Selanne, Kariya headline hall of fame 2017 class

Teemu Selanne and Paul Kariya were a dynamic duo in Anaheim, and now they are going into the Hockey Hall of Fame together. The longtime Ducks teammates are the headliners for this year’s class.

Teemu Selanne and Paul Kariya were a dynamic duo in Anaheim for several years, and now they are going into the Hockey Hall of Fame together.

The longtime Ducks teammates are the headliners for the Hall of Fame’s class of 2017, which includes the long-overdue additions of Mark Recchi, Dave Andreychuk and longtime Canadian university coach Clare Drake. Canadian star Danielle Goyette became the fifth women’s player elected, and Boston Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs got in as part of the builder category.

Selanne was elected in his first year of eligibility after putting up 1,457 points in 1,451 games over 21 NHL seasons. The “Finnish Flash” was a 10-time All-Star, had 76 goals as a rookie with Winnipeg in 1992-93 and won the Stanley Cup with Anaheim in 2007.

“I’m lucky to have played with great people wherever I went in hockey,” Selanne said. “The game is a team effort and I have a long list of those who helped me.”

One of those was Kariya, who played alongside Selanne for parts of six seasons with the Ducks, helping hockey grow in Southern California in the 1990s, and then another with Colorado. Kariya had his career cut short by concussion problems, finishing with 989 points in as many games.

Recchi’s election ended a curious omission for a player who won the Cup three times — once each with Pittsburgh, Carolina and Boston — and is 12th in NHL scoring with 1,533 points.