Penguins to relaunch team’s Hall of Fame
PITTSBURGH – The Pittsburgh Penguins announced a three-year plan to relaunch the team’s Hall of Fame and honor the players and builders who helped transform the club into one of the National Hockey League’s elite franchises over the past 58 seasons.
The original Penguins Hall of Fame ran intermittently between the inaugural 1992 class and the most-recent induction in 2013.
The Penguins announced the first 10 players and builders who have been elected into the relaunched Hall of Fame. They will join 20 individuals who were inducted into previous editions of the Hall of Fame. The 10 individuals will have their induction ceremonies spread throughout the next three seasons.
Each of the six players elected to the Penguins Hall of Fame won multiple Stanley Cup championships with the team. They are Tom Barrasso, Ron Francis, Jaromir Jagr, Chris Kunitz, Larry Murphy and Kevin Stevens. They’ll be joined by four builders who were instrumental to those championships: Scotty Bowman, Eddie Johnston, Jim Rutherford and Ray Shero (posthumously).
“The Penguins are one of the most storied franchises in the history of the National Hockey League and permanently celebrating the success of our past players and personnel has been an important mission of our current staff all across the organization,” said Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas “The three-year plan is an effort to recognize those whose contributions laid the foundation for the championship standard here in Pittsburgh. It was a great honor, in my current role as the person tasked with helping to lead the Penguins back to Stanley Cup contention, to call the inductees and we look forward to unveiling the Hall of Fame display and celebrating with our players, fans and people of Pittsburgh.”
Later this fall, the Penguins will announce which four names from this group will be enshrined as the 2025 induction class. The first three classes will have four or five members per year, as the 10 names announced above will be joined by additional names that a voting committee will select whenever it reconvenes to vote ahead of each season.
Penguins will be able to celebrate the team’s rich history while inside PPG Paints Arena with a Hall of Fame space on the main concourse level. This will be the first time that the Penguins Hall of Fame will have a dedicated in-arena location.
The 2025 Hall of Fame celebration will include an on-ice ceremony prior to the home game on Oct. 25 against the Columbus Blue Jackets. The induction class, and a full schedule of events will be announced in the coming weeks.
The Pittsburgh Penguins Hall of Fame is selected by a voting committee that includes 21 members. This group includes former players, coaches, general managers, broadcasters and club employees, who are joined by members of the local television, radio and print media, all of whom cover the team on a regular basis.
The lone eligibility requirement is that players must be retired for one season before they become eligible for election.