While the 2025-26 Stanley Cup Champion was decided two weeks ago with the coronation of the Carolina Hurricanes, for us at Notinhalloffame, the season ends when the Hockey Hall of Fame makes their announcement of the newest class.

Today, the HHOF committee met and announced the newest members:

They are:

Patrice Bergeron, Player.  BOS, C, 2003-23.  Of all the eligible candidates for the Class of 2026, Patrice Bergeron was the only lock.  Bergeron won six Frank J. Selke Awards (and was the runner-up three times) as the game’s top defensive forward.  He dominated that trophy so much that it should be renamed after him!  Playing all 19 of his NHL seasons with the Boston Bruins, Bergeron scored 1,040 Points with a +289 and led Boston to a Stanley Cup Championship in 2011.   Individually, Bergeron also won the 2013 King Clancy Award and the coveted Mark Messier Leadership Award in 2021. 

Brian Burke, Builder.  Hmmm.  There is no doubt that Burke has a Hockey Hall of Fame resume.  He has been a high-level executive with the Hartford Whalers, Vancouver Canucks, Anaheim Ducks, Toronto Maple Leafs, Calgary Flames, and Pittsburgh Penguins, and is regarded as an asset with all teams he served, especially the Ducks, where, as their General Manager, he constructed a team that won the 2007 Stanley Cup.  He was also the GM for the United States team that won Silver at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.  Currently, he is the Executive Director of the PWHLPA, and by all accounts, has done a great job; however, Burke was a member of the HHOF selection committee, which, despite his credentials, makes this a dubious pick.

Cindy Curley, Player.  This was a surprise to us, as we thought the Hall would look at a more contemporary player, but Curley was an early pioneer who helped the U.S. win Silver in three World Championships (1990, 1992 & 1994) and was their captain from 1989 to 1996.  She was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 2013 and joined the board of U.S. Hockey.

Carey Price, Player. MTL, G. 2007-22. When you win the Hart Trophy, there is a damned good chance you are going to enter the Hockey Hall of Fame.  Playing his entire NHL career with the Montreal Canadiens, Price won the Hart, the Lester B. Pearson Award, the Vezina, and the William M. Jennings Award in 2014-15.  A top-ten Vezina finisher five other times, Price carried Montreal to the 2021 Stanley Cup Finals.  Over his career, Price had a 361-261-79 record and was a six-time All-Star.

Pekka Rinne, Player.  NAS, G, 2005-21. Rinne played his entire career with the Nashville Predators, where he won the 2018 Vezina Trophy and was the runner-up twice.  Rinne was a three-time All-Star and 2021 King Clancy Award winner, and led the Preds to a Stanley Cup Final in 2017, with a 369-213-75 record. Serious question, though.  Would Rinne have been inducted if former Predators General Manager David Poile were not on this committee? We are not sure, but we did project that a European would enter this year.

Keith Tkachuk, Player.  LW, WIN/PHX 1991-2001, STL 2001-2007 & 2007-10, ATL 2007.  Tkachuk might be best known now for his two sons, Matthew and Brady, but the patriarch of the family was a star in his own right.  A member of the 500-Goal Club (538), Tkachuk led the NHL in Goals in 1996-97 (52) and accumulated 1,065 Points in total.  Internationally, Tkachuk was a member of the United States World Cup Team that won Gold in 1996 and the 2002 Olympic Team that won Silver.

We are currently revising our Baseball list, and will then work on our Football, Basketball, and Hockey lists.   Look for those revisions over the summer.

We here at notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate the members of the Hockey Hall of Fame Class of 2026.