photo: © Matthew Manor
The Hockey Hall of Fame Selection Committee has voted to induct eight new members to its hallowed halls at its next ceremony this coming November.
Two women, Canada’s Jennifer Botterill and American Brianna Decker, join four other players and two Builders. In the former category are Zdeno Chara, Joe Thornton, Duncan Keith, and Alexander Mogilny. In the latter, Jack Parker and Daniele Sauvageau.
A native of Ottawa, Botterill is still the only player to win the Patty Kazmaier Award twice, which she did in 2002 and 2003 during her four years with Harvard. Internationally, she had an outstanding career with Canada between 1998 and 2009. She was the youngest player on the team at the 1998 Olympics, winning a silver medal, and she later won two Olympic gold in 2002 and ’06. Botterill also played at eight Women’s World Championships, winning five gold and three silver.
Decker’s career began soon after Botterill retired. Decker won the Kazmaier in 2012 with the University of Wisconsin, which she had joined in the fall of 2009. Earlier that year she had helped the U.S. win gold at the Women’s U18 tournament, and she made her first senior team in 2011, helping the Americans win gold in Switzerland. Over the course of the next decade, Decker won gold at the 2018 Olympics as well as silver in 2014 and 2022. In Women’s Worlds play, she won six gold and two silver. She also won the Clarkson Cup with the Boston Blades in the CWHL in 2014-15.
Two women, Canada’s Jennifer Botterill and American Brianna Decker, join four other players and two Builders. In the former category are Zdeno Chara, Joe Thornton, Duncan Keith, and Alexander Mogilny. In the latter, Jack Parker and Daniele Sauvageau.
A native of Ottawa, Botterill is still the only player to win the Patty Kazmaier Award twice, which she did in 2002 and 2003 during her four years with Harvard. Internationally, she had an outstanding career with Canada between 1998 and 2009. She was the youngest player on the team at the 1998 Olympics, winning a silver medal, and she later won two Olympic gold in 2002 and ’06. Botterill also played at eight Women’s World Championships, winning five gold and three silver.
Decker’s career began soon after Botterill retired. Decker won the Kazmaier in 2012 with the University of Wisconsin, which she had joined in the fall of 2009. Earlier that year she had helped the U.S. win gold at the Women’s U18 tournament, and she made her first senior team in 2011, helping the Americans win gold in Switzerland. Over the course of the next decade, Decker won gold at the 2018 Olympics as well as silver in 2014 and 2022. In Women’s Worlds play, she won six gold and two silver. She also won the Clarkson Cup with the Boston Blades in the CWHL in 2014-15.
photo: © Andre Ringuette
Slovakia’s Chara was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame only last month. He played in three Olympics (2006-14), seven Men’s World Championships (1999-2012), and two World Cups (2004-16), and in the NHL he played in more games than any defenceman in league history. He was quick in his own end and a force offensively, and he played an effective game for more than a quarter century. Chara captained the Boston Bruins to the Stanley Cup in 2011, only the second European to do so, and he won two silver medals with Slovakia at the Worlds, in 2000 and 2012. He wore the “C” for the Slovaks at the 2010 and 2014 Olympics as well as at the Worlds in 2001 and 2012. In the NHL, he played 24 seasons with four teams, principally the Bruins, captaining them for all of his 14 seasons. Chara won the James Norris Trophy in 2009 and was named IIHF Directorate Best Defender in 2012.
photo: © Matthew Manor
Thornton was drafted 1st overall by Boston in 1997 and went on to play 24 seasons in the NHL. Big and strong, he was more passer than scorer, and he is the only player in league history to win the Art Ross and Hart Trophies during a season in which he was traded (2005-06, from Boston to San Jose). He won gold with Canada’s World Junior team in 1997 and gold at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. He was also on both victorious World Cup teams in 2004 and 2016 and won a silver medal at the 2005 World Championship.
Keith won two Olympic gold medals with Canada, with Thornton in 2010 and again four years later, and three Stanley Cups with Chicago in 2010, 2013, and 2015. He played all but one of his 17 seasons with the Blackhawks, retiring in 2022 after a final year with Edmonton. He was both a threat offensively and a superstar in his own end as well, and for many years he played alongside Brent Seabrook, forming the best defensive duo in the game.
Mogilny retired back in 2006 and fell just short of two milestones in the NHL, finishing with 990 games played and 473 goals. But he did eclipse the 1,000-point mark and led the league in goals with 76 in 77 games in 1992-93. Internationally, he won gold medals in three different tournaments in successive years—World Juniors in 1987, Olympics 1988, and World Championship 1989.
Parker became the head coach of Boston University in 1973, a position he held for the next 40 years. During those decades, the Terriers won three national titles and appeared in the NCAA playoffs 24 times.
Sauvageau is the first woman inducted in the Builder category. Away from hockey, she was a police officer for the RCMP for more than three decades, and on ice she coached Canada to gold at the 2001 Women’s Worlds and the 2002 Olympics. Since the inception of the PWHL, she has been GM of the Montreal Victoire.
The Hockey Hall of Fame Induction will take place on November 10, 2025.
Keith won two Olympic gold medals with Canada, with Thornton in 2010 and again four years later, and three Stanley Cups with Chicago in 2010, 2013, and 2015. He played all but one of his 17 seasons with the Blackhawks, retiring in 2022 after a final year with Edmonton. He was both a threat offensively and a superstar in his own end as well, and for many years he played alongside Brent Seabrook, forming the best defensive duo in the game.
Mogilny retired back in 2006 and fell just short of two milestones in the NHL, finishing with 990 games played and 473 goals. But he did eclipse the 1,000-point mark and led the league in goals with 76 in 77 games in 1992-93. Internationally, he won gold medals in three different tournaments in successive years—World Juniors in 1987, Olympics 1988, and World Championship 1989.
Parker became the head coach of Boston University in 1973, a position he held for the next 40 years. During those decades, the Terriers won three national titles and appeared in the NCAA playoffs 24 times.
Sauvageau is the first woman inducted in the Builder category. Away from hockey, she was a police officer for the RCMP for more than three decades, and on ice she coached Canada to gold at the 2001 Women’s Worlds and the 2002 Olympics. Since the inception of the PWHL, she has been GM of the Montreal Victoire.
The Hockey Hall of Fame Induction will take place on November 10, 2025.