TORONTO, 5 November 2003 — One played for a dynasty, one just missed and one had a cup of coffee in the National Hockey League.
Grant Fuhr, Pat LaFontaine and Brian Kilrea were united Monday, when they were inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. The trio was joined by owner Mike Ilitch.
As the goaltender on the Edmonton Oilers’ teams that captured five Stanley Cup championships from 1984-90, Fuhr was elected in his first year of eligibility.
He’s seventh on the all-time list with 403 wins accumulated over 19 seasons that also included stints with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Buffalo Sabres, Los Angeles Kings, St. Louis Blues and Calgary Flames.
The Canadian compiled a 3.38 goals-against average in 868 games — in a run-and-gun era on a team that regularly outscored opponents instead of shutting them down.
Fuhr’s name is on the Stanley Cup five times, although he missed most of the 1989-90 season after he was suspended for a substance abuse problem.
He won the Vezina Trophy (best goaltender) in 1988, played in six All-Star Games and backstopped Canada to Canada Cup titles in 1984 and 1987.
“We felt very lucky knowing we had Grant Fuhr, who was one of the greatest goalies who has ever played the game,” said Wayne Gretzky, one of Fuhr’s Edmonton teammates. “He was a great teammate and a tremendous talent, and we’re very proud of him in making it to the Hockey Hall of Fame.”
Fuhr joins Gretzky, Jari Kurri and general manager-coach Glen Sather as members of the Oilers’ dynasty in the Hall of Fame. But he became the first black enshrined.
“I’d like to thank Willie O’Ree,” Fuhr said, referring to the first player to break the color barrier in the NHL.
“It’s an extra special honor to be the first man of color in the Hockey Hall of Fame.”
The Oilers’ success came on the heels of the New York Islanders’ dynasty. And while LaFontaine spent half his 16-year career with the Islanders, he broke into the NHL in 1984 — the year after they won the last of four straight Stanley Cups.
In fact, in LaFontaine’s first playoff appearance, the Islanders were beaten in five games in the Stanley Cup finals by Fuhr and the Oilers in 1984.
Selected third overall in the 1983 draft, the American scored at least 30 goals nine times and had six straight 40-goal campaigns. Ilitch appropriately was elected in the builders’ category. When he purchased the Red Wings from the Norris family for eight million dollars in 1982, the team’s season ticket base was down to 2,100. Over the past two decades, Detroit has become one of the NHL’s elite teams.
Kilrea played one game with the Red Wings during the 1957-58 season.
But he achieved his greatest success as a coach of junior players, taking over the Ottawa 67’s for the 1974-75 season and guiding them to Canadian national junior titles in 1984 and 1999.
