The Hockey Hall of Fame added eight new members to its pantheon of legends last night in Toronto. Honoured as Players were Jennifer Botterill, Zdeno Chara, Brianna Decker, Duncan Keith, Alexander Mogilny, and Joe Thornton. In the Builder category, honourees included coaches Jack Parker and Danielle Sauvageau.

Jennifer Botterill

Botterill played for Team Canada from 1998 to 2010, during which time she won eight gold medals and four silver. Three of those gold came at the Olympics. Botterill is one of only two players to be named World Women’s MVP more than once (2001, 2004) and over her dozen years she averaged better than a point a game (74 points in 61 games). In four years at Harvard, she became the all-time scorer in NCAA history and to this day is the only two-time winner of the Patty Kazmaier Award. 

“I will always remember at the end of our Olympic gold-medal games,” she reminisced during her acceptance speech, “we would stand in a line as a team as we awaited the presentation of the medals. And I remember we could look up, and look down that line, and you could see your friends and teammates that were getting those Olympic gold medals placed around their necks. And that moment was the best because you know that each person standing there had helped the person next to them and the person next to them. And that moment was achieved together.”

Zdeno Chara

Chara was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame just this past May. He played in more NHL games than any defenceman in league history, winning the Stanley Cup in 2011. Chara became only the second European (after Nicklas Lidstrom) to captain his team to the Cup. He is equally remembered for his play with Slovakia’s national team. He played in three Olympics, two World Cups, and seven Men’s World Championships, most notably in 2000 and 2012. In 2000, the Slovaks beat Canada, United States, and Finland en route to the gold-medal game against their neighbours, Czech Republic. Although the Czechs won, 5-3, the Slovaks had earned their first medal as an independent nation. In 2012, the Slovaks earned a “miracle silver medal.” 

“To be just the fourth Slovak-born player to be inducted after Stan Mikita, Peter Stastny, and my good friend Marian Hossa, is overwhelming,” Chara said. “Growing up in a small Slovakian town like Trencin, you don’t dream about a night like this. You dream about a patch of ice that doesn’t melt before you finish practise. You dream about finding a stick that’s not broken, or skates that will still fit for a couple of more years…When it came to hockey, the player who truly inspired me was Nick Lidstrom. Even though I knew I was a completely different player, I always tried to learn and implement some of his skills…I gave everything I had to the game, and it gave me so much more than I could ever have imagined.”

Brianna Decker

Decker won consecutive gold at the first two Women’s U18 World Championship, in 2008 and 2009, signs of things to come with the senior team. From 2011 to 2022 she won seven gold medals, including Olympic gold in 2018 and six gold at the Women’s Worlds. She was named Women’s Worlds MVP in 2017 and had 67 points in 55 games, Women’s Worlds and Olympics combined. In league play, she is one of only a few players to win both the Clarkson Cup and Isobel Cup, the former with Boston and Calgary in the CWHL, the latter with Boston in the PWHL.

“It’s hard to put this into words because no one gets here alone, and I certainly didn’t,” she began. “From the very beginning, I was surrounded by people who shaped me, not just as a player but as a person. Every teammate I’ve ever had has left a mark on me…There was always someone pushing me to be better. And it always reminded me of what it’s like to be part of something that’s bigger than yourself.”

Duncan Keith

Keith represented Canada when the team won consecutive gold medals at the Olympics, in 2010 and 2014, and he won a silver medal at the 2008 World Championship in Quebec City. In the NHL, he played 17 seasons, 16 with Chicago partnered with Brent Seabrook on the blue line. They won the Stanley Cup three times, in 2010, 2013, and 2015, and Keith was twice named Norris Trophy winner as the league’s best blueliner (2010, 2014).

“We as inductees are recognized as individuals, and I’m incredibly grateful for it,” he offered. “But if there’s one thing I’ve learned in my career, hockey is the ultimate team game. It takes a supportive family, great teammates, great coaches, and great people for me to be here right now.” 

In conclusion, he said, “I’m going to sound like an old man now, but to every kid out there, work hard, stay humble, and remember—where there’s a will, there’s a way…Hockey has given me more than I ever imagined, but it wasn’t the wins. It was the people.”

Joe Thornton

There wasn’t much that “Jumbo Joe” Thornton didn’t accomplish during his 24-year pro career. With Team Canada he won gold at the 1997 World Juniors and 2010 Olympics. He played at two World Championships as well, winning silver in 2005, when he was also named tournament MVP. He also anchored the 2004 and 2016 Team Canada victories at the World Cup of Hockey, one of only two Canadians to play in both tournament wins (Jay Bouwmeester). In the NHL, he was one of the greatest passers the game has known. In the middle of his career, during the lockout of 2004-05, he played for Davos and helped the team win a Swiss championship.

“I couldn’t stay away from the game,” Thornton explained, “so I headed to Davos. “I went over there with a 20-year-old Rick Nash, and we fell in love with the city of Davos, fell in love with the mountains, and had the time of our lives. And we were introduced to perhaps the most passionate hockey man we ever met, Arno del Curto. Thank you for showing us the love, passion, and commitment that you have for the game.”

Alexander Mogilny

Mogilny, who did not attend the ceremony, was the #9 member of the IIHF’s Triple Gold Club. He achieved this distinction by winning Olympic gold in 1988, World Championship gold in 1989, and the Stanley Cup, with New Jersey, in 2000. 

Danielle Sauvageau

Sauvageau started as an assistant coach in the Hockey Canada program, but she had her greatest successes as the women’s head coach, winning gold at the 1999 and 2001 Women’s Worlds and, more famously, at the 2002 Olympics. She is the first woman inducted as a Builder.

“Danielle doesn’t just see the future; she builds it,” said Kim St. Pierre, in her dedication speech to Sauvageau.

Jack Parker

Parker enjoyed a 40-year career at Boston University, 1973-2013, winning the NCAA championship on three occasions (1978, 1995, 2009). His 897 wins at the NCAA level was the third-most all time when he retired.

“The main reason we won so many games at BU was that we had great players,” he said. “We had a philosophy. If you want to win, build a team with the best players. We managed to do that most of the time.”