The Hockey Hall of Fame announced the Class of 2020, where six people will be inducted later this year in Toronto. In addition, the NHL Draft Lottery is tonight, while the new Seattle team is making progress on selecting a name. Here are some of the latest NHL news updates.
The 18-member selection committee debated long and hard, but ultimately settled on six new members entering the Hockey Hall of Fame. Jarome Iginla, Marian Hossa, Kevin Lowe, and Doug Wilson will all be inducted into the Hall, as will Kim St-Pierre and Ken Holland.
Iginla was the biggest lock among the players eligible. The longtime Flames forward scored exactly 1,300 points, 625 of them goals, over 20 seasons in the NHL. He won the Art Ross Trophy and Rocket Richard Trophy after a 52-goal, 96-point season in 2001-02, and has two Olympic gold medals with Canada and a couple of World Championships.
Hossa, the other first-year player inducted along with Iginla, scored 1,134 points in 19 seasons with five clubs. An eight-time 30-goal scorer and three-time 40-goal scorer, Hossa was part of the Blackhawks’ three Stanley Cup championships in the last decade, with two other Finals appearances. He is also the only player to appear in the Cup Final three straight years with three different teams.
The other former NHL players entering the Hall are Lowe and Wilson. Lowe was a six-time Stanley Cup champion defenseman, primarily with the Oilers, who had been on the ballot for 20 years.
Wilson was another defenseman who won the Norris Trophy in 1981-82. He is Chicago’s all-time leader among defensemen in goals, assists, and points.
As for the rest, Kim St-Pierre is the first female goaltender to be inducted after winning three Olympic golds and five World Championships with Canada. Holland, the lone “builder,” was the longtime general manager of the Red Wings and played an integral piece in three Stanley Cup victories.
These six individuals will be officially inducted during a ceremony scheduled for November 16. However, that could change depending on the start date of the 2020-21 season.
New-Look Lottery Set for Friday
The 2020 NHL Draft Lottery is Friday night, or at least one part of it is. The first phase of the lottery is taking place tonight, and there’s a chance we will not know who holds the first pick afterwards.
The first phase of the lottery will be done with drawings for the first, second, and third picks. It will include the seven teams who will not be returning to action when the postseason begins, as well as eight placeholder positions. If any of those placeholder positions are awarded any of the top three picks, a second lottery will be held between the qualifying round and the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs to determine who among the eight losing teams will win placeholder pick.
Currently, the Red Wings own the highest chance of securing the number one overall selection at 18.5 percent. The Senators have two opportunities, with a 13.5 chance on their own pick and an 11.5 percent chance on the pick that they acquired from the Sharks. The Kings, Ducks, Devils, and Sabres are all between 6.5 and 9.5 percent, while the eight placeholder positions are anywhere from 6 to 1 percent.
Seattle Making Progress on Name
The NHL’s expansion team in Seattle is set to begin play in the 2021-22 season. Soon, we will have a team name to attach to them.
Seattle CEO Tod Leiweke revealed Thursday that the organization has multiple finalists for a team name, along with a logo and colors. They are currently undergoing the trademark process with multiple finalists.
“Some have speculated it’s a long time off. It’s not,” said Leiweke. “Vegas did it a year out. We’ll do it well in advance of that.” The Golden Knights announced their name and logo in November 2016, a little under 11 months before they took the ice for the first time.
While hockey fans anxiously await the identity of the league’s 32nd team, Seattle has a name for their new arena. The 18,000+ seat arena currently being built near the famous Space Needle will be named Climate Pledge Arena after Amazon purchased the rights. The arena aims to be the most environment-friendly arena in the world and net-zero carbon by 2040.
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