IIHF Hall of Fame inducts new members
 Saturday, 14th May
This afternoon at the Media Centre in the
Stadthalle, Vienna, the IIHF inducted its newest members into its Hockey Hall of
Fame. The ceremony was conducted by IIHF president Rene Fasel, Bill Hay,
chairman of the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, Kimmo Leinonen of the IIHF, and
Phil Pritchard, Curator of the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Among the distinguished guests were Peter Stastny,
general manager of Slovakia's entry in this year’s tournament. Below are the
Inductees' biographies.
Players' category:
Fetisov, Viacheslav (RUS)
Born April 20, 1958, in Moscow, Soviet Union. Defenseman. It was obvious to
all that Viacheslav Fetisov was destined for greatness from the beginning –
blessed with his immense talents and supported on and off the ice by many
Russian ice hockey greats. Starting with the legendary CSKA club back in 1976,
Fetisov anchored the team to an amazing 13 straight national titles, to go along
with 12 European Cup championships. During this period he amassed 373 points in
478 appearances, not to mention his individual awards which included nine
all-star team selections, four Top Scoring Defenseman Awards and three Player of
the Year Awards. Fetisov was even more dominant on the international stage when
as a junior he helped secure gold medals for the Soviet teams at two IIHF
European Junior Championships, followed by two more at the U20 events, earning
an IIHF Directorate Award in three of those four events. It was more of the same
at the senior level where Fetisov would go on to collect seven gold, one silver
and three bronze medals, five IIHF Directorate Awards and eight all-star
nominations. Fetisov's three Olympic tournaments saw him take home two more gold
and a silver medal. At age 31 he made his move to the NHL where he would play
nine seasons, first with New Jersey and ultimately with Detroit where he won
Stanley Cup titles to round off an incredible playing career. Fetisov's awards
didn’t stop upon retirement, becoming a recipient of the Olympic Order of Merit
in 2000 and received a similar honour that same year in his native Russia and in
2001 was elected into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Kuzkin, Viktor (RUS)
Born July 6, 1940 in Moscow, Soviet Union. Defenseman. Viktor Kuzkin can be
considered as one of the second generation of superstars to emerge from the
early years of Soviet ice hockey. A product of the powerful Moscow CSKA club,
Kuzkin patrolled the blueline for close to two decades starting back in the
1958-59 season of the Soviet Hockey League. His presence ensured ongoing success
for the club, as evidenced by the 12 national championships that he was an
integral part of and a further seven European Cup titles. Kuzkin proved to be a
major threat at both ends of the ice – playing stellar defense in his own zone
and then turning up ice to attack, scoring an impressive 70 goals in 530 career
games with his club team. After a few seasons with CSKA, Kuzkin was ready to
crack the national team lineup, playing in his first IIHF World Championship
during the 1963 event in Sweden in which the secured the gold by defeating
Canada 4 – 2 in the final game. Kuzkin went on to play in eight more World
Championship tournaments during his international career and skated away with an
amazing eight gold and one silver medal during that time. The same success
greeted Kuzkin at the Winter Olympic Games as he was a part of the gold medal
winning team in each of his three appearances in 1964, 1968 and 1972. His 18
goals in 169 national team games represented only a part of Kuzkin's value to
the team during his tenure there, which is why upon retirement as a player in
1976, he joined the coaching ranks as Assistant Coach with his old club CSKA and
helped ensure a bright future for the next generation of Soviet defensemen of
their time.
Naslund, Mats (SWE)
Born October 31, 1959 in Timra, Sweden. Forward. Mats Naslund began his
illustrious career in his hometown with Timra IK before moving on for four
seasons to Brynas IF from 1978 to 1982, one of which was capped off with a
Swedish championship title – in 1980 a year in which he was chosen as Player of
the Year. By this time Naslund was ready for his next challenge, and jumped into
the NHL with the Montreal Canadiens where he would go on to star with the club
for eight successive seasons. Despite being small in stature, Naslund played
with a rare combination of competitiveness and durability - missing only 23
games during that time. Individually, he earned a selection onto the NHL
All-Rookie Team in 1983, to a Second Team All-Star in 1986, appeared in three
All-Star Games and was awarded with the Lady Byng Trophy in 1988 and became just
the second European to win the award at the time. His NHL highlight came when
Naslund accumulated 20 points in 19 playoff games en route to the Stanley Cup
title in 1986. Later, after one year with Lugano in the Swiss League, Naslund
returned to Sweden in 1991 and laced up for three seasons with Malmo IF and
celebrated one championship before retiring after a brief stint with the Boston
Bruins. Success came Naslund’s way in the international arena as well, suiting
up with pride for Tre Kronor 135 times which included an IIHF World Championship
title in 1991 during his last of his five appearances at the senior level. During
the Winter Olympics, Naslund participated three times and earned a bronze and
celebrated with a gold medal during the 1994 event held right in Sweden.
Schloder, Alois (GER)
Born August 11, 1947 in Landshut, West Germany. Forward. Alois Schloder
was a German ice hockey legend, establishing and breaking club and league
records throughout his career. Schloder spent all 23 seasons in the German
Bundesliga playing for the same team, his hometown club of EV Landshut, which
was a testament only to his playing skills but also his character and leadership
skills. He began this unique achievement back in 1963 and by 1971, Schloder had
become the team captain, a position he held until his retirement in 1986. He
guided the club to two national championship titles in 1970 as well as in 1983
and also led the entire Bundesliga in goal and overall scoring during the
1971-72 season. Throughout his domestic playing career, Schloder, who made the
league All-Star team in 1976-77, racked up an impressive 496 goals during an
even more amazing statistic by appearing in 806 games for Landshut. It was only
after a few successful seasons playing within Germany that Schloder was
recruited to play internationally for West Germany. His debut at an IIHF event
came in 1966 when he led his squad to the IIHF B Pool World Championship and a
promotion into the A Pool event. Aside from that gold medal, Schloder earned
two silver and a bronze during his five B Pool appearances and during his seven
A Pool tournaments, he either led or was near the top in team scoring during
most of these events. No doubt Schloder's personal highlight came in 1976 in
Innsbruck when he captained West Germany to the bronze medal during the last of
his three Olympic Games appearances. In fact, Schloder was team captain for
more than half of his 12-year international career, in which he suited up 206
times and had tallied 87 goals.
Builders' category
Hviid Jorgen (DEN)
Born September 1, 1916 in Moscow, Russia. Jorgen Hviid was a well rounded
athlete, but it was his skating abilities in which he really excelled. He
started to play ice hockey in the 1931-32 season, and became a Latvian champion
with the Unions club in 1932 and 1933. He and his family returned to Denmark in
1934 and would prove to have a significant impact on the development of Danish
ice hockey during the latter part of the 1930’s and into the next decade. He and
his brothers helped make the Kjobenhavns SF club a powerhouse within Denmark,
becoming a Danish champion on two occasions – 1956 and 1961. Hviid continued
that same success later on during the 1960's, this time as coach of that same
team from Copenhagen, leading the club to several national titles during his
reign.
Hviid's international playing career was historic
in that while representing his country at the 1949 IIHF World Championship in
Stockholm, he not only recorded Denmark's first-ever goal in the event, he went
on to tally all four of his team's four tournament goals, clearly having
established himself as the most superior player on his side. His impact was
still be felt when a generation later, his son Jesper starred in the Danish ice
hockey scene during the 1970's. Hviid's commitment to the game landed him a
position as a member of the Danish Ice Hockey Union from 1982 – 1988. For these
and many more reasons, it is easy to see why Hviid has been dubbed the “Father
of Danish Ice Hockey”.
On-Ice-Officials' category
Adamec Quido (CZE)
Born on December 15, 1924 in Prague, Czechoslovakia. Quido Adamec
carved out a very distinguished on-ice game official and ice hockey
administrative career built in large part by his dedication and pursuit of
excellence within the sport. Similar to the ice hockey players he governed on
the ice, Adamec worked his way up through the ranks, first refereeing in the
county of Rakovnik in the local competition around Kladno in 1946 and a couple
of years later moved onto the county of Ceske Budejovice. By 1949 Adamec had
been deemed so effective, he began to referee regional and divisional matches in
Prague, and soon-after became a mainstay in the Czechoslovak League where he
patrolled the ice from 1952 until 1969. Having established his reputation
within his native country, Adamec was chosen to represent the IIHF at its main
event – the World Championship A Pool where he appeared in seven tournaments,
including the 1959 event held in Czechoslovakia, where he proudly and
impartially officiated to his highest standards. Adamec has been the Chairman
of the Czech Referee Committee since 1973 and a valued member of the IIHF
International Committee of Referees for over 25 years. As a recognized authority
on ice hockey rules, Adamec’s experience and educational skills prompted
numerous publications as well as numerous guest lecture appearances at various
international ice hockey conferences. He is also credited with developing the
systematic educational process utilized for game on-ice officials, and has
always been an advocate incorporating new ideas as part of the improvement for
the sport overall.
Paul Loicq Award
Rita Hrbacek was born May 19, 1944, in Vienna,
Austria and had a career in both national and international ice hockey that has
spanned over 40 years. Rita appeared on the ice hockey scene for the first time
in 1964, when she was hired by the Austrian Ice Hockey Federation to work at its
office as a secretary. In 1976, when the International Ice Hockey Federation
had its first office established, Hrbacek became a secretary to the IIHF General
Secretary and remained in this position until 1983. She then returned to the
Austrian Ice Hockey Federation office, and was named the federation's General
Secretary in 1989. Hrbacek retired from that position in October 2004 after 40
years of serving ice hockey in Austria. Her excellent skills in English and
Czech languages besides her native German won her numerous friends in the
international sports world. She is also a winner of the 2005 Paul Loicq Award
presented by the IIHF to a person with a long lasting service and dedication in
ice hockey. During her time with the Austrian Association, Hrbacek helped
organize the IIHF World Championship tournaments in 1967, 1977, 1987 and 1996.
She was also involved in numerous other IIHF international tournaments, such as
the World U20 and World U18 championships, as well as many international club
team competitions. During her regime in Austria, its national ice hockey team
qualified for the Olympic Winter Games in 1968 in Grenoble, 1976 in Innsbruck,
1984 in Sarajevo, 1988 in Calgary, 1994 in Lillehammer, 1998 in Nagano and 2002
in Salt Lake City. Her career as a high-ranked ice hockey officer is unique
among all IIHF member countries, and the IIHF highly supports Rita Hrbacek's
candidature for the IOC & Sport Trophy.
IHWC.net
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