Published Nov 08, 2025 \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 3 minute read<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n You can save this article by registering for free here<\/a>. Or sign-in<\/a> if you have an account.<\/p>\n Hockey Hall of Fame media day, the only opportunity to hear from the class of 2025 before Monday\u2019s induction speeches, was a chance to try to get a few queries settled.<\/p>\n Advertisement 2<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY<\/p>\n Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.<\/p>\n Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account.Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on.Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists.Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.<\/p>\n SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES<\/p>\n Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.<\/p>\n Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account.Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on.Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists.Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.<\/p>\n REGISTER \/ SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES<\/p>\n Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.<\/p>\n Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.<\/p>\n THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK.<\/p>\n Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.<\/p>\n Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authors<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Where\u2019s\u00a0Alex Mogilny?<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n After so many of his friends and media members lobbied\u00a0for years\u00a0on his behalf as a deserving candidate,\u00a0the first big-name\u00a0Russian\u00a0defector in 1989,\u00a0Mogilny will be a no-show. He\u00a0has\u00a0pre-recorded\u00a0comments\u00a0for\u00a0Monday\u2019s\u00a0ceremony and\u00a0telecast, but\u00a0his\u00a0jeweled\u00a0ring and\u00a0crested Hall\u00a0blazer went unclaimed Saturday.<\/p>\n Mogilny was always a squirrely fellow (he skipped the NHL awards in 2003, thinking little of winning the Lady Byng good conduct trophy) and no one is quite sure if his absence is a travel issue in Russia, a political difficulty in these fraught times, whether he\u2019s helping coach a team back home, or just his unique sense of mischief.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t know the exact reason, other than he said he couldn\u2019t make it,\u201d said Hall\u00a0chairman\u00a0Mike Gartner. \u201cThere\u2019s\u00a0a lot of moving parts in his life right now. We\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0press\u00a0him much; people talked to him,\u00a0he\u00a0said he\u00a0couldn\u2019t\u00a0make it. But\u00a0he\u2019s\u00a0very appreciative\u00a0of getting in.<\/p>\n Your Midday Sun<\/p>\n Thanks for signing up!<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Advertisement 3<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n \u201cIt happens very rarely (in 2022, Riikka Sallinen, a Finnish female star, also skipped the visit to Toronto), but we\u2019ve seen Alex\u2019s speech, it\u2019s actually very good, it\u2019s very respectful of how he got where he is.\u201d<\/p>\n Did being a police officer in Quebec help prepare Daniele Sauvageau as a club and Olympic coach and PWHL general manager?<\/p>\n We asked\u00a0her,\u00a0because the late Hall of Fame coach Pat Burns\u00a0said\u00a0being a seasoned beat\u00a0cop\u00a0gave him a sense of who was a\u00a0true competitor\u00a0or\u00a0a\u00a0floater, especially\u00a0in\u00a0a 1-on-1\u00a0meeting.<\/p>\n \u201cThe combination of the two\u00a0(occupations)\u00a0gave\u00a0me the greatest way to learn about\u00a0the human world,\u201d Sauvageau agreed. \u201cYou see great\u00a0things,\u00a0you see things that\u00a0you want\u00a0to change. But the reality is the same. You are serving the\u00a0population\u00a0and you are serving the game.\u201d<\/p>\n Advertisement 4<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Like Burns, her dedication often blurred the\u00a0lines between job descriptions.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the police department they called me \u2018coach\u2019 and in hockey they called me \u2018chief.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n Did Jack Parker\u00a0really\u00a0say no to\u00a0coaching\u00a0America\u2019s\u00a0\u2018Miracle\u00a0on Ice\u2019 team in the 1980 Olympics?<\/p>\n The Boston University coach had 897 career wins up to 2013 and enough between 1973-79 to warrant an interview from the U.S. hockey program. But it was the late Herb Brooks who got the glory \u2014 and had Karl Malden and Kurt Russell portray him in two movies on the Lake Placid upset.<\/p>\n \u201cNot\u00a0true\u00a0I turned it down,\u201d Parker clarified. \u201cThere was Herb,\u00a0myself\u00a0and John\u00a0MacInnes from Michigan Tech\u00a0being interviewed by the committee.\u00a0I was the youngest, Herbie was the\u00a0middle, John the oldest.<\/p>\n Advertisement 5<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n \u201cBut before I was interviewed,\u00a0I was told\u00a0John had already\u00a0withdrawn.\u00a0That\u2019s\u00a0when I\u00a0went\u00a0in\u00a0the room and\u00a0found out\u00a0eight of the 10 people on the committee were from Minnesota. I\u00a0kind of\u00a0knew\u00a0then\u00a0I\u00a0wasn\u2019t\u00a0going to get this job.\u201d<\/p>\n Brooks\u00a0was\u00a0born in St. Paul and coached the University of Minnesota Gophers.<\/p>\n \u201cBut Minnesota, Michigan,\u00a0Massachusetts,\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0matter. They\u00a0certainly made the right decision\u00a0in picking\u00a0Brooks. I\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0think anyone could have done the complete turnaround\u00a0of\u00a0what he\u00a0did as coach\u00a0in 1980.\u201d<\/p>\n Is\u00a0national team veteran\u00a0Joe Thornton\u00a0in line to coach\u00a0Canada\u2019s Spengler Cup team in Davos, Switzerland\u00a0in December?<\/p>\n His wife\u00a0Tabsa\u00a0is\u00a0Swiss,\u00a0Jumbo Joe\u00a0met her\u00a0in Davos while playing\u00a0there in the\u00a02004 lockout, so people are connecting the dots.\u00a0The family\u00a0will be\u00a0visiting\u00a0the area during the Christmas holidays.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0know,\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0more about skiing when\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0on vacation,\u201d\u00a0Thornton\u00a0teased. \u201cI might\u00a0go and see\u00a0the boys play, check out a\u00a0game.\u00a0But if they really want me,\u00a0I\u2019ll\u00a0be on the Swiss Alps.\u201d<\/p>\n Lhornby@postmedia.com<\/p>\n X:\u00a0@sunhornby<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Share this article in your social network<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Breadcrumb Trail Links SportsHockeyNHL Get the latest from Lance Hornby straight to your inbox Sign Up Published Nov…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":271975,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":{"0":"post-271974","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271974","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=271974"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271974\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/271975"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=271974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=271974"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=271974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Hockey](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1109hallseven-e1762647697338.jpg\")
From left, Joe Thornton, Duncan Keith, Brianna Decker, Zdeno Chara, Jennifer Botterill, Daniele Sauvageau and Jack Parker attend a media opportunity in the Great Hall at the Hockey Hall of Fame and Museum on Nov. 8, 2025 in Toronto. Photo by Bruce Bennett \/Getty ImagesArticle content<\/p>\n![\"Toronto](\"https:\/\/dcs-static.gprod.postmedia.digital\/19.9.2\/websites\/images\/identity\/logo-identity-tsun.svg\"){kind=logo}
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