Hall of famer. Its a special phrase amongst athletes. It means that you had a career that was better than most. Game of hockey is no different. The class of 2023 has been announced for this year and its a pretty good class too. This year, the committee selected Henrik Lundqvist, Tom Barrasso, Mike Vernon, Caroline Ouellette and Pierre Turgeon in the player category, as well as Ken Hitchcock and Pierre Lacroix in the builders category.
First, we go to the international stage, where Caroline Ouellette shined. She is one of three players, along with fellow hall of famer Hayley Wickenheiser as well as Jayna Hefford to win at least four Olympic gold medals. She scored 30 points over 20 tournaments, as well as representing Canada at 12 IIHF Women’s World Championships where she led the Canadian team to six gold medals and six silver medals, scoring 23 goals and 68 points in 59 tournament appearances.
Moving to the pro level, Pierre Turgeon had the most points of any player that was not elected to the hall this year. He was taken 1st overall in the 1987 entry draft and played 19 years in the league for Buffalo, the Islanders, Montreal, St. Louis, Dallas and Colorado. He finished his career having played in 1,294 games, racking up 515 goals, 812 assists for 1,327 points. He cracked the 100 point mark twice, scoring 106 with Buffalo in 1990 and his career high 132 points for the Islanders in 1993. They guy had a ton of offensive upside, and could have been so much more if it wasn't for the injury in the 93 playoffs.
Then we move to the men between the Pipes. Tom Barrasso took the league by storm when he came on the scene in Buffalo. He joined the league in 1983 and won the Calder and vVezina in that first year, and later added two cups in Pittsburgh. By the time all was said and done, he won 396 games, most by an American at the time he retired, in a 19 year career. During that time he played in Buffalo, Pittsburgh, and one year stints in Ottawa, Carolina Toronto and St Louis. He won 20 or more games 11 times, including two thirty win and a forty win season. He also holds the record for assists by a netminder with 48. He was a pretty good puck handler and had great reflexes to make the big saves when he needed.
The Stanley Cup twice was carried by Mike Vernon, 1989 in Calgary and 1997 in Detroit. He, like Barrasso, started his career in 1983 in Calgary and finished 19 years later after stops in Detroit, San Jose, and Florida. He won 385 games, 262 of which were as a Flame, 2nd most in team history. He had one of the best catching gloves in the game which helped propel him into the star relm with his hometown Flames.
Finally there's King Henrik, who spent his entire 15 year career on Broadway with the Rangers. He owns the team record with 459 wins. He never won hockey's ultimate prize in the Cup, but he's still done more than that on an international level. His career is drapped in Gold, as Lundqvist has won gold medals at the Olympics (2006), IIHF World Championship (2017), and IIHF World Junior Championship (2002). He also has an Olympic silver medal (2014), two World Championship silver medals (2003, 2004), and a third-place finish at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. Some of the saves that I've seen Hank made are the stuff of legend and I'd only seen close to since Hasek was playing in Buffalo. Hank's desire to win was matched by few.
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