The GIST: The Hockey Hall of Fame (HHOF) announced its 2026 class on Monday, a deserving group, but one that includes just one woman: the inimitable Cindy Curley. Stop us if you’ve heard this before, but the road to Toronto’s hallowed halls is paved with misogyny.
💐 Let’s start by giving Curley her flowers: In her 17th year of eligibility, Curley is finally where she belongs. Her 23 points in five games at the 1990 World Championships is still an IIHF record, but Curley’s legacy is bigger than a flashing red goal light: While playing, she represented what girls could be; in retirement, she’s helped provide those opportunities through her work with USA Hockey.
😡 Onto the HHOF’s history of misogyny: A maximum of four male players and two female players are selected every year, an arbitrary number chosen by the selection committee. Men have enjoyed league stability for decades longer, but that doesn’t excuse the present-day discrepancy: The first women weren’t even inducted until 2010, 65 years after the HHOF’s first-ever class.
- You might be wondering: Who is on the 18-person selection committee? Well, the group includes just two women, Cassie Campbell‐Pascall and Cammi Granato, the only two women to serve on the committee in its 79-year history.
- The committee has notably leveraged both women’s slots just three times over those 16 years — the inaugural induction in 2010 and in both 2024 and 2025.