Tuesday, July 28, 2020
Hockey Hall of Fame 2020
The Hockey
Hall of Fame recently announced the group that will be inducted into
the Hall later on this year. The type of ceremony is anyone's guess
at this point, like everything else.
Five players
were selected, including Kim St. Pierre. She hails from Chateauguay,
Quebec. She began stopping pucks when she was eight years old, and
continued playing on boys' teams until she was 18. In 1998, she began
her career at McGill University in Montreal. A perennial all star at
the university level, she also stepped up to play for the Canadian
National team at that time.
She
collected three Olympic Gold Medals in her career, as well as many
other accolades. She has five gold medals, and four silver medals
from World Championships. She was the first woman to win a men's
regular season game when McGill beat Ryerson 5-2 in 2003. Following
her college career, she played professionally for teams based in
Montreal and Quebec. She retired in 2013.
Jerome
Iginla retired after playing 22 seasons in the NHL. His father was
from Nigeria, and his mother was from Oregon. They chose to raise
their family in Alberta. He began playing for the St. Albert Raiders
in 1991, spending two seasons with his home-town club. He spent his
entire junior career with the Kamloops Blazers of the Western Hockey
League, and was drafted by Dallas in 1985. The Stars traded him to
Calgary before he even hit the ice in Texas.
Thus began
his amazing career with the Flames. For more than 15 seasons, he gave
the Flames as much as can be expected from any skater: heart and
soul, digging deep in the corners, fearless determination to succeed.
During his 16th season, he was traded to the Pittsburgh
Penguins. He played for the Bruins, the Avalanche, and the Kings
before retiring in 2017.
Marian Hossa
first hit the ice in North America in 1993 at the International
Pee-Wee Tournament in Quebec, representing his home town of
Batislava. He was drafted by the Senators in 1997, and spent the
97-98 season with the Portland Winter Hawks of the Western Hockey
League. He was the rookie of the year that season. He moved up to the
Senators the following year, spending seven seasons with Ottawa.
In 2006, he
was traded to the Atlanta Thrashers for Dany Heatley. In three
seasons in Georgia, he put up big numbers before finishing the season
with the Penguins. He skated for the Red Wings for one season, then
finished his career as a Black Hawk. A perennial All Star, Hossa
scored 525 goals in his career, which spanned 1309 games.
The two
defencemen selected to the Hall were true leaders on their respective
teams. Doug Wilson spent most of his career in the NHL with the Black
Hawks, and Kevin Lowe was an Oiler, with the exception of 4 years in
New York.
Lowe played
his junior hockey in Quebec with the Remparts before being drafted in
the first round by the Oilers. He scored the very first NHL goal for
Edmonton, assisted by Brett Callaghan and Wayne Gretzky. He played 13
seasons for the Oilers, raising The Stanley Cup five times. Following
a trade to the Rangers to join Mark Messier, he won his 6th
Cup with New York in 1994.
He finished
his career with the Oilers, retiring in 1998, after playin 1254 games
in the NHL. He has remained with the team, working his way through
the ranks as an assistant coach, head coach, and general manager. He
has traveled extensively, scouring hockey rinks including the “Duke
Dome” assessing young talent.
Doug Wilson
spent his entire junior career in his home town of Ottawa. After
three years with the 67's, he made the move directly to the Chicago
Black Hawks. Generally regarded as an “offensive defenceman”,
Wilson scored 39 goals in the 81-82 season to win the Norris Trophy
as the league's best blue-liner. He established several team records
with the Black Hawks before he was nabbed by the San Jose Sharks to
bolster their defence in their inaugural season in 1991. He continues
to work with the Sharks, serving almost 20 years as the General
Manager and exceutive Vice-President.
Ken Holland
was selected as the only person in the “Builder” Ctegory. He
joined the Detroit Red Wings in 1985 as their Western Canada scout,
working with the Wings for 34 years. He achieved great success with
the team, hoisting the Cup four times. Several factors contibuted to
the success of the Wings: trust in his scouts, great drafts, sensible
trades, and wise free agent signings. In 2019, he accepted the
position of General Manager of the Edmonton Oilers.
Expectations
are high at this time that we will see professional sports within the
next couple of months. Don't count on it. The waters are still pretty
murky.
James Hurst
June 28,
2020
# posted by James Hurst @ 8:15 AM 
