Updated on 06.16 | Published on 06.16
toronto. The king has returned home.
With the official Hall of Fame ceremony held Monday night in Toronto, Henrik Lundqvist has reached the destination he’s been headed toward since he first clipped the puck with his glove, and now, if not before, we should be able to agree that he belongs among the greatest Our greatest. Sports legends.
Last weekend, Henrik Lundqvist and the other profilers of the 2023 Hall of Fame class — Pierre Turgeon, Tom Barrasso, Mike Vernon, Caroline Ouellette, Ken Hitchcock and Pierre Lacroix — were honored in Toronto, but he was the first at the glittering ceremony. At the AllenLambert Galleria on Tuesday night, they were officially inducted into the exclusive congregation and took their place among the nuns on hockey’s Mount Rushmore.
Yes, among the saints.
Symbols.
Those who forever make up the canon of the sport.
Of course, only King Henrik was in this category even before he donned the HHoF jacket — I don’t think any of the more notable jewelry in his wardrobe… — in connection with Sunday’s exhibition game at Scotiabank Arena. The man is the only goaltender in NHL history to win at least 30 games in his first seven seasons, and holds every record in the New York Rangers’ nearly 100-year history. He was named the team’s Most Valuable Player nine times, and won Vezina Trophy. Goalkeeper of the Year Award – one of the five times he was nominated. He also had the opportunity to win the prestigious Hart Trophy, play in five All-Star Games, lead Trey Cronauer to an Olympic gold medal and a World Cup, and less than two years ago he had won the shirt. To the ceiling during an unforgettable concert, to huge cheers at Madison Square Garden. And these are just the highest marks in an even longer track record of ski slopes in the region’s childhood.
Then you have secured your place in history without anyone setting the facts in stone in Toronto’s Hypostyle Hall.
But it’s still good for the 41-year-old to experience what he called during the happy days in the Canadian city “the last hurray in hockey” and as the third European goalkeeper after Vladislav Tretiak and Dominik Hasek to officially reach the destination he was always heading towards.
Because yes, you could definitely say “Hinky” was. Of course, it was impossible to guess even as a child, and none of us chanted “Here we have a future Hall of Famer” as soon as he appeared in New York that magical fall just over 18 years ago. But in hindsight, and knowing the incredible competitive instinct that drove him and how it always made him grow another few impossible meters in the biggest moments, it is clear that legend status was waiting for Björn Henrik Lundqvist from the beginning.
Thus, I also think it can be considered for certain that he is one of the greatest players in the history of Swedish sports as a whole. It’s pointless to compare different sports – and unfortunately the best hockey league in the world doesn’t have a favorable status in Sweden, because the majority of fans fall asleep when its highlights line up on the other side of the Atlantic – but we don’t. We have so many, in any context, who are destined to be written out forever.
King Henrik is one of them.
Those who forever make up the canon of the sport.
Of course, only King Henrik was in this category even before he donned the HHoF jacket — I don’t think any of the more notable jewelry in his wardrobe… — in connection with Sunday’s exhibition game at Scotiabank Arena. The man is the only goaltender in NHL history to win at least 30 games in his first seven seasons, and holds every record in the New York Rangers’ nearly 100-year history. He was named the team’s Most Valuable Player nine times, and won Vezina Trophy. Goaltender of the Year Award – one of the five times he was nominated. He also had the opportunity to win the prestigious Hart Trophy, play in five All-Star Games, lead Trey Cronauer to Olympic and World Cup gold, and less than two years ago captured the gold medal. The shirt was raised to the ceiling during an unforgettable ceremony, to great cheers at Madison Square Garden. And these are just the top marks in an even longer track record of ski slopes in the childhood area.
Then you have secured your place in history without anyone setting the facts in stone in Toronto’s Hypostyle Hall.
But it’s still good for the 41-year-old to experience what he called during the happy days in the Canadian city “the last hurray in hockey” and as the third European goalkeeper after Vladislav Tretiak and Dominik Hasek to officially reach the destination he was always heading towards.
Because yes, you could definitely say “Hinky” was. Of course, it was impossible to guess even as a child, and none of us chanted “Here we have a future Hall of Famer” as soon as he appeared in New York that magical fall just over 18 years ago. But in hindsight, and knowing the incredible competitive instinct that drove him and how it always made him grow another few impossible meters in the biggest moments, it is clear that legend status was waiting for Björn Henrik Lundqvist from the beginning.
Thus, I also think it can be considered for certain that he is one of the greatest players in the history of Swedish sports as a whole. It’s pointless to compare different sports – and unfortunately the best hockey league in the world doesn’t have a favorable status in Sweden, because the majority of fans fall asleep when its highlights line up on the other side of the Atlantic – but we don’t. We have so many, in any context, who are destined to be written out forever.
King Henrik is one of them.
