2015 Hockey Inductees
A testament to the blueline is the 2015 Hockey Hall of Fame Class. With Seven time Norris Trophy winner, Niklas Lidstrom, headlining a class that includes Chris Pronger and Phil Housley, the addition of Sergei Makorov makes this one of the best classes ever. We can’t say we are thrilled with a Hockey Hall of Fame Chairman thrown in though.
Medalling in four consecutive Olympic Games, Angela Ruggiero is the fourth female hockey player in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Ruggiero won the Gold with the United States in 1998 and the same colored medal in four World Championships.
A former seven year veteran of the NHL with the Chicago Blackhawks, Bill Hay’s Hockey Hall of Fame induction comes from his work as the Calgary Flames’ CEO and would later become the Chairman of the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Chris Pronger is a former Hart Trophy and Norris Trophy winner and would twice lead the National Hockey League in Plus/Minus while he was a member of the St. Louis Blues. Pronger would become a four time post-season All Star, a Stanley Cup Champion with the Anaheim Ducks and was a Olympic Gold Medalist with Canada.
The best defenceman of his generation, Niklas Lidstrom would play his entire NHL career with the Detroit Red Wings and Motown is certainly glad he did! Lidstrom. The seven time Norris Trophy winner would anchor Detroit to four Stanley Cups and he is one of the rare blueliers to score over 1,000 Points.
Peter Karmanos Jr. brought hockey to the Carolinas when he moved the Hartford Whalers south and renamed them the Carolina Hurricanes. While the people in Connecticut may still despise him, he is very well respected within hockey circles and he proudly hosted the Stanley Cup in 2006.
Phil Housley may have played for eight NHL teams but pegging him as a journeyman is far from accurate. Housley would shatter well over 1,000 career points, an excellent number for a blueliner, but his multi-team status likely kept him out of the Hockey Hall of Fame for an extended period of time.
One of the flashiest players to ever be born in the Soviet Union, Sergei Fedorov, dazzled fans in Russia and in North America where he was a star with the Detroit Red Wings. Fedorov helped take the Detroit Red Wings to three Stanley Cups and is himself a former Hart Trophy Winner.