Four NCAA Alumni Named to Hockey Hall of Fame

Four of this year's eight inductees to the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, as announced yesterday, have NCAA ties.

• Jennifer Botterill (Harvard) - Tallied 340 points in four seasons with the Crimson and was a four-time First Team All-America Selection. Also earned gold medals in five World Championships and three Olympic Games with Team Canada.

• Brianna Decker (Wisconsin) - Notched 244 points in four campaigns with Badgers, earning All-America accolades twice while also helping Wisconsin to 2011 NCAA title. Six-time gold medalist at World Championships, while also collecting one gold and two silver Olympic medals with Team USA.

• Duncan Keith (Michigan State) - Played parts of two season with Spartans, then went on to win three Stanley Cups with the Chicago Blackhawks. Earned two Norris Trophies as NHL's best defenseman and the 2015 Conn Smythe Trophy as Stanley Cup Playoff MVP. Played in four NHL All-Star Games, and also won two Olympic gold medals and a World Championship silver medal with Team Canada.

• Jack Parker (Boston University) - Legendary head coach and former BU forward spent 40 years at helm of his alma mater, winning 897 games overall and three NCAA championships with the Terriers. Also guided BU to four ECAC tournament titles and two ECAC regular-season crowns, before winning eight Hockey East regular-season championships and six Hockey East tournament titles, along with 21 Beanpot Tournament trophies. Three-time Spencer Penrose Award winner as the NCAA Coach of the Year.

The HHOF induction ceremony will be held in November.

BC's York to Hall of Fame, Orpik Retires from NHL

Jerry York (Boston College) will be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto in November. York, the NCAA's all-time wins leader in men's hockey with 1,067 career victories to date, also has five national championships to his credit, four with BC and one with Bowling Green. A Watertown, Mass. native and former All-America forward at BC who began his coaching career at Clarkson University in 1970, York, 73, is believed to be the first inductee into the Hall of Fame solely on NCAA credentials. He has notched 27 seasons with 20 or more wins, and has 41 wins in NCAA Tournament play alone.

Also on Tuesday, defenseman Brooks Orpik (Boston College) announced his retirement as an active player after 15 NHL seasons. Orpik, 38, won Stanley Cups with Pittsburgh in 2009 and with Washington in 2018, the only two NHL organizations he ever played for. A 6-foot-3 blueliner from Amherst, N.Y., he recorded 176 assists and 194 career points to go with 972 penalty minutes in
1,035 regular-season NHL appearances, and also played in 156 career Stanley Cup Playoff contests. He skated three seasons at BC, collecting 41 points and 324 PIM from 1998 to 2001, and was a member of the Eagles' 2001 NCAA title team. He also won a silver medal with the 2010 U.S. Olympic Team in Vancouver.

Kariya Named to Hockey Hall of Fame

Former University of Maine star and Hobey Baker Memorial Award winner Paul Kariya was announced Monday as part of the Hockey Hall of Fame Class of 2017. The induction ceremony will be held in November.

The Vancouver native burst on the college hockey scene in 1992-93, when paced Maine with 25 goals and 75 assists for 100 points in 39 games, while also leading the Black Bears to their first-ever NCAA title. He also became the first freshman to ever claim the Hobey Baker Award, and was drafted fourth overall that summer by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.

After recording eight goals and 24 points in just 12 games the following season with Maine, Kariya then joined the Canadian National Team. He competed in the 1994 Olympic Winter Games, where he won a silver medal, one year after earning gold at the World Junior Championship, and several months before winning gold at the World Championship. He then embarked upon a 15-season NHL career that saw him tally 402-587—989 points in 989 regular-season outings with Anaheim, Colorado, Nashville and St. Louis, before he retired in 2010.

A two-time 100-point scorer and a seven-time 30-goal scorer, according to hockeydb.com, Kariya also added 16-23—39 points in 46 Stanley Cup playoff contests, and helped Anaheim to within one victory of the Stanley Cup in 2003. He also won the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy in both 1996 and 1997, earned World Championship silver in 1996, and claimed Olympic gold in 2002.

Ruggiero, Hay Elected to Hall of Fame

Former Harvard University blueliner Angela Ruggiero was one of five players selected Monday for the Hockey Hall of Fame's Class of 2015. She was the only female skater inducted alongside former NHL stalwarts Sergei Fedorov, Phil Housley, Nicklas Lidstrom, and Chris Pronger.

Ruggiero, a native of Harper Woods, Mich., lettered with the Crimson in 1999, 2000, 2003 and 2004. She won the Patty Kazmaier Award as the nation's top NCAA Division I women's player as a senior, and also led Harvard to a 109-13-5 overall record during her career, according to the Crimson athletics web site.

A first-team All-America and ECAC selection in each of her four seasons in Cambridge, Ruggiero ranks sixth all-time on Harvard's scoring scroll with 96 goals and 157 assists for 253 points. She was also a member of four U.S. Olympic medal squads from 1998 to 2010, including gold the first time, and also helped Team USA to world championship crowns in 2005, 2008, 2009 and 2011, according to NHL.com.

Ruggiero also became the first woman to play in a professional game in North America at a position other than goaltender. She skated in one game with Tulsa (CHL) in 2005 and drew an assist while playing alongside her brother, Bill, a goaltender.

Also inducted into the Hall on Monday in the builders' category along with Carolina Hurricanes owner Peter Karmanos, Jr. was former Colorado College forward Don Hay. The Saskatoon native was a two-time WCHA First All-Star Team selection (1957, 1958), and a two-time NCAA West First All-America choice (1957, 1958), according to the Hall's web site. He also helped the Tigers to the 1957 NCAA title, and tallied 60-94--154 points in his two campaigns in Colorado Springs. He is also the first former Tiger inducted into the Hall, according to Colorado College's athletic web site.

Hay later went on to play eight seasons with the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks, with whom he won a Calder Trophy (1960) and a Stanley Cup (1961). He later served as part owner and team president of the league's Calgary Flames, before spending 15 years as HOF Chairman and CEO.