Sergei Makarov, along with three others, will be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, it was announced on Monday.
Meet the Hockey Hall of Fame Class of 2016. Eric Lindros, Sergei Makarov, Pat Quinn and Rogie Vachon. #HHOF pic.twitter.com/bTy2pfqcQ3
— Hockey Hall of Fame (@HockeyHallFame) June 27, 2016
Other inductees in the 2016 class include Eric Lindros, Pat Quinn, and Rogie Vachon.
Sergei Makarov was part of the famed KLM line in Russia with Igor Larionov and Vladimir Krutov. He transitioned to the NHL in 1989, having a great deal of success with the Calgary Flames.
His most successful NHL season was his first, when he scored 86 points (24-62-86) in 80 games. He won the Calder Trophy as Rookie of the Year that season, despite being 31-years-old.
Makarov played four seasons with the Flames, scoring 292 points (94-198-292) in 297 games, before moving on to play two seasons with the San Jose Sharks.
But it was internationally where Makarov really made his name. He won two Olympic gold medals for the Soviet Union in 1984 and 1988. He also won 8 gold medals at the World Hockey Championships and two golds at the World Juniors.
For Eric Lindros, this was a long time coming. Lindros had been snubbed numerous times before. He had superior numbers to recent inductees Pavel Bure and Cam Neely, other elite players who had their careers cut short due to injury. Lindros scored 865 points in 760 games and was a dominant player in the 1990s. He won a Hart Trophy in 1995 and was captain of Team Canada at the 1998 Olympics in Nagano.
Quinn coached 1400 NHL games spanning 20 seasons with Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Vancouver, Toronto, and Edmonton. He coached Canada internationally, winning gold with Canada at the 2002 Olympics and coaching Canada to victory at the 2004 World Cup of Hockey. He also won gold with the U18 team in 2008 and at the World Junior Championships in 2009.
Quinn was part of the Hall of Fame selection committee from 1998 to 2013.
Rogie Vachon played 15 NHL seasons with Montreal, Los Angeles, Detroit, and Boston before retiring in 1982. He’s had the longest wait of the four inductees, as goaltenders are woefully under represented in the Hall. Vachon won a Vezina Trophy in 1968 and his number retired by the LA Kings.
Makarov, Lindros, Quinn, and Vachon will be honoured at the Hall of Fame gala in Toronto in November.
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