Rare night for NHL to celebrate as new class joins Hall of Fame

Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2004 | 9:14 a.m.

SUN WIRE REPORTS

TORONTO -- For 22 years, Ray Bourque had been preparing for Monday night. As he played each game of his National Hockey League career, he wasn't cognizant of how special he was, didn't want to think about it, didn't want to dwell on his talent and dominance as a defenseman. As he won each of his five Norris Trophy awards, he said he'd appreciate them most when his career was over.

Monday night, Bourque assumed his distinguished place in history with his official enshrinement into the Hockey Hall of Fame, joining fellow blue liners Paul Coffey and Larry Murphy in the players category and Phoenix Coyotes executive Cliff Fletcher in the builders category.

Coffey won three Stanley Cups in Edmonton and one in Pittsburgh. His 48 goals in 1985-86 are the most by a defenseman in one season and that year he set the record for longest consecutive-games points streak by a defenseman (28). He won the Norris Trophy three times.

Murphy earned two championship rings with Pittsburgh and two more with Detroit. The records he set in 1980-81 for rookie defensemen -- most assists (60) and most points (76) -- still stand.

One of the great moments for Bourque, Murphy and Coffey came at the 1987 Canada Cup final, the only time the three played on the same team at once.

"The level of play from both teams was just amazing," Bourque said. "It was that last great run from that Russian team that won all those gold medals."

"I definitely agree," Coffey added. "Not to take slight on any other hockey I played, but those three games, all won 6-5, there was no bull, no hooking or holding, just great hockey by highly talented players."

Fletcher also was a GM at Toronto and Phoenix. He has been vice president of hockey operations for the Coyotes the last three years. He was the first GM to sign and bring a player (Sergei Priakin, 1988) from Soviet Union to the NHL with official consent.

"The whole idea was to establish a beachhead," he said.

As Bourque reflected on the evening's events, he said the most nervous he'd been in his playing days was as a rookie when he returned home to Montreal to face the Canadiens in the old Forum. Monday night, he said, there were butterflies of a different kind.

"It's the pinnacle, it just wraps everything up, and it's the final closure," said Bourque, 43. "This whole weekend has been incredible. You come in as a rookie and you just want to play in the NHL. The next thing you know, 23 years later, you're here as part of a special fraternity, and it's an honor and a privilege to be here."

Not even the lockout that threatens the entire 2004-05 season could put a damper on the festivities for the inductees.

"This has been all sweet," he said. "It's been a lot of fun, it's been a great weekend. The Bruins would've been playing the Maple Leafs (in the Hall of Fame game). I didn't even think about the NHL and the lockout, other than when you're asked about it. Yes, I am concerned in some ways, because it doesn't sound like there's going to be a hockey season, and that would be too bad."

For a night, anyway, there was plenty of hockey to celebrate.