2008 Hall of Fame class

Yesterday was the 2008 Hall of Fame inductees ceremony, which was held at the HHOF in Toronto. Let's have a look at the inductees:

Glenn Anderson comes from Burnaby, B.C. where he played for the Bellingham Blazers and the University of Denver before being drafted by the Edmonton Oilers 69th overall in the 1979 entry draft. He played in Edmonton for 11 seasons, until the 1990-91 season. Glenn was consistently near the top of the NHL in scoring and thrived in the playoffs, scoring overtime winners and game-clinching goals in each of Edmonton's five marches to the Stanley Cup between 1984 and 1990. In 1991, Anderson was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs where he became one of the Leafs' top scorers and once again a playoff leader, as Toronto made it to within one game of the Cup final in 1993, losing in 7 games against the LA Kings.

He played 1,129 games, recording 498 goals and 1,099 points. He scored 93 playoffs goals throughout his illustrious career.

Igor Larionov was already one of the top hockey players in the world when he made his NHL debut in 1989 at the age of 29. A native of Voskresensk in the former USSR, Larionov won eight consecutive Russian League Championships with CSKA Moscow in the Soviet Elite League and was named Player of the Year in 1988. He captured eight gold medals in international play, including two Olympic gold medals (1984 and 1988). Igor played for the Vancouver Canucks from 1989 to 1992, the San Jose Sharks from 1993 to 1995 and then the Detroit Red Wings for eight seasons — including three Stanley Cup championships. Larionov was part on the KLM line with Sergei Makarov and Vladimir Krutov.

He played 921 games in the NHL, notching 169 goals and 644 points.

In the Builder Category, former Western Hockey League Commissioner Ed Chynoweth was elected posthumously. The native of Dodsland, Saskatchewan became the first full-time President of the Western Canada Hockey League (now WHL) in November of 1972. He was a founder of the Canadian Major Junior Hockey League (now CHL) in 1973 and served as CHL President for 20 years. Ed Chynoweth passed away on April 22nd, 2008. His son Dean, who played 10 years in the NHL was at the ceremony in place of his father.

Ray Scapinello was elected in the Referee/Linesman Category. He played minor hockey in Hespeler, Ontario and after retiring from Junior C hockey he began his career as an official as a 20-year-old in Guelph. Three years later in 1971, Ray began his career as an NHL linesman. He was named the NHL's "best in the business" a record 20 times. In 33 years as an NHL official — 2,508 regular season and 426 playoffs games — Scapinello never missed a game.

Source: Legends of Hockey