Hall of Fame Buzz: Brodeur right behind Plante among goalies, says Parent

Welcome to the 2018 Hockey Hall of Fame Induction Weekend. The four-day celebration features the Hall of Fame game, a fan Q&A with honorees, a legends game and the inductions of the Class of 2018: NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and NHL diversity ambassador Willie O'Ree in the Builders category, and former players Martin Brodeur, Jayna Hefford, Martin St. Louis and Alexander Yakushev.

Here is the latest buzz from Toronto:

Parent lauds Brodeur

Philadelphia Flyers legend Bernie Parent ranks the Class of 2018's Martin Brodeur one notch below another icon on his list of all-time great goalies.

"In my view, Jacques Plante of the Montreal Canadiens always was and always will be the greatest in the game," said the Hall of Fame goalie, who was a teammate of Plante with the Toronto Maple Leafs for a season and a half from 1970-72.

That was long after Plante had won six Stanley Cup championships with the Canadiens, in 1953 and five consecutively from 1956-60. In his Montreal youth, living next door to Plante's sister, Parent idolized the Canadiens legend, studying him on the ice while watching him come and go from the shrubs.

Parent credits Plante with teaching him how to be an NHL goalie six seasons into his career. Instead of Plante being wary of a young goalie arriving to challenge him for the Maple Leafs net, Parent says the master took a pupil under his arm and taught him the fine points of goaltending and the work ethic necessary to apply them.

Parent would go on to win consecutive Stanley Cup championships with the Flyers in 1974 and 1975, both times voted winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of the postseason. He was elected to Hockey Hall of Fame in 1984, six years after Plante was enshrined.

If Plante is at the summit of his all-time list, Parent doesn't hesitate to name Brodeur, the NHL's all-time wins (691) and shutouts (125) leader who won the Stanley Cup three times with the New Jersey Devils, as his No. 2.

"Martin is above everyone but Plante, for a lot of reasons," Parent said. "When Martin was 42, in his final season (with the St. Louis Blues in 2014-15), he had the same enthusiasm as when he was just into his 20s at the start of his career. That's why he did so well and has all the records that he does. He was a heck of a goalie."

Equally impressive to Parent is Brodeur's demeanor off the ice, the two former goalies cut from the same cloth in the way they interact with fans.

"Look at Martin here today," Parent said Sunday morning, sitting in a Toronto hotel lobby, Brodeur a few feet away signing endless autographs and mingling with fans. "What a great individual. Martin socializes, he's great with fans. That's what I tell every young player who's coming up. If you're good with the fans, they'll be good to you."

-- Dave Stubbs

Clarkson praises impact of Brodeur

David Clarkson said the impact Brodeur had on his career was immeasurable.

"He was the guy who took care of me when I came in the League," said Clarkson, a power forward with the Devils. "I came in as a guy who would fight and try to make a difference any way I could even though I wasn't playing a ton. He was a guy who was always there telling you how good a job you did or pumping you up after games."

Clarkson spent 426 games as a teammate of Brodeur's during seven seasons with the Devils beginning in 2006-07 and was on hand at the Hockey Hall of Fame induction ceremony Monday after receiving an invitation from Brodeur .

"I don't think you realize the impact he had on players like myself and for him to invite me to be here today with him is pretty special," Clarkson said. "We've been very close since we played together but he's always been a good person and always treated people the way he wanted to be treated."

As generous as he found Brodeur off the ice, Clarkson said he never played with another goalie that had the same competitive drive for success on it.

"There wasn't many goalies I saw that in practice, didn't want to let one shot in. That was just the way he was, he didn't want anything to go in. It was just impressive that he battled that way," Clarkson said. "I think there's a reason we're standing here today and it was what he has brought to the organization in New Jersey. I played quite a few places but I never played with someone with that type of mentality and the skill level he brought."

Clarkson also played with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Columbus Blue Jackets before sustaining a back injury that has led to degenerative discs in his spine. He has two years left on a contract and his rights are now owned by the Vegas Golden Knights after Columbus traded him to Vegas on June 21, 2017 but he is unlikely to play again. He last played on March 11, 2016 with the Blue Jackets.

"I'm doing OK, I had a couple of surgeries I'm dealing with but I miss (hockey) every day, I do," Clarkson said. "I moved out to Colorado to raise my family and just to get a little bit of a different way of life. It's hard when it's all you know and you've been doing it since you were 4 years old. I have no regrets though, I was never drafted and was told I wasn't going to play in the NHL and I was very blessed. Do I wish this didn't happen or I didn't have that injury, that's easy to do but I think you have to live in the now."

-- Dave McCarthy

Puck pact unites Hall of Famers Dryden, Pavelich

On May 21, 1979, the final seconds were ticking off the Montreal Forum clock during a 4-1 Montreal Canadiens victory against the New York Rangers. With the win came the Stanley Cup championship for Montreal, the 22nd of 24 in its history.

And here came the puck, rolling toward the glove of goalie Ken Dryden, who would retire at the game's end, headed toward his 1983 Hockey Hall of Fame induction. This was the sixth Stanley Cup title for Dryden in his seven full Canadiens seasons, having won his first after six regular-season games in 1970-71.

What Dryden didn't know at that instant was that it was also the final NHL game for linesman Matt Pavelich, who would retire after 23 seasons, 1,727 regular-season games and another 245 in the postseason. Pavelich would become the first linesman inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1987.

Dryden wanted the puck as a final souvenir, but so did Pavelich. The goalie surrendered it to the veteran linesman, but with a survivor's understanding. If Pavelich survives Dryden, he keeps the puck forever. If Dryden survives him, the puck comes back to the goalie.

Pavelich, 84, laughed about the pact Monday as he walked the red carpet into the Class of 2018 induction ceremony.

"Yes, I still have that puck, and I just moved it in the house from where it was," he said. "I hid it because my wife throws things out all the time. It's not on display, it's hidden away."
Pavelich says he doesn't have an inventory of the number of pucks in his collection.

"My son, when he was in maybe the seventh grade, used to take them and sell them," he said, laughing. "I'd go to school to a parent-teacher thing and the teacher would say, 'Oh, I bought two pucks from your son.'"

-- Dave Stubbs

St. Louis a role model for Briere

Danny Briere got to the NHL before Martin St. Louis. The former Buffalo Sabres and Flyers forward had a small measure of success before him too. But Briere looks at St. Louis, who will be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on Monday, as a role model because of how he rose to NHL stardom despite being a smaller player.

"He was the perfect example for me," Briere, 5-foot-9, said before playing against the 5-foot-8 St. Louis in the Haggar Hockey Hall of Fame Legends Classic at Scotiabank Arena on Sunday.

Briere played five games for the Phoenix Coyotes late in the 1997-98 season, when St. Louis was trying to get his pro career started by playing in the American Hockey League and the International Hockey League.

Briere got in 64 games, scoring 22 points (eight goals, 14 assists), in the 1998-99 season, when St. Louis played 13 games with the Calgary Flames.

But St. Louis finally found his foothold in the NHL with the Tampa Bay Lightning two seasons later, when Briere was still a bit player toggling between the NHL and AHL in the Coyotes organization, trying to prove he can make an impact despite his size.

Briere started paying attention to St. Louis at the time. It helped motivate him.

"He was just starting to make a name for himself at this level," Briere said. "That, for me, it was if he can do it, I can get through that as well."

Briere's breakthrough came in the 2001-02 season, when he had 60 points (including 32 goals) with the Coyotes. He was traded to the Sabres the following season and became an instant star, not quite at the level of St. Louis, who won the Hart Trophy in 2004, but prominent nonetheless.

In the 2006-07 season, St. Louis finished fifth in the League with a career-high 102 points (43 goals, 59 assists); Briere was 10th with a career high 95 points (32 goals, 63 assists).

"I owe [St. Louis] a lot for carving the path for smaller guys at the time because you didn't see that very often back in the late 90s with the way the rules were," Briere said. "I've probably never told him that I was looking up to him for that, but I'm sure he's aware that he's carved the path for a lot of guys like myself."

-- Dan Rosen

Larionov raves about qualification of Yakushev for Hall induction

Igor Larionov remembers being an 11-year-old hockey player with his jaw dropped as he watched Aleksander Yakushev play for the Soviet Union in the 1972 Summit Series against Canada.

"Watching him play for the national team in the '72 Summit Series games, it opened your eyes how much he raised his level of play in the first time ever playing against NHL players," said Larionov, who was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2008. "That was amazing to see as an 11-year-old, eye-opening."

Yakushev, who will be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on Monday, was arguably the best Soviet player in the famous Summit Series, leading his team with seven goals and 11 points. His seven goals tied him with Canadians Phil Esposito and Paul Henderson for the series lead. His 11 points were one shy of Esposito's series-high 12.

"The consistency level in that eight-game series, he was one of the best players in that on the Russian side," Larionov said.

Larionov was also a fan of Spartak, Yakushev's pro team. He vividly remembers the way Yakushev controlled the play and the way he conducted himself on the ice, with grace that allowed him to draw comparisons to Jean Beliveau.

"He was the guy you wanted to watch non-stop," Larionov said.

Larionov called Yakushev's induction into the Hall of Fame "a tremendous sign of respect for Russian hockey."

-- Dan Rosen

Starry Sunday

The dining room at a downtown Toronto hotel was a galaxy of stars Sunday, with Hockey Hall of Fame legends, their families and friends putting a beating on the buffet the day before the Class of 2018 is inducted.

It's a tradition that I have breakfast with Parent and his wife, Gini, whenever our travels have us in the same city.

Sunday was just a little starrier than usual.

It was six hours before Brodeur would strap on the pads again for the annual Haggar Hockey Hall of Fame Legends Classic at Scotiabank Arena, so it seemed like a reasonable question to ask hockey's winningest goaltender what was on the menu for his pregame meal.

"It doesn't matter," Brodeur replied with a grin.

"Nice that matinee games mean no morning skate?" he was asked.

"I could probably use one," he replied.

Brodeur soon found himself in happy conversation with Scott Stevens, who patrolled the New Jersey Devils' blue line in front of Brodeur from the goalie's rookie season in 1993-94 until the defenseman's retirement in 2003-04. Stevens was enshrined in 2007.

In another corner sat Russian great Alexander Yakushev with his wife, Tatiana, and a group of their friends. Willie O'Ree, who will be inducted as a Builder, arrived as you'd expect -- in a three-piece suit and his familiar fedora.

Briere, a 17-season NHL forward, exchanged greetings with Parent, two members of the Flyers family.

Hall of Fame chairman Lanny McDonald, seated alone at a large table, laughed when it was suggested to him that he was with all his friends.

"I'm expecting more," he protested brightly -- and a half-dozen almost magically appeared.

-- Dave Stubbs

Who needs pictures?

The lobby was a photographer's dream, with hockey legends grouping for pictures that brought old friends back together.

Montreal Canadiens defenseman Serge Savard was eager to have many images messaged to him; he immediately forwarded to others.

"Has anyone seen Yakushev?" he asked of the Russian forward he played against during the 1972 Summit Series. "I need a photo with him."

Yakushev was rounded up in the dining room and the two former foes, now good friends, spent a few happy minutes together. Across the way, former goalies Grant Fuhr and Ed Belfour were catching up on things. This time they were opposing coaches in the afternoon's Legends Classic, perhaps discussing possible trades.

Among those neither taking nor requesting photos was former Canadiens defenseman Jacques Laperriere, a 1997 inductee following a 12-season career with Montreal that saw him win five Stanley Cup championships. He was proud to reveal his palm-sized cellphone that looked to be just this side of The Flintstones.

"I can make calls and send text messages, and that's it," said Laperriere, a consultant with the Devils.

Looking lean in a red sweater with sunglasses perched on his head, just back in from a walk, Laperriere looked like he could still play today. He says he's carrying 165 pounds on his 6-foot-2 frame.

"The team always said I was three or four pounds overweight," Savard said. "And then they started doing that (body-mass index) testing and that showed I was seven pounds underweight. They never said anything to me again."

-- Dave Stubbs

Bower not forgotten

Toronto Maple Leafs goaltending legend Johnny Bower famously lied about his age, enlisting in the Canadian Army at age 15 during World War II. He served four years in England, never seeing battle, before he was discharged in 1943 with rheumatoid arthritis.

Bower, who died last Dec. 26 at age 93, helped the Maple Leafs win the Stanley Cup in 1962, 1963, 1964 and 1967. He was one of the team's most beloved figures on and off the ice.

He was long a champion of Canada's servicemen and women and a supporter of many of their initiatives, working energetically just a few weeks before his death with the Royal Canadian Legion on behalf of homeless veterans.

On Sunday, Remembrance Day, Bower was quietly celebrated three days after what would have been his 94th birthday with a poppy taped over his heart on his Legends Row statue outside Scotiabank Arena.

-- Dave Stubbs

St. Louis, Brodeur pay tribute to parents

St. Louis and Brodeur each paid tribute to deceased parents during the Fan Forum at the Hockey Hall of Fame on Saturday.

St. Louis credited his parents, including his late mother, France, who died on May 8, 2014, for instilling the confidence in him to believe in himself. His dad, Normand, sat in the front row as his son, now a father of three boys, spoke.

"I was privileged," St. Louis said. "I had great parents that not necessarily pushed me but guided me and gave me so much confidence. Like my mom tucking me in at night. I was scared in my bed and she'd tuck me in at night and tell me, 'Show them.' If I had a tough day it was, 'Don't worry, show them.' They built my confidence, and it was just amazing getting it passed down from my parents. As parents, the most important thing is to pass down confidence to your kids, and hopefully one day they will pass it down to their kids."

Brodeur was asked by a fan to describe memories from his childhood that helped shape him as an adult and a professional athlete that he thinks helped him get to the Hall of Fame.

He spoke of his father, Denis Sr., who died on Sept. 26, 2013.

"I was really fortunate," Brodeur said. "My dad worked in sports. He was a photographer for the [Montreal] Expos and the Montreal Canadiens, so I was always around hockey or baseball all my life, from spring training to the morning skates at the Forum. That's what I remember the most, just spending time with my dad and hearing what he had to say about certain athletes. That's probably why I was able to conduct myself in a certain way because I heard from the people that were in the locker rooms and were working along with professional athletes. That really helped me be who I became in my hockey career."

-- Dan Rosen

Trottier pays tribute to Beliveau

I was taking a few notes in the cutaway reconstruction of the Montreal Canadiens' old Montreal Forum dressing room when, unnoticed, in walked New York Islanders legend Bryan Trottier, ambling through the shrine with his son-in-law, Zach Ruthven. Trottier's name appears on the Stanley Cup seven times -- four with the Islanders, consecutively from 1980-83, twice with the Pittsburgh Penguins, in 1991 and 1992, and once more as an assistant with the Colorado Avalanche in 2001. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1997.

After catching up a bit, I asked Trottier which of the jerseys in the Canadiens' room he'd most want to use as a background for a photo.

"Mr. Béliveau's," he said of Montreal icon Jean Béliveau's No. 4, happily standing beside it.

-- Dave Stubbs

Yakushev remains in shock about honor

McDonald got to ask a question from the back of the Great Hall on Saturday during the fan forum. If he pulled rank to get the microphone, so be it.

McDonald, inducted into the Hall in 1992, asked the four players on stage to relate their immediate reaction upon seeing their induction plaque among the hundreds of others in the Great Hall. And he doubled over in laughter with the reply of Alexander Yakushev.

The Russian great playfully summoned his wife, Tatiana, from the front row, and she came up to sit for an instant on his knee, pinching him as he spoke just a few words in his native tongue.

Said Yakushev's translator: "He still can't believe that it happened. He asked his wife to pinch him."

-- Dave Stubs

"Real" Cup a treat for fans at Great Hall

The presentation Stanley Cup -- the trophy handed by NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman to the captain of the winning team each season -- is at the Hall of Fame this weekend.

The replica Cup, usually the one on display, has been sent to Montreal to have the 2017-18 Washington Capitals engraved as the first team on a fresh bottom band, so the well-travelled presentation Cup is working overtime this weekend.

As usual, whenever the trophy is in the house, a crowd gathers, a healthy line snaking along a wall as fans waited for a priceless photo.

Most commonly asked question: "Is this the real Cup?"

-- Dave Stubbs

St. Louis got super surprise from Super Mario

When St. Louis was informed that he'd been elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame on June 26, the phone call was followed by a text message from an unfamiliar number congratulating him.

"I got a text message from a Mario," said St. Louis, who will be inducted with the Class of 2018 on Monday. "I was like, 'Mario?' "

St. Louis quickly realized it was from Mario Lemieux, his idol and, come Monday, fellow Hall of Famer. He said the texter's identity was given away partly because the phone number contained Lemieux's jersey number, 66.

"I didn't have him saved in my phone, so when he signed Mario, I'm like, 'Mario, who is Mario?' " St. Louis said Friday. "That was pretty cool that Mario took time and texted me."

St. Louis said he wrote back to the former Pittsburgh Penguins center and current owner, who was inducted in 1997. The conversation lasted for several more texts.

"I said, 'Thank you so much, so great to hear from you,' " he said. "I was happy I got a chance to play with Mario (with Canada) in the [2004] World Cup [of Hockey]. I mean, he was my idol."

The other plus: St. Louis has Lemieux's number saved in his phone.

-- Dan Rosen

MacInnis, Sakic, Palffy were toughest for Brodeur to solve

Brodeur always had a book on his opponents.

He knew the tendencies of the shooters, where they targeted. He knew what most players liked to do on breakaways and in shootouts. He knew it all and could break it down, which is another reason why he was so good and why he will be inducted the Hockey Hall of Fame on Monday.

Brodeur, who played 21 of his 22 NHL seasons with the Devils, briefly broke it down again Friday when he was asked a series of questions:

Who had the hardest shot you ever faced?

"Al MacInnis by far in his prime. Sure, Shea Weber shoots it pretty hard now, but different technology in sticks."

Who had the best shot you ever faced?

"Joe Sakic. I didn't play much against him, but I played against him in a seven-game series [2001 Stanley Cup Final], and just where he puts it, the way he delivers it, just really, really hard for me to figure out."

Who was the best on a breakaway?

"Zigmund Palffy. He played on the Islanders. I played him so much, and I don't know how many breakaways he got per game, but he was almost like [Michael] Grabner. He could finish."

Brodeur was also asked a fourth question. Is there anybody in particular that you know you owned, a player who simply could not score on you?

"Besides David Clarkson in practice, not really," he said. "I'm sure people thought they couldn't score against me, but I don't really know."

-- Dan Rosen

Brodeur doubtful his 78-game season will be eclipsed

Brodeur played an NHL career-high 78 games for the Devils in 2006-07. Three seasons later, he played 77 games, the 12th and final time he played 70 or more NHL games in a season during a career that will land him in the Hockey Hall of Fame on Monday.

Can anybody approach that 78-game mark, which has only been bested by fellow Hall of Famer Grant Fuhr, who played 79 games for the St. Louis Blues in 1995-96?

Brodeur isn't so sure.

"It's a hard question because I don't play in the games today," said Brodeur, who won 691 games in 1,266 appearances for the Devils and Blues. "It's a lot more demanding than it used to be, it's a lot faster, goalies are getting run over more than ever and the style of goaltending also is kind tough on the hips, the butterfly, the way they slide across, the way they play most of the game on their knees. They don't really stand up anymore."

Miikka Kiprusoff of the Calgary Flames played 77 games in 2008-09, the closest challenger in the past decade. Last season, Cam Talbot of the Edmonton Oilers and Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg each had 67 appearances to lead the League.

Not only is goaltending in general more demanding, but Brodeur said he had another advantage; one of the best defensive structures in the history of hockey during his Stanley Cup-winning seasons from 1994 to 2003.

"I was able to save my energy at times during games," he said, "played on teams that are really defensive, couple of games with 15 or 16 shots, one game with six shots against the [Maple] Leafs, in the playoffs, so for the next game I was pretty fresh.

-- Shawn P. Roarke

McDonald revels in characters at core of Flames championship era

McDonald played in an era before social media, so his iconic mustache twitches when he's asked which of his teammates on the Calgary Flames from the late 1980s might have found themselves in the most trouble on, say, Twitter.

"We had way too much fun," McDonald said with a laugh on Friday. "There is a long list, I'm not sure you could get to the bottom of it. We had some of the guys who were the biggest …disturbers you could possibly imagine. Nick Fotiu, Jamie Macoun, Colin Patterson, Jim Peplinski. But that's also what helped create the character in the dressing room that brought everybody together. You knew, 'OK,

it's my day in the barrel,' but they had your back all the time when the game was on the line."

From the 1985-86 season until winning the Stanley Cup in 1989 against the Montreal Canadiens, the Flames won 188 games in that four-year span and reached the Stanley Cup Final in 1986, losing to the Canadiens.

-- Dave Stubbs

St. Louis flabbergasted after chance meeting with Forsberg

St. Louis was wandering through his Toronto hotel when he bumped into Hall of Famer Peter Forsberg on Friday.

"What are you doing here?" St. Louis asked Forsberg.

Forsberg informed St. Louis that he was in town for the Hockey Hall of Fame, which started Friday and runs through the Induction Ceremony on Monday.

"You were the best player I ever played against," St. Louis said he told Forsberg as they briefly chatted.

Forsberg, who was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2014, had 885 points (249 goals, 636 assists) in 708 NHL games. The Sweden-born center helped the Colorado Avalanche win the Stanley Cup in 1996 and 2001; and won the Hart Trophy and Art Ross Trophy in 2003.

St. Louis was giddy when he talked to his wife after his meeting with Forsberg.

"Now it's starting to sink in," he told her. "Now I really know I'm in the Hall of Fame."

--Mike Zeisberger

Ring ceremony wows honorees

The ring ceremony Friday made quite an impact on the recipients to start the weekend.

Each of this year's six honorees received a ring from McDonald, the Hall of Fame chairman, spent several seconds staring at it on his or her finger.

"To get this, you have to be in here," St. Louis said, pointing at his ring and then looking around at the plaques adorning the Great Hall. "This, the jacket, you have to be part of this club. So, for me, that is the sign of what club you are a part of. You look around and it is unbelievable.

"Being here, I don't think, 'Oh look at everything I did.' It's more like, 'Look who is in here. Look who is in here and now I am a part of that.' To me, that says it all. It's not, I won this and I won that. There are players in here that my dad used to talk to me about when I was a little kid, Maurice Richard and Guy Lafleur. I'm watching 'Hockey Night in Canada' every Saturday with my dad when I was a kid. Now, I'm in here, it's weird."

Commissioner Bettman received his ring first and was looking at it with awe as Brodeur sat next to him. They examined each other's ring and whispered back and forth with huge smiles.

"There's not many of those out there," Brodeur said of the rings. "There's so many people that played the game, so many people that go through the NHL. This is the Hockey Hall of Fame, not the NHL Hall of Fame, so there are a lot of people out there. Getting a ring like that means you are part of the select few. I was kind of comparing it to if you are a big golfer and you get a green jacket, you are part of a club. This is pretty cool, the ultimate for hockey."

Commissioner Bettman said, "There aren't very many of these and you can't go to the store to buy one. To be given this ring tells you that you are being considered in the same class as all the wonderful people who have given to this game that are on these plaques that are surrounding us. It's a recognition that you are part of this great Hall. It's overwhelming."

-- Shawn P. Roarke

Yakushev: Henderson, Mogilny worthy of Hall

Yakushev would like to see Paul Henderson, a former rival, join him in the Hockey Hall of Fame one day.

Henderson was the star of the 1972 Summit Series, scoring the winning goal in each of the final three games for Canada against Yakushev and the Soviet Union. Canada won the series 4-3-1.

"Paul Henderson was definitely the key player for Canada's team," Yakushev said Friday. "He was basically the killer of the Russian team. His three goals in the last three games were very significant and I think he definitely deserves to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame -- 100 percent."

Yakushev said Alexander Mogilny belongs in the Hall, especially because his former junior linemates, Pavel Bure and Sergei Fedorov, are already in. Mogilny had 1,032 points (473 goals, 559 assists) in 990 NHL games.

"Alexander was a great player. One of the great Russian players," Yakushev said. "He didn't play much in Russia, he went to Buffalo early in his career. But he definitely deserves to be in the Hockey Hall of Fame because he's one of the best players of all time."

-- Mike Zeisberger