2025 Induction Class

Ryan Smyth spent his final season in the National Hockey League playing for the Edmonton Oilers, tied with Glenn Anderson for the most power-play goals in franchise history with 126 goals. It was only recently in 2023 that this record was passed by Leon Draisaitl.  

He was drafted sixth overall by the Edmonton Oilers in the 1994 NHL Entry Draft.  

Smyth played 19 seasons in the NHL, spending his first 12 (1995-2007) and last three seasons (2011-2014) with the Oilers. He spent time in the middle playing with the New York Islanders for 18 games (2006-07), the Colorado Avalanche for two seasons (2007-08, 2008-09) and the Los Angeles Kings for two seasons (2009-10, 2010-11).  

During his first stint with the Oilers, he assisted in the team’s climb to the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals, which they unfortunately lost in seven games to the Carolina Hurricanes. In his 2002-03 season with the team, he garnered 27 goals and 61 points, which meant he was leading the Oilers in scoring for the first time in his career.  

Smyth made his international hockey debut playing for Team Canada at the 1995 World Junior Championships, which was held in Red Deer. Team Canada was undefeated for the entire tournament, winning the gold medal.  

He went on to play in the 1999 International Ice Hockey Federation World Championship, which was the start of his seven back-to-back appearances in the tournament in the years following. He was named team captain for Canada. He remained the captain for this tournament for his next five tournament appearances.  

During his time playing in the IIHF World Championships, his team won two gold medals (2003, 2004) and one silver medal (2005). He was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2020.  

In 2002, he played for Canada in the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah where Canada won their first gold medal in hockey after a 50-year dry spell. He returned to the Olympic team in 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, but came home with no medal.  

Smyth is a native of Banff, Alta. He spent his junior hockey career playing for the Moose Jaw Warriors in the Western Hockey League for four seasons (1991-1995).  

He married Stacy Bookout in 1996 and has three children. He has been a co-owner of the British Columbia Hockey League Spruce Grove Saints since 2017.  

Joseph Nieuwendyk is one of only 11 National Hockey League players to win the Stanley Cup with three different teams.  

He drafted in the second round of the1985 NHL Entry Draft, 27th overall by the Calgary Flames where he spent the first nine (1986-1995) of his 20 season (1986-2007) NHL career.  

He made his NHL debut with the Flames in 1987, playing in nine regular season games and six playoff games. He played his first full season in 1987-88, leading the team in goals with 51. Nieuwendyk won the Calder Memorial Trophy after this season.  

He scored 10 goals and made four assists in the 1989 Stanley Cup playoffs, helping the team to win the Stanley Cup Championship. In 1991 he was named the captain of the Flames.  

He was traded to the Dallas Stars in 1995, where he stayed for seven seasons. Nieuwendyk scored 11 goals and put up 10 assists in the 1999 Stanley Cup playoffs, assisting the Stars to win their first Stanley Cup in franchise history, and the second of his career.  

Later in his career, he was traded to the New Jersey Devils two months after playing his 1,000th game on Jan. 20, 2002. With the Devils, he acquired his third Stanley Cup although he was unable to play in the finals due to an injury. After winning this cup, he signed a one-year contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs for the 2003-04 season. He then finished his NHL career with the Florida Panthers.  

Outside of his NHL career, he won a silver medal while playing on Team Canada in the 1986 World Junior Hockey Championships. He also played for Team Canada during the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, where he scored one goal and brought home a gold medal.  

Prior to playing in the NHL, Nieuwendyk played for the Ontario Hockey Association Pickering Panthers before playing on the Cornell University hockey team for three seasons (1984-1987). He also grew up playing lacrosse and was once seen as one of the top players in Canada. Some of his hockey skills are attributed to his success in lacrosse.  

After his retirement from the NHL, he went on to work with the Florida Panthers in 2007 as a consultant to the general manager where he stayed for one year before moving to the Maple Leafs as an assistant to the general manager.  

He also served as the assistant general manager for Team Canada at the 2009 World Championships before landing a role that same year as the general manager of the Dallas Stars. His last position in the NHL was as a professional scout and advisor for the Carolina Hurricanes before resigning from this position in 2018.  

He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2011.  

Nieuwendyk is married with three children. His son, Jackson, is currently playing in Buffalo, New York with the Canisius University hockey team.  

George Clifford Fletcher began his National Hockey League career in 1956 by working as a scout for the Montreal Canadiens. Later, he became a scout for the St. Louis Blues and moved up to holding a general manager position. Under his leadership, the Blues clinched a spot in the Stanley Cup Finals in all their first three years as a team.  

In 1972, he moved to a GM position with the Atlanta Flames during their inaugural season. In 1980, the Flames moved to Calgary and along with them went Fletcher. He stayed with the team until 1991. During his time with the Flames, he was the first GM to bring a player into the NHL from the Soviet Union, and the team won the 1989 Stanley Cup Championship under his management.  

He went on to work with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1991 as Chief Operating Officer, President and GM. His incredible impact on the team was shown through the Leafs setting both win and point records in the 1992 season.  

He joined the 1999 Tampa Bay Lightning team as the Senior Advisor to the GM. He was requested to join the team by the Jacques Demers, Tampa’s GM and head coach. Fletcher was only there for a short time. He left in 1999 shortly after Demers and spent six years with the Phoenix Coyotes starting in 2001.  

Fletcher held a short stint as the Coyotes’ GM before taking a role as Senior Executive Vice-president of Hockey Operations that he held until 2007.  

Lastly, in 2008, Fletcher returned to his post with the Maple Leafs as the interim GM, which he held for six months. He was not done there though. He became an adviser for the management team, a role that he still holds to this day at 89-years-old.  

His efforts extend to the Hockey Hall of Fame, where he served on the Board of Directors for seven years before stepping down in 2003. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2004.  

Fletcher is a native to Montreal native, where he began his career. He is married to his wife Donna, affectionately called ‘Boots’, and has two children, Chuck and Kristy.  

Although his GM career may be in the past, his son is carrying the torch. He held many roles in the hockey world, notably serving as the GM for the Minnesota Wild for nine seasons (2009-2018), and for the Philadelphia Flyers for five seasons (2018-2023).  

Carla MacLeod began her hockey career playing for the Midnapore Minor Hockey Association in Calgary, before starting her professional career playing for the Calgary Oval X-Treme for the 1999-00 season.  

Her time with the Oval X-Treme was scattered throughout her time playing for the University of Wisconsin Badgers and playing in many tournaments for Team Canada.  

She began playing with the Badgers in 2001, staying with the team until 2005. She served as the team captain for two seasons (2003-04, 2004-05). In her senior year, she also served as an undergraduate assistant coach.  

MacLeod won the Big Ten Medal of Honour, which is in recognition of both athletic and academic achievement, in 2005. She was inducted into the University of Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame in 2020.  

Her time with Hockey Canada began in 2003, when she played in the Four Nations Cup, where she brought home a silver medal. She went back to this same tournament the next year, but this time took gold.  

She played in the International Ice Hockey Federation Women’s World Hockey Championships four times. With her help, Team Canada won a silver medal in 2005, 2008 and 2009, and won a gold medal in 2007.  

She was selected to play in the Winter Olympics for the first time in 2006 in Turin, Italy, where Canada won gold. Her second and final Winter Olympics appearance was during the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, where Canada also won gold.  

Following her retirement in 2010, she became an assistant coach for the Mount Royal University hockey team. In 2012 she began an assistant coaching position with the Japanese National Women’s hockey team, which in 2013 qualified for the first time for the Winter Olympics, to be held the following year in Sochi, Russia.  

She returned to Alberta in 2017, where she became the head coach for the Calgary Edge School U18 women’s team for four seasons (2017-2021). After this she was the head coach for the University of Calgary women’s hockey team for the 2021-22 season.  

In 2022 she began her position as the head coach for the Czech Republic Women’s hockey team. Under her leadership, the team won a bronze medal in the 2022 Women’s Ice Hockey World Championships. 

Alongside still holding her position with the Czech Republic Women’s hockey team, MacLeod was selected as the head coach for the Professional Women’s Hockey League’s Ottawa Charge for their inaugural season. Both coaching positions she still holds to this day.  

MacLeod was born in Spruce Grove, Alta. and later moved to Calgary where she stayed until moving to Madison, Wisconsin college.  

Howie Draper began his coaching career in 1997 coaching for the University of Alberta’s women’s hockey team. Before he became a coach, he himself played for the University of Alberta’s hockey team as a defenceman for five seasons (1985-1990).  

During his 26 seasons coaching the University of Alberta hockey team, he obtained the record for the most wins of a head coach in U Sports women’s hockey history with 667 wins. He was also awarded U Sports coach of the year in 2002, 2004, 2009 and 2019, and is also an eight-time Canada West Coach of the Year.  

Under his leadership, the University of Alberta women’s hockey team were the U Sports National Tournament champions eight times.  

He was also the head coach for World U18 Championships Team Canada for three years (2018, 2019, 2022). In 2022, Team Canada won a gold medal at the tournament.  

In 2023, he was named the head coach for the inaugural season of the Professional Women’s Hockey League’s New York Sirens. He has since returned to his coaching position at University of Alberta after one season with the Sirens but still remains as a special adviser to the team within the scouting department.  

He is coming back to the University of Alberta with one main message to the players, especially the fifth years, it is to enjoy the moment, because you tend to do a lot better when you enjoy something.  

Draper was born in Edmonton, where he has since remained to play and coach at the University of Alberta. He is married to his wife, Fahreen, and has three kids, Stephanie, Jack and Ben. Draper is a music lover. His favourite band is The Jam. Throughout his years with the athletics department, he was in a band that preformed around Edmonton.  

Garry Unger played 16 seasons in the National Hockey League, with his longest stint being with the St. Louis Blues for eight seasons (1970-1979).  

Unger made his debut on a junior team when he joined the Ontario Hockey Leagues London Nationals, where he played for the 1966-67 season.  

He bounced around to multiple teams during his 1967-68 season including playing on the London Nationals, Toronto Maple Leafs, Tulsa Oilers and the Rochester Americans before landing with the National Hockey League’s Detroit Red Wings. He stayed with the Red Wings for four seasons (1967-1971).  

He moved to play with the St. Louis Blues until 1979 when he continued his journey, leading him to play with the Atlanta Flames just before their move to Calgary.  

In 1980, he played one season with the Los Angeles Kings before moving to play for the Edmonton Oilers for his final three seasons (1980-1983) in the NHL.  

During his time in the NHL, he set a record by playing 914 consecutive games in a regular season. He accomplished this playing with the Maple Leafs, Red Wings, Blues and the Flames. His streak was ended when he was benched in a game in December of 1979. This was the only game he did not play for that entire season. He held the record for years until it was surpassed by Phill Kessel during the 2022-23 season.  

Unger was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2023.  

Apart from his extensive NHL career, he also played for Team Canada at the International Ice Hockey Federation World Championships in 1978 and 1979.  

After his retirement from the NHL with 1105 games played, 413 goals and 391 assists, he went on to play in the British Hockey League where he forged an impressive career. His BHL career started with the Dundee Rockets where he played for the 1985-86 season before he moved to play with the Peterborough Pirates for two seasons (1986-87, 1987-88).  

During his time with the Pirates, in one season he put up an impressive 95 goals and over 200 points overall while only playing in 30 games.  

Unger is a Calgary native and recently returned to Alberta to work as an athletic director at the Banff Hockey Academy. Here he helps students train in both academics and athletics to help further their career in both fields. He and his wife Beverly have three children.  

The Calgary Canucks are part of the Alberta Junior Hockey League. Since being formed in 1971, the Canucks have won 10 AJHL championships, and one National Championship. In 1995, the Canucks won the Centennial Cup in a 5-4 overtime win against the Gloucester Rangers.  

The Canucks finished the round-robin tournament with a 3-1 record before heading into the semi-finals.  

After beating the Thunder Bay Flyers in a 5-3 knockout in the semi-finals, the Canucks took on the Rangers in the fight for the cup.  

They earned their spot in the tournament by winning the AJHL playoffs in a 4-3 victory over the Chilliwack Chiefs, allowing them to bring home the Doyle Cup, and clinch a spot in the Centennial Cup tournament.  

Their fight for the Doyle Cup was not easy. They beat the Bonnyville Pontiacs 4-1 in the quarterfinals, then they faced the Fort McMurray Oil Barons. The Canucks edged past the Oil Barons in seven games. It was then that they overtook the Chiefs.  

Defenceman Jason Abramoff scored the overtime goal on his 21st birthday.  

The Canucks went into the tournament second in the AJHL with 72 points, only eight points behind the leading Olds Grizzlys.  

From the 1995 Canucks came Craig Adams, who went on to play 14 seasons in the NHL, playing for the Carolina Hurricanes, the Chicago Blackhawks and the Pittsburgh Penguins before his retirement from the NHL in 2015. His longest stint being with the Hurricanes for seven seasons (2000-2008).  

Other players from the team went on to earning athletic scholarships for American and Canadian colleges and universities, some even went on to play in the Asia League and the British National League.  

The Calgary Canucks have held the longest residence in one city in AJHL history and are the oldest franchise still operating as of 2024 when the Spruce Grove Saints joined the British Columbia Hockey League.  

1995 Canucks team members:  

David Weninger, Ryan McIntosh, Brad Tilford, Craig Stenhouse, Mike Lowe, Mikki Lanuk, Mitch Ferguson, Terry Ferguson, Andrei Davidni, Joel Bond, Jason Abramoff, Steve Wiggins, Dion Wandler, Scott Wagner, Troy Smith, Devin Sinclair, Jason Rohatensky, Yevgeni Rog, Michael Pozzo, Trevor Murray, Chris Jensen, Gen Ishioka, Tyler Hill, Tony Harvie, Yoshifumi Fujisawa, Greg Eisler, Kyle Edwards, Eoin Colquhoun, Ryan Chaytors, Jason Carriere, Ryan Barrett, Calvin Aspholm, Craig Adams