Alfredsson, Sedin Twins Headline 2022 Hockey Hall of Fame Class

The Hockey Hall of Fame has announced its 2022 class. Entering from the National Hockey League are twins Daniel and Henrik Sedin, goaltender Roberto Luongo and forward Daniel Alfredsson. The female inductee is Finnish star Riiika Salinen and the builder of the year is the late Herb Carnegie. For Luongo and the Sedins, the trio of Vancouver Canucks' alum were inducted in their very first year of eligibility. Alfredsson was selected in his fifth year. All players mentioned will be celebrated at the Hockey Hall of Fame weekend on November 11-13 and inducted in Toronto in a ceremony on November 14. "It's a really truly humbling experience," Luongo said. "And the best part of the whole thing is I get to go in with two of my favorite teammates of all-time, and two of the greatest people I know in Henrik and Daniel." For the Sedins - who were drafted second and third overall to the Canucks in 1999 - doing things together has been the epitome of their hockey playing careers. And now, they will get to enter hockey's greatest shrine side by side. "Our goal was always to be the best players that we could be, and I think we tried to help each other do that," Daniel Sedin said. "The competitive side of us I think fueled that. Each and every day I wanted to beat Henrik, and that's been going on since when we were kids. In the end if you lost, you sucked it up and you moved on and tried to be better. … I think we helped each other reach the fullest potential of what we could be." Although slightly older than the Sedins, fellow Swede Daniel Alfredsson also had some time to play with the brothers and knew them quite well as NHL players from his homeland. They won gold together in 2006 at the Olympics, while coming in second in the 2014 running. "For them to be able to go through this their whole careers and not become enemies is amazing to me," Alfredsson laughed. For Alfredsson, it was a bit longer of a waiting game to get the call, and he actually figured he has been passed over once again, before his wife received a call while Daniel was outside with his family. “I thought it was my insurance company.” he joked. "But no, it's such an honour. It's such a privilege to be able to play this sport for a living, something I would have played for fun for my whole life without question. To be able to make a living, to be able to play in front of thousands of fans and also to be recognized in this way, it's truly humbling." Salinen, also 49, became the first woman of non-North-American heritage to join the HHOF. She played for 16 years for Finland, earning two Olympic bronze medals, three European championship golds, one IIHF world championship silver medal and six bronze medals. Salinen is the all-time scoring leader of European descent in both World Championships and Olympic play. While Herb Carnegie enters as a man who faced extreme levels of racism as a player. Denied entry into the league solely because of his skin colour, the Quebec product went on to serve as a role model for youth and players of darker complexion within minor and professional hockey.