TORONTO — First were the thank-yous, then the anecdotes, then the humble appreciation of the moment. But there was also a message delivered by The Post’s Larry Brooks as he received the Elmer Ferguson Award and was enshrined into the Hockey Hall of Fame on Monday afternoon.
“I think that the mainstream media, the mainstream beat writer, provides an invaluable service to the fans. I’m very happy to be here as a mainstream newspaper man,” Brooks said in his poignant acceptance speech. “I’m not a member of the media, I’m a member of the press. I think in this era, the importance of the press, the importance of the press knowing how to ask hard questions, being persistent in getting answers, has never been more important.”
Brooks has never shied away from asking a hard question or giving a biting opinion, and it has occasionally led to confrontation.
“As far as John Tortorella,” Brooks said, smiling, “next question.”
Brooks sat at a table flanked by his family, including his two grandchildren, Scott and Reese. He said the congratulations from the two of them — not texts from Wayne Gretzky or Mark Messier or Vic Hadfield — were the best congratulations of all.
“You’re a legend, Gramps!” 5-year-old Reese told him. “You really are!”
Brooks, 68, grew up on the Upper West Side of Manhattan “during Vietnam and Watergate,” he said, “and that’s when I learned to question authority, at a young age.” He was a proud Rangers fan, sitting in the Blue Seats at the Garden, and still keeps in touch with a couple of people he met up there.
“I feel like I represent the Blue Seaters,” he said. “I try to represent them every day when I write, and I hope I represented them well today. … I’ve tried to be as straightforward as possible. Every day I go into work, I’ve done my best to be honest, be informative, accurate, and entertaining.”
He thanked Lou Lamoriello — seated at his table — for “a Ph.D. in hockey education,” and said Adam Graves’ attendance at the luncheon “means the world to me.”
He then shared a story about covering the Rangers in the early-2000s, and he and Glen Sather weren’t on speaking terms.
“It happens,” Brooks said. But there was then a family emergency, and within hours, Sather called, asking if there was anything he, the team or the Garden could do to help.
“That’s the community of which I’ve been a part for 40 years,” Brooks said. “Me, this kid from the Upper West Side. This kid from the side balcony. This kid from the Blue Seats. Me.”
Now and forever, a Hall of Famer.