Three ex-NHLers -- Dominik Hasek, Scott Niedermayer and Robert Reichel -- are part of the IIHF’s 2015 Hockey Hall of Fame induction class, the organization announced on Thursday.
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Hasek, who was recently inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, needs no introduction to hockey fans. His play with the Czech Republic and in the NHL for more than 20 years was spectacular for its originality, and he backstopped his national team to an historic Olympic gold in Nagano in 1998.
Reichel was his teammate that year and captained the Czechs eight times at three levels of IIHF competition.
Niedermayer was a smooth-skating defenceman in the line that goes from Bobby Orr to Paul Coffey and on to the 14th member of the Triple Gold Club.
His ability to win everywhere he played was unparalleled, starting with the Memorial Cup at the junior level and including gold medals at the U20, World Championship, Olympics, and World Cup of Hockey.
Also going in this year will be builder Fran Rider, who established the first unofficial women’s World Hockey Championship in 1987, and Maria Rooth, a longtime Swedish international that led her country to silver at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin.