Sergei Zubov, Hayley Wickenheiser Headline 2019 Hockey Hall of Fame Class
The Hockey Hall of Fame announced its 2019 class of inductees Tuesday, with Canadian national team star Hayley Wickenheiser and former Dallas Stars stalwart Sergei Zubov headlining the group.
They are joined by Guy Carbonneau, Vaclav Nedomansky, Jim Rutherford and Jerry York, per TSN's Frank Seravalli.
Wickenheiser competed in six Olympics from 1998 to 2014, winning four gold medals and one silver. She also collected seven gold medals in 12 appearances at the IIHF Women's World Championship. The 40-year-old is considered arguably the greatest women's hockey player ever.
Zubov spent 16 seasons in the NHL, with 12 in Dallas. The Russian helped the Stars win their lone Stanley Cup in 1999 and was a member of the New York Rangers when they lifted the Cup in 1994. The defenseman appeared in 839 games, notching 111 goals and 438 assists, and was a second-team All-Star in 2006.
Carbonneau and Nedomansky rounded out the player category. The former was a teammate of Zubov for four years with the Stars.
The 59-year-old Canadian was also a part of the 1999 title-winning team and a champion on two other occasions with the Montreal Canadiens in 1986 and 1993. While Carbonneau doesn't have a great offensive record (221 goals in 912 games), his three Selke Trophies spoke to where he made his biggest impact on the ice.
Nedomansky didn't have a decorated NHL career in large part because he didn't make the move to the league until 1977. A native of Czechoslovakia, he defected to Canada in 1974. As the first hockey player to defect from Eastern Europe, he paved the way for countless others to make the same move.
Rutherford and York will enter the Hall in the builder category.
Rutherford helped build a Stanley Cup winner for the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006 as general manager. Since he took the same position with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2014, he added two more Cup triumphs to his resume.
Like Rutherford, York continues to work in the game. He has served as Boston College's head coach since 1994. All but one of the Eagles' five national titles came under York's watch.
