The Pittsburgh Penguins have announced a three-year plan to relaunch the team’s Hall of Fame and celebrate the players and builders who have 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.
Today, the Penguins are announcing the first 10 players and builders that 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 that will now be grandfathered into the relaunched Hall of Fame. These 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 – 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).
Penguins’ President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Kyle Dubas recently called all 10 future inductees – including Kyle and Chris Shero, sons of the late Ray Shero, to deliver the news on behalf of the team.
“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 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 between 4-5 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.
As the proud owners of five Stanley Cup championships, and four of the top-nine all-time NHL scoring leaders, the Penguins have a rich history that will now be able to be celebrated by fans inside PPG Paints Arena with a physical Hall of Fame space on the FedEx 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 Saturday, October 25 versus the Columbus Blue Jackets. The induction class, and a full schedule of events will be announced in the coming weeks.
Among names previously inducted into the Penguins Hall of Fame during its initial run were franchise icons Mario Lemieux, Paul Coffey, Joe Mullen, Jean Pronovost and Rick Kehoe, alongside legendary builders and contributors Craig Patrick, Bob Johnson and Mike Lange. They highlight a list of 20 players, builders and contributors already enshrined, who will remain in the relaunched Hall of Fame.
The Pittsburgh Penguins Hall of Fame is selected by a voting committee that currently includes 21 members. This group is comprised of 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.
Among the criteria that voters must weigh for Penguins Hall of Fame player candidates are career statistics, playoff performance, longevity and consistency, legacy and off-ice impact, team contributions and league/team awards and recognition. The lone eligibility requirement is that players must be retired for one season before they become eligible for election.
For builders, the criteria for consideration are longevity, regular-season success relative to their peers, playoff success, legacy and off-ice impact, and whether the builder helped the team win the Stanley Cup during their tenure.
Pittsburgh Penguins Hall of Fame Classes by Year
1992: Rick Kehoe (Player), Jean Pronovost (Player), Bob Johnson (Builder)
1994: Syl Apps (Player)
1996: Dave Burrows (Player), Edward DeBartolo (Contributor), Elaine Heufelder (Contributor)
1999: Mario Lemieux (Player), Jack Riley (Builder)
2000: Joe Mullen (Player)
2001: Craig Patrick (Builder), Mike Lange (Contributor), A.T. Caggiano (Contributor)
2003: Les Binkley (Player), Ulf Samuelsson (Player), Vince Lascheid (Contributor)
2007: Paul Coffey (Player), Frank Sciulli (Contributor)
2013: Mark Recchi (Player), Dr. Charles ‘Chip’ Burke (Contributor)
Pittsburgh Penguins Hall of Fame Voting Committee
Phil Bourque
Jen Bullano
Jay Caufield
Michelle Crechiolo
Wes Crosby
Bob Grove
Jenna Harner
Dejan Kovacevic
Mark Madden
Ryan Malone
Tom McMillan
Dave Molinari
Craig Patrick
Bob Pompeani
Seth Rorabaugh
Rob Rossi
Jason Spezza
Joe Starkey
Andrew Stockey
Paul Steigerwald
Matt Vensel
Hockey News