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11-12-2007, 01:09 PM
OHL graduates inducted into Hall of Fame
Created: Nov 11, 2007
By Aaron Bell
The Hockey Hall of Fame induction ceremonies have a decidedly Ontario Hockey League flavour this year with four of five inductees that developed their skills on and off the ice in the OHL.
OHL graduates Jim Gregory, Al MacInnis, Ron Francis and Scott Stevens will be inducted into the Hall on Monday, along with Mark Messier, who played Tier II hockey in Alberta before embarking on his legendary career in the NHL.
“This is a remarkable class that is being inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame this year,” said OHL Commissioner David Branch. “We are very proud as a league of our association with Jim Gregory, Al MacInnis, Ron Francis and Scott Stevens and congratulate them on receiving this highest of honours in the hockey world. The OHL has built a foundation on the contributions of players and builders like these gentlemen that continues with the players, coaches, managers and officials that are in our league today.”
Gregory, MacInnis, Francis and Stevens join 57 other OHL graduates that were previously inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, including greats like Andy Bathgate, Alex Delvecchio, Bobby Orr, Gordie Howe, Bobby Hull, Bernie Parent, Denis Potvin and Wayne Gretzky.
Gregory started his career as a statistician with the Toronto St. Michael’s Majors in the late 1950’s. He later became their trainer and was their general manager and trainer in 1961 when they won the Memorial Cup championship. He also won a pair of Memorial Cups with the Toronto Marlboros – as their coach in 1964 and their GM in 1967.
The Dunnville, Ontario native moved on to a professional hockey career, first as coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs’ affiliate Vancouver Canucks in the Western (Professional) Hockey League before becoming the Maple Leafs’ GM in 1969.
“I have never met a person who has given more to the game and given more to the players who he has come in contact with over the years,” Branch said. “He is truly a special person and one of the greatest builders of the game of hockey.”
Gregory has been with the National Hockey League office since 1979 and is now their Senior V.P. He is now a member of the OHL’s Memorial Cup Site Selection Committee.
“It sure is overwhelming and mind-boggling,” said Gregory, who is being inducted to the Hall of Fame in the Builder category. “When you’re in a job that is kind of a dream job all your life, I tell people I should pay to go to work because I don’t feel like I’ve really been doing any kind of work in this position since I started in ’59. I’m a pretty lucky guy.
“My dad told me once before he passed away that ‘you’re pretty lucky to have a job that you love so much – don’t mess it up’.”
All three players made the jump directly from the OHL to the NHL, including MacInnis, who played three seasons with the Rangers, helping them win back-to-back OHL championships in 1981 and 1982 and the Memorial Cup in Hull, Quebec in 1982. MacInnis was named to the tournament all-star team.
“We play this game to win and winning in the Memorial Cup in '82 is obviously (a) highlight,” said MacInnis, a first round pick of the Calgary Flames in 1981. “Especially (after) losing in the championship game in 1981. To get that far and lose in the championship game was pretty devastating, but we knew coming back the following year we were going to have a strong team. We were going to have another team that would compete for the Memorial Cup.”
MacInnis had a reputation as one of the hardest shooters in the NHL during his 20-year career. The Inverness, Nova Scotia native practiced for hours against a sheet of plywood as a kid and continued to work on his shot when he arrived in Kitchener.
“My junior coach at the time - Joe Crozier in Kitchener - he was watching me shoot pucks at practice one day and he came over and said, kid, that shot’s going to get you to the NHL some day,” MacInnis reflected. “Sure enough it was a shot that gave me a chance to play.”
MacInnis’ 38 goals in the 1982-83 season tied Bobby Orr’s record for the most by a defenceman. Bryan Fogarty eclipsed the mark and set the new record of 47 goals six years later.
MacInnis was a two-time first team All-Star and also won the Max Kaminsky Trophy as the OHL’s best defenceman for the 1982-83 season.
Stevens spent one full season with his hometown Rangers before making the jump to the NHL’s Washington Capitals as an 18-year-old blueliner. He joined MacInnis on the Rangers’ Memorial Cup championship squad in 1982 after scoring a goal and 11 points in their 15-game march to their second consecutive OHL championship.
That team also included scoring stars Brian Bellows, Jeff Larmer and Grant Martin as well as Mike Eagles and goaltender Wendell Young.
“Winning the Memorial Cup was a great thrill,” said Stevens. “That and winning the Canada Cup were the two highlights of my career until we won the Stanley Cup. It was a great feeling, winning the Memorial Cup.”
Stevens had already developed a reputation as a fearless hitter and kept opposing forwards honest when they were coming into the Kitchener zone.
“I knew that was my game from when I was very small,” said Stevens, who played 1,635 NHL games with Washington, St. Louis and New Jersey without spending a day in the minors. “I was a physical player and getting contact and pretty much played that way from day one in the National Hockey League. Everyone knew that was a big part of my game, the physical part, the hitting.”
After scoring 26 goals and 69 points in 64 games as a rookie with his hometown Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds in 1980-81, Francis was the fourth overall pick of the Hartford Whalers in the NHL draft. The big centre was on pace to double his rookie scoring totals before the Whalers called him up to the NHL in November. He spent the next 23 years in the NHL with the Whalers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Carolina Hurricanes and finished his career with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2004.
Francis said that being inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame is an incredible honour and he appreciates the special group of players that he’s being inducted with this year.
“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t thrilled about it,” said Francis, the fourth highest scorer in the history of the NHL. “I got the phone call that day, and as excited as you are and as proud as you are to get that call to go into the Hall of Fame. When they start telling you who you’re going in with, Mark Messier and Scott Stevens and Al MacInnis, and even a guy like Jim Gregory who I’ve known for a lot of years in the game and has done so much as proud as I am to go in.
“What a great bunch of guys and awesome group of hockey players to go into with. I’m thrilled to go in with this class.”
Created: Nov 11, 2007
By Aaron Bell
The Hockey Hall of Fame induction ceremonies have a decidedly Ontario Hockey League flavour this year with four of five inductees that developed their skills on and off the ice in the OHL.
OHL graduates Jim Gregory, Al MacInnis, Ron Francis and Scott Stevens will be inducted into the Hall on Monday, along with Mark Messier, who played Tier II hockey in Alberta before embarking on his legendary career in the NHL.
“This is a remarkable class that is being inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame this year,” said OHL Commissioner David Branch. “We are very proud as a league of our association with Jim Gregory, Al MacInnis, Ron Francis and Scott Stevens and congratulate them on receiving this highest of honours in the hockey world. The OHL has built a foundation on the contributions of players and builders like these gentlemen that continues with the players, coaches, managers and officials that are in our league today.”
Gregory, MacInnis, Francis and Stevens join 57 other OHL graduates that were previously inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, including greats like Andy Bathgate, Alex Delvecchio, Bobby Orr, Gordie Howe, Bobby Hull, Bernie Parent, Denis Potvin and Wayne Gretzky.
Gregory started his career as a statistician with the Toronto St. Michael’s Majors in the late 1950’s. He later became their trainer and was their general manager and trainer in 1961 when they won the Memorial Cup championship. He also won a pair of Memorial Cups with the Toronto Marlboros – as their coach in 1964 and their GM in 1967.
The Dunnville, Ontario native moved on to a professional hockey career, first as coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs’ affiliate Vancouver Canucks in the Western (Professional) Hockey League before becoming the Maple Leafs’ GM in 1969.
“I have never met a person who has given more to the game and given more to the players who he has come in contact with over the years,” Branch said. “He is truly a special person and one of the greatest builders of the game of hockey.”
Gregory has been with the National Hockey League office since 1979 and is now their Senior V.P. He is now a member of the OHL’s Memorial Cup Site Selection Committee.
“It sure is overwhelming and mind-boggling,” said Gregory, who is being inducted to the Hall of Fame in the Builder category. “When you’re in a job that is kind of a dream job all your life, I tell people I should pay to go to work because I don’t feel like I’ve really been doing any kind of work in this position since I started in ’59. I’m a pretty lucky guy.
“My dad told me once before he passed away that ‘you’re pretty lucky to have a job that you love so much – don’t mess it up’.”
All three players made the jump directly from the OHL to the NHL, including MacInnis, who played three seasons with the Rangers, helping them win back-to-back OHL championships in 1981 and 1982 and the Memorial Cup in Hull, Quebec in 1982. MacInnis was named to the tournament all-star team.
“We play this game to win and winning in the Memorial Cup in '82 is obviously (a) highlight,” said MacInnis, a first round pick of the Calgary Flames in 1981. “Especially (after) losing in the championship game in 1981. To get that far and lose in the championship game was pretty devastating, but we knew coming back the following year we were going to have a strong team. We were going to have another team that would compete for the Memorial Cup.”
MacInnis had a reputation as one of the hardest shooters in the NHL during his 20-year career. The Inverness, Nova Scotia native practiced for hours against a sheet of plywood as a kid and continued to work on his shot when he arrived in Kitchener.
“My junior coach at the time - Joe Crozier in Kitchener - he was watching me shoot pucks at practice one day and he came over and said, kid, that shot’s going to get you to the NHL some day,” MacInnis reflected. “Sure enough it was a shot that gave me a chance to play.”
MacInnis’ 38 goals in the 1982-83 season tied Bobby Orr’s record for the most by a defenceman. Bryan Fogarty eclipsed the mark and set the new record of 47 goals six years later.
MacInnis was a two-time first team All-Star and also won the Max Kaminsky Trophy as the OHL’s best defenceman for the 1982-83 season.
Stevens spent one full season with his hometown Rangers before making the jump to the NHL’s Washington Capitals as an 18-year-old blueliner. He joined MacInnis on the Rangers’ Memorial Cup championship squad in 1982 after scoring a goal and 11 points in their 15-game march to their second consecutive OHL championship.
That team also included scoring stars Brian Bellows, Jeff Larmer and Grant Martin as well as Mike Eagles and goaltender Wendell Young.
“Winning the Memorial Cup was a great thrill,” said Stevens. “That and winning the Canada Cup were the two highlights of my career until we won the Stanley Cup. It was a great feeling, winning the Memorial Cup.”
Stevens had already developed a reputation as a fearless hitter and kept opposing forwards honest when they were coming into the Kitchener zone.
“I knew that was my game from when I was very small,” said Stevens, who played 1,635 NHL games with Washington, St. Louis and New Jersey without spending a day in the minors. “I was a physical player and getting contact and pretty much played that way from day one in the National Hockey League. Everyone knew that was a big part of my game, the physical part, the hitting.”
After scoring 26 goals and 69 points in 64 games as a rookie with his hometown Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds in 1980-81, Francis was the fourth overall pick of the Hartford Whalers in the NHL draft. The big centre was on pace to double his rookie scoring totals before the Whalers called him up to the NHL in November. He spent the next 23 years in the NHL with the Whalers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Carolina Hurricanes and finished his career with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2004.
Francis said that being inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame is an incredible honour and he appreciates the special group of players that he’s being inducted with this year.
“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t thrilled about it,” said Francis, the fourth highest scorer in the history of the NHL. “I got the phone call that day, and as excited as you are and as proud as you are to get that call to go into the Hall of Fame. When they start telling you who you’re going in with, Mark Messier and Scott Stevens and Al MacInnis, and even a guy like Jim Gregory who I’ve known for a lot of years in the game and has done so much as proud as I am to go in.
“What a great bunch of guys and awesome group of hockey players to go into with. I’m thrilled to go in with this class.”