By STEPHEN WHYNO AP Hockey Writer
Keith Tkachuk waited more than a decade and a half from the end of his NHL playing career to get the call from the Hockey Hall of Fame.
When it finally came, the timing only gave his family more reason to celebrate.
Tkachuk was elected to the Hall of Fame on Monday, less than 24 hours after his sons became teammates when Brady was traded from Ottawa to Florida, joining older brother Matthew.
The patriarch nicknamed “Walt” Tkachuk is part of a player class that includes center Patrice Bergeron, who won the Stanley Cup with Boston in 2011 and the Selke Trophy as the league’s top defensive forward six times, and goaltenders Carey Price from Montreal and Pekka Rinne from Nashville.
U.S. women’s hockey pioneer Cindy Curley and executive Brian Burke also are set to be inducted on Nov. 9 at a ceremony in Toronto.
Tkachuk was one of the premier power forwards of his era, playing in the 1990s and 2000s as part of the first great generation of American pro players. He recorded 1,121 points in 1,290 games, counting the playoffs, with Winnipeg, Phoenix, St. Louis and Atlanta, and was part of the U.S. team that won the 1996 World Cup of Hockey.
“I was blessed to play in the greatest sports league in the world,” Tkachuk said. “Through good times and bad times, it was always the best experience imaginable.”
Bergeron, who spent his entire career with the Bruins, was chosen in his first year of eligibility. Price and Rinne were selected in their second, with Henrik Zetterberg and Rod Brind’Amour among those passed over again.
Price and Bergeron played together on Canada’s 2014 Olympic gold medal-winning team. Bergeron also won gold in 2010.
Curley skated in the first International Ice Hockey Federation Women’s World Championship in 1990. Her 11 goals, 12 assists and 23 points in five games remain single-tournament records.
Burke won the Stanley Cup as Anaheim’s general manager in 2007, one of several front-office stops for him, along with time spent as the NHL’s director of hockey operations. Burke also took on a leading role in hockey’s Pride efforts and was a longtime advocate of the women’s game, including a stint as executive director of the Professional Women’s Hockey League Players Association.
___
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL