Class of ’96 U.S. Hall Inducts Five

Class of ’96 U.S. Hall Inducts Five
All five of the 2011 inductees into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame — three players, an announcer and a team owner — played central roles in one of America’s biggest hockey triumphs.Defensemen Chris Chelios and Gary Suter, forward Keith Tkachuk,
birthday gift ideas
the longtime announcer Mike Emrick, and the Philadelphia Flyers owner Ed Snider make up the induction class for the Hall, in Eveleth, Minn. Chelios, Suter and Tkachuk were on the ice when the United States won the 1996 World Cup of Hockey with a come-from-behind, 5-2 upset victory over Canada in Montreal. It is one of only four championships won by the United States at the senior men’s level, and is considered the most significant victory after the 1980 Miracle on Ice at the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, N.Y. Emrick called the victory over Canada and, under Snider, Philadelphia served as the Americans’ home base for the 1996 tournament.
The induction announcement was made in Colorado Springs by Dave Ogrean, the executive director of USA Hockey. The inductees spoke on a conference call.online gift store
“That 1980 team pretty much paved the way for our generation of players,” said Chelios, who retired in 2010 after a 26-year career in which he played more games than any other defenseman in N.H.L. history. Tkachuk, one of only four Americans to score more than 500 N.H.L. goals and who in 1996-97 became the first American to lead the league in goal scoring, also cited the 1980 team as his inspiration.
“If it wasn’t for those guys, I probably wouldn’t have played hockey,” said Tkachuk, who retired in 2010.
Suter retired in 2002 after 17 years in the N.H.L. In 1986, he became the first American to win the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie.
Creative Products
Emrick’s induction makes him the first broadcaster in the United States Hall, capping a year in which he became the first hockey announcer to win an Emmy award as the nation’s top play-by-play man.
The Hall of Fame induction announcement came on his 65th birthday, and after his 39th year as a hockey announcer. This summer, he said he was stepping down after 21 seasons as the Devils’ play-by-play voice to concentrate on covering the N.H.L. for NBC and Versus.
“I remember as a child, watching on a grainy television, the U.S. beating the Czechs at Squaw Valley,” said Emrick, recalling the Americans’ 1960 Olympic gold medal, the nation’s second senior-level men’s title, after the 1933 world championship. He said he was not able to watch the 1980 Lake Placid victory because he was calling a minor league game in Nova Scotia.
casual wedding dresses
Snider, 78, has owned the Flyers since the team joined the N.H.L. in 1967 and was recognized in part for his foundation that builds and renovates rinks in Philadelphia and teaches hockey to inner-city children.