I HAD A WONDERFUL CAREER, … THIS IS THE ULTIMATE TO FINISH IT OFF.

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 explayers, 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.

The induction ceremony is in November in Toronto.