Tuesday, June 27, 2017
Hockey Hall of Fame 2017 Inductees
This year's
induction ceremony for the Hockey Hall of Fame will take place on
Monday, November 13th in Toronto. Five great hockey
players, one coach, and one owner will be inducted at that time.
Danielle
Goyette played for Canada for many years on the international
circuit. She accumulated many medals during her career: one silver
and two gold medals at the Olympics, and seven gold medals at the
Women's World Championships. She is delighted with her selection to
the Hall. “The Hockey Hall of Fame is where the people I have
looked up to all my life are enshrined. It will be an amazing honour
for me to be with them.”
Coach Clark
Drake won six national championships as head coach with the
University of Alberta Golden Bears. He also won a national
championship as the school's football coach.
Jeremy
Jacobs purchased the Boston Bruins in 1975. He became the chairman of
the board of governors of the NHL in 2007. In 2015, he won the Lester
Patrick Award for service to hockey in the United States.
Lanny
McDonald is the Chairman of the Hockey Hall of Fame. John Davidson is
the Chairman of the Selection Committee. Their announcement on Monday
is always controversial; nonetheless, they did announce the names of
four other great players who are recognized as superstars, and are
now Hall of Famers.
Paul Kariya
played most of his career with the Anaheim Might Ducks. He also had
stints with Colorado, Nashville and St. Louis. He is generally listed
at 5' 10”, but was a brilliant playmaker. He played 989 regular
season games in the NHL, and recorded exactly 989 points, with 402
goals. His career was cut short by the number of concussions he
received, and the effects of those concussions.
Kariya
noted: “ I have to thank all of the countless people in my life who
helped me get here.” His father was Japanese-Canadian, and was born
in an internment camp in British Columbia during the Second World
War. Kariya added, “My parents sacrificed so that I could play the
game.”
The other
three male inductees played considerably more games than did Kariya:
Dave Andreychuk-1639 games, Mark Recchi-1652 games, and Teemu
Selanne-1451 games.
Andreychuk
was a towering forward who used his size to his advantage. At 6' 4',
he took up a lot of room in front of the opposition's net. He netted
640 goals in his career, burning out a few red lights.
Recchi
notched 677 goals in his days in the NHL, after being drafted in the
4th round in1988. He began his career with the Penguins,
then moved to the Flyers in 1991. He also spent time with the
Canadiens, the Hurricanes, the Thrashers the Lightning and the
Bruins.
Teeme
Selanne, the “Finnish Flash” burst onto the NHL scene in 1991,
scoring 76 goals in his rookie season with the Winnipeg Jets. He
spent several years with the Ducks, three seasons with the Sharks,
and one year with Colorado. His ended his career with 684 goals.
Great
careers, now recognized by the Hall of Fame! Congratulations, one and
all.
James Hurst
June 27,
2017,
# posted by James Hurst @ 8:42 AM 
