Jarome Iginla among 6 named to Hockey Hall of Fame; former Flyers star Rod Brind’Amour bypassed
High-scoring Jarome Iginla was one of six named to the Hockey Hall of Fame on Wednesday, but former Flyer Rod Brind'Amour was bypassed despite glowing credentials. Iginla will become the fourth Black player ever inducted into the hall.
Six members were named to the Hockey Hall of Fame on Wednesday, including former NHL stars Jarome Iginla, Marian Hossa, Kevin Lowe, and Doug Wilson.
Ken Holland, the architect of a Detroit Red Wings dynasty, was selected in the builder’s category, and Kim St-Pierre, a standout goalie of the Canadian women’s national team throughout the 2000s, rounded out the choices.
Rod Brind’Amour, a former star center with the Flyers and Carolina and the best defensive forward of his generation, was again bypassed.
The induction ceremony will be held in Toronto and is tentatively set for Nov. 16, but the date could change based on when the 2020-21 NHL season begins.
Iginla, who will become the fourth Black player ever inducted, was an easy choice for the 18-member selection committee. The right winger was chosen in his first year of eligibility.
A longtime star with Calgary, Iginla collected 1,300 points, including 625 goals, in a 20-year career that also had stops in Pittsburgh, Boston, Colorado, and Los Angeles.
Iginla, who had 12 straight seasons with at least 30 goals, sounded overwhelmed after hearing the news he would be enshrined.
“Just making the NHL was such a thrill,” he said.
Iginla, a humble sort, said he didn’t begin playing hockey at a young age.
“I started when I was 7, and that was kind of late ... but I caught up,” he said.
Like Iginla, Hossa was a consistent scorer. The big right winger had eight seasons with at least 30 goals and finished his 19-year career with 1,134 points (525 goals, 609 assists) in 1,309 games. Hossa played for five teams (Ottawa, Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Detroit, and Chicago) and won three Cups with the Blackhawks.
Lowe, a defensive-minded defenseman who was a seven-time All-Star, is the seventh player from the 1984-85 and 1986-87 Edmonton Oilers to win Cups in those seasons -- the Flyers were the victims both times -- and later be named to the Hall of Fame. Overall, he won six Cups -- five with Edmonton and one with the New York Rangers, who ended a 54-year drought in 1993-94.
Wilson was a star defenseman with Chicago. He had 827 points in 1,024 career games with the Blackhawks and San Jose, and he captured the Norris Trophy as the league’s best defenseman in 1981-82 while finishing in the top five on three other occasions.
Holland was the general manager who steered Detroit to three Stanley Cups (1998, 2002, 2008), and he was an assistant GM when the Red Wings swept the Flyers in the 1997 Final.
St-Pierre was a three-time Olympian and a five-time IIHF champion. She won three Olympic gold medals with Canada and five World Championships.
Brind’Amour, now Carolina’s head coach, was bypassed despite an outstanding career (452 goals and 1,184 points) in which he won the Selke Trophy twice as the NHL’s best defensive forward and the Stanley Cup in 2006 with the Hurricanes.
Former Flyers coach Ken Hitchcock, who won a Cup while coaching Dallas, was also among the candidates the committee didn’t select. Hitchcock’s 849 career wins are third most in NHL history.