2024 Induction Class

Billy Dea enjoyed a 19-year career as a professional hockey player, highlighted by two distinct but unique career notes.

Billy played almost 400 regular season games in the National Hockey League, but he had a nine-year gap between his stints in NHL. He started with the New York Rangers (1953-54) before being traded to Detroit Red Wings in 1955 and the Chicago Blackhawks in 1958.

He didn’t return to the NHL until 1967, for two seasons with the Pittsburgh Penguins after being selected in the 16th round of the NHL Expansion Draft. He finished his NHL career with the Red Wings in 1971. In total, Billy tallied 67 goals and 54 assists in 397 regular season NHL games.

It was those nine years in the American Hockey League, all with the Buffalo Bisons, where Billy earned his nickname “Hard Rock” for his punishing style of play, consistency and reliability. Billy made his debut with Buffalo on October 8, 1958, and did not miss a game until February 12, 1966 (eight seasons, 596 straight games, regular season and playoffs).

Billy’s best offensive season was 1960-61 (35 goals, 74 points), and he scored more than 20 goals each season in Buffalo. He was a key part of the team’s Calder Cup championship in 1963. Almost fittingly, he finished his pro career in the AHL, with Tidewater in 1972.

Billy’s junior career started with the Lethbridge Native Sons, where played for four years in the WCJHL (1949-53). In 1951-52, he was an all-star left winger with 44 goals over 41 games. In 1952-53, he helped the Native Sons to the league championship, upsetting the Edmonton Oil Kings in the finals. Lethbridge moved on to the Western Canada Memorial Cup playoffs, losing to the St. Boniface Canadiens in the Abbott Cup finals. That year, he also saw his first pro action, appearing in three games with the Saskatoon Quakers of the Western Hockey League.

Billy’s first full year of pro hockey came in 1953-54 with the Vancouver Canucks of the WHL. He put up fine rookie numbers with 21 goals in 53 games.Two years later, Billy Dea was in his hometown, playing for the Edmonton Flyers in the WHL. His 29 goals and 42 assists for 71 points over 70 games caught the eye of the parent club Detroit and he graduated to the NHL the following season.

In 1974-75, Billy made the move behind the bench, joining the Red Wings as an assistant coach for three seasons. He was back on the bench from 1979-1982, including an 11-game stint as head coach to conclude the 1981-82 season, stepping in for Wayne Maxner. As an assistant, he worked under such notable names as Alex Delvecchio, Bobby Kromm and Ted Lindsay.

He also served as a scout for the Florida Panthers.

In 2017, Billy was inducted into the AHL Hall of Fame.

Jarome Iginla played 20 seasons in the National Hockey League, including 16 with the Calgary Flames and is the all-time leader for the Calgary Flames in games played (1219), goals (525) and points (1095).

He is also a multi-time gold medalist with Team Canada, a two-time Memorial Cup champion, and an Honoured Member of the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Jarome made his debut with the Flames in the 1996 Stanley Cup playoffs, as he was signed to a contract and flown to Calgary immediately after his junior season ended in Kamloops. In his first full NHL season, he was named to the all-rookie team, and was runner-up for the Calder Memorial Trophy (Rookie of the Year).

Jarome played over 1,500 games for the Calgary Flames (1995-2012), Pittsburgh Penguins (2012-13), Boston Bruins (2013-14), Colorado Avalanche (2014-17), and Los Angeles Kings (2017). He was a six-time NHL all-star, scored 50 goals in a season twice, and is one of only seven players in NHL history to score 30 goals in 11 consecutive seasons.

On July 30, 2018, Iginla announced his retirement from the NHL. His number 12 was retired by the Flames during a pre-game ceremony on March 2, 2019.

Internationally, Jarome won five gold medals in 42 games with Team Canada:

• 1996 World Junior Hockey Championship (he was the leading scorer with 12 points and was named the tournament’s best forward
• 1997 World Hockey Championship in Helsinki
• 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City
• 2004 World Cup
• 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver

In the junior ranks, Jarome was a member of two Memorial Cup winning teams with the Kamloops Blazers (1994 and 1995) and was named the Western Hockey League Player of the Year in 1996. He was selected 11th overall by the Dallas Stars in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft but was traded to Calgary before making his NHL debut.

Jarome is a trailblazer for Black hockey players. He grew up admiring other Black hockey players, including Edmonton Oilers goaltender Grant Fuhr. Emulating Fuhr, Iginla played goaltender in his first two years of organized hockey before switching to the right wing. He played his entire minor hockey career in St. Albert, leading the Alberta Midget Hockey League in scoring as a 15-year-old with 87 points for the St. Albert Midget Raiders in 1992-93.

He was the first Black player to win the Art Ross Trophy (regular season leading scorer), Maurice Richard Trophy (leading goal scorer), and Lester B. Pearson Award (now Ted Lindsay Award, outstanding player as voted by NHLPA members) all in 2002. Jarome claimed the Richard trophy again in 2003.

In 2002, he became the first Black male athlete to win a gold medal in the history of the Olympic Winter Games.

And in 2020, he was selected for the Hockey Hall of Fame, during his first year of eligibility, becoming only the fourth Black player inducted after Grant Fuhr, Angela James, and Willie O’Ree.

Off the ice, Jarome has been involved with various charitable causes. While a member of the Flames, Jarome donated $2,000 to Kidsport for every goal he scored. He operated the Jarome Iginla Hockey School in Calgary as a non-profit organization, donating proceeds to the Diabetes Research Association. In 2004, he was awarded the NHL Foundation Player Award for his community service and the King Clancy Memorial Trophy in recognition of his humanitarian contributions. He also received the Mark Messier NHL Leadership Trophy in 2009. He is also an ambassador with the NHL Diversity program, which supports youth hockey organizations that offer economically-disadvantaged children the opportunity to play.

Hockey continues to be a big part of life for Jarome and wife Kara. Daughter Jade, and sons Tij and Joe currently all play hockey at the elite level, with Jade attending Brown University and representing Canada internationally. Joe was drafted by the Edmonton Oil Kings in 2023, and Tij is eligible for this year’s NHL Entry Draft.

Dave King has had a distinguished career as a coach and mentor for over 40 years, developing a reputation as one of hockey’s finest tacticians and teachers of the game.

His legacy is one of selflessness, sharing all the information he gained from his experiences.

Dave has presented at an untold number of coaching conferences across Canada in hopes that he can help kids enjoy this great game by improving the quality of coaching.

Dave also spoke at the Open Ice Summit in 1999, advocating for more time to practice skills compared to playing time. He compared the Canadian system, which prioritized physical size and introduced body contact at a young age, to the European system, which prioritized skill, practiced three times as much as the Canadian model, and did not have body contact in youth hockey.

Dave’s coaching resume is impressive, as he has coached at every level of hockey around the world, including: major junior, Canadian university, Canada’s national team, the National Hockey League, and several European and Russian pro leagues.

His coaching career started at his alma mater, University of Saskatchewan, as an assistant coach in 1972-73. His career with the Huskies included berths in three straight national finals, before earning the national championship in 1983.

Dave’s name became synonymous with success through his leadership and involvement with numerous Canadian national team programs. For nine years, he was the head coach and general manager of Canada’s full-time national team based in Calgary. At the Olympic Winter Games, he was head coach of the 1992 silver medalist Team Canada, and in 2018 he was an assistant coach with the bronze-medal team. Overall he coached Team Canada at four Winter Olympics.

Dave’s Canadian national team career also includes Canada’s National Junior team (gold medal 1982, bronze medal 1983); IIHF World Championships (five events, three silver medals); Spengler Cup (three gold medals), and the 1987 Izvestia Cup in Moscow (first Canadian gold medal over the Soviet national team since 1972).

Professionally, Dave coached 16 years in the NHL. He was head coach with the Calgary Flames (1992-95), assistant coach with Montreal Canadiens (1997-99), the first-ever head coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets (2000-2003), and an assistant with Phoenix Coyotes (2009-11). As well, he coached professional hockey in Germany, Japan, Sweden and Russia. He was the first North American to coach in Russia (2005-06 Metallurg), and he returned to Russia in 2014 to lead Lokomotiv Yaroslavl less than three years after the team was devastated by a fatal plane crash.

Along the way, Dave also found time to write two books: King of Russia: A Year in the Russian Super League (2008, with Eric Duhatschek) and Loose Pucks and Ice Bags: How and why the game is changing (2021).

Off the ice, Dave’s lifetime of teaching, coaching and mentoring has been recognized provincially, nationally and internationally, including:

• Order of Canada, 1992
• IIHF Hall of Fame, 2001
• Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame, 2006
• Saskatchewan Hockey Hall of Fame, 2015
• Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame, 1997
• Order of Hockey in Canada, 2013
• Alberta Sports Hall of Fame, 2018
• University of Saskatchewan, Honourary Doctorate, 2018

Kelly Kisio played 761 games in the National Hockey League and captained the New York Rangers for more than three years.

Off the ice, he helped turn the Calgary Hitmen into one of the most successful teams in the Western Hockey League, serving as coach and general manager, and leading the team to two WHL championships.

And he now works as a scout with the Las Vegas Knights, the 2023 Stanley Cup champions.

Ironically, he was not drafted by an NHL team despite impressive offensive statistics in junior. In four years with the Alberta Junior Hockey League’s Red Deer Rustlers and WHL’s Calgary Wranglers (1978-80), he played in 259 games, scored 252 goals, 250 assists for an amazing 502 points, including consecutive 60 goal seasons for the Wranglers. He was the rookie of the year in 1979. He played the 1982-83 season in Switzerland (49 goals, 32 assists) before joining the Red Wings.

In the NHL, Kelly played for the Detroit Red Wings (1983-86), New York Rangers (1986-91), San Jose Sharks (1991-93), and Calgary Flames (1993-95). His best NHL season was 1992-93 with San Jose (26 goals, 78 points) when he represented the Sharks in the 1993 NHL All-Star Game in Montreal. He finished his NHL career with 229 goals and 658 points in 761 regular season games.

He ended his playing career with Calgary in 1995, joining the Flames’ scouting staff. Then, in 1998 he was named general manager of the Calgary Hitmen. With Kisio as GM, the Hitmen made the playoffs every year but one, won four regular season titles, and won the Western Hockey League title in both 1999 and 2010. He was named WHL Executive of the Year twice (2004 and 2009), and in 2013 was appointed president of hockey operations and alternate governor. In addition to his general manager duties, Kisio spent four seasons in the dual role of general manager and head coach from 2004-08, guiding the Hitmen to 167 regular season victories over that span. 

Las Vegas is the second NHL expansion team of which Kisio has been a part. He was an original member of the Sharks in 1991-92. In 2023, the Golden Knights, in just their sixth NHL season, defeated the Florida Panthers to win the franchise’s first Stanley Cup in five games.

With the victory the Golden Knights became the second-fastest franchise in the league’s modern era – since 1943-44 – to win a championship. The Edmonton Oilers won the Stanley Cup in the franchise’s fifth season in the NHL.

Craig MacTavish was a four-time Stanley Cup champion during his 17-year playing career in the National Hockey League, but he still may be best known as the last NHL player not to wear a helmet during games.

In addition to his almost two decades as a player, Craig also served as an executive, coach and assistant coach in the NHL, coached Team Canada internationally, and coached internationally n Russia and Switzerland.

As a player, Craig was a draft pick of the Boston Bruins (1978 Entry Draft, 9^th round, 153 overall) after two years in the NCAA at University of Massachusetts Lowell. During his first three pro seasons, he split time with the Bruins and Binghampton, Springfield and Eri in the American Hockey League. He earned a full-time spot on the Bruins roster in the 1982-83 season, where he played for two seasons.

The Edmonton Oilers signed Craig for the 1985-86 season, kicking off an eight-season stint with the Oilers that included Stanley Cup championships in 1987, 1988 and 1990. He was team captain from 1992-94. With the Oilers, Craig amassed 331 regular season points, and another 37 in the playoffs.

He was traded to New York in 1994, where he earned his fourth Stanley Cup that season along with several former Oilers (including Kevin Lowe, Glenn Anderson, Esa Tikkanen and Mark Messier). He finished his playing career in Philadelphia (1994-96) and St. Louis Blues (1995-96). In total, he had 213 goals and 480 points in the regular season, along with 58 points in the playoffs. He was the last helmetless player, having signed a professional contract with the Bruins before the mandatory cutoff date in 1979 (then-current players were allowed to remain bare-headed under a grandfather clause).

Craig turned to coaching immediately after retiring as a player, signing on as an assistant with the Rangers. After two seasons in New York, he returned to the Oilers as an assistant coach in the 1999-2000 season under former teammate Kevin Lowe. He was subsequently promoted to the top job when Lowe succeeded Glen Sather as general manager.

He coached the Oilers until 2009, including leading the team to the Stanley Cup finals in 2005-06 despite being the eighth seed, before losing to Carolina Hurricanes in seven games. He finished his tenure with the Oilers second on the Oilers’ all-time wins list (301) behind only Sather.

After overcoming a cancer scare later in 2009, MacTavish returned to coaching in the 2011-12 season, with the Chicago Wolves of the AHL. In June 2012 he returned to the Oilers as a senior vice-president of hockey operations, and then was named general manager in April 2013. During his time as general manager, draft selections included current Oilers Darnell Nurse and Leon Draisaitl. Craig stepped behind the Oilers bench again, on an interim basis, in 2014 replacing Dallas Eakins. In 2015, he shifted to the role of vice president of hockey operations after the hiring of Peter Chiarelli.

Craig moved back behind the bench in 2019, with the Russian team Lokomotiv Yaroslavl of the KHL and then as head coach of the Spengler Cup champion Team Canada. In February 2020, he took over as head coach of Lausanne HC (Switzerland) before returning to the NHL with the Blues for the 2022-23 season.

The best words to sum up the career of Shannon Szabados are first and only!

First female to play in the Calgary Macs AAA midget hockey tournament, suiting up in net for the Edmonton Maple Leaf Athletic Club in 2001.

First female to play in the Western Hockey League where Shannon played four exhibition games for the Tri-City Americans including splitting a game with Montreal Canadiens netminder Carey Price.

First female recipient of the Friends of Alberta Junior Hockey League Trophy as the AJHL’s Top Goaltender after the 2006-07 season. During her five-year AJHL career (2002-07), she played with the Sherwood Park Crusaders, Bonnyville Pontiacs and Fort Saskatchewan Traders.

First female to sign and play in the Southern Professional Hockey League in the 2013-14 season with the Columbus Cottonmouths. She played three seasons with Columbus (2013-16), and also played with the Peoria Rivermen (2016-17)

First female goaltender to win an SPHL game when the Cottonmouths defeated the Fayetteville FireAntz 5-4 in overtime in November 2014. Shannon had 34 saves.

First and only female to record a shutout in men’s professional hockey in North America, December 2015, in a 33-save, 3–0 win for the Cottonmouths over the Huntsville Havoc.

Only netminder in women’s hockey history to backstop her nation to two gold medals at the Winter Olympics, and the Canadian goaltender with the most Olympic gold medal games played in Canadian National Team history. Shannon led Team Canada to the podium in 2010 (Vancouver) and 2014 (Sochi), earned the silver medal in 2018 (Pyeongchang), and was named the top goaltender for the 2010 and 2018 Games.

Internationally, Shannon was named the IIHF’s Goaltender of the Decade (2010-2020).

Including the Olympics, her international career included representing Canada on 17 occasions at the Under-22 and Senior levels. She made her Team Canada debut in 2006, helping Canada to a gold medal at the 4 Nations Cup. In total, she played in seven 4 Nations Cup events. Shannon also debuted with Canada’s Under-22 women’s team in 2006 and won three straight gold medals at the Air Canada Cup between 2006 and 2008. She also played in four IIHF World Women’s Championships (2011, 2012, 2013 and 2017), winning gold in 2012.

Shannon also had a successful college/ university career with the MacEwan University Griffins and the NAIT Ooks men’s hockey teams of the Alberta Colleges Athletics Conference, 2007-2013. She played two seasons at Grant MacEwan (2007-09), winning the ACAC silver medal in 2008. For the 2011-12 season, she transferred to the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology. In her second season with the team, she set the regular season record for shutouts (5) en route to an ACAC championship.

Shannon is now a motivational speaker, and skills and development coach for goaltenders across North America. She is also an author/ illustrator and self-publisher for a children’s book, “Every Bunny Loves to Play,” and was an on-air analyst during the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing.

Jeff Smith was the hero, scoring through a maze of legs at 13:16 of overtime, as the Red Deer Rebels won the 2001 Memorial Cup over Val-d’Or, capping a thrilling come-from-behind victory in the Regina Agridome.

The goal was originally credited to Doug Lynch, but officials later changed the goal to Smith.

The Western Hockey League champs took advantage of seven power plays, scoring four times with the man-advantage to overcome a two-goal deficit and deny the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League its fourth championship in six years. Red Deer had jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period, before giving up five straight goals in the second.

Kyle Wanvig scored two goals, including the game-tying goal with 31 seconds left in the third period and Ross Lupaschuk had four points (including a goal) in the final. Derek Meech and Joel Stepp added the other goals Shane Bendera stopped 33 of 38 shots in net.

Red Deer finished first in the round-robin standings, with wins over Val d’Or (5-4 in overtime) and Ottawa 67’s (4-2), and a 5-2 loss to host Regina Pats. Red Deer advanced straight to the final, thanks to the win over the Foreurs. Wanvig was named tournament MVP, and an all-star along with Lupaschuk.

Team members were: Colby Armstrong, Shane Bendera, Andrew Bergen, Martin Erat, Jason Ertl, Devin Francon, Boyd Gordon, Shane Grypiuk, Diarmuid Kelly, Ladislav Kouba, Ross Lupaschuk, Doug Lynch, Justin Mapletoft, Derek Meech, Cam Ondrik, Donovan Rattray, Darcy Robinson, Joel Rupprecht, Jeff Smith, Shay Stephenson, Joel Stepp, Bryce Thoma, Jim Vandermeer, Kyle Wanvig, Cam Ward, Jeff Woywitka, Dave “Radar Horning (trainer), Les Scott (Trainer), Nav Rattan (team doctor), Andy Nowicki (Goaltending consultant), Carter Sears (Head Scout),  Dallas Gaume (assistant coach), Justin Wallin (assistant coach), Brent Sutter (general manager and coach) .

The Rebels led the Canadian Hockey League with a franchise-best 54-12-3-3 regular season and held the number one ranking for most of the year. Red Deer advanced to the Memorial Cup by beating Lethbridge, Calgary, Swift Current and Portland in the WHL playoffs.

Several Rebels earned regular season WHL awards, including: Justin Mapletoft (Player of the Year, Top Scorer), Brent Sutter (Coach and Executive of the Year), Jim Vandemeer (Humanitarian of the Year, Plus-Minus Award), and Bendera (Playoff MVP). Vandermeer and Mapletoft were named First Team All-Stars, while Bendera, Lupaschuk and Kyle Wanvig were Second Team All-Stars.

Sutter, who won two Stanley Cups and three Canada Cups in the 1980s, added the Memorial Cup to his impressive resume. The championship came just two years after Sutter purchased the franchise and shook up the team by adding veteran players like Wanvig, Lupaschuk and Martin Erat. 

Team members reunited in 2016, when the Mastercard Memorial Cup held in Red Deer, celebrating the 15^th anniversary of their championship.

The Rebels were successful in the early 2000s, winning three consecutive division and conference titles between 2000 and 2003. After the Memorial Cup crown, the Rebels reached the league finals each the next two seasons.