Hall of Fame class savors moment after year delay due to COVID-19

TORONTO --Kevin Lowe has visited the Hockey Hall of Fame on numerous occasions, often for the inductions of some of his high-profile Edmonton Oilers teammates.

He was there again Friday, but this time it was different.
This time Lowe wasn't there to watch someone else get their Hall of Fame ring. He was there to receive his own.
"Surreal, isn't it?" Lowe said, grinning from ear to ear. "It was well worth the wait. Not just for me but for all of us."
Lowe, Doug Wilson, Jarome Iginla, Marian Hossa, Kim St-Pierre and Ken Holland are each being honored this weekend as part of the Hall's Class of 2020. All six were elected 18 months ago but the 2020 ceremonies scheduled for last November were postponed due to concerns surrounding COVID-19.
Judging by the smiles during the ceremony, the one-year delay was not an issue. Anything but.
"l jokingly said once that whether we ever have this ceremony or not, we're in and we can never have it taken away from us," Lowe said. "So that was kind of special. And then the way some of the folks at the Hall of Fame talked about it you relish it even more because you get to soak it in that much longer because of the pandemic, because of the delay. And yeah, it's been really enjoyable.
"I'm actually a little sad because it's actually coming to an end."
Lowe was a member of the Oilers dynasty that won four Stanley Cups in five years from 1984-88. Forwards Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Glenn Anderson, Jari Kurri, defenseman Paul Coffey and goalie Grant Fuhr, members of that team, are in the Hall.
"The difference now when I come here, so am I," Lowe said.

Lowe and Wilson had waited the longest among the group to get here. Lowe was eligible since 2001; Wilson even longer.
Wilson, a defenseman for the Chicago Blackhawks and San Jose Sharks and current Sharks general manager, had been eligible since 1996, so when it came time for the Class of 2020 to be announced June 25, he decided to spend the day swimming with his grandkids, figuring it would not be any different.
Now, 505 days after receiving the call that he'd been elected, he was savoring the moment.
"Look, waiting an extra year hasn't been burdensome, or anything like that," Wilson said. "With what's been going on in society, you look at it and just want everyone to be healthy. That's the important thing. That's the way of the world right now.
"I don't look at it as a wait, I look at it as a privilege of being included in it. And I never thought about it necessarily happening. When I got the call, it was a pleasant surprise that came out of the blue. And now, here I am."
Waiting was never an issue for St-Pierre, who is the eighth woman inducted into the Hall. She'd grown up in Quebec idolizing former Canadiens goaltender Patrick Roy. She was a goalie too and played on a boys team until she was 18. Never in her wildest dreams did she dream of being inducted into the same Hall as Roy.
"To be in here, with all these great Canadiens players I looked up to, I could have never imagined this as a kid," St-Pierre said.
As she addressed a scrum of reporters, it was pointed out that the plaques of Canadiens inductees Jacques Plante and Jacques Laperriere loomed over her left shoulder.
"Amazing," she said. "I remember how those great Canadiens players inspired me. And now, some day in the future, I hope to be able to inspire young girls to fulfill their hockey dreams in the same way. Being in here helps that a lot."
Holland is no stranger to the Hall.
As the general manager of the Detroit Red Wings from 1997-2019 he'd watched Red Wings players like Nicklas Lidstrom, Steve Yzerman, Sergei Fedorov and Brendan Shanahan be inducted and said he felt proud for being part of each of their careers.
"But I never expected to be here myself," said Holland, the general manager of the Oilers. "You're just happy for your players when they get in. We were blessed with some great teams and great players in Detroit, and it was great to see them recognized for their work.
"You have to sit and take a moment to soak it all in. It's been such a long journey. And it's been worth every minute."
Even if the Class of 2020 had to wait an extra year to get there.