The Hockey Hall of Fame Class of 2023 is the year of the goaltender.
Netminders Henrik Lundqvist, Tom Barrasso and Mike Vernon have all been selected for the Hockey Hall of Fame, as announced Wednesday. They join former NHL center Pierre Turgeon and Canadian women’s hockey star Caroline Ouellette, as well as coach Ken Hitchcock and the late Pierre Lacroix, who built two Stanley Cup champions with the Colorado Avalanche.
Lundqvist was a first-year-eligible Hall candidate. He’s sixth in NHL career wins (459), ninth in games played (887) and 11th in career save percentage (.918). Lundqvist won the Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s top goaltender in 2011-12 and was a finalist for the award a total of five times. He was also a finalist for the Hart Trophy as league MVP in 2011-12.
What really put Lundqvist over the top was his international success. He led Team Sweden to Olympic men’s hockey gold in the 2006 Turin Games and silver in the 2014 Sochi Games. He won gold at the IIHF world championship in 2017 and bronze at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.
Lundqvist played his entire career with the New York Rangers. He signed a free agent contract with the Washington Capitals in 2020 but did not play for…
