Former Blues defenseman Chris Pronger voted into Hall of Fame
TORONTO -- Stanley Cup winners Nicklas Lidstrom, Chris Pronger and Sergei Fedorov and former NHL star Phil Housley are among the seven newcomers in the Hockey Hall of Fame.
The Hall announced Monday that Angela Ruggiero, Bill Hay and Peter Karmanos Jr. also were voted into the shrine.
Pronger, traded from Philadelphia to Arizona last weekend, hasn't played since November 2011 because of post-concussion syndrome. He works for the league. The fearsome defenseman was eligible because of a bylaw that specifies a player's final game must be three full seasons ago.
Chris Pronger 598 games as a Blue Norris / Hart Trophy Presidents’ Trophy 4 All-Star Games #welldeserved #HHOF pic.twitter.com/3hRRawbQMJ
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) June 29, 2015
"Nothing I have done has been the easy way, so I guess this follows suit," Pronger said on a conference call Monday afternoon.
Lidstrom earned seven Norris Trophies as the NHL's top defenseman and won four Stanley Cups with Detroit. Fedorov was his longtime teammate. Lidstrom's longtime Red Wings teammate Fedorov also made it in his first year of eligibility after putting up 483 goals and 969 assists in 1,248 career games.
Housley has the most points of any American defenseman.
"I've been patiently waiting and there's been so many great players before me that have been inducted, but to finally get that call it's surreal, it's a shock," Housley said.
Congratulations to Phil Housley, too - 26 games with the Blues during the 1993-94 season. #HHOF #stlblues pic.twitter.com/0E9ITHWXMC
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) June 29, 2015
Hay, a former president of Hockey Canada, and Karmanos, the owner of the Carolina Hurricanes, made it in the builder category. Ruggiero was a defenseman on four United States teams in the Olympics and was the fourth woman to be elected to the Hall of Fame.
