Hockey Hall of Fame welcomes new members

Goyette, Recchi, Andreychuk, Selanne, Kariya added in player category

Danielle Goyette was a steady presence on the Canadian national team in the early 1990s, but knew she needed to take her game to another level after women’s hockey was added to the Olympic program for the 1998 Nagano Games.

In August 1996, she packed up her belongings to make the long road trip west from her hometown of St-Nazaire, Que., to Calgary. It was a decision that sent her on a path to two Olympic titles and now a place in the Hockey Hall of Fame. “I put my clothes in, my hockey bag and my bike, and I left,” Goyette said. “I didn’t know what to expect over there. But I knew that if I didn’t take that chance, there was no way I would be able to (realize) my dreams.”

Goyette became an honoured member of the Hall on Friday along with former NHL stars Dave Andreychuk, Mark Recchi, Teemu Selanne and Paul Kariya. Longtime Canadian university coach Clare Drake and Boston Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs entered in the builder category. A formal induction ceremony was scheduled for Monday night.

Goyette won eight world titles over her career and also won an Olympic silver. When she retired in 2008, she was fourth on the women’s world hockey championship all-time points list with 68.

When Goyette first joined the national program in 1992, most women’s hockey players did not train full-time like they do today.

“For us it was like a hobby,” she said. “It was a social thing. We’d play once a week.” Once Nagano became an option, she was determined to become more familiar with on-ice systems while ramping up her training and ice time. Goyette, who knew little English at the time, called the move west for centralization the hardest thing - but the best thing - she ever did.