The Hockey Hall of Fame is adding another Calgary Flame to the fold. After Jarome Iginla was inducted to the Hall as the member of the Class of 2020, another former Flame has now been named for 2023. Goaltender Mike Vernon has been named as a member of the Class of 2023.
Hockey Hall of Fame Class of 2023
The 2023 cohort consists of seven names: Mike Vernon, Henrik Lundqvist, Pierre Turgeon, Tom Barasso, Caroline Ouellette, Ken Hitchcock (Builder), and Pierre Lacroix (Builder, honoured posthumously).
Mike Vernon’s career
Vernon is a two-time Stanley Cup winner, none more famous than his win with the Calgary Flames back in 1988–89. He also won it with the Detroit Red Wings in 1996–97. On top of his Cups, he was the recipient of the Conn Smythe Trophy the same season he won it all with the Red Wings, and a year prior to that he was the winner of the William M. Jennings Trophy.
Over the course of his career, Vernon played 782 regular season games—starting 742 of them—and recorded 385 wins, 274 losses, and 92 ties. He faced 19,998 total shots—just two shy from the 20,000 mark—and finished his career with an 2.98 GAA and 0.889 SV%. In the playoffs, Vernon made 138 appearances with 135 starts, where he won 77 times and lost 56. His postseason GAA was 2.68 while his SV% was 0.896.
Vernon played the majority of his career with the Flames, playing a total of 527 regular season games with Calgary. He also played 95 games with Detroit, as well as 126 games with the San Jose Sharks and 34 games with the Florida Panthers.
Outside of the NHL, Vernon represented Team Canada on two occasions. The first was when he was still a Flames prospect at the 1983 World Junior Championships, where he won a bronze medal; as well as with Team Canada at the 1991 World Championships, where the team captured a silver medal.
At the tail end of his career, Vernon returned to Calgary and played his final two seasons between 2000–01 and 2001–02 as a Calgary Flame. The Flames officially retired Vernon’s number on February 6, 2007, as his #30 was raised to the rafters of the then-named Pengrowth Saddledome. He became just the second player in the franchise to have his number retired after Lanny McDonald. Vernon was also inducted to the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame in 2010.
Congratulations, Vernon
With Vernon joining McDonald and Iginla in the Hall, the trio of Flames retired number honourees are now all Hockey Hall of Famers. The induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame puts the exclamation point on Vernon’s storied hockey career.
