Langway was a defensive defenseman who didn't start playing hockey until he was 12. How many parents and kids have been told that they can't make it big if they don't start playing before they are 10? Too many.

While defense always has been an important aspect of hockey and good defense is ever the hallmark of Stanley Cup champions, the majority of Hall of Fame defensemen have been players who produced big offensive numbers.

Langway won the Norris Trophy as the NHL's best defender in 1982 and 1983 and is the only purely defensive defenseman to have won the award since it was first presented in 1954 to Red Kelly, who five times led all NHL defensemen in scoring.

Langway is a tall, wide-bodied, hulking figure with great strength who built an encyclopedic knowledge of offensive opponents. The phrase "so-and-so goes around Langway" was rarely heard in his 15 NHL seasons with the Montreal Canadians and Washington Capitals.

Langway achieved two other notable distinctions in his career. He won the Stanley Cup with the Canadiens in 1979 and he brought credibility to the Washington franchise.

2002 Hall of Fame Inductions Editor's note: There's nothing more self-fulfilling to a hockey player than to be elected to the Hall of Fame. On Monday November 4th, three new members, Clark Gillies, Bernie Federko and Rod Langway, will be inducted into the Hall in the Player Category. Roger Neilson, will also enter the Hall, as he will be honored in the Builder Category. Also Read: Capital Gains: Langway in Washington The Inductees Clark Gillies Bernie Federko Rod Langway Roger Neilson More Links NHL History on NHL.com Hockey Hall of Fame

The Capitals had never qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs before Langway arrived via trade in 1982. They would miss only once in his 11 seasons there.

New General Manager David Poile got Langway, defenseman Brian Engblom, center Doug Jarvis and winger Craig Laughlin for defenseman Rick Green and forward Ryan Walter in his first major move to reshape the Capitals. He would later trade Engblom for Larry Murphy and draft Scott Stevens, considerably bolstering the Capitals' defense and overall defensive strategy.

"David had a pretty good idea of what was going on when he was building that team," Langway recalls. "The idea that we needed to keep the puck out of our net was No. 1. He also got goalie Pat Riggin from Calgary. I joined a team with a lot of talented players like Mike Gartner, Bobby Carpenter and Dennis Maruk. Denis scored 60 goals the year before, but they asked him to play better defense. He did, and still scored 31 goals, and made the playoffs for the first time in his career.

"I was paired that season with Randy Holt. He protected me quite a bit and kept me out of the penalty box. He gave me more room to operate and had one of his best seasons."

Not only did Langway not start skating until he was 12, his first pair of skates were figure skates. He also was an American when there were only a handful in the NHL and he played in the World Hockey Association.

On the plus side, he played in the Eastern Conference (then the Campbell Conference) and, as he said, "got plenty of ink" for his work against the Canadiens, New York Rangers, Boston Bruins and New York Islanders, teams that were then among the League's best and most televised.

He'll be joining the Hockey Hall of Fame with players Bernie Federko and Clark Gillies and coach Roger Neilson. He's honored to be in such company.

"It seemed I was always on the ice when Bernie was out," he said. "I always played well against the Islanders. I was always out against (Mike) Bossy, (Bryan) Trottier and Gillies. I'm just glad Clark played on the other side of the ice!"

The phrase "so-and-so goes around Langway" was rarely heard in his 15 NHL seasons with the Montreal Canadians and Washington Capitals.

Gillies joins linemates Bossy and Trottier in the Hall. Langway considers them one of, if not the, best lines he ever played against.

"I'm glad Bryan has the opportunity to coach the Rangers," Langway said. "He made terrific choices for assistant coaches in Terry O'Reilly and Jim Schonfeld, two great character guys. Let me tell you something, people think Bryan is deadly serious but he has a wicked, dry sense of humor."

Langway said that despite the long tradition of good hockey in New England, in his hometown of Randolph, Mass., football and baseball ruled. He played both and was an All Scholastic player in all three sports at Randolph High School.

"The interest got real hot when Bobby Orr came up to the Bruins," Langway said. "Suddenly, if you didn't play hockey, you were left out. All my buddies were playing. I fell in love with it. But my first skates were figure skates and they wouldn't let me play because of the pick. I filed it off but they didn't work too well. I got my own CCM Bobby Hull model.

"Three years later, my mom bought me CCM Tacks for Christmas in 1971," he reminisced. "I still remember buying my Tacks in the little skate area of a ski shop in Braintree."

Langway "played up" for a couple of years because he fibbed about his age to play on a team with friends. When they went to high school and he was still in junior high, officials got suspicious. But the experience helped him.

Langway played two highly successful seasons at the University of New Hampshire for coach Charlie Holt, from whom he learned a lot.

"Charlie Holt was a special man. He was so ahead of the game in terms of the way he thought about it," Langway said. "The thing that sold me on UNH were the great players like Tim Burke, Paul Powers, Troy Crowder, Bobby Gould and Bob Miller. We had six freshmen and we were rated No. 1 in the country. That right there was the biggest development I had as a player, going from a Division 2 high school to Division I college hockey. I was catching up to the other players, but Charlie had confidence in me and I played every game."

"We got knocked out of the ECAC tournament by Harvard my freshman year, then Wisconsin with that great team with Mark Johnson and Craig Norwich beat us in overtime in the NCAA semifinals and went on to beat Michigan for the championship."

The Canadiens and the Birmingham Bulls of the WHA drafted Langway. The Bulls included Paul Henderson, Mark Napier, Vaclav Nedomansky and Frank Mahovlich. Yet, the Bulls were perennial also-rans.

Langway won the Norris Trophy as the NHL's best defender in 1982 and 1983 and is the only purely defensive defenseman to have won the award since it was first presented in 1954 to Red Kelly.

"Birmingham wanted to sign me and the Canadiens said stay in school," Langway recalled. "I took the money and ran. Napier was our best player and Ken Linseman was also a rookie. The next year, they drafted a great group of kids, including Pat Riggin, Michel Goulet and three top defensemen. That league was better than some people give it credit. Look how Quebec played in the NHL the first year and Edmonton went on to win championships with that core of Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier."

Langway didn't stick it out until the bitter leagues merged. He joined the Canadiens in 1978.

"It was a blessing going to the Canadiens. I was just in awe, on Cloud Nine. I had a chance to play with three of the greatest defensemen ever in Serge Savard, Guy Lapointe and Larry Robinson," Langway said. "Scotty Bowman was the coach and Jacques Laperriere was the assistant coach. He taught me to play more relaxed.

"The offense never got excited because they had those big bodies behind them steering everything to the outside. I can't say enough about Ken Dryden as a goaltender. Kenny would stone them when we made a mistake."

Langway said Robinson, Savard and Lapointe taught by example rather than taking him aside.

"There was never a lecture but we talked hockey all the time, which I loved to do," he said. "Stuff like theories on how to play a guy. When you hear all that knowledge about the game, something has to sink in.

"Practice was tougher than games, the skill level was that high. Jacques Lemaire might have been the best hockey player I ever saw. If you weren't on, you were going to get embarrassed. Come game time, it didn't seem like a big deal."

Langway saw spot duty his rookie season, playing 45 regular-season games and eight playoff games.

"I had a good seat for the Toronto series," Langway laughed. "But then Lapointe got hurt and I finished the Bruins series, the one they were leading when they were called for too many men on the ice and we scored on the penalty and won in overtime. Then, I played all five games in the Finals against the Rangers.

Langway refused the Canadiens' contract offer in 1982 and was dealt soon after to Washington, seemingly the basement of the NHL but Poile and Langway soon turned the tide.

"I kind of pushed the trade because I wasn't getting compensated for the Canadian dollar and because after Canadian taxes, I had to play U.S. taxes. I was getting killed," Langway said. "I felt I had established myself as a pretty good defenseman and I tried to get a raise. I had just started a family. Crowder was playing in Boston and making much more after taxes."

Langway played two highly successful seasons at the University of New Hampshire, who later honored him with a special night.

Terry Murray was an assistant coach in Washington when Langway arrived.

"I finished my playing career in Washington and we never made the playoffs," Murray recalled. "We had no identity. What could we hang our hat on?

"After the trade, we knew we were going to become a real good team defensively and that we would have leadership from Rod, who became one of the premier defensemen in the game. Coaches didn't have to spend a lot of time in the locker room trying to get players ready for the game. He was a very vocal guy and often a non-stop talker. It really laid a foundation for Washington's style of game."

There's mutual admiration between Murray and Langway.

"When you play for a coach who played in the NHL, there's a rapport and respect," Langway said. "Terry was quiet guy who played with a pretty good team in Philadelphia. I played against him when he was in Maine. He was a good stay-at-home defenseman."

Schonfeld became coach at Washington just after Langway retired.

"I wish I played for him but there was a changing of the guard and, mentally, it got to me, just sitting and watching," Langway said. "I didn't feel good about it but rather than pressure management, I just stepped aside."

Langway retired in 1993-94 but returned to play parts of two minor-league seasons before hanging up his skates. He wants to be remembered as a team player.

"I got more satisfaction from making the playoffs than making the All-Star teams," he said. "That was the biggest goal for me and the team."

Langway thinks the seventh game of the 1986 Eastern Conference semifinals was his biggest disappointment. That's the game the Islanders won in the third overtime on a goal by Pat Lafontaine.

"It was disappointing for the whole team," he said. "Back then, the playoff schedule was so tough. We played seven games in 10 nights. The Islanders left the Cap Center at 5 a.m., bused to Philadelphia and played the next day. Amazingly, they beat the Flyers in overtime. But I don't care what kind of body you have, your legs just don't return."

Langway wasn't surprised at his Hall of Fame selection. The media has been asking him about it for a couple of years, he said.

"I'm very happy, ecstatic, to be in the Hockey Hall of Fame," he said. "The way the media and the players accepted me as a player, with all the All-Star Games I played, the World Cups and Rendez Vous ?87, and I was always on the ice against first-line players, I knew I had a chance at it. I was really glad I got the call."

Langway would be the last person to call himself a self-made man. He hasn't forgotten who helped him get here.

"Jack Foley was my coach in Bantams and, in high school, I was coached by Mike Addessa, who went on to coach RPI to their NCAA championship. Paul Torney who remains one of my best friends, also coached me at Randolph. Dave O'Connor was my football and assistant hockey coach and we're very good friends to this day."