Bill Hay got his start in the league as a player with the Chicago Blackawks, playing in the windy city from 1959-60 to 1966-67. Hay is known for becoming the first NCAA graduate to play in the NHL. His resume includes contributions while serving as president and chief operating officer of Hockey Canada, president and chief executive officer of the Calgary Flames, and most recently as chairman of the Hockey Hall of Fame. Hay was known for building a pretty good Hawks team during the 1990's.
Peter Karmanos has been involved in hockey for more than four decades. He started the Compuware youth hockey program, has owned Ontario Hockey League franchises for 30 years (including the Plymouth Whalers, which was the first in the United States) and bought the Hartford Whalers in 1994 and moved them to Raleigh, N.C., to become the Carolina Hurricanes in 1997. If it wasn't for Pete Karmanos, the Hurricanse wouldn't be as settled in and popular in Carolina as they are. Him and Billy Hay will be inducted into the builders category in the Hall.
Now to the players who are going to be inducted. Angela Ruggiero Ruggiero has done a number of great things to really help put women's hockey on the map, not only in North America, but on an international level as well. She won gold at the 1998 Nagano Olympics, silver at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics and 2010 Vancouver Olympics and bronze at the 2006 Turin Olympics with the United States women's team. The 2004 Patty Kazmaier Award winner at Harvard as the best player in NCAA women's hockey, Ruggiero helped the United States win the world championship in 2005, 2008, 2009 and 2011 and finish second six times. In 2003 she was voted the best women's hockey player in the world by The Hockey News, which is a huge honor. Having been an active hockey player from 1998 to 2011, Ruggiero has taken the level of Women's Hockey to new heights, helping set a new standard for blueliners.
Keeping with American players who helped change the game, enter Phil Housley. The St. Paul Minnesota Native is the 2nd highest scoring american born player in league history. His 1,232 points is 2nd only to Mike Modano amongst American born scorers. Those point totals were amassed over 1,495 games played during 21 seasons with eight teams. Housley has suited up for the Buffalo Sabres, Winnipeg Jets, St. Louis Blues, Calgary Flames, New Jersey Devils, Washington Capitals, Chicago Blackhawks and the Toronto Maple Leafs. Not only are those 1,232 points 2nd among American born scorers, it puts him 4th in NHL history for points among defensemen. One of the top offensive defensemen of his generation, Housley had at least 60 points in a season 12 times. Housley had good hands and great vision on the ice, as evident by his high assist totals. He had himself a pretty good shot, but was known more for his great passing and great skating.
Housley did more than just prove himself at the NHL level, as he was also a force on the international level. He represented the United States at the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics, winning a silver medal, and two times in the Canada Cup. Housley also appeared in the NHL All-Star Game seven times.It's been quite a long time for Housley, who last played a game in the NHL in 2003. After twelve long years, his wait list is finally over.
Joining him in the hall is fellow blueliner Chris Pronger. Pronger started his career in 1993-94, playing for the Hartford Whalers, then moved along to the St. Louis Blues, where he had his longest tenure. Pronger followed that up with a stop over in Edmonton with the Oilers, before playing with the Anaheim Ducks and Philadelphia Flyers. That's a pretty impressive team list to cover over an 18 year career. Pronger finished his career playing in 1,167 games, scoring 157 goals and adding in 541 assists, for a grand total of 698 points. He wasn't put out on the ice for his scoring touch. Pronger quickly became known as one of the most physical defensemen of his era. His hits were hard and could be heard almost anywhere in the entire building. Pronger also logged an incredible amount of ice time. He averaged more than 30 minutes per game in two seasons for the Blues, and more than 25 minutes per game in every full season he played from 1998-99 to 2009-10.
One thing that Pronger can hang his hat on is that he and Bobby Orr are the only two blueliners in league history to win the Hart Trophy and Norris Trophy in the same season. Orr did it in 1970 and 1972, while Pronger pulled it off in 2000. Pronger also is a member of the Triple Gold club. He won the 1997 World Championship with Canada, is a two-time Olympic gold medalist and won the Stanley Cup in 2007 with the Ducks; He also won gold at the 1993 World Junior Championship and reach the Cup Final with the Oilers in 2006 and the Flyers in 2010. Pronger was a tough as nails leader who would carry his teams on his back. He logged big minutes night in and night out, was a physical presence on the ice and was a game changer. He could shut down the opposing forwards better than most blueliners in the game.
Probably the best European defenseman ever gets a call for the hall on his first ballot. Nicklas Lidstrom will go down in history as one of the greatest blueliners to ever step foot on the ice in the NHL. He was so good at his position, he was awarded the Norris trophy seven times, tied with Doug Harvey for the 2nd most ever. The only blueliner to win more is Bobby Orr with eight. North American hockey fans first got a look at Lidstrom during the 1991-92 season, when he debuted with Detroit. Lidstrom spent his entire twenty year career with the Wings, playing in 1,564 games, scoring 264 goals and adding in 878 assists for a total of 1,142 points. His games played is 4th most amongst d-men all time and his points are good for 6th. Lidstrom won the Stanley Cup four times, and in 2002 he became the first player born and trained in Europe to win the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP. He was also the first European to captain a Stanley Cup champion, in 2008. with the Wings, his last cup ring.
Lidstrom can do a little bit of everything. One of the best skaters at that position, could move quick to cut off the walls for the opposition. Only three times in his career did Lidstrom fail to score double digits in goals in a season, his career best being 20 goals in 1999-2000. He was a leader and one of the most composed defenders in the game, only hitting the 50 minute mark in penalties once in a season, that coming in 2006. He never really wanted the spotlight on himself. That showed great character from a great leader.
Rounding out this group is a teammate of Nick Lidstrom in Detroit. He may be one of the best two way centers in the 1990's. Sergei Federov came over from Russia in 1990-91 to play with the Wings after defecting from Russia. While playing in Moscow, Federov, Pavel Bure and Alexander Mogilny made up one of the greatest lines ever put together. After joining the Wings, Federov became a part of another very dangerous unit in the Russian Five: Federov centering Igor Larionov and Vyacheslav Kozlov, with Viacheslav Fetisov and Vladimir Konstantinov on defense. Fedorov played 18 seasons in the NHL with the Red Wings, Anaheim Ducks, Columbus Blue Jackets and Washington Capitals. He had 483 goals and 1,179 points in 1,248 games, and 176 points in 183 Stanley Cup Playoff games.
Towards the end of his career, Federov's numbers started to decline. In fact, after the 2004-05 mlockout his play began to go downhill. Before that, Federov had scored at least 25 goals in every season except one (that was 1997-98 when he only played in 21 games). He hit the 100 point plateau twice in his career. Fedorov won the Hart Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award in 1994, and was a two-time winner of the Selke Trophy (1994, 1996). Those two Selke Trophy wins showed how great of an all around player Federov was. To be able to excel at both ends of the rink takes a special kind of player, and Sergei Federov was that and then some. He could create magic on the ice, and was able to do it at top flight speed, which is an even rarer combination.
So there you have it, your Hockey Hall of Fame, Class of 2015!
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