Wayne Douglas Gretzky is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former head coach. He played 20 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for four teams from 1979 to 1999, retiring at the age of 38. Nicknamed "the Great One", he has been called the greatest ice hockey player ever by many sportswriters, players, The Hockey News, and the NHL itself, based on extensive surveys of hockey writers, ex-players, general managers and coaches. Gretzky is the leading career goal scorer, assist producer and point scorer in NHL history, and has more career assists than any other player has total points. He is the only NHL player to total over 200 points in one season, a feat he accomplished four times. In addition, Gretzky tallied over 100 points in 15 professional seasons, 13 of them consecutive. At the time of his retirement in 1999, he held 61 NHL records: 40 regular season records, 15 playoff records, and 6 All-Star records.
The Hockey Hall of Fame is a museum and hall of fame located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League (NHL) records, memorabilia and NHL trophies, including the Stanley Cup. Founded in Kingston, Ontario, the Hockey Hall of Fame was established in 1943 under the leadership of James T. Sutherland. The first class of honoured members was inducted in 1945, before the Hall of Fame had a permanent location. It moved to Toronto in 1958 after the NHL withdrew its support for the International Hockey Hall of Fame in Kingston, Ontario, due to funding issues. Its first permanent building opened at Exhibition Place in 1961. The hall was relocated in 1993, and is now in Downtown Toronto, inside Brookfield Place, and a historic Bank of Montreal building. The Hockey Hall of Fame has hosted International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) exhibits and the IIHF Hall of Fame since 1998.
Eveleth is a city in St. Louis County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 3,493 at the 2020 census.
Bryan John Trottier is a Canadian and American former professional ice hockey centre who played 18 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New York Islanders and Pittsburgh Penguins. He won four Stanley Cups with the Islanders, two with the Penguins and one as an assistant coach with the Colorado Avalanche. He shares the NHL record for points in a single period with six. He is also one of only eight NHL players with multiple five-goal games. In August 2014, Trottier was announced as an assistant coach for the Buffalo Sabres. In 2017, Trottier was named one of the "100 Greatest NHL Players" in history.
USA Hockey is the national ice hockey organization in the United States. It is recognized by the International Olympic Committee and the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee as the governing body for organized ice hockey in the United States and is a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation. Before June 1991, the organization was known as the Amateur Hockey Association of the United States (AHAUS).
The Original Hockey Hall of Fame, formerly the International Hockey Hall of Fame (IHHOF) is a museum dedicated to the history of ice hockey in Canada, located in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. The IHHOF was intended to be the original Hall of Fame for hockey, but events led to the establishment of the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, Ontario instead. A dedicated building was opened in 1965, and eventually also hosted exhibits for the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) from 1992 to 1997, prior to the establishment of the IIHF Hall of Fame. The IHHOF was renamed the Original Hockey Hall of Fame in 2013, and now focuses on the history of the sport, and emphasis on the role people from Kingston had in its development.
Neal LaMoy Broten is an American former professional ice hockey player. A member of the 1980 US Olympic hockey team that won the gold medal at Lake Placid in 1980, Broten was inducted into the US Hockey Hall of Fame in 2000 having appeared in 1,099 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season games from 1981 to 1997 with the Minnesota North Stars, Dallas Stars, New Jersey Devils and Los Angeles Kings. He is the older brother of Aaron and Paul Broten.
John Edward Mayasich is an American former ice hockey player of Croatian descent. He was a member of the U.S. ice hockey team that won a silver medal at the 1956 Winter Olympics and a gold medal at the 1960 Winter Olympics. He also played for Team USA at the IIHF World Championships in 1958, 1961, 1962, 1966 and 1969. He was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 1997.
Mark Thomas Pavelich was an American professional ice hockey forward who played 355 regular season games in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New York Rangers, Minnesota North Stars, and San Jose Sharks between 1981 and 1991. Pavelich was a member of the "Miracle on Ice" 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team that won the gold medal.
Willard John Ikola is an American retired ice hockey player and high school boys' hockey coach. Born in Eveleth, Minnesota, a powerhouse in hockey he began playing hockey as a young boy, eventually going on to play in the 1956 Winter Olympics and coaching high school for over 30 years.
The IIHF Hall of Fame is a hall of fame operated by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). It was founded in 1997, and has resided at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto since 1998. Prior to 1997, the IIHF housed exhibits at the International Hockey Hall of Fame in Kingston, Ontario. Inductions are made annually at the medal presentation day of the Ice Hockey World Championships. As of 2024, the IIHF has inducted 253 members.
Wallace Daniel Grant was an American ice hockey player. Grant helped the University of Michigan win the first NCAA National Championship in 1948. He was inducted into the University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor in 1987 and the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 1994.
The Quad Cities in the U.S. state of Minnesota are Virginia, Eveleth, Gilbert, and Mountain Iron in the Arrowhead Region, overlapping the Iron Range region, Duluth MN-WI MSA, and Saint Louis County.
Colleen Janet Joffa Howe was a sports agent who founded Power Play International and Power Play Publications to manage the business interests of her husband, Hall of Fame ice hockey player Gordie Howe, as well as those of their sons Marty and Mark. She was married to Gordie for 55 years, until her death. As a civic leader, she brought the first Junior A hockey team to the United States, built the first indoor rink for public use in Michigan, and ran for Congress. In 2000, as "Mrs. Hockey", Howe received the Wayne Gretzky International Award, presented to individuals "who have made major contributions to the growth and advancement of hockey in the United States"—from the United States Hockey Hall of Fame, along with her husband and their two sons Mark and Marty.
The World Hockey Association Hall of Fame is an independent organization dedicated to honoring the World Hockey Association (WHA), which operated from 1972 to 1979 as a major professional ice hockey league. Honourees were inducted in 2010 and 2012.
Terry Jones, nicknamed Large or Jonesy, is a Canadian journalist and author based in Edmonton, Alberta. He is currently a sports columnist with the Edmonton Sun.
The Wayne Gretzky International Award is a lifetime achievement award given by the United States Hockey Hall of Fame. It was established in 1999, to honor international individuals who have made major contributions to the growth and advancement of ice hockey in the United States. The award is special recognition for contributions by those not inducted into the Hall of Fame. It was first presented to its namesake Wayne Gretzky, and has been subsequently awarded at the Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
The Eveleth Rangers were an amateur ice hockey team from Eveleth, Minnesota that played in various amateur leagues during the first half of the 1900s. As a member of the United States Amateur Hockey Association (1920–1925) the team was known as the Eveleth Reds, and in 1925–26 they played as the Eveleth-Hibbing Rangers in the CAHL, out of the Hibbing Memorial Arena in Hibbing, Minnesota.
