The class of 2024 features four former National Hockey League players, a trailblazer for female hockey players, a world-renowned coach, and the 2001 Memorial Cup champions.
Billy Dea, Jarome Iginla, Dave King, Kelly Kisio, Craig MacTavish, Shannon Szabados and the 2000-01 Red Deer Rebels were inducted into the hall during the AHHF Gala at the Gary W. Harris Centre in Red Deer.
BILLY DEA
Billy Dea played 19 years of professional hockey, while also coaching several years in the NHL. He spent most of his playing career with the Buffalo Bisons of the American Hockey League, where he set a longevity record by playing in 596 consecutive games which includes both regular season and playoffs. He also spent time with the New York Rangers, Detroit Red Wings, Chicago Blackhawks and Pittsburgh Penguins.
“I really didn’t think about it much,” Dea said of his ironman streak. “It was my job. You love the game, and you want to play, so you play.”
JAROME IGINLA
Most recognized for the 16 seasons he spent with the Calgary Flames, Jarome Iginla was one of the best NHL players of his generation. Iginla is the Flames all-time leader in games played (1,219), goals (525), and points (1,095). Iginla is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, has won multiple gold medals at various levels with Team Canada, and won two Memorial Cups with the Kamloops Blazers. He spent his remaining four seasons in the NHL with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Colorado Avalanche and Los Angeles Kings.
“It’s a very nice honour,” Iginla said of being inducted. “It makes me think back of all the time I played hockey in Alberta from minor hockey to with the Flames in the NHL. It was a fun career; it went fast but it’s brought a lot of memories back. Times with my grandpa, my teammates and the games … I never thought I’d be in the Alberta Hockey Hall of Fame.”
DAVE KING
Dave King has had a distinguished career as a coach and mentor for over 40 years, developing a reputation as one of hockey’s finest tacticians and teachers of the game. He’s coached at every level of hockey around the world including major junior, Canadian university, Canada’s National Team, the National Hockey League and European and Russian pro leagues. For nine years, he was the head coach and general manager of Canada’s full-time national team. He is a two-time medalist at the Winter Olympics, helping Canada win silver in 1991-92 and bronze in 2017-18.
“Hockey Alberta has always been a leader,” King said. “It’s always been progressive and that’s why hockey in this province is one of the top programs in the nation.”
KELLY KISIO
Kelly Kisio made his impact both on the ice as a player and off the ice in the front office. After spending over 700 games in the National Hockey League and three seasons as the captain of the New York Rangers where he tallied 229 goals and 658 points, Kisio turned his attention to turning the Calgary Hitmen into one of the most successful franchises in the Western Hockey League. Under his guidance as the team’s head coach and then general manager, the Hitmen won six Central Division titles, four Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy’s as the league’s best regular season team, three conference championships and two Ed Chynoweth Cup’s as league champions. He is currently a scout for the Vegas Golden Knights.
“Just to wear a ‘C’ on your sweater (in the National Hockey League) was something special,” Kisio said of his time as captain of the Rangers. “But to do it in New York, in front of those fans was pretty neat.”
CRAIG MACTAVISH
Craig MacTavish is a four-time Stanley Cup Champion during his 17-year playing career in the NHL, three of them coming with the Edmonton Oilers and another with the New York Rangers. He played in 1,093 games and registered 480 points, including 213 goals. He also served as an executive, coach and assistant coach in the NHL, where he helped the Edmonton Oilers to the Stanley Cup Final in 2006-07, coached Team Canada internationally as well as coached in both Russia and Switzerland.
“My career with the Oilers was 25 plus years and you don’t have longevity in this game without the friendship and loyalty of your organization,” MacTavish said of his career. “I came into the organization in 1985 and I was very lucky to come in under the leadership of Glen Sather. I was very fortunate.”
SHANNON SZABADOS
Shannon Szabados is a trailblazer for female hockey players. She was the first female to play at the Calgary Macs AAA hockey tournament, first female to play in the Western Hockey League, playing in four exhibition games with the Tri-City Americans, first female recipient of the AJHL’s top goaltender award and first female to sign and play in the Southern Professional Hockey League. She is also the first female to win an SPHL game and first and only female to record a shutout in men’s professional hockey. She is the only goaltender in women’s hockey history to backstop her nation to two gold medals at the Winter Olympics, helping Canada win gold in both 2010 and 2014. Szabados also had a successful college and university career with the MacEwan University Griffins and NAIT Ooks men’s hockey teams, winning the ACAC silver medal in 2008 and setting a regular season record for shutouts (five) on route to an ACAC Championship.
“Incredible group of inductees,” Szabados said. “A little humbled myself to be included in this group, so a huge honour for me to be part of this.”
2000-01 RED DEER REBELS
The 2000-01 Red Deer Rebels went 54-12-3-3 over the course of the regular season, leading the Canadian Hockey League. They advanced through the Western Hockey League playoffs by dispatching the Lethbridge Hurricanes, Calgary Hitmen and Swift Current Broncos before defeating the Portland Winterhawks in the league final. Red Deer qualified for the 2001 Memorial Cup in Regina, Saskatchewan where they went 2-1 in the round robin after wins over Val d’Or and Ottawa and a loss to Regina. Their record was good enough to earn an automatic berth into the Memorial Cup final where they once again defeated Val d’Or in a come-from-behind 6-5 overtime victory.
“We could play any way you wanted,” said Colby Armstrong. “We had size and skill. We could win 1-0, we could win 6-5, we could go play in the back alley and get into the nitty gritty of the game too. It was a really special group.”
For more information on the Alberta Hockey Hall of Fame and the Class of 2024, please visit www.ahhf.ca.
In addition to the Class of 2024, Robert ‘Bob’ Rawlusyk was honoured as the second recipient of the Robert Clark Legacy Award.
Rawlusyk spent over 40 years coaching multiple sports, both male and female athletes in Drumheller, Stettler, throughout Canada and in Japan. In 1991, he was tasked with organizing national games between Canada and Russia, advised the World Junior Hockey Committee in Red Deer and was the director of the World Under-17 Hockey Championship. For more than 20 years, he instructed coaching clinics and worked as an amateur hockey official.
Rawlusyk was a pillar in his community and in the game of hockey.
In 2022, the Alberta Hockey Hall of Fame Selection Committee announced the Robert Clark Legacy Award for leadership in hockey. The award is presented to someone who has demonstrated similar passion, leadership, collaboration, and integrity in growing and improving the game.
The Robert Clark Legacy Award is named after Honoured Member of the AHHF and Hockey Alberta Life Member, Robert “Bob” Clark, who was a monumental figure in the hockey community. For over half a century, Clark was involved in hockey in Alberta, displaying a passion for growing and improving the game for athletes and administrators.