Following the end of the NHL regular season and the crowning of the Colorado Avalanche as the Stanley Cup champions, it is officially the offseason. Of all the interesting sports news around the NHL now, one that stood out during the first day of the offseason was the announcement of the 2022 Hockey Hall of Fame induction class.
Former NHL players that are to be inducted are both Henrik and Daniel Sedin, Daniel Alfredsson, and Roberto Luongo. Along with those, four former NHLers include Finnish women’s hockey legend Hanna-Rikka Sallinen and Canadian player of Jamaican descent, Herb Carnegie.
Henrik Sedin
Sweden native, Henrik Sedin, played 17 seasons in the NHL, all with Vancouver Canucks, who drafted him third overall in 1999. He played 1,330 games from 2000 to 2018 and put up 240 goals and 830 assists for a total of 1,070 points in that time.
He served as captain of the Canucks starting in 2010 until he retired in 2018. In the 2009-10 season, Henrik Sedin was awarded the Hart Memorial Trophy and Art Ross Trophy for the NHL’s most valuable player and top point scorer.
Daniel Sedin
Like his brother, Daniel Sedin played his entire 17-season career for the Vancouver Canucks from 2000-2018. He was drafted second overall in the 1999 draft. During his 17 seasons, Daniel played 1,306 games and scored 393 goals, 648 assists, and a total of 1,041 points.
He put up the fourth most goals as a left-wing in his 17-year span and won the NHL scoring title in 2010-2011 with 104 points. He also won the Pearson Award as the NHLPA player of the year and finished second in MVP voting in that same season.
Roberto Luongo
Fellow Canuck, Roberto Luongo, also joins the Sedins in the HoF. Unlike them, Luongo did not spend his entire career in Vancouver as he was drafted fourth overall by the New York Islanders in 1997 and spent just one of his 18 seasons there.
He went on to play five seasons for the Florida Panthers until the 2006-07 season, when he began his tenure with the Vancouver Canucks and played 448 games for them. Luongo went back to Florida in 2014-15 to finish off his career playing 572 total games there. He finished his career second all-time with 1,044 games and fourth all-time with 489 wins.
Daniel Alfredsson
Another Sweden native Daniel Alfredsson has been waiting five years to be inducted into the HoF as he has been eligible since 2017. Alfredsson was drafted 133rd overall in the sixth round of the 1994 draft by the Ottawa Senators, where he played 17 of his 18 seasons.
During his career, he captained the Senators from 1999-2013 and finished with 1,246 games and put up 444 goals, 713 assists, and 1,157 points. He played 1,178 games with the Senators and 68 with the Detroit Red Wings during his final season. He won the Calder Trophy in 1995-96 as the league’s top rookie.
Herb Carnegie
Herb Carnegie is a 2022 HoF inductee who became a legend outside of the NHL as he spent his career in the semi-pro leagues of Quebec. Carnegie played famously for the Quebec Aces in the Quebec Senior Hockey League.
During that time, he played with Jean Beliveau, who called him one of the best skaters he played with. Also, during that time, Carnegie, along with his brother Ozzie and Manny McIntyre, formed the first all-black line in hockey.
Hannah-Riikka Sallinen
Finnish native Hanna-Riikka Sallinen is considered one of the best European women’s hockey players ever. Sallinen played 11 seasons in Finland’s elite league, Naisten SM-sarja, and was a five-time champion. She won an Olympic Bronze with Finland in the 1998 and 2019 Olympics and, during the 2019 Olympics, became the oldest hockey player of any gender to win a medal at age 44.
This induction class was major for the Vancouver Canucks, who had three players inducted, as well as Europe, who had four players inducted, and black players, who will see a legend in Herb Carnegie inducted. The induction ceremony will take place at the Hockey Hall of Fame on November 11th-14th, 2022, in the Meridian Hall Theater.
