There will be six new members of the Hockey Hall of Fame. The 2022 inductees are Daniel Alfredsson, Roberto Luongo, Riikka Sallinen, Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin. Herb Carnegie will also be inducted in the builder category.
Alfredsson, who retired in 2014, played 1,246 games in the NHL, including more than, 1,100 for the Ottawa Senators. The greatest player in the history of that franchise, he holds nearly every offensive record imaginable, including goals (426), assists (682), points, (1,108), power-play goals (131), shorthanded goals (25) and game-winning goals (69).
The winner of the 1996 Calder Trophy, Alfredsson burst onto the scene with 61 points in 82 games after being a sixth-round pick two years earlier. Even then, he had gone undrafted multiple times, often deemed too small to compete at the highest level. In 2006, he reached a career-high of 43 goals and 103 points, finishing fifth in Hart Trophy voting, fourth in Lady Byng voting and fourth in Selke Trophy voting all in the same year. The following season he helped bring the Senators to the Stanley Cup Final, leading the playoffs in scoring with 14 goals and 22 points, including four game-winners. His 1,157 career points rank only behind Mats Sundin among Swedish-born players.
Two of the names just behind him on that list were also inducted, as the Sedin twins go into the Hall together in their first year of eligibility. The dynamic duo combined for 2,111 points together over 17 years with the Vancouver Canucks, rarely ever seeing the ice without each other. Difficult to separate, each won individual awards – Henrik took home the Hart Trophy and Art Ross in 2010, while Daniel won the Ted Lindsay (then Lester B. Pearson) and Art Ross in 2011 – and came within a single game of the Stanley Cup. There are few players who have ever had such an impact on the Canucks organization, and it is lasting; the twins are part of the front office and will take on an increased role in the upcoming season.
The goaltender in that 2011 Stanley Cup run was Luongo, who will be inducted in his first year of eligibility as well, after one of the most impressive careers by an NHL netminder. Over parts of 19 seasons, starting with the New York Islanders but mostly spent with the Canucks and Florida Panthers, Luongo faced 30,924 shots across 1,044 appearances. Both of those numbers put him behind only Martin Brodeur all time, and while he was certainly not always playing behind the strongest defensive units, Luongo sits ninth in career save percentage at .919. A Vezina Trophy finalist on three occasions, he failed to ever win the award, instead settling for the Jennings Trophy in 2011.
While he failed to raise the Stanley Cup, Luongo’s international record is nearly unmatched. With two Olympic golds, two World Championship golds and one World Cup gold, he routinely helped Canada topple the rest of the world in tournament play, including a memorable turn at the 2010 Games held in Vancouver while he was a member – and in fact captain, despite not being allowed to wear the “C” during games – of the Canucks.
Sallinen too will be known to hockey fans more for her international play than anything else, as she becomes the first Finnish women’s hockey player to be inducted. A three-time European champion, two-time Olympic medalist and seven-time World Championship medalist, the dynamic forward was a huge reason why Finland became the consensus third-ranked country in the world, able to compete at times with the powerhouse squads from Canada and the U.S.
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