Lets start with Lindros, a member of the Legion of Doom line with John LeClair and Mikael Renberg in Philadelphia. vLindros, who played 13 NHL seasons with the Philadelphia Flyers, New York Rangers, Toronto Maple Leafs and Dallas Stars, but his best days where with the Flyers before concussions derailed his fantastic career. He made a splash when he was taken first overall by the Quebec Nordiques, but wasn't happy with the situation, so he forced a monster trade to the Flyers. During his time in the city of brotherly love, he totaled 659 points (290 goals, 369 assists) in 486 regular-season games from 1992-93 through 1999-2000. He had 56 points in 50 Stanley Cup Playoff games and helped the Flyers reach the Final in 1997. He was named to the League's All-Rookie Team in 1992-93 and won the Hart Trophy in the lockout-shortened 1994-1995 season, when he had 70 points in 46 games. The following season he had an NHL career-high 115 points in 73 games.
That's when it all went downhill has, towards the end of his time in Philly, he had seven concussions, the last one coming in the 2001 playoffs. His last good year in the league, Lindros scored 73 points with the Rangers in 2002. After the concussion problems, he just wasn't the same guy. But what made him so good was that he was a premire power forward in the 90s. He could skate, score, hit, fight, basically he could sort of do it all on the ice. Now throw all that together with the fact that he did it all standing at 6'4 and weighted 240 pounds. That's pretty impressive.
Then there's Sergei Makarov, a star in his native Russia, he was able to make a transition over to the North American game. Makarov spent the first 11 seasons of his hockey career in Russia, winning eight World Championship gold medals, two Olympic gold medals and two World Junior Championship gold medals as part of the Red Army team. During that time, he was huge star, winning the Soviet Player of the Year award (also known as Soviet MVP) three times, getting named to the Soviet League All-Star Team ten times, and leading the league in points nine times and goals three times. Together with Igor Larionov and Vladimir Krutov, they formed the KLM line, one of the most talented and feared lines ever to play hockey. He was awarded Order of the Red Banner of Labour (1984). That basically means he was the best on the planet at what he does at that time. Then the NHL came calling, as he was chosen by the Calgary Flames in the 12th round (No. 231) of the 1983 NHL Draft. He then made his NHL debut for Calgary in 1989, and won the Calder Trophy as the League's top rookie after scoring 24 goals and 86 points in 80 games. He had 384 points in 424 NHL games between 1989-97 as a member of the Flames, San Jose Sharks and Stars.
There was a couple of things about Makarov that changed the game. First was the Calder Trophy win. When he won the award, while having a very productive year for the Flames, he was 31 years old and already had 11 years of professional hockey experience. He wasn't a true rookie, whereas Mike Modano was (who finished 2nd in Calder voting that year), and many felt that Modano should have won the award. What he did in the NHL isn't what got him induction into the Hall, it what he did on the ice on the international level that brought him into the hallowed halls. He was one of the most gifted players to ever step foot on the ice at any level. He deserves induction into the hall.
Rogie Vachon gets a call that he has long waited for. He played in the NHL from 1962 to 1982, winning 355 games, Stanley Cup Championships in 1968, 1969, 1971 (with Montreal), a Vezina Trophy Win in 1968 (with Montreal), and he played in the 1973, 1975, 1978 NHL All-Star Games. The bulk of his career was played with the Los Angeles Kings where he holds several records. Some of those Kings records include most career games played by a goaltender (389), most minutes played (22,922), most career wins (171). (Surpassed by Jonathan Quick on March 22, 2014), most career losses (148), most career ties (66) (shared with Kelly Hrudey), most career shutouts (32) (Surpassed by Jonathan Quick on October 23, 2014), season lowest GAA (2.24 in 1975) (Surpassed by Jonathan Quick with 1.95 GAA in 2011-2012 season), most shutouts in a season (8 in 1977) (Surpassed by Jonathan Quick with 10 shutouts in 2011-2012 season).
Part of what made Rogie so great was how he played the game. Known for his great reflexes and quick glove hand, Vachon was considered one of the premier one-on-one goaltenders of his era. He never allowed a goal on a penalty shot in his entire career. He had the reflexes that made him one of the top goalies of his era. He may not have put up like Tony-O kinda numbers, but still was a very solid goalie in his own right.
Last but not least we have Pat Quinn, one of the greatest coaches to every step foot behind an NHL bench. Quinn, inducted in the Builders category, was a longtime NHL coach of the Flyers, Kings, Vancouver Canucks, Toronto Maple Leafs and Edmonton Oilers. After nine seasons as a player, Quinn joined the Flyers as an assistant coach in 1977. Over the next 40 years he held coaching, managing and president positions in the League and with Team Canada. At the time of his death on Nov. 23, 2014, he was Chair of the Hockey Hall of Fame.
The Hockey Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place on November 14th in Toronto!
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