NHL Hall of Fame Class of 2016 Announced

Four more hockey legends will be immortalized in Toronto this November, as the NHL announced the Hall of Fame Class of 2016 on Monday evening.

Eric Lindros, Sergei Makarov, Rogie Vachon, and Pat Quinn will be enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame after being voted in by the 18-man selection committee, according to NHL.com. The ceremony for the four players will be held on November 14 at the Bank of Montreal building in downtown Toronto.

Induction into the Hall of Fame requires receiving 75 percent of the votes from the selection committee, which can choose to elect players, “builders” who were instrumental to advancing the game, or on-ice officials. This year’s selection of three players and one builder is roughly in line with previous years, and it’s difficult to argue against any of the four inductees.

The headliner of the Hall of Fame Class of 2016 is Lindros, who established himself as one of the top players in the NHL in the 1990s. In just 760 career games, Lindros scored 372 goals and added 493 assists, according to Hockey-Reference.com.

Lindros burst on to the scene quickly in 1992-93 after being selected first overall in the 1991 draft with a fourth place finish in the Calder Trophy voting and nomination to the NHL’s all-rookie team. From there, he would become one of the most dominant players in the league, and won the Hart Trophy with 70 points at the top scorer in the NHL in the strike-shortened 1994 season.

The Ontario native’s best season came in 1995-96, when he piled up 115 points including 47 goals. Lindros led the Philadelphia Flyers to the 1997 Stanley Cup Final, and also took home a Gold Medal for Team Canada at Salt Lake City, 2002.

Unfortunately, multiple injuries, including concussion problems, limited Lindros throughout his career, and he was only a role player for the New York Rangers, Toronto Maple Leafs and Dallas Stars in his final five years in the NHL. Had Lindros stayed healthy, he might rank among the greatest players to ever play the sport, but is still a deserving Hall of Fame inductee for his brief period of dominance.

While Makarov wasn’t in the NHL long, he’s still one of the most talented players to ever play the sport. The forward was one of the key members of the Red Army team which won Gold Medals at the 1984 and 1988 Olympics after the infamous loss to the United States in the 1980 semifinal.

Makarov came to the NHL in 1989 and won the Calder Trophy as a 31-year-old, which led the NHL to change the age limit for the award. After winning three MVPs in the Soviet League, Makarov finished his career with 292 points in 297 career games, according to Hockey Reference.

Vachon had to wait the longest of any of the candidates, but he will surely be thrilled to join the Hall of Fame Class of 2016. Many around the NHL felt the honor was long overdue for the 70-year-old Vachon, who turned in some dominant seasons with the Montreal Canadiens and Los Angeles Kings in the 1960s and 70s.

The Quebec native started his career in Montreal in 1966, and earned a Vezina Trophy and two Stanley Cup wins over the next four seasons. Vachon also put the Kings franchise on the map with two All-Star nods and a pair of top three Hart Trophy finishes across six full years.

Quinn, a former player, head coach and executive, was the only builder inducted into the Class of 2016. The 71-year-old’s biggest triumph arguably came as head coach of the 2002 Canadian Olympic team, while he also earned NHL Coach of the Year honors in 1980 and 1992 with the Flyers and Vancouver Canucks, respectively.

Mark Recchi and Paul Kariya are among the players who deserve a spot in the Hall of Fame, but will have to wait at least another year. However, it’s hard to argue against any of the four members of the NHL Hall of Fame Class of 2016, who will now take their rightful place in league history.

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