And then there was Vladislav Tretiak, the incomparable Soviet goalie who had rarely tasted defeat during his 15-year career. Tretiak’s inclusion was a monumental break from tradition for the Hockey Hall of Fame. He was the first Soviet-trained player to be inducted, a player who had never appeared in the NHL and whose merits were based entirely on his play internationally. Of course, the selection committee could not have chosen a more worthy candidate. Tretiak made his debut at the 1970 World Championship at the age of 17 and rose to prominence two years later at the 1972 Summit Series against Canada, almost single-handedly pushing the Canadians to the brink of defeat.

Tretiak went on to win ten gold medals at the World Championships and three more Olympic titles before retiring in 1984. He had been drafted by the Montreal Canadiens the previous year, and when it became clear to him that Soviet authorities would never allow him to leave his country to play in North America, he called it quits.

Despite his induction nearly two decades ago, though, Tretiak’s successes have not led to more non-NHLers being inducted. Valeri Kharlamov was the only other member of that Summit Series team to go in (in 2005), but with the plethora of talented Europeans in the NHL today, it is only a matter of time for the two worlds — the NHL and IIHF — to further assimilate.