Selanne scores hall call in first year of eligibility
A forward-thinking selection committee also taps Andreychuk, Recchi and Kariya
A shoo-in, a notable shutout and a shift in the waiting line marked Monday’s 2017 Hockey Hall of Fame nominations.
The field of seven, one of the largest induction classes ever, was led by the anticipated fasttracking of Teemu Selanne in his first year of eligibility. The Finnish Flash began his career with the Winnipeg Jets in the 1992-93 season with an astounding 76 goals and had 1,457 career points, ranking him 15th in National Hockey League history.
Also named were fellow forwards Dave Andreychuk, Mark Recchi and Selanne’s longtime teammate Paul Kariya. All three spent a varying amount of years on the bubble with hall-worthy numbers in an ever-crowded field.
Canadian women’s star Danielle Goyette, a multi-world champion and Olympic medallist, was the fifth player chosen, along with two in the builder category, Boston Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs and Clare Drake, the Canadian university coaching legend from Alberta.
“I look back and shake my head,” Selanne said of what he accomplished in a 21-year career. “I’m lucky in so many different ways. I was waiting for that phone call today (from Hall of Fame chairman Lanny McDonald), but you never know.”
Ottawa Senators captain
Daniel Alfredsson was denied in his initial try at nomination. If his name came up among the 18 members of the selection committee, which met for four hours in Toronto, he did not get the required 75 per cent vote.
He’ll have to learn the art of patience as Andreychuk, Recchi and Kariya did after the mandatory three-year wait came and went without them getting a hall pass. Recchi and Andreychuk won Stanley Cups — Recchi three of them, as well as ranking fifth in games played with 1,652. Andreychuk is 14th in goals at 640. Kariya had 989 points across 989 career regular season games.
Unlike Selanne, none of them could count on McDonald’s call on Monday afternoon.
“I was just leaving the office to pick up my wife at the (Tampa Bay) airport and saw the 416 (Toronto) number,” Andreychuk said. “My heart started to race. For myself, it didn’t matter one year or 10. With the numbers I had, there’s not much you can do but sit and wait.”
Recchi said he had to let support for his cause “run its course” at the selection committee level. There have been some changes in recent years to the group of ex-players, executives, media and administrators that many think will be advantageous to those who’ve been parked awhile.
“I did what I could on the ice,” Recchi said. “You have to let the numbers and the way you play (speak) for you. I had a wonderful career, great teammates. This is the ultimate to finish it off.”
Kariya had gone surfing in the Anaheim area earlier in the day, one of the pursuits he picked up as therapy for the concussion problems that ended his career. Joking that there had been shark sightings that might have prevented his big day, he came ashore to find out he was in the Hall of Fame.
“It took me a year of rehab to feel normal again with no headaches,” Kariya said. “I enjoy being active: skiing, snowboarding, doing sports I hadn’t done.”
He’s glad to be going in with Selanne, with whom he shared a special chemistry.
Goyette won seven gold medals at the worlds, one silver and two golds at the Olympics. When she retired in 2008, she was fourth in world championship scoring with 68 points.
“When I started in the 1980s, women’s hockey wasn’t that popular,” Goyette said. “People asked me, ‘Why are playing a man’s sport? But if you love something that much, you do it.
“Now the young players have a role model. They play the game at such a young age now. You can’t compare 1998 in Nagano (the women’s Olympic debut) to 2014. People talk about Canada and the United States (dominating). Yes, we’re strong, but other teams are closing the gap. To be a pioneer, I could not be more proud.”
Jacobs ran the old Buffalo Bisons of the American Hockey League, and that connection led him to purchase the Bruins in 1975. The chairman of the NHL board of governors since 2007, he previously won the Lester Patrick Award for service to hockey in the U.S.
Drake’s University of Alberta Golden Bears won six national championships in the 28 years he was coach. Twice named the country’s university hockey coach of the year in the late 1960s, he influenced a number of NHL coaches in Western Canada such as Ken Hitchcock.
“I am truly humbled to be elected,” Drake said in a statement.
The induction ceremony is in November in Toronto.