Hockey Hall of Fame 2023 inductees show of their rings during ceremonies Friday, Nov. 10, 2023, in Toronto. From left are Mike Vernon, Pierre Turgeon, Caroline Ouellette, Henrik Lundqvist, Eric Lacroix (son of inductee Pierre Lacroix), Ken Hitchcock, and Tom Barrasso. (Cole Burston/The Canadian Press via AP)
TORONTO (AP) — Henrik Lundqvist knew the call — if it was indeed coming — would light up his phone in the early evening.
The former New York Rangers goalie was home in Sweden. The Hockey Hall of Fame’s selection committee was busy in Toronto paring down its 2023 list.
Lundqvist eventually saw a number he didn’t recognize.
The only problem? It read “Spain.”
“It just didn’t make sense with the caller ID,” Lundqvist recalled thinking back in June.
Still, he decided to answer. Hall of Fame chairman Lanny McDonald was on the other end.
The 2012 Vezina Trophy winner as the NHL’s top netminder headlines the class set to be inducted Monday night.
“Very humbling,” Lundqvist said Friday at the ring ceremony. “A great feeling when you’re walking away from the game.”
He will be joined by Mike Vernon, Tom Barrasso, Pierre Turgeon, and Caroline Ouellette as part of a goalie-heavy player category. Former NHL coach Ken Hitchcock and the late Pierre Lacroix, who was both an agent and executive, will go in as builders.
A star netminder in the league for 15 seasons, Lundqvist was selected in his first year of eligibility. He’s sixth in NHL history in wins (459), ninth in games (887) and 17th in shutouts (64).
Those 459 victories are the most by a European goalie. The first Swedish goaltender to be inducted, Lundqvist won 61 more times in the playoffs before his career ended in 2020 because of a heart condition.
Selected in the seventh round by New York at the 2000 NHL draft, he backstopped the Rangers to the 2014 Stanley Cup final. He won Olympic gold with Sweden in 2006.
“This is kind of the last hurrah,” Lundqvist said….
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