Iginla, Kisio highlight Alberta Hockey Hall of Fame Class of 2024
Red Deer, Alta.- WHL greats and trailblazers are heading to the Alberta Hockey Hall of Fame.
Jarome Iginla, Kelly Kisio, Dave King, Shannon Szabados and the 2000-01 Red Deer Rebels were announced as members of the AHHF’s Class of 2024 on March 19.
Iginla won two WHL Championships and back-to-back Memorial Cups with the Kamloops Blazers in 1994 and 1995 before going on to a Hall-of-Fame career in the NHL, largely with the Calgary Flames.
The St. Albert, Alta.’s junior accolades include being named the CHL Memorial Cup Most Sportsmanlike Player in 1995, Four Broncos Trophy for WHL Player of the Year in 1996 and a member of the WHL (West) and CHL First All-Star Teams.
Kisio, who hails from Wetaskiwin, Alta., put up 60 goals and 61 assists in 70 games in his first season with the WHL’s Calgary Wranglers, capturing the Jim Piggott Trophy for Rookie of the Year in 1979.
He’d score 138 in his second campaign with the Wranglers before embarking on a 13-year career in the NHL.
As an executive, Kisio helped transform the Calgary Hitmen into one of the most successful WHL franchises, winning the Ed Chynoweth trophy in 1998-99 and 2009-10.
Kisio was also named the 2004 Lloyd Saunders Memorial Trophy for top WHL executive of the year.
King coached every level from major junior to the Olympics (where he earned two gold medals for Canada) over his 40-plus-year career behind the bench.
He spent part of 1976-77 with the Saskatoon Blades in the then-WCHL before moving on to serve as Head Coach of the Billings Bighorns from 1977-79.
King tied Victoria Cougars bench boss Jack Shupe for the WHL’s Dunc McCallum Memorial Trophy for Coach of the Year in the 1977-78 season after leading the Bighorns to the WCHL final.
Two-time Olympic gold medalist and 2018 silver medalist Szabados made history as the first female to play in the WHL.
In 2002, when she was 16 years old, Szabados suited up for four exhibition games for the Tri-City Americans, sharing a crease with Carey Price.
After being released from Tri-City, Szabados went on to play four seasons in the Alberta Junior Hockey League, earning a shutout with the Sherwood Park Crusaders in her first game.
The 2000-01 Red Deer Rebels won the franchise’s first WHL championship and Memorial Cup, defeating the Val-d’Or Foreurs in a 6-5 overtime victory in Regina, Sask.
Doug Lynch netted the overtime winner after stepping off the half-wall and firing the fateful shot through a maze of traffic.
Calgary’s Kyle Wanvig scored two goals to spark the comeback and was named the Stafford Smythe Trophy winner as the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
The Alberta Hockey Hall of Fame induction Gala will be held at the Gary W. Harris Centre in Red Deer on Saturday, July 20.