TORONTO – The names are familiar because their achievements are part of the very history of the game. The Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto announced today its Class of 2017. Inducted are Players Dave Andreychuk, Danielle Goyette, Paul Kariya, Mark Recchi, and Teemu Selanne. Builders Clare Drake and Jeremy Jacobs will also be honoured.

They will be inducted in the annual ceremony at the HHOF on 13 November 2017.

Andreychuk was unique among hockey’s greatest goalscorers. He was NOT a great skater. He was NOT a brilliant playmaker. He was NOT someone who could go end-to-end. BUT, put the puck on his stick near the goal, and it was in the net before goalies knew what had happened.

Drafted 16th overall by Buffalo in 1982, he scored just 14 goals in 43 games in his rookie season, 1982-83. The next year he exploded to 38, his first of 14 consecutive seasons of 20 or more. He reached his zenith in the two-year period, 1992-94, when he had 54 (split between Buffalo and Toronto) and 53 (exclusively with the Leafs), respectively.

But despite a career that saw him score 640 regular-season goals (14th all time) and 1,338 points (28th all time) in 1,639 games (6th all time), his greatest memory came with Tampa Bay in 2003-04, when the 40-year-old won his first and only Stanley Cup.

Andreychuk was a true NHL player, a big and strong man whom an opponent couldn’t easily knock off the puck. Combined with a quick release, he was one of the greatest scorers in the game’ history.

Like Andreychuk, Danielle Goyette played into her forties. She was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2013 and is the fifth woman so honoured by the Hockey Hall of Fame (after Angela James, Cammi Granato, Geraldine Heaney, and Angela Ruggiero).

Goyette played in three Olympics and nine IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championships, winning gold every time with two exceptions, the ’98 Olympics and 2005 Worlds. In 61 games at the highest level she averaged a point and a half a game and was adept as both a scorer and passer. She led all players in Nagano in 1998 with eight goals and was the scoring leader at the 1992 Women’s Worlds with 10 points. She had as many points in Salt Lake in 2002 to tie for the overall lead.

By the time Goyette had played her final games for Canada in 2007 at age 41, she was second all-time with 15 goals at the Olympics and fourth all-time with 68 points at the Women’s Worlds and third all-time with 37 goals.

In addition to the top international events, Goyette also played in every 3 or 4 Nations Cup between 1997 and 2006, and she played from 1998 to 2007 in the Western Women’s Hockey League (WWHL) for the Calgary Oval X-Treme, the dominant team in Western Canada.

Goyette was the flag-bearer for Canada at the opening ceremonies of the 2006 Games in Turin, leading her team into the stadium as she would soon lead them to a second Olympic gold.

A native of British Columbia, Paul Kariya was only 5’10” (178 cm) and 180 lbs. (82 kg), but he was a sensational player in a smaller package. He took the NCAA route to the NHL, playing for the Maine Black Bears and leading them to a national championship and winning the Hobey Baker Award in 1992-93, his only full season with the team.

That summer he was drafted 4th overall by Anaheim, but he put his NHL career on hold for a year. He started the ‘93-‘94 season with Maine but he left before Christmas to join Canada’s National Team to prepare for the 1994 Olympics in Lillehammer. Canada lost the gold medal to Russia, but at season’s end Kariya played at the World Championship, winning gold.

It took only one season before Kariya established himself as a star in the NHL. In his sophomore season he scored 50 goals and 108 points both, as it turned out, career highs. Not big, he had breakaway speed and a superb shot.

Kariya, of Japanese descent, was destined to be the centerpiece of Canada’s participation at the first NHL Olympics, in Nagano in 1998, but he suffered a concussion and couldn’t play. He did play in Salt Lake four years later, though, winning gold, but the head injuries kept coming and forced him to retire early.

Unfortunately, he just missed two historic milestones, finishing his career with 989 points (402 goals) in exactly 989 games played. Nevertheless, he was an elite player and sportsman at all times on ice.

Mark Recchi is one of a small group of players – only eleven – in the long and storied history of the Stanley Cup to win the sacred trophy with three teams: Pittsburgh (1991), Carolina (2006), and Boston (2011). As well, in 2011 he became the oldest player to score in a Cup finals game at age 43. Only Chris Chelios and Lester Patrick have won the Cup at an older age.

But Recchi’s achievements aren’t so much about age as they are about representing consistency and playing at a high level for a long time. He started in the NHL with Pittsburgh in 1988-89, playing 15 games, and in his second full season, 1990-91, he set a career best for assists (73) as the Penguins won their first Cup in team history.

He was traded to Philadelphia midway through the following year, and in 1992-93 he had 123 points, his highest total and still a Flyers’ team record. In all, he played a staggering 22 NHL seasons. In all, that added up to 1,652 regular-season games, and he scored 577 goals and 1,533 points and played in another 189 playoff games.

After winning the Cup with Boston in 2011, he retired and later joined the Penguins staff in an executive capacity, being part of the two most recent Cup wins in Pittsburgh.

Internationally Recchi played at the 1988 World Juniors for Canada, winning gold. He also played in three World Championships – 1990, 1993, 1997 – winning gold in the last, and was a part of Canada’s Olympic team in 1988 when the NHL participated for the first time.

Selanne was just inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame at ceremonies in Cologne during the 2017 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship. His career was equally remarkable in the NHL and internationally.

Drafted by the Winnipeg Jets in 1988, he made his NHL debut in October 1992 as a 22-year-old, Selanne played with a maturity far beyond any other first year player. By the time the season was over he had scored a staggering 76 goals and 132 points, both records for a rookie and which might never be broken. He was, of course, awarded the Calder Trophy, and although he never reached those lofty heights again he did establish a level of consistently high play that made him an elite player.

Selanne was called the “Finnish Flash” because of his breakaway speed, but he had a fantastic shot as well. Once he created an opening with his skating, he was more than able to finish the play with a wicked blast.

Despite his status, though, the Jets traded him to Anaheim in a deal that brought young players Chad Kilger and Oleg Tverdovski to the Jets. It was a deal Winnipeg fans had a tough time accepting, and an inspired Selanne responded with consecutive 50-goal seasons with the Ducks.

Like all superstars, Selanne was not only highly skilled – he was incredibly consistent at this high level. He scored 684 goals in 21 NHL seasons, three times surpassing 50 in a season. In 1998/99, he won the “Rocket” Richard Trophy with 47 goals, tops in the league. In all, he recorded 1,457 total points in 1,451 regular-season games.

Despite the numbers and personal success, though, his greatest memory of NHL play was the 2006-07 season when he helped the Ducks to their first, and only, Stanley Cup.

Ultimately, though, it was his storied career with Suomi that fans remember. Selanne played in the Sochi Olympics in 2014 at age 43, his record sixth Games. There he played so well while leading the Finns to a bronze medal that he was named tournament MVP. He retired as the all-time record holder in Olympic hockey for total points (43).

Clare Drake is the winningest coach in Canadian university hockey. He led the University of Alberta for 28 years during a career behind the bench that lasted some 40 years. Drake was one of three coaches for Canada at the 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid (with Tom Watt and Lorne Davis). His induction is extraordinary because his career and success fall well outside the purview of the NHL, the usual standard for the HHOF.

Jeremy Jacobs has been the owner of the Boston Bruins since 1975. In 2015, he was given the Lester Patrick Award for contributions to the game in the United States, and he has been Chairman of the NHL’s Board of Governors since 2007.

ANDREW PODNIEKS