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1969 Hockey Inductees

Headlined by Red Kelly (who received an early induction), the Class of 1969 was a little larger than the previous two groups showcasing four players and two builders. Aside from Kelly, worthy inductees of Sid Abel, Bryan Hextall and the underappreciated Roy Worters rounded out the class.
Born in Canada, Al Leader moved to the United States and eventually worked his way to Seattle, Washington and became an on ice official and administrator for the Seattle City Hockey League. He would also Coach and General Manage teams within the league and by 1940, he would form the Defense Hockey League which comprised of five teams in Seattle and Portland, and later he would…
The youngest member of the Norris hockey family, Bruce Norris assumed sole ownership of the Detroit Red Wings in 1955 (after inheriting with his sister upon the death of his father, James E. Norris in 1952). Although the Red Wings were no longer the dynasty it once was, Norris refurbished the arena and continued to make going to see a Hockey game in Detroit a worthwhile event.…
Playing his entire NHL career with the New York Rangers, Bryan Hextall would twice lead the league in goals and would also capture the scoring title in 1942. Hextall was very integral part of the Rangers 1940 Stanley Cup win, which would be the last on Broadway for over fifty years. The durable Hextall would also become the patriarch of a Hockey family, as his two…
Although there may have been other NHL players who have excelled at two different positions, perhaps nobody did it better than Red Kelly. Certainly, no other was as successful.
Standing at only five foot three, Roy Worters is not only the shortest player in the Hockey Hall of Fame, but is also the shortest to ever play in the National Hockey League. Worters is a forgotten player, though not because of his size, but due to the bad and (long since defunct) teams he played for.
Dubbed “Bootnose” from an unfortunate incident on the losing end of a Rocket Richard punch, Sid Abel should be remembered for more than a colorful nickname from a head butt to a fist. Abel was the Centre of the Detroit Red Wings “Production Line” with Ted Lindsay and Gordie Howe and was a part of three Stanley Cup wins for Motown. His best season was the…