The wait is over! Doug Gilmour is finally getting his due after being named as one of four retired NHLers as the 2011 Class for the Hockey Hall of Fame. Gilmour is being joined by Joe Nieuwendyk, Ed Belfour and Mark Howe. Eddie “the Eagle” was the only one in his first year of eligibility.

PHOTO CREDIT - TorontoMapleLeafsatoz

Cornwall - Jun. 28, 2011 - The wait is over! Doug Gilmour is finally getting his due after being named as one of four retired NHLers as the 2011 Class for the Hockey Hall of Fame. Gilmour is being joined by Joe Nieuwendyk, Ed Belfour and Mark Howe. Eddie “the Eagle” was the only one in his first year of eligibility.

By the raw numbers, Gilmour qualifies (450 goals, 964 assists and 1,414 points plus 188 points in 182 playoff games). But set them aside and you have a player that was the heart and soul of a couple of the teams he played for. Not only was Gilmour regarded as one of the best two way players in the world when he played in Toronto, he laid the seed for that while a member of the 1989 Stanley Cup winning Flames (“Killer” was the 2nd line center behind Nieuwendyk).

Gilmour joins Billy Smith and Dale Hawerchuk as former Cornwall Royals now in the HOF. Gilmour’s tenure in Cornwall was nothing short of spectacular. He was a rookie on the 1981 Memorial Cup winning team picking up 7 points in the five Memorial Cup tournament games. Then he guided the Royals in the franchise’s first two years in the OHL finishing his Junior career with 331 points in 186 games. Gilmour’s final OHL season was highlighted by 70 goals and a 56 game scoring streak.

Any way you cut it, Gilmour is deserving on the HOF honour that’s been bestowed upon him.

And oh, by the way, it’s going to fun listening to Leafs’ fans as three of the four inductees have ties to the Buds.