The Hockey Hall of Fame announced that they have elected Peter Forsberg, Mike Modano, Dominik Hasek, and Rob Blake in the Players Category. Pat Burns, was posthumously selected to the Builders Category and Bill McCreary in the Officials Category.
Peter Forsberg (aka Foppa) was a 19 year professional with 13 of those years playing in the NHL primarily with the Colorado Avalanche as well as short periods of time with the Nashville Predators and Philadelphia Flyers. He helped the Avalanche capture 2 Stanley Cups in 1996 and 2001. To go along with that, he won the Calder Trophy for Rookie of the Year in 2005 and named to the All-Rookie team. In 2003 he had one of the best seasons of his career winning the Art Ross Trophy for most points in a season, the Plus/Minus award which he shared with Milan Hejduk and as a culmination of those two awards, he also won the Hart Trophy as most valuable player. He would finish his career with 249 Goals, 636 Assists, and 885 Points.
Internationally he helped Sweden to numerous successes with his most famous coming in the 1994 Winter Olympics where he slid the puck past Canadian goalie Corey Hirsch to win Olympic Gold. As well he helped lead team Sweden to an Olympic Gold in 2006 as well as 2 Gold Medals (1992, 1998) and 3 Silver medals (1993, 2003, 2004) in the World Championships.
Mike Modano played professionally for 21 years primarily for the Dallas Stars and one year with the Detroit Red Wings. With the Stars he won 1 Stanley Cup in 1999. Internationally, Modano helped Team USA capture 1 Gold Medal (1996) and 1 Silver Medal (1991) at the World Cup of Hockey tournaments. He also helped Team USA capture the Silver Medal at the 2002 Olympics. Modano currently sits #1 in games played (1499), goals (561), points (1374), and playoff points (145) by an American born player.
Dominik Hasek ended up playing professionally for around 30 years, with 16 of those years coming in the NHL. In the NHL he would be best known as a Buffalo Sabre, but had also played for the Chicago Blackhawks, Ottawa Senators and the Detroit Red Wings, where he had his best team success. During the course of his career he captured 2 Stanley Cups with the Detroit Red Wings in 2002 and 2008. He would be known as the best player of his position by capturing the Vezina Trophy 6 times (1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001) all with the Buffalo Sabres. As well he would win the Jennings Trophy in 1994, 2001, and 2008 (which he shared with Chris Osgood, and be named a First-Team All-Star a total of 6 times in (1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001). The culmination of these things led to him to win the Hart Trophy twice (1997, 1998) for Most Valuable Player and the Lester B Pearson Award (now the Ted Lindsay Trophy twice (1997, 1998) as the best player voted by his team. He ended up his career with 389 wins, .922 Save Percentage, and 2.20 Goals Against Average.
Internationally, Hasek would lead the Czech Republic to a Gold Medal at the 1998 Winter Olympics and a Bronze Medal at the 2006 Winter Olympics. He would also win a Silver Medal (1983), and 3 Bronze Medals (1987, 1989, 1990) at the World Championships. Hasek was named the Czechoslovak First League Best Goaltender five times from 1986-1990, and won the Golden Hockey Stick as the Czech Republic's best hockey player five times (1987, 1989, 1990, 1997, 1998) mostly during his time as a professional playing in his home country.
Rob Blake played his 20 year professional career mostly for the Los Angeles Kings and Colorado Avalanche, while ending it with two years with the San Jose Sharks. He won his only Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in 2001. In 1998, Blake would win the Norris Trophy as the NHL's best defenceman, while also earning First-Team All-Star honours. Blake would be named to the Second-Team All-Star selcetions 3 times in 2000, 2001, and 2002 while also earning 6 All-Star game selections (1994, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003). Internationally, Blake would help Canada win a Gold Medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics. He would also win Gold at the 1994 and 1997 World Championships, while picking up a Silver Medal in the 1991 World Championship .
Pat Burns had a 15 year coaching career splitting time with the Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins, and New Jersey Devils. His only Stanley Cup came in the 2003 season with the New Jersey Devils. Burns would use his background as a police officer to be a leader which helped him win 3 Jack Adams Awards as the the leagues best coach with 3 different teams. He is the only coach to win this award 3 times. Pat Burns passed away November 19, 2010.
Bill McCreary was a NHL official for 29 years stretching from 1988-2011. He would go on to officiate 1700 NHL games, 282 playoff games, and 1 All-Star game. McCreary would officiate 15 Stanley Cup Finals, doing 13 of them in a row, while also taking part in the 1998, 2002, and 2010 Olympic Winter Games where he would officiate the Gold Medal game in 2002 and 2010. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Later in the week, I am going to compared the results from our Mock Selection to the one that the HHOF made and see exactly where the differences were. This is a very interesting class as this is the first time the HHOF went over 5 Inductees in recent memory.
If you guys have any comments or questions feel free to post a comment here, send me an email at adam.kirshenblatt@hockeybuzz.com, or follow me on Twitter @Kirshenblatt. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HHOF Making the Case: Steve Larmer Reggie Leach Alexander Mogilny Pat Quinn Kerry Fraser Paul Henderson Chris Osgood Marguerite Norris Eric Lindros Curtis Joseph Theo Fleury Carl Brewer Don Cherry Mark Recchi
Honoured Members