Darrell Davis: Well-known inductees in Saskatchewan’s hockey hall

Many of us missed the ceremony inducting eight more members into the Saskatchewan Hockey Hall of Fame.

Maybe we’re spoiled because the inaugural class included such luminaries as Gordie Howe, Glenn Hall, Bryan Trottier and Elmer Lach. This year’s class was also stellar.

I’ve dealt with the three players inducted — Hayley Wickenheiser, Ron Delorme and Bill Hicke — and the grassroots builders Dennis Loeppky and Larry Johnson. I’ve worked games with Lyle Wilhelm, the official inducted, and builder Kelly Lovering taught me in high school. Members of the 1987-88 Notre Dame Hounds junior hockey team, such as Barry MacKenzie and Rod Brind’Amour, have left their marks on the hockey world.

Saskatchewan produces more NHL players per capita than any other jurisdiction. Pro leagues are littered with Saskatchewan coaches, administrators and scouts.

If there’s a hockey nursery, it might be in Saskatchewan. Maybe that’s why we breeze over the event, which was held last weekend in Swift Current, the city where the Saskatchewan Hockey Hall of Fame is located. We know them. Or we know their relatives. Or we know what they have accomplished. Because of that familiarity we never really think of them as Hall of Famers. But they are.