After eight long years of waiting, the Hockey Hall of Fame announced that Dave Andreychuk would be inducted as part of their 2017 Class, joining Teemu Selanne, Paul Kariya and Mark Recchi. Though Andreychuk enjoyed a long career with many teams, this is a special moment for the Tampa Bay Lightning and their fans.
It’s become an annual tradition. The Hockey Hall of Fame committee would convene to announce that year’s inductees and disappointment would follow. Andreychuk more than has the resume to justify selection and yet it never seemed to be the right time. Whether there was an exceptionally strong class or arguments that his numbers were inflated due to his lengthy career, there was always some reason why it wasn’t his year. The more time that passed it was easy to wonder if the call would ever come.
That changed today when the Hockey Hall of Fame corrected their error. Andreychuk played 1,639 games over his 23 year NHL career, seventh most in the NHL. Only 13 other men have scored more than his 640 career goals and all but one of them is in the Hall of Fame already. Jaromir Jagr is the outlier and he’s still playing. Andreychuk also holds the league record for most power play goals with 274.
Andreychuk’s patience is well documented. He played 22 years before becoming a Stanley Cup champion with the Lightning. The Captain finally getting to hoist the trophy is one of the most iconic moments in franchise history. So much so that the moment is captured in a bronze statue that welcomes fans coming onto the plaza outside the arena.
His leadership guided the team to their first Stanley Cup in 2004. It’s hard not to see him lifting the trophy in our minds’ eye whenever a captain does the honors at the end of a Stanley Cup Final. Andreychuk has been a legend in the Tampa Bay area for quite some time. It’s only fitting that he’ll finally be enshrined among the game’s greats.
Follow me on Twitter @alexis_b82 and please “like” LightningShout on Facebook. You can email us at [email protected].
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
