The Detroit Red Wings’ star-studded 2002 Stanley Cup championship team sent two more players to the Hockey Hall of Fame on Monday – Nicklas Lidstrom and Sergei Fedorov.
Defensemen Chris Pronger and Phil Housley as well as Angela Ruggiero were also named to the Hall of Fame in the players category by the 18-member selection committee. Carolina Hurricanes owner Peter Karmanos Jr. and Bill Hay of the Hockey Hall of Fame were named in the builders category.
They will be inducted on Nov. 9 in a ceremony at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.
Lidstrom, 45, was a lock to be elected during his first year of eligibility ever since he finished his remarkable 20-year NHL career in 2012.
He is widely regarded as one of the top two defensemen in NHL history, along with Bobby Orr. Lidstrom won the Norris Trophy as the league’s top defenseman seven times, second only to Orr’s eight.
A four-time Stanley Cup champion, the native of Vasteras, Sweden, was the first European player to win the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP in 2002. He assumed the captaincy when Steve Yzerman retired in 2006 and helped the Red Wings win their fourth Cup in 11 seasons in 2008. MORE