Hockey Hall of Fame welcomes six new members
TORONTO — The Hockey Hall of Fame has welcomed its class of 2018.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, all-time goalie wins and shutout leader Martin Brodeur, diminutive underdog Martin St. Louis, Canadian women’s star Jayna Hefford, league trailblazer Willie O’Ree and Russian great Alexander Yakushev were inducted at Monday’s ceremony.
Bettman and O’Ree — the NHL’s first black player — went into the Hall in the builders category, while Brodeur, St. Louis, Hefford and Yakushev entered as players.
The NHL has expanded to 31 teams from 24 during Bettman’s 25-year tenure, with annual revenues ballooning tenfold to about $5 billion US.
“Everyone knows that my public appearances get an energetic reaction,” Bettman joked during his speech. “I get booed when I present the Stanley Cup.
“Tonight should erase any claim that election to the Hockey Hall of Fame is a popularity contest. Rather, I hope that my induction is a testament to what is clearly a collective contribution.”
A three-time Stanley Cup champion and four-time Vezina Trophy winner with the New Jersey Devils, Brodeur won 691 games and had 125 shutouts in his 20 seasons.
“This is a really special day for me,” Brodeur said. “I’m honoured and humbled.”
St. Louis went from undrafted free agent to Hart Trophy winner and two-time scoring champion with the Tampa Bay Lightning, including a Cup victory in 2003-04.
O’Ree became the first black player in the NHL when he was called up by the Boston Bruins to play against the Montreal Canadiens in 1958. The 83-yearold played just 45 games in the NHL, but returned to the fold in 1996 as a league ambassador.
Hefford won four Olympic gold medals and seven world championships playing for Canada. The sixth woman to enter the Hall, she recorded 291 points, including 157 goals, in 267 games.
Yakushev starred for the USSR in the 1972 Summit Series, scoring seven goals to tie Canada’s Phil Esposito and Paul Henderson for the lead in the best-on-best showcase. He won Olympic gold in 1972 and 1976.