-vested and systematically orchestrated as it is today. He was a runner-up for the Vezina Trophy in 1974-75 with a 2.24 goals-against average and a .926 save percentage, one of five seasons (out of seven) in Inglewood in which he posted a sub-three goals against average.

Because he stood five-foot-eight, it’s difficult to find contemporaries in today’s game in terms of size and style.

“I always thought that when you played in a game in our days you’ve got to stand up. Cover the five hole, stand up, and move side to side,” Vachon said. “…My days most of the forwards would stay on the wings so we had to cover the angles. Now, everything is side to side so the goalies have to move side to side more, and with the new system that started with Patrick Roy actually, he’s the one that created the new goalie type that you can see, and they all look alike. And unfortunately they’re all 6’3”, 6’4” and 6’5”, so to be honest I would have a little problem playing the game in the days now because of my size, and I know one thing, I probably wouldn’t be drafted. If you’re not 6’4” or 6’5”, forget it.”

Short perhaps in stature, but not accomplishments, Vachon ranks second in franchise history in games played (389; Jonathan Quick / 475), wins (171; Jonathan Quick / 252) and shutouts (32; Jonathan Quick 42).

Rogie Vachon, on becoming a part of Montreal’s Ring of Honor:
Wow… you’re talking about 100 years of fantastic hockey with the Montreal Canadiens. They have so much class you know, they know how to do things and looking up and seeing over 100 years only like 46 people in there, so I’m very proud of that. You know that thing is going to be there forever, you just don’t erase and that kind of stuff, and it’s there. Right now I enjoy it with my kids and my grand kids and what a night.

Vachon, on his induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame:
Well they’re going to keep us busy for a few days with all the media and everything so I’m really looking forward to that event as well. You know it’s something, again, that in your career you figure well, over the years you’ll think you’re going to make it and after, in my case I thought maybe I had a chance to make it after my career and it was not happening. So finally after over 30 years of waiting, now they pull the trigger and let me in so it’s really exciting. It’s going to be a fun weekend.

Vachon, on being introduced in Montreal prior to Thursday’s game:
Well, it’s really absolutely mind-boggling. You talk about 100 years of hockey in Montreal and there’s only like 46 retiring numbers up in the rafters so being part of it is just being part of history, it’s absolutely mind-boggling, fantastic.

Vachon, on whether he’s reflected on his career since getting the call from Montreal:
Well I mean, it’s just really to me an addition to what’s going to happen on Monday. That’s going to be a real fun night, too, but being part of one of the best and classiest organizations in all of sports and my name is going to be there, my number is going to be there forever, so it’s really something special.

Vachon, on whether Luc Robitaille has reached out since the nomination:
You know Luc, he’s got so much class that kid. He’s just a joy to talk to and be around him and he was all excited, really. He still to this day appreciates that I drafted him in the 9th round.