The Hockey Hall of Fame inducted seven members into the
Class of 2017 on Monday, with former National Hockey League forwards, Dave Andreychuk,
Mark Recchi, Teemu Selanne and Paul Kariya joining Canadian Women’s team
member, Danielle Goyette, Boston Bruins owner, Jeremy Jacobs and college hockey
coach Clare Drake.
Andreychuk, played 23 seasons in the NHL between the Buffalo
Sabres, Toronto Maple Leafs, New Jersey Devils, Bruins, Colorado Avalanche and
Tampa Bay Lightning. The 53-year-old, received the call from the Hall of Fame
in his ninth year of eligibility. Although that probably pales in comparison to
him having to wait until his 22nd season to raise the Stanley Cup.
Andreychuk, captained the Lightning to a Stanley Cup
Championship in 2004 said, “I guess with
the Stanley Cup it was sweeter to wait that long. You understand the value and
how hard it is to achieve. I guess that is kind of the same thing here.”
The six-foot-four, 225-pound forward basically made it a
habit to get to the front of the net and wreak havoc on the goalies. In 1,639
games, he put up 640 goals and 698 assists. 274 of his tallies were scored with
the man advantage.
Prior to the announcement on Monday, he had been the only
600 career goal scorer, waiting on that elusive call from Toronto.
Andreychuk added, “Nobody
starts their career thinking that they are going to be a Hall of Famer. You
just want to stay in the league, you want to help your team win, and after it
is all done and you look at your numbers and you think that there is a chance
and people start to talk about it. But at the same time, it is really out of
your hands. I am thankful this day came along for me and my family, and whether
it was this year or next year or 10 years from now did not matter to us.”
Drafted by the Sabres with the 16th pick of the
1982 NHL Draft, Andreychuk put up 20 goals, 19 times throughout his career. He
also scored 30 in nine seasons, 40 goals four times and 50 twice. His career
highs were 54 during the 1992-1993 season with the Maple Leafs and 53 in
1993-1994 also with the Leafs.
Following his second stint with the Sabres, in 2000-2001, he
had contemplated retirement, before the Lightning gave him a call. At the 2002
trade deadline, he was offered a chance to be dealt to the Montreal Canadiens,
but he declined and two seasons later helped the Bolts raise the Stanley Cup.
He said, “It obviously caps a career for myself, but I think
if I had not won the Stanley Cup not much would have changed either. I still
played with some great players and made some great friends throughout the years.”
Recchi, played 22 years over the course of his NHL career,
with the Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Atlanta Thrashers, Carolina
Hurricanes, Lightning and Bruins. His 577 goals and 956 assists, in 1,841
regular season and playoff games, rank him 12 in the NHL.
All 10 of the retired players ahead of Recchi have already
been enshrined into the Hockey Hall of Fame. The other player ahead of him,
Jaromir Jagr, is still currently playing. Jagr will pretty much be destined to
be inducted in the Hall as well.
The three time Stanley Cup winner, Penguins (1991),
Hurricanes (2006) and Bruins (2011) became the oldest player to score a goal in
the Stanley Cup Final, when he found the back of the net for the Bruins against
the Vancouver Canuks, on June 6, 2011.
Recchi received the call in his fourth year of eligibility. Prior
to receiving the call, he had been the only retired player with at least 500
goals and 1,500 not to have his plaque hanging in Toronto.
Two weeks earlier, he and the rest of the front office staff
had been on the ice at Bridgestone Arena, in Nashville, Tennessee, celebrating
the Penguins Stanley Cup victory. To top off a nice two-month period for him,
his son, Cameron had been drafted by the Windsor Spitfires of the Ontario
Hockey and Recchi was also inducted into the British Columbia Hall of Fame,
prior to that.
Selanne, began his career with a record breaking, 76-goal
and 132-point rookie season. The number 10-overall pick of the Winnipeg Jets in
the 1988 NHL Entry Draft made his debut in the 1992 season.
When at the age of 22, when Selanne decided he was ready to leave
Finland, the Calgary Flames gave him an offer sheet, which the Jets begrudgingly
matched. The rookie scoring record quickly put an end to that displeasure
though. Despite being part of a team with five rookies, (Selanne, Alexei Zhamnov,
Keith Tkachuk, Sergei Bautin and Evgeny Davydov), Selanne played with the
confidence of a veteran.
In 22 seasons between the Jets, Avalanche, Sharks and Anaheim
Ducks, he has scored 684 goals and 773 assists in 1,451 games. Selanne wrapped
up his career as the Ducks all-time leader in in just about every offensive category.
Those include goals (457), points (988), games (966), power-play goals (182),
game winning goals (77) and shots (2,964). In 2007, he helped the Ducks bring
the first Stanley Cup to Southern California.
The inaugural Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy winner
(1998-1999), also won a Bill Masterton Trophy as a member of the Ducks for the 2005-2006
season.
Selanne added, “It is
an amazing feeling. To be honest I was checking the phone to make sure I did
not miss the call. I want to thank everybody for this big honor and
congratulate the other inductees also. It is a very special group, and I am
very honored to be one of them. I was so humbled to get the phone call today.”
He ranks 11th in the NHL in goals (684), 15th
in points (1,457), third in power-play goals (255) and third in game winners
(110). Over the course of his 22 seasons, he scored 22 regular season hat
tricks.
Breaking former New York Islanders forward, Mike Bossy’s rookie scoring
record helped him win the Calder Trophy in 1993.
Kariya credits Selanne for helping him make it to the Hall
of Fame. His former line mate also broke the news to him that the two would be
enshrined in the same year.
The original face of the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, now known
as the Anaheim Ducks, received his bid in his fifth year of eligibility. The
42-year-old, played in 989 games, over 15 seasons, between the Ducks, Avalanche,
Predators and St. Louis Blues putting up 482 goals and 587 assists.
The two-time Lady Byng Trophy winner led the Ducks to the
Stanley Cup Finals against the Devils in 2003, where his team fell in a hard
fought seven game battle. In 1993, he became the very first draft pick in the
history of the Ducks franchise, when they selected fourth overall.
He ranks amongst the Ducks franchise leaders in points per
game (1.10, first place), power play goals (107 second) and third in scoring,
with 300 goals and 339 assists. He put up 100 points in the 1995-1996 and
1998-1999 seasons, while lighting the lamp 50 times during the 1995-1996
season.
Kariya added, “I can’t
say this is a dream come true, because never in my wildest dreams did I think
this was possible. This is an incredible honor. I am very humbled to be
included in this incredible group of people and just so grateful to all of the
people who helped me get to this stage.”
At the international level, he helped Team Canada capture
the gold in 2002 and the Silver in 1994. He also struck gold at the 1994
International Ice Hockey Federation World Championships and silver in 2006. During
the 1993 IIHF World Junior Championships he help Canada take home the gold.
Each player received 75 percent of the vote to earn their
inductions. The maximum number of former NHLers admitted to the Hall of Fame
each year is four.
Hockey Hall of Fame Chairman, Lanny McDonald said, “The Hockey Hall of Fame is proud to welcome
these hockey legends as honored members. Their contributions to the game of
hockey are well documented and their election to the Hockey Hall of Fame is
richly deserved.”
Goyette, won three medals for the Canadian Women’s National Team
in the Winter Olympics. She helped her country capture the gold in 2002 in Salt
Lake City, Utah and 2006 in Turin, Italy as well as a silver during the 1998
Nagano, Japan games.
She has also helped lead Team Canada to seven gold medals
and one silver while playing in the IIHF World Championships.
Goyette said, “The
Hockey Hall of Fame is where the people I have looked up to all of my life are
enshrined. It will be an amazing honor for me to be with them.”
She was totally unsuspecting of receiving this big accomplishment,
when she got the call on Monday that she said, “Honestly, I considered not answering the phone because I saw a Toronto
number and I was in the middle of doing something. So, I was hesitant to take
the call, and even when I saw it was Mr. Lanny McDonald calling, I still did
not think of this right away.”
As it turns out she is glad she decided to answer the call
with the good news from McDonald.
Jacobs and Drake both received their selections as part of
the Builders category.
Jacobs has owned and served as chairman of the Bruins
since 1975. In 2007, he was selected as the Chairman of the Board of Governors
for the NHL. He was the winner of the Lester Patrick Award, for his service to
hockey in the United States, in 2015.
He said, “Being
elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame was the furthest thing from my mind when I
purchased this team over 40 years ago. To be honored in the same way as former
[ Calgary Flames] governor, Harley Hotchkiss, is truly humbling.”
The Bruins made it to the playoffs for 29 straight seasons
from 1967-1968 through 1995-1996. 21 of those seasons were under Jacobs reign.
In the 41 seasons, he has owned the Bruins, they found a spot in the Stanley
Cup Playoffs in 34 times.
His association with the Bruins is the first time that
hockey has touched his life, he said, “It
is something that I truly enjoyed more than anything I can say because it is a
recognition with a class of people that I have known throughout my life. My
family was involved in hockey from the day I was born, when they owned the
Buffalo Bisons, of the [American Hockey League], many, many, years ago, in the
minor leagues.”
One of his fellow inductees, Andreychuk said, “To Mr. Jacobs, we spent a brief time
together. The contributions that you have made to the NHL go noticed here today
are well-deserved.”
Drake, won six national championships, in 28 seasons at the
University of Alberta. He also served behind the bench of the Edmonton Oilers
during the 1975-1976 World Hockey Association season and was an assistant coach
with the Jets in 1989-1990.
He said, “I am truly
humbled to be elected to the Hall of Fame. As a Canadian university hockey coach,
this is honor is truly special.”
Washington Capitals head coach, Barry Trotz, Dallas Stars coach,
Ken Hitchcock and Maple Leafs bench boss, Mike Babcock consider the 88-year-old
Drake as a mentor and big influence in their coaching styles.
Trotz said, “He has
had more impact than anybody at improving the coaching in Canada. All those
coaching programs he ran. I remember when I used to coach [the University of
Manitoba] against Clare’s Alberta, we would be scared to death of their penalty
kill. His guys went at people.”
Hitchcock added, “You
can go all over the world, China, Japan, Russia, Sweden and just go ask about
Clare Drake, and anybody who is a coach over 40 years of age will be able to
tell you exactly where they were, what seminar they were at and what he taught.”
All seven honorees will be inducted to the Hall of Fame
during the annual ceremony on November 13, 2017 in Toronto.
