Three join Adirondack Hockey Hall of Fame
GLENS FALLS, N.Y. » Three new Adirondack Hockey Fall of Fame members were inducted on Saturday, prior to the Adirondack Thunder’s game against the Brampton Beast.
The Class of 2018 consists of three former members of the Adirondack Red Wings organization goaltender Norm Maracle, forward Chris Tancill and general manager Neil Smith.
Maracle played parts of five seasons with the AHL’s Adirondack Red Wings from 1994-99 and is the first goaltender inducted to Adirondack Hockey Hall of Fame. He appeared in 233 games with the Red Wings, the most all-time in franchise history by a goaltender, including his finest season with Adirondack in 1996-97, when he led the AHL in wins and save percentage en route to being named an AHL Second-Team All-Star.
The Belleville, Ont. native went on to play in 68 NHL games with Detroit and Atlanta, including two in the 1999 Stanley Cup playoffs after he earned a Stanley Cup ring with Detroit in 1998. At the time of his induction, Maracle works as a junior hockey coach in northern Ontario.
Tancill played for two seasons with the Red Wings and was a member of the 1992 Calder Cup champion team. He collected 172 points in just 118 games played, including a career-best 102 points during the 1992-93 season.
Tancill led the AHL with 59 goals that season, the most in a single season in Adirondack Red Wings history, as he was named an AHL First-Team All-Star. The Livonia, Mich. native would appear in 145 games in the NHL with Hartford, Detroit, Dallas and San Jose and represented his country three times at the IIHF World Championships in 1996, 1997 and 2000, winning a bronze medal in 1996.
Tancill completed his career with six seasons in Switzerland, where he was named as the league’s Most Valuable Player during the 19992000 season.
Smith was the general manager of two Calder Cup winning teams at Adirondack in 1986 and 1989. After scouting for the New York Island-
ers, Smith joined the Detroit Red Wings organization in 1982 and oversaw the Adirondack Red Wings for seven seasons before he was hired as the general manager of the New York Rangers in 1989.
Smith helped to end the Rangers’ 54-year championship drought as he constructed the 1994 Stanley Cup champions.
Last year, he returned to Glens Falls as color commentator on the NHL Network for the 2017 ECHL All-Star Classic, which the Thunder hosted. It was the first-ever nationally broadcast ECHL All-Star event.
Smith is currently an analyst with the NHL Network.