Eric Lindros finally is headed to the Hall.
After failing to garner the necessary votes in his first six years of eligibility, the former Philadelphia Flyers star was announced Monday as one of four members of the 2016 Hockey Hall of Fame class.
Joining Lindros in Toronto will be forward Sergei Makarov, goaltender Rogie Vachon and longtime head coach Pat Quinn.
Lindros played 13 NHL seasons for the Flyers, New York Rangers, Toronto Maple Leafs and Dallas Stars before injuries ended his career at age 34.
The first overall pick in the 1991 NHL Draft, Lindros never hoisted the Stanley Cup but earned the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s MVP in 1995 and led Philadelphia to a Cup Final in 1997. He averaged 1.14 points per game over his 760 regular-season contests and 1.08 points per game over 56 postseason tilts.
Makarov helped lead the Soviet Union to eight world championships and two Olympic gold medals before embarking on a brief NHL career that included four seasons with the Calgary Flames, two more with the San Jose Sharks and a four-game stint with Dallas.
Vachon won three Stanley Cups and a Vezina Trophy with the Montreal Canadiens in the late 1960s and early ’70s, then spent seven highly productive seasons with the Los Angeles Kings, setting several franchise goaltending records that only recently were broken by Jonathan Quick.
Quinn, who will be inducted posthumously, played nine seasons in the NHL but is best known for his work behind the bench. Quinn coached the Flyers, Kings, Vancouver Canucks, Maple Leafs and Edmonton Oilers from 1978 to 2010, reaching two Cup Finals and winning the Jack Adams Award twice. He also coached Team Canada to an Olympic gold in 2002 and a World Cup title in 2004.
Notable snubs from this year’s Hall of Fame class include Mark Recchi, Paul Kariya, Dave Andreychuk, Alexander Mogilny and Jeremy Roenick.
Thumbnail photo via Eric Hartline/USA TODAY Sports Images
