Colleagues weigh in on Recchi's Hall of Fame induction
Sidney Crosby, Penguins captain and former teammate
"I remember being in on his 500th goal. That was pretty cool, in Dallas. He was a guy that had so much experience, what he was able to do over the course of his career was pretty incredible. Playing with him you could see, he had a great shot, really good hockey sense, he could do it all. I'm happy for him, and it's cool to be able to say that I played with him."
Phil Bourque, radio analyst, Penguins radio network
"Great hockey personality. Fit into any locker room, any situation. Whether you're a young guy and third, fourth line mucker, grinder. Or you're one of the top guys, Rex personality fit with everybody. He was one of those great team players. I'll be frank and honest, I'm glad you asked me to do this, of all the players that I've played with, hundreds of players in the minors, NHL and overseas, I don't know if there's another guy that I'd played with that I respect more than Mark Recchi. Because of his size, where he came from, what he accomplished. He kept proving people wrong. A lot of people though he was done in the mid-2000s. He just kept persevering and proving people wrong. I have so much respect for him as a person and player, I can't even put it into words. The friendship that I had with him as a Pittsburgh Penguins is something that I'll cherish more than any other friendship I've had on and off the ice."
Bob Errey, television analyst, AT&T SportsNet
"He was the wrecking ball, he had a lot of energy and he brought that to the team. I thought that was the greatest thing about Mark Recchi. He'd just go about his business. He'd get banged up and keep going. You could knock him down, he'd be down for a second and back up. You could take off his leg, an arm and another leg and he'd say, 'that's all you got?' He's that kind of guy. A fighter. He always scored big goals. When you needed a big goal, Rex was there. An accurate shot, a gamer. He was one of the best."
Bryan Trottier, former Penguins teammate and boyhood idol
"We love Mark. There isn't anything negative you could say about little 'Rex' because he's been such an asset to every team that he's played for. A great teammate and really good friend. We've been friends for a long time now. I'm so proud of him."
Joey Mullen, former Penguins teammate
"I saw him as a young kid and he kept growing and growing and had a great career. He deserves it. He's worked hard for it. He's been a great player for a long time. Even when he was young he was so gifted and saw the ice so well, passed well, he could shoot it. He was the whole package. As he got older, he kept getting better."
Jay Caufield, former Penguins teammate
"He's just a good man. A great, great hockey career that he had and he worked hard for it. He has great parents, a great family. You have to put that work in. It didn't just come. He had that gift, but he also worked extremely hard to maintain it and always improve at it. That's why when I talk about the training we did, he just primed himself and stepped it up to another level each and every year. You get results from that and he certainly did."
Rob Brown, former Penguins teammate
"You knew he had talent, but it was his tenacity and willingness to be better and want to get better. He was never a big player. I'm sure he heard many times through the NHL Draft to playing in the minors that he's too small and not going to make it. Yet, he jut kept getting better and better, and his work ethic was phenomenal. He wanted to be the best. I remember him getting called up early in his career in Pittsburgh. He wasn't just satisfied being in the NHL. He wanted to be a guy on the power play. He wanted to be a guy out for the last minute of the game. He wanted to be the star of the team. Most guys are just happy to be there. It wasn't like that for Rex. He wanted more than that. It was his drive that allowed him to become a Hockey Hall of Famer."
Troy Loney, former Penguins teammate
"Does he have skill level off the charts? No. The guys that take that consistent, night-in, night-out approach to the game, that's the way Mark was. He was always going. It wasn't look at the shot or look at his speed. But at the end of the night, you look at the scoresheet and he was always involved. He wasn't scared to stick his nose in there. He wasn't lighting up guys or fighting, but he was the kind of guy that was giving it game-in and game-out. When you watch those guys play, you don't think at the time that guy is going to be a Hall of Famer. But then 20 years go by and that guy is still there. He's still doing the same thing. It's a combination of that workmanlike ethic that he had. His competitive drive."
Lanny McDonald, Chairman of the Board, Hockey Hall of Fame
"When you think about 4th all-time player, longevity in the league, 22 seasons. His goal totals, assist totals and then you look at three Stanley Cups with three different teams. Winning two more with Pittsburgh as director of player development, so richly deserving. Sometimes people have to wait a little bit longer than they should have, but when you look at the Class of 2017, I think he's going to have a lot of fun going in with the guys and gals that he did."
Jeremy Jacobs, owner, Boston Bruins
"He belonged here. Emotionally he played a very big role. He was the mature guy in the locker room that could make a difference. We could go down 2-0 and comeback to win. It took guys like that to do that. He should never be discounted. There isn't a coach that you talk to that won't tell you that he wasn't an important part of the mix there. He was the adult in the room that made a difference."
