Botterill's Hockey Hall of Fame selection a full-circle moment

Globe and Mail

11 hours ago

Jennifer Botterill was visiting her parents in Manitoba on Tuesday when the call came from the Hockey Hall of Fame. When she learned she had been inducted, she shed tears with her family, which includes three young hockey-playing daughters.
'My heart is full of gratitude,' Botterill, currently a studio analyst on NHL broadcasts for Sportsnet and TNT, said during a conference call with journalists. 'I am hugely honoured. Truly overwhelmed.'
One of Canada's greatest women's hockey players, she was a member of national teams that won three Olympic gold medals and five International Ice Hockey Federation world championships.
She was selected to the hall as a player along with Brianna Decker, a gold-medal winning member of Team USA, former NHL defencemen Zdeno Chara and Duncan Keith and forwards Alexander Mogilny and Joe Thornton. Daniele Sauvageau, a former national team coach, was inducted in the builder category. So was Jack Parker, who coached Boston University for 40 years.
Sauvageau is the first woman ever elected in the builder category. When she led Canada to the 2002 gold medal in Salt Lake City, it was the first time in a half-century that a Canadian hockey team -- men or women -- had won an Olympic gold medal.
'It's an incredible honour,' Sauvageau said. 'I couldn't even talk when they called me.'
Parker won three NCAA championships and took teams to NCAA tournaments 24 times.
'I was taking a nap when they called,' he said. 'I was absolutely flabbergasted. 'I kind of wonder what I am doing here.'
Chara played 24 seasons in the NHL and served as captain of the Boston Bruins for 14. The 6-foot-9 Slovakian won the Norris Trophy and Stanley Cup once each during his career.
In 17 NHL seasons, Keith won the Norris (2010, 2014) and Conn Smythe trophies (2015) and three Stanley Cups with the Chicago Blackhawks. He retired as a member of the Edmonton Oilers in 2022.
'My goal always was to play in the NHL,' Keith said from his home in Penticton, B.C. 'I just took it one step at a time. When I look back at my journey as a hockey player, there are so many people I want to thank.'
Mogilny was asleep in Russia when Lanny McDonald, the outgoing chairman of the board of the Hockey Hall of Fame, gave him a ring. After a thank-you, Mogilny went back to bed.
He played for four teams over 16 seasons in the NHL and averaged more than a point per game. He tied for the league lead with 76 goals while with the Buffalo Sabres in 1992-1993 and in 2000 won a Stanley Cup with the New Jersey Devils.
In 1997 the Bruins selected Thornton with the first overall pick. Traded to the San Jose Sharks in 2005, he went on to lead the team in scoring eight times over his next 15 seasons. He also won Olympic gold with Canada in 2010.
Thornton was about to board a flight when McDonald tried to call to inform him that he had been inducted. It took 15 tries for him to answer.
'He thought it was a scam call,' McDonald said.
Botterill was inducted in her 12th year of eligibility. She grew up in Winnipeg and skated at a young age but did not play organized hockey until she was 12. She recalls carrying a bag of pucks about 500 metres to two outdoor rinks near her home.
'That's where I fell in love with the sport,' she said. 'I don't think that little girl could have imagined what would come to life.'
She went on to play four exceptional years at Harvard University, where she won the Patty Kazmaier Award twice as the NCAA's top female player.
The rest is history.
'I really love that women and girls now have a choice,' Botterill said. 'I think of the opportunities I have and the career I have now and I am grateful.
'It is great to see women getting these opportunities that they deserve.'