According to Emily Sadler of Rogers Sportsnet on Wednesday, there were two Canadian Olympic gold medallists that were announced as part of the Hockey Hall of Fame Class of 2020. They are Jarome Iginla of St. Albert, Alberta, and Kim St. Pierre of Chateauguay, Quebec. Iginla won the gold medal for Canada at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City, and the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver. St. Pierre won three gold medals for Canada at the Olympic Winter Games. They were at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City. the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Torino, and at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver.
Iginla played 20 NHL seasons with the Calgary Flames, Colorado Avalanche, Pittsburgh Penguins, Boston Bruins, and Los Angeles Kings from 1996 to 2017. He had 625 goals and 675 assists for 1300 points in 1554 games. Iginla is the Flames’ all-time leader in goals (525), points (1095), power play goals (161), and game winning goals (83). Twice Iginla won the Rocket Richard Trophy for most goals in a season (52 in 2001-02 and 41 in 2003-04). In 2002, Iginla also won the Arty Ross Trophy for leading the NHL with 96 points. He also played in six NHL All-Star Games, was on the NHL’s first all-star team three times and won the 2002 Lester B. Pearson Award (best player in the NHL as voted on by the players’ association).
On the international stage, Iginla had 10 goals and four assists for 14 points in 19 games for Team Canada at the Olympic Winter Games. He also won the gold medal for Canada at the 1996 World Junior Hockey Championship in Boston, the 1997 World Men’s Hockey Championship in Helsinki, Finland, and the 2004 World Cup in Toronto.
St. Pierre won three Olympic gold medals and five gold medals at the Women’s World Hockey Championship (1991, 2000, 2001, 2004 and 2007). She had a record of 64 wins, 10 losses, a goals against average of 1.17, a save percentage of .939, and 25 shutouts for Canada internationally.
Three other Canadians were inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Two were in the players’ category and one in the builders’ category. In the players’ category, the Canadians inducted were Kevin Lowe of Lachute, Quebec, and Doug Wilson of Ottawa, Ontario. Interestingly both players were defensemen.
Lowe played 19 NHL seasons with the Edmonton Oilers and New York Rangers. He had 84 goals and 347 assists for 431 points. He played in seven NHL All-Star Games (1984, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990 and 1993) and won six Stanley Cups. Five of the Stanley Cups came with the Oilers in 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, and 1990, while the other came with the Rangers in 1994.
Wilson played 16 seasons with the Chicago Blackhawks and San Jose Sharks from 1977 to 1993. He had 237 goals and 590 assists for 827 points. Wilson won the Norris Trophy with the Black Hawks in 1982, and was a seven-time all-star.
The Canadian in the builders’ category was Ken Holland of Vernon, British Columbia. Holland, who is now the general manager of the Oilers, is being recognized for the three Stanley Cups he won as general manager of the Detroit Red Wings in 1998, 2002 and 2008.
