Celebrating the class of 2006

On Monday (11/13/2006), the NHL enshrined two players and a couple guys known as builders of the game. Two names really stick out: Herb Brooks and Patrick Roy. So I want to quickly address the other players before going into detail about Brooks and Roy.

Terrance "Dick" Duff: Played from 1956 to 1972. He played for eight seasons for the Toronto Maple Leafs, traded to the Rangers and was also traded to the Canadians. He finished his career with the Kings and the Sabres. He raised the cup twice with the Leafs ('62 & '63) and four more times with the Canadians ('65, '66, '68, and '69). He was a seven time All-Star. He hit the 20 goal mark eight times and had a career high in goals with 29 in 58-59 season.

Harley Hotchkiss: Harley was one of the men responsible for bringing the Flames to Calgary. The Flames came up north in 1980 from Atlanta. He was also responsible for the building of the Saddledome (home of the Flames). The Flames won the Cup in 1989 and was in the Cup final in 2004 losing to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Hotchkiss was also valuable commodity in settling the labor dispute in 2004.

Herb Brooks: Most noticably known for the Miracle on Ice team (Gold Metal Winning 1980 USA Team), See Miracle,was one of the builders enshrined. Herb Brooks died a couple of years ago in a car accident but had a long list of accomplishments, many included hockey. Brooks was part of 1964 and '68 Olympic Teams. He was also a coach for the University of Minnesota and guided them to three national championships ('74, '76, & '79). Brooks went on to coach the USA National Team in 1980. Surprisingly, he wasn't the first choice for the head coaching job. I guess the second choice paid off. Brooks went on coach four different teams in the NHL (NYR, Min, NJ, and Pitts). Brooks finished with a record of 219-222-66 and a 19-21 record in the playoffs. Herb will be forever be linked to the USA team in 1980 but was still involved in hockey until he died. He forsaw the problems in the NHL in the late 90's and outlined some changes he wanted to see which became fact after the strike of 2005. Brooks had the best thoughts for the NHL and modernizing the US style to catch up with the European/Russian style of hockey. He also made hockey popular in the States as well. Brooks was certainly a builder and a worthy addition to the Hall of Fame.


The final inductee was Patrick Roy. The first goalie that really stuck out to me whenever I saw highlights as a kid. Roy had a 19 year career with the Montreal Canadians and Colorado Avalanche. He is a 3-time Conn Smythe winner ('86, '93, and '01), which is given to the MVP of the Stanley Cup. He was also a winner of the William M. Jennings award, given to goalies who allow the least amount of goals during the season. Roy won the award several times ('87,'88,'89,'92, and 2002). Patrick was a 11 time All-Star and 4 time Stanley Cup Champion ('86, '93, '96, and 2001. One final interesting fact is that Roy is the only goalie to win at least 200 games for two different teams and he is the winningest goalie of all time withj 551 wins. Patrick Roy is in a class with tons of great goal scorers and now he is in the elite club that all hockey players strive their careers for. He is currently coaching for the Quebec Remparts.

Other Hockey News:

• Blue Jackets fired their head coach today, they have the second worst point total in the league behind the Flyers and Phoenix.
• Points Leader: Mirian Hossa: ATL with 30 points.
• Best Record: Eastern Conference - Buffalo 14-1-1 Western - Anaheim 13-1-4
• Best Team in the last 10 games: Nashville and Buffalo are 8-1-1
• Teams on the Watchlist from last week were a combined 8-7 and Toronto was 3-0.
• Teams to watch for this week: Nashville, they have played really well over the last 10 games. San Jose, they haven't lost in November yet and is four points behind redhot Anaheim. Finally, New Jersey: Rutgers isn't the only hot team south of NY.

Next Topic: Great Goal Keepers in the League....coming soon!