NEW YORK — It's a goalie-heavy class heading into the Hockey Hall of Fame this year.
Former netminders Henrik Lundqvist, Tom Barasso, and Mike Vernon were inducted on Wednesday, and they'll be joined in the player category by Pierre Turgeon and Caroline Ouellette.
Ken Hitchcock and Pierre Lacroix were elected in the Builders category.
While he never won a Stanley Cup, Lundqivst was one of the best goalies of his generation.
Selected in the seventh round (No. 205) of the 2000 NHL Draft, Lundqvist played for the Rangers from 2005-20, helping them advance to the Cup Final in 2014.
Lundqvist won 459 games, sixth in NHL history and most among goalies born in Europe. He was also a finalist for the Vezina Trophy five times and won it in 2012 as the NHL's best goalie that season.
Barasso won the Calder Trophy and the Vezina in Buffalo before hoisting the Cup twice with Pittsburgh.
For his part, Vernon won Cups in Calgary and Detroit, as well as the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of the Playoffs with the Red Wings in 1997.
Turgeon's inclusion was long overdue. He has the most points of any eligible player not in the Hall of Fame with 1,327 (515 goals, 812 assists) in 1,294 games. He also recorded 97 points (35 goals, 62 assists) in 109 playoff games.
Ouellette is one of three female players who has won at least four Olympic gold medals, joining Canada women's national team teammates Hayley Wickenheiser (five) and Jayna Hefford (four), both of who are already in the Hall.
She also won the gold six times at the IIHF Women's World Championship and earned silver at the other six tournaments she played in from 1999-2015.
Finally, Pierre Lacroix was the architect of two Stanley Cup winning teams in Denver, while Hitchcock is the fourth-winningest coach in NHL history.
The Class of 2023 will be inducted in Toronto on Nov. 13.