u/FrenchPagan

> A nomination is only valid for that year’s election. If no committee member nominates that player again the following year, the process starts over from scratch.

> Unlike in baseball, where voters are free to publicly reveal their ballots, members of the Hockey Hall of Fame Selection Committee are bound by strict non-disclosure agreements. The 18 committee members are prohibited from disclosing whom they nominated, who was nominated by other members—even if that candidate is ultimately inducted—which candidates failed to make the Hall, or anything discussed during the selection process.

> The Hall’s rules allow for the induction of up to four male players and two female players each year.

> In 2026, the Selection Committee consisted of 16 men and just two women. Those two women are Cammi Granato, who joined the committee in January 2022, and Cassie Campbell-Pascall, who has served since November 2018. Not only were they the only two women on this year’s committee, they are also the only two women ever appointed to it.

> Although the Hall intends for its committee to represent different eras and regions of hockey, that doesn’t necessarily mean every member is equally familiar with the history of women’s hockey.

> The challenge is compounded by the lack of comprehensive statistics from the early decades of the women’s game. Outside of major international tournaments, reliable records are often incomplete or simply unavailable.

> Recognizing that imbalance, the Hall changed its rules in 2010, creating up to two player induction spots reserved for women each year. Two women were inducted in that inaugural class. But with no women serving on the Selection Committee at the time, no female players were elected in either 2011 or 2012. From 2013 through 2017, only one female player was elected every other year, despite the Hall allowing for up to two female inductees annually.