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Leafs add four Hall of Famers to Winter Classic alumni roster

Mats Sundin

In what’s becoming a game of one-upmanship, the Toronto Maple Leafs added four Hockey Hall of Fame members to its roster for the annual Winter Classic alumni game.

Mats Sundin, Joe Nieuwendyk, Frank Mahovlich and Borje Salming have all committed to wearing the blue and white on Dec. 31, when the Leafs alumni take on the Red Wings alumni at Comerica Park in Detroit.

These additions come on the heels of Detroit naming several HHOF members to its lineup, including Alex Delvecchio, Sergei Fedorov and Igor Larionov.

Sundin is the highest-scoring Swedish player in NHL history and Toronto’s all-time leader in points. He was one of the four inductees for the 2012 Hall class.

Mahovlich won four Stanley Cups with the Leafs between 1962-67 before being inducted into the HHOF in 1981 and the Canadian Senate in 1998.

Salming played 17 seasons in Toronto and is still the highest-scoring defenseman in franchise history. Nicknamed “The King”, Salming is credited for being the one of the first international players to make a major impact on the NHL -- he was inducted into Hockey Hall of Fame in 1996 and the IIHF Hall of Fame in 1998.

Nieuwendyk only spent a single season in Toronto -- 2003-04, scoring 50 points in 64 games -- making his marks mostly with the Flames, Devils and Stars (the three teams he won Stanley Cups with.) Nieuwendyk was inducted to the HHOF in 2011.

/ignores comments about the possibility of there being no Winter Classic

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