Last month, the Hockey Hall of Fame unveiled its class of 2024, which consisted of five players — three in the male player category, two in the female player category — and two builders. Two of the male players, Pavel Datsyuk and Shea Weber, went in during their first year of eligibility. Jeremy Roenick had been eligible since 2012, or three years after he played his last official game as a professional with the 2008-09 San Jose Sharks. That’s a distinction that’s unique to the HHOF, because it takes into account players who continue to play professionally around the world, even after their NHL careers conclude.

So, for example, Datsyuk played five years in Russia after leaving the Detroit Red Wings following the 2015-16 season, which is why he wasn’t eligible for selection until this year. Jaromir Jagr, the NHL’s second all-time leading scorer, hasn’t played a game in the NHL since 2017-18, but he continues to play a handful of games every year for Kladno, the team he owns in Czechia. If Jagr finally stops playing this year, he’ll become eligible in 2027 — and he’ll be about as sure a thing as there is to a guaranteed first-ballot inductee.

That’s the thing about Hall of Fame debates. They generally aren’t too controversial at the top end.

GO DEEPER

How…

Byron Ritchie jotted out a quick note on his phone and sent off a text to Jarome Iginla, his former Calgary Flames teammate.

Ritchie’s son Ryder was mired in a goal-scoring slump, and Ritchie asked Iginla if he could watch a few of his son’s shifts. “Just see if you’re seeing something different than I am,” Byron asked.

It was one hockey dad asking another for advice, but in truth, less personal versions of this type of exchange are commonplace for Ritchie and Iginla. The two former NHL forwards played together in Calgary for two seasons nearly 20 years ago. They both made their offseason homes in the Okanagan, a picturesque locale in the interior of British Columbia that’s popular among NHL players.

In August 2006, following their first year as teammates in Calgary, Ritchie’s wife, Maria Johansson, and Jarome’s wife, Kara Iginla, both gave birth to sons. Ryder was born on Aug. 3. Tij Iginla arrived the very next day.

Now the two 17-year-olds are top NHL prospects heading into this weekend’s NHL Draft in Las Vegas and working through the pressures of draft eligibility together at RINK Hockey Academy in Kelowna. Jarome Iginla coaches the academy’s U18 team — including his son Joe, who made his WHL debut as a 15-year-old this season — while Byron Ritchie…

Linus Ullmark expressed reservations about being moved before the March 8 trade deadline, primarily because an in-season deal might have required him to uproot his family, according to a source close to the Boston Bruins goaltender. The 30-year-old and his wife, Moa, have two school-aged children, Harry and Lily. Destination was not necessarily Ullmark’s concern.

Whether Ullmark would feel the same way about an offseason trade is unknown. Being traded in the summer would give Ullmark and his wife time to find a home and get their children settled in a new school by the start of the 2024-25 academic year.

Ullmark and general manager Don Sweeney have declined to answer whether the goalie exercised his partial trade protection. According to CapFriendly, 16 teams are on Ullmark’s no-trade list. He would have to approve a trade to any of those clubs.

Before the deadline, Ullmark voiced his concerns to Patrice Bergeron. Ullmark said it gave him comfort to speak to the former captain about his situation.

“I’m sure it wasn’t easy for him and his family,” Bergeron said at the time of Ullmark being in trade conversation. “He’s got kids enrolled in school. I’m sure his head was spinning. If it was going to happen, it’s like, ‘OK, what do I do? My kids are in school. My…

Kevin Shattenkirk liked the pitch. The Anaheim Ducks wanted the 2020 Stanley Cup champion to help build a championship culture.

On Oct. 9, 2020, Shattenkirk signed a three-year, $11.7 million contract, joining then-Ducks and future Boston Bruins teammates Hampus Lindholm and Danton Heinen. Three years later, Shattenkirk’s Anaheim residency had concluded without a playoff appearance.

“We tried,” Shattenkirk said. “It shows how hard it is to create a locker room like they have here. When you look around the league, the teams that are consistently at the top of the pile, it takes time.”

Shattenkirk knows his black-and-gold history. In 2007-08, he was a Boston University freshman when Zdeno Chara, Patrice Bergeron and the Bruins made the first of seven straight postseason appearances.

Shattenkirk knew Chara and Bergeron had helped construct something with staying power. He wanted to feel it. He was tired of losing.

“It was hard. It was long days,” Shattenkirk said of three straight playoff no-shows. “I’m sure my wife can attest to it at home.”

Don Sweeney was watching.

Rebuilding a juggernaut

The 2022-23 Bruins were monsters. They won a record-breaking 65 times.

Bergeron and David Krejci were back for one last ride. Former MVP Taylor Hall was on the third line. The…

BOSTON — Linus Ullmark was an American Hockey League goaltender in Rochester, N.Y., when he decided to upgrade his style.

Roughly eight years ago, Ullmark discovered an Instagram account that blew up overnight. Tom Marchitelli spent years as a hedge fund accountant wearing expensive clothes and trusting his stylist. But with the encouragement of his wife, he decided to start his own business and show off his outfits. His Instagram and Twitter accounts, Gents Playbook, soon rose in popularity online — as did his client base of NHL, NFL and Major League Baseball players.

When Ullmark found him, Marchitelli already was working with his then-NHL teammates Jack Eichel and Evander Kane, among others. Ullmark was getting married later in the year, and he needed a suit. Marchitelli agreed to meet Ullmark in a Buffalo, N.Y., hotel room.

“He wanted a light-gray, three-piece suit,” Marchitelli said. “Very classic, very simple compared to what he’s wearing now — which is great because it’s been a style progression.”

This has gone hand in hand with Ullmark’s career progression, as he’s gone from an unproven Buffalo Sabres netminder to a Vezina Trophy-winning goalie with the Boston Bruins

Ullmark might share the net with Jeremy Swayman on a first-place Bruins team in the…

Our NHL style rankings have seen a fair share of players donning hats and blazers, even full suit combos. Calgary Flames forward Blake Coleman, who’s in the midst of a career season, has taken it one step further by donning Stetson hats with his outfits. He credits a Calgary-based World of Vici store stylist for his suits.

“I just have a guy here in Calgary that wanted to play a little dress-up this year,” Coleman said.

As for the hats, Coleman got himself hooked after wearing an Open Road Stetson while attending the Academy of Country Music Awards in Dallas last summer. Owning one turned into owning multiple hats. Even Coleman’s wife, Jordan, grabbed some during the Flames’ road stop in Dallas last November. Coleman also received a Stetson as a birthday gift.

“What’s that old expression? Look good, play good, feel good,” Coleman said. “It’s fun to mix it up a little bit. I was pretty simple earlier in my career. Now that I have the luxury to go get some new stuff, I’ve enjoyed it. My wife used to poke fun at my suit game. I think she’s probably the happiest of anybody.”

Coleman now is considered a style rankings regular for The Athletic. He’s been a part of stiff competition with some of the league’s best dressers, including Auston Matthews, Adam…

Patrice Bergeron apologized for the noise in the background, a kids’ playground.

It’s just part of his daily routine as Dad, along with drop-offs and pickups for so many activities and appointments. He has become a chauffeur, and that’s absolutely fine, he said with a laugh.

“Now I’m adjusting to my family’s schedule rather than them adjusting to mine,” the 38-year-old former Boston Bruins star captain told The Athletic early this week as he described his new peaceful existence after 19 seasons in the NHL.

The Bergeron kids can fill out a penalty-killing unit — four kids in all: an 8-year-old, 6-year-old, 4-year-old and 4-month-old. Busy household, indeed, with wife Stephanie.

Could Bergeron, who has remained in Boston post-retirement, fit in a marathon at some point with his old pal Zdeno Chara?

“That’s funny, I went for lunch with Z the other day and he was asking for me to go run the Boston Marathon with him,” Bergeron said with another laugh. “I was like, ‘I don’t think I can do that right now.’ I don’t know how he does it. So I guess my answer was that it’s not in the cards right now, but maybe down the road I’ll need a challenge and I might join in and make that call to Big Z.

“But for now I’m just cheering him on from the sidelines….

Boston Bruins forward Milan Lucic was released on personal recognizance bail Tuesday after pleading not guilty to a charge of assault and battery against a family or household member, according to multiple reports.

Lucic appeared in Boston Municipal Court for his arraignment Tuesday after his arrest early Saturday following an alleged domestic dispute with his wife, according to reports.

According to multiple outlets that obtained a copy of the police report, Lucic’s wife said Lucic allegedly pulled her by her hair and tried to choke her during an argument at their North End apartment in Boston. Lucic’s wife told police that Lucic, who police said appeared intoxicated, did not try to strangle her, and she declined an offer of medical treatment, according to reports.

The penalty for a charge of assault and battery on a family member carries a maximum prison sentence of 2 1/2 years and a maximum fine of $5,000.

Lucic was released on personal recognizance with orders that he is prohibited from abusing his wife and consuming alcohol, according to reports, which list his next court date as Jan. 19.

Lucic, 35, has been on an indefinite leave of absence from the Bruins since Saturday.

“The organization takes these matters very seriously, and we will work with the Lucic family to…

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — One of the finalists for NHL’s General Manager of the Year designed a roster without weaknesses. The NHL’s Coach of the Year oversaw a team that was without regular-season equal in league history.

On top of that, the 2022-23 Bruins won a record-setting 65 games, partly because they had the NHL’s top goalie, best defensive forward and an MVP finalist stopping pucks, extinguishing fires and ripping up nets.

For all that, Don Sweeney, Jim Montgomery, Linus Ullmark, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak came up empty when it most mattered.

It is all well and good that the Bruins practically filled up Bridgestone Arena on Monday with their best-in-category representatives and their traveling parties, save for Bergeron, whose wife Stephanie is expecting their fourth child. The organization will be happy to pay for any weight surcharges incurred by the soon-to-be-airborne heavy metal in their possession and requiring transport out of Nashville. Sweeney could add to the collection Wednesday during the first round of the NHL Draft, when the GM of the Year will be announced.

The Bruins would ditch all of their individual trophies into the Cumberland River, however, if it meant they could be Stanley Cup stewards.

That, after all, was the prize they not only wanted…

BOSTON — Thursday marked the Bruins’ 16th game since Feb. 20. Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman split the 16-game stretch right down the middle: eight starts apiece, alternating each time.

Why shouldn’t that continue in the playoffs?

The pure rotation of the last month has served the Bruins well. Ullmark posted a .938 all-situations save percentage over his eight starts. Swayman’s was .928, which included back-to-back shutouts against the Jets and Sabres. 

“I do think there’s a physical and a mental benefit,” coach Jim Montgomery said. “We’re playing four games every week. They’re each getting two games a week. Two games a week is perfect, actually, when you have a split. It’s not perfect for the players. It’s perfect for our goalies. We’re fortunate that we have two elite goaltenders. They obviously are great teammates. Their goalie hug is something I admired from afar. It spoke to the togetherness. It spoke to the Bruins culture. I think it’s awesome.”

Their relationship stretches off the ice, too. On Wednesday, Ullmark hosted Swayman and his father, Ken, at his home for fika, the Swedish term for coffee and snacks with friends. In Swayman’s opinion, the cinnamon buns that Moa, Ullmark’s wife, bakes have no equal.

“My dad asks him how he’s…