None won the Stanley Cup. Why write about it now, before such a celebration of their incredible career? Because they bring it up themselves and their attitude about it speaks to the competitors they were. Each one came excruciatingly close, and it hurts even now. Alfredsson reached three wins in 2007 when the Ottawa Senators lost the Stanley Cup Final to the Anaheim Ducks in five games. After the ring ceremony in the Great Hall on Friday, he recalled details from the series as if it were a year ago, not 15 years ago. “Traumatic experience,” Alfredsson said. Luongo and the Sedin twins came within a game in 2011 when the Vancouver Canucks lost the Cup Final to the Boston Bruins in seven. Asked about the significance of winning Olympic gold — something these four players also have in common — Luongo and Daniel Sedin each brought up the subject of the Cup. “At the end of the day, I think you’re what you’ve earned,” Daniel Sedin said. “That’s why I’m really sorry I didn’t win the Stanley Cup, because I think that’s the hardest thing to win in hockey. It’s a grueling journey, first 82 games and then the playoffs. When you’re one game away from win the total, that’s…” He didn’t finish the sentence. “I don’t regret how we did things,” he continued. “I think, in the end, we lost to a really good team. But yeah, we definitely look back on that moment.” The Olympics matter. This is the Hockey Hall of Fame, not the NHL Hall of Fame. The committee examines the entire work of each candidate. Making an Olympic roster, let alone winning a gold medal, is an elite achievement, especially when NHL players are involved. Although the tournament only lasts two weeks, it is the best of the best. Alfredsson and Sentin won gold with Sweden in 2006 in Turin, beating Finland 3-2 in the final. “I know it’s something I’ve always wanted,” Alfredsson said. “Growing up, the goal was the national team. The NHL wasn’t even on the map.” Luongo won gold with Canada in 2010 in Vancouver, beating the United States 3-2 in overtime in the final, and in 2014 in Sochi, beating Sweden 3-0 in the final. He took over for Martin Brodeur as a starter during the tournament in Vancouver, playing in his home country and in an NHL rink. “It’s huge, especially for me, especially because I didn’t win any of the other stuff,” Luongo said. “Obviously, that’s probably one of the biggest moments of my career, considering everything, where it was in Vancouver and how it came about and the way the game ended. [With] so much pressure on everyone, to play and get it done, it was such a euphoric moment.” The Cup is also important, obviously. But so much is beyond a player’s control, from which team selects him in the NHL draft to what happens next, and winning the Cup will become more difficult now that the NHL has grown to 32 teams. How many players have their names engraved in silver but not their portraits etched in glass in the Great Hall, and how many Hall of Famers never won the Cup? Alfredsson, Luongo and the Sedins join 24 other players to make their NHL debuts since the 1967-68 expansion and make the Hockey Hall of Fame without winning the Cup — players such as Jarome Iginla, Phil Housley , Mike Gartner, Marcel Dionne, Mats Sundin , Adam Oates, Dino Ciccarelli, Gilbert Perreault, Dale Hawerchuk and Borje Salming. Two painting lessons: First, the Stanley Cup is so hard to win that you can be one of the greatest players in hockey history and never lift it over your head. Second, chasing the Cup can help you become great, even if you don’t win it. If you chase the Cup so hard that failing to win it bothers you when it comes to getting into the Hockey Hall of Fame, maybe that’s one of the reasons you ended up a Hall of Famer. “It’s a great honor,” said Daniel Sedin, wearing the Cup ring while standing under his glass plaque in the Great Hall, “but I think I’d rather win the Stanley Cup, if you know what I mean. “This is a team win, and I think we’re all about the team. This is more individual. I mean, yeah, this is probably the ultimate individual award you can win, but I think we’re all guys who put the team first.” NHL Stats contributed
