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Greg WyshynskiESPN
TORONTO — From the inspirational Willie O’Ree to the controversial Gary Bettman, the Hockey Hall of Fame inducted a memorable Class of 2018 on Monday night in Toronto.
It’s a class that included former New Jersey Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur, owner of a dozen NHL records and one of only two netminders to play over 1,000 NHL games; winger Martin St. Louis, an undrafted and undersized player who starred for the Tampa Bay Lightning and scored 1,033 points career points; Jayna Hefford, who won four Olympic gold medals with Team Canada; and Alexander Yakushev, a Russian scoring star who captured Olympic gold twice.
O’Ree, 83, saw a decades-long wait for enshrinement end, 60 years after shattering the National Hockey League’s color barrier with the Boston Bruins on January 18, 1958. The first black player in league history, O’Ree retired in 1979 and has spent the last 20 years working as an ambassador for the NHL, serving as an inspiration for modern era players of color like P.K. Subban of the Nashville Predators.
“A Hall of Famer isn’t just the guy who put up great numbers. It’s the guy who has changed the sport for the better, who has had an impact. Willie definitely had an impact on hockey and he deserves to be recognized as a Hall of Famer, just as much as a guy like Wayne Gretzky,” said Subban in January.
Also in the Builders Category, and on the other end of the popular opinion spectrum, is Bettman. The first NHL commissioner after years of league presidents, Bettman took over the NHL in 1993 after serving as deputy commissioner of the NBA under David Stern. Under his watch, the NHL grew from 24 franchises to what will officially become 32 after Seattle’s expansion bid is approved, while the league’s revenue increased from $400 million in 1993 to a projected $4.54 billion in 2018-19.
But Bettman has also been a lightning rod of controversy for the NHL, presiding over three lockouts that lost the NHL a total of 146 regular-season games — including an entire season cancelled in 2004-05 in order to establish a salary cap. He’s also come under fire in recent years for denying any linkage between brain injuries and CTE, as well as the league’s overall approach to player safety and post-retirement care.
Brodeur is the all-time NHL leader in games (1,266), wins (691) and shutouts (125), among his other records. He won the Vezina Trophy as the league’s top goaltender three times, the Stanley Cup three times and two Olympic gold medals with Team Canada. His ability as a puck-playing goaltender was a catalyst for the NHL creating a trapezoid behind the goal to restrict netminders from doing so.
“I think at the end of the day, we’re all kids, playing hockey, dreaming to be in the NHL,” Brodeur told ESPN in June. “To get a call from the Hall … it was pretty special, for sure.”
St. Louis also won Olympic gold in the 2014 Sochi Games, but he’s best known for his dominating offense despite standing at 5-foot-8. He led the NHL in points in 2003-04 and 2012-13, winning the Hart Trophy as MVP in 2004 — the same year he helped the Tampa Bay Lightning to their first Stanley Cup. He finished his career with the New York Rangers in 2015.
Hefford won Olympic gold with Team Canada in 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2014. She also won seven IIHF world championships. She played in both the NWHL and the CWHL, retiring as the league leader in goals and points in the latter women’s pro league.
Yakushev is perhaps best known for being one of the Russian stars who played for the Soviets in the 1972 Summit Series against Canada, finishing that event as their leading scorer. He also starred for Moscow Spartak in the Soviet league.
Also honored during Hockey Hall of Fame weekend were New York Post writer Larry Brooks, winner of the Elmer Ferguson Award for excellence in hockey journalism; and Toronto Maple Leafs broadcaster Joe Bowen, who earned the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award for outstanding contributions as a hockey broadcaster.
Among the first-time players eligible in 2019 are Tampa Bay Lightning star Vincent Lecavalier; fellow former Bolt and San Jose Shark Dan Boyle; New Jersey Devils forward Patrik Elias; and, most notably, Canadian hockey icon Hayley Wickenheiser.