The IIHF has announced the Hall Of Fame Class of 2024, to be inducted at May’s World Championships in Prague, with five different nationalities highlighting the class, including a trio of native Czechoslovak legends heading the class.

🇨🇿 Jaromír Jágr is the biggest name featured in this year’s Hall, all the more impressive given he is still an active player at age 51! Jágr, the first true NHL star to emerge from behind the Iron Curtain, is a two-time Stanley Cup Champion, one-time league MVP, five time scoring champion, and was named league MVP thrice by his peers. A 13-time NHL all star, Jágr played twenty NHL seasons between Pittsburgh, Washington, New York, Philadelphia, Dallas, Boston, New Jersey, Florida and Calgary, in addition to another four seasons in Russia and eleven seasons with his hometown Kladno of the Czech league (of which he is now a co-owner and still active player), book-ending his NHL and KHL career. Playing for both Czechoslovakia and Czechia post-split in 1991, Jágr was most famously a member of the historic 1998 Olympic Gold medal squad, also capturing World Championship Gold in 2005 and 2010 (the latter helping him join the Triple Gold Club), along with Bronze at the 1990 and 2011 World Championship, 1990 World Juniors, 2004 World Cup and 2006 Olympics, before stepping down from the Narodnitym in 2015.

🇨🇦 Ryan Smyth, affectionately known as “Captain Canada” for his numerous appearances for the national team, joins as one of the most decorated players in international history, bringing Olympic, World Championship, World Cup, World Junior and Spengler Cup Gold to the hall. Spending 15 seasons in Edmonton and another four split between New York, Colorado and Los Angeles, Smyth often found his teams outside of the playoffs, opening him up for the national team on eight occasions (including seven straight from 1999-2005), where he captured two Golds (2003, 2004) and Silver (2005) and set a Canadian record for most games played (61). Smyth also suited up for two Olympics, winning Gold in 2002, as well as at the 2004 World Cup. Smyth also won Gold at the 1995 World Junior Championship, and captained Team Canada to the 2013 Spengler Cup during the latest NHL lockout.

🇸🇪 Kenny Jönsson, a mainstay on the Tre Kronor blueline for nearly two decades, was a multi-Gold medal winner for Sweden, capturing Olympic Gold in 1994 and 2006, the latter also capped with the first “Golden double” at that year’s World Championship. Jönsson would also capture Silver at the World Juniors (1993 and 1994) and Bronze at the World Championship (1994 and 2009), making seven Worlds, three Olympic and one World Cup appearance. Jönsson spent ten years in the NHL between Toronto and the New York Islanders, starting and ending his pro career with his hometown Rögle BK of the Swedish league, capturing SHL Top Rookie (1993) and MVP (2006) honours during his eight seasons.

🇺🇸 Natalie Darwitz was one of the top forwards in the women’s game as the United States‘ dominance over the global stage began to take hold at the turn of the 2010’s, with her eleven seasons on Team USA resulting in three World Championship (2005, 2008, 2009) and two Nations Cup (2003, 2008) Gold medals, along with Olympic (2002, 2010), World Championship (1999, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2007) and Nations Cup (1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007) Silver. A Minnesota native, Darwitz would captain Team USA in her final three seasons, capturing two NCAA Titles with the University of Minnesota and winning the Patty Kazmaier Award in 2004. Darwitz, a 2019 inductee to the US Hockey Hall of Fame, is now General Manager of the PWHL’s Minnesota club.

🇨🇿🇸🇰 Igor Liba, a Slovak winger whose career wound down just before the Velvet Divorce that split Czechoslovakia in 1991, represented the Czechoslovaks for fourteen years, capturing Gold at the 1985 World Championships, along with Silver at the World Juniors (1979), World Championships (1982, 1983) and Olympics (1984), along with Worlds (1987, 1992) and Olympic (1992) Bronze Medals. Liba spent his formative years in the Czechoslovaka league between Košice and Jihlava, capturing four Extraliga championships (1983, 1984, 1986, 1988), before spending a single season between the New York Rangers and Los Angeles Kings of the NHL in 1988-89 before returning to Europe, spending his final decade-plus between leagues in Czechia, Slovakia, Italy, Finland and Austria, winning a Slovak championship in 1999.

🇨🇿 Jaroslav Pouzar, the decorated Czech winger who was one of the first Czech players allowed to join the NHL, captured Gold for Czechoslovakia at both the 1976 and 1977 World Championship, along with additional World Championship Silver (1978, 1979, 1981), Bronze (1982) and Olympic Silver (1976) for his country. A star winger for České Budějovice of the Czech league, Pouzar was granted permission to join the Edmonton Oilers in 1982, capturing three Stanley Cups (1984, 1985, 1987) with the Oilers dynasty, before returning to join the German league in 1987 for his final six pro seasons, capturing a national title in 1989.

🇫🇮 Petteri Nummelin, the ironman defender of the Leijonat, served at a then-record fifteen World Championships between 1995 and 2010, capturing Gold (1995), Silver (1998, 1999, 2001, 2007) and Bronze (2000, 2006), in addition to a Silver medal at the 2006 Turin Olympics. The son of Hall of Famer Timo Nummelin, Petteri would split his nearly thirty pro seasons as a journeyman between Finland, Sweden, Switzerland, the United States, Norway and Japan, capturing two Swiss (2003, 2006) and one Finnish (1995) league title, being named to both countries’ respective Halls of Fame as well.

Special mention also goes out to the other inductees this year – builder Melody Davidson (Canada), Bibi Torriani Award winner Desideriu Varga (Romania), Paul Loicq Award winner Anatolii Brezvin (Ukraine), and inaugural Media Award winner Al Michaels (United States), best known for his famous call of the “Miracle On Ice” at the 1980 Olympics.

Photo Credit: Edmonton Oilers – iDNES – Sportbibeln – MPR News – Legends Of Hockey – Sport Collections – Sportti – IIHF – HHOF – IOC