Former NHLers Mark Recchi, Paul Kariya are joined by former Vancouver Canucks coach Marc Crawford, Nancy Wilson, Colin Patterson and the 1994 and 95 Kamloops Blazers in the B.C. Hockey Hall of Fame.
Wilson has an extensive background in hockey and was captain of the University of Western Ontario and later played with Vancouver Senior Teams before embarking on an impressive coaching career. Wilson is a former head coach of the UBC Thunderbirds, B.C. Breakers, Vancouver Griffins, Team BC at the Canada Winter Games and was an assistant coach with Canada’s women’s team at the Four Nations Cup and World Championships.
Kariya, born and raised in North Vancouver, is a former Canadian Junior A Player of the Year with Penticton and drafted fourth overall by the Anaheim Mighty Ducks. Kariya played 15 seasons in the NHL with Anaheim, Nashville, Colorado and St Louis. He won the NCAA Championship with Maine and was named winner of the Hobey Baker Award. He represented Canada numerous times including a gold medal at the World Juniors and Olympics in 2002. Kariya played 989 NHL games scoring 402 goals.
Recchi, a Kamloops native, played 22 seasons in the NHL. He is one of only 10 players in modern day NHL history to win the Stanley Cup with three different teams (1991 Pittsburgh, 2006 Carolina, 2011 Boston Bruins). Recchi played in the B.C. junior league with Langley, WHL with New Westminster and Kamloops. Internationally, Recchi was a member of Canada’s 1988 gold medal world junior team, three time member of Canada’s world championship team and represented Canada at the 1998 Winter Olympics. His impressive NHL career included 1652 games played, he scored 577 goals recorded 1533 points.
As a rookie, Crawford was part of the Canucks run to the 1982 Stanley Cup Final. He played six seasons in the NHL recording 50 points in 176 games. As a coach, Crawford won Coach of the Year honours with Quebec in 1994-95 and a Stanley Cup in 1996 with the Colorado Avalanche. He was also coach of Canada’s 1998 Olympic Team. Crawford coached the Canucks for six-and-a-half seasons winning 246 times in 529 games. Overall, he coached 1151 games in the NHL. He is presently coaching the ZSC Lions in Switzerland.
Patterson made an impact at various levels of hockey as a player and coach. He won a NCAA Championship in 1965 as a member of Michigan Tech. He later played with the Kimberly Dynamiters. Patterson coached in numerous leagues including the Swiss Elite League, assistant coach with Memorial Cup champion Kootenay Ice, head coach of the Tri City Americans, coach of the Peterborough Phantoms of the British Pro League. Patterson also coached Canada at the Spengler Cup and Izvestia Championships. He was the recipient of the Gordon Juckes Award for his contribution to hockey in Canada and was also named B.C. Coach of the Year. Patterson wrote a highly acclaimed “Lesson Plan” for the CAHA. He is a retired school teacher from Cranbrook.
The Blazers teams of 1993-94 and 1994-95 won back-to-back Memorial Cups under head coach Don Hay and general manager Bob Brown. Many of the players shared in the double Canadian Junior Hockey Championships. Darcy Tucker, Jarome Iginla, Shane Doan, Hnat Domenichelli, Nolan Baumgartner, Jason Strudwick and Ryan Huska were just a few of the standout players on the two-time championship teams. Baumgartner was the top defenceman in the WHL in 1995. Tucker was the Blazers top scorer both seasons. Kamloops has missed the playoffs just twice in 30 seasons.
The Vancouver Canucks issued a release on the inductees for the ceremony to be held in Penticton on July 26 at the South Okanagan Events Centre.
