The Builders; Hockey Hall of Fame, Class of 2024
The Hockey Hall of Fame has announced its induction class for 2024. Located in Toronto, the Hall was created in 1943, with the goal of celebrating and memorializing the sport of hockey. Players, builders, and referees are able to be elected for nomination, and is voted on by the Selection Committee. This class features 2 builders, and 5 players with two being women. Builders, in this sense, refer to managers and executives, who make decisions that directly affect the on-ice success of their team.
Colin Campbell, a former player, coach and executive, is the first builder in the 2024 Hockey Hall of Fame class. Campbell played 11 seasons with various NHL teams after being drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1973. After 636 regular season games and 1,295 penalty minutes, the defenseman took his talents behind the bench, where he spent the next 12 seasons. His major contributions came with his work in hockey operations, where he advocated for player safety and help adapt the game over time. Campbell was instrumental in the creation of the ‘Situation Room’; the NHL’s centralized video review location, which has since transferred to other sports. Additionally, Campbell served on the Hockey Hall of Fame Selection Committee from 2005 to 2019, and is now being inducted himself. An honor he once bestowed, he is set to recieve and one he finds “kind of shocking,” as quoted by Mark Zeisberger of NHL.com. A self proclaimed ‘villain of hockey’ will now be celebrated in the Hall for his extensive contributions to the sport.
Featured: Colin Campbell and Gary Bettman, the commissioner of the NHL. (Photo by Bruce Bennett, Getty Images)
David Poile is the second builder in this class to be elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame. Poile began his career as a player, playing 3 seasons at Northeastern University in Boston, MA. He began his front office career in 1972, with the Atlanta Flames and remained with the franchise through the relocation to Calgary. In 1982-83, Poile was named the General Manager of the Washington Capitals. During his 15 seasons with the Capitals, the team made playoffs all but one season. Once he was released by Washington, the Nashville Predators quickly signed him, spending the next 24 seasons until his retirement in June 2023. With Nashville, he built the franchise from the ground up, overseeing its expansion draft. Poile became the winningest General Manager in history, with 1,320 wins, and the longest tenured GM serving 36 consecutive seasons. In this time, he lead two separate clubs for 1,000 games and 500 wins. Poile won the Jim Gregory award for the league’s General Manager of the Year in 2016-17. Poile retired a successful builder, known for cultivating competitive teams and ability to adapt within the evolving NHL landscape. His legacy as an influential and successful executive is now cemented with his induction to the Hockey Hall of Fame.
(Photo by Amy Irvin, The Hockey Writers)
