Pavel Bure heads IIHF Hall of Fame inductees
Pavel Bure will headline the next set of players to enter the International Ice Hockey Federation's Hall of Fame.
The former Vancouver Canucks forward will join Phil Housley, Raimo Helminen and Milan Novy in the 2012 induction class. Coach Andy Murray will be enshrined in the builder's category.
"It's difficult to compare inductee classes year from year, but this is really an outstanding group," IIHF president Rene Fasel said Friday in a statement. "Each of the selected greats meant so much to his respective national team program. I'd like to congratulate the IIHF Historical Committee for making those excellent selections."
The inductees will be joined by Kent Angus of Toronto, who will be awarded the Paul Loicq Award for outstanding contributions to the IIHF and international hockey.
The class will be inducted during a ceremony on May 20 in Helsinki, Finland, where the 2012 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship are being held.
Bure scored 437 goals and added 342 assists over 13 seasons with the Canucks, Florida Panthers and New York Rangers.
Housley played defence for eight teams over 23 seasons, including the Winnipeg Jets, Calgary Flames — twice — and a single game for the Toronto Maple Leafs. He finished his career with 338 goals and 894 assists.
Helminen played three seasons in the NHL with the New York Rangers, Minnesota North Stars and New York Islanders. He was more successful in his native Finland, scoring a total of 339 goals and 786 assists over his 25 years as a professional.
Novy played a single season with the NHL's Washington Capitals, but put together an impressive career over 16 seasons in Europe. He holds the Czech league record for most career goals with 474 goals in 633 games.
Murray, from Gladstone, Man., is a former head coach with the Los Angeles Kings and St. Louis Blues. He had a 333-278-58-71 record as an NHL coach.
Murray also coached Canada to the three gold medals at the IIHF World Championships in 1997, 2003 and 2007. He was the first coach to win three world championships.
Angus works for Nike and has been in charge of providing jerseys as well as off-ice apparel to all world championship teams since 1995.