Three hockey stars from New England are heading to the United States Hockey Hall of Fame, the U.S. H.O.F. selection committee announced Tuesday.
Left wing John LeClair, from St. Albans, Vermont, Bellows Free High School and the University of Vermont; goalie Tom Barrasso from Stow and Acton-Boxborough High School and right wing Tony Amonte from Hingham, Thayer Academy and Boston University are all heading to the Hall in Eveleth, Minnesota.
Joining these three will be the 1998 U.S. women's Olymic ice hockey team and inventor Frank Zamboni.
LeClair became the first American-born player to notch three straight 50-goal seasons when he posted 51 goals for the Flyers in 1995-96, 50 in 1996-97 and 51 in the 1997-98 season. In 967 career games between the Canadiens, Flyers and Penguins, he scored 406 goals ans notched 413 assists.
In his rookie season of 1983-84, the then 18-year-old Barrasso captured both the Calder (Rookie of the Year) and Vezina (Goalie of the Year) trophies by going 26-12 with a 2.84 GAA with the Sabres. Nearly 10 seasons later, Barrasso notched an NHL and career-high 43 wins as a member of the Penguins. Barrasso would end his 18-year career in 2003 with 369 wins and two Stanley Cup championships.
In 15 seasons between the Rangers, Blackhawks, Coyotes, Flyers and Flames, Amonte found the back of the net 416 times and assisted on 484 goals for 900 career points in 1,174 games. The five-time All-Star finished tied for second in the NHL in goals scored in 1998-99 with 44 goals and ended up in third place a season later with 43 tallies.
Zamboni, Eureka, Utah, invented the first self-propelled ice resurfacing machine in 1949.
