Hurricanes Owner PETER KARMANOS JR. yesterday was selected to the Hockey HOF for his 40-year involvement in the sport, entering under the "Builder" category, defined as an "individual who has contributed to the game of hockey and moved the game forward," according to Chip Alexander of the Raleigh NEWS & OBSERVER. Karmanos, 72, has made a "significant impact in youth hockey, creating the Compuware Youth Hockey Program in the Detroit area," as well as owning OHL teams and the ECHL Florida Everblades, "winning championships and producing a host of players who reached the NHL." But Karmanos "did ruffle a few feathers along the way." He can be "as outspoken and brash as he is bold and decisive, rankling the fans of the Hartford Whalers when he moved the NHL team" to Raleigh in '97 (Raleigh NEWS & OBSERVER, 6/30). In Detroit, Ted Kulfan notes the Compuware Youth Hockey Program "has produced 15 national championships, 34 state championships, sent 235 players to Division I hockey and produced 14 NHL first-round draft selections" (DETROIT NEWS, 6/30). In Raleigh, Luke DeCock wrote the induction is "slightly awkward timing for Karmanos, who is being honored for growing the game of hockey at the same time he's in the process of withdrawing from it." He recently sold his OHL team, while both the Hurricanes and Everblades "are on the market." By the time he is "inducted in Toronto in November, he may no longer be a hockey owner at all." Nevertheless, there is "no doubting what Karmanos has done for hockey" in the U.S., as he is a U.S. Hockey HOFer and has won USA Hockey's Lester Patrick Award (NEWSOBSERVER.com, 6/29). Karmanos said of fan support in Raleigh, "We still have to work very hard to bring the fans into the building, but they are great great hockey fans in the sun belt. We just need more of them, that's all" (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 6/30).
CALL TO THE HALL: In addition to Karmanos, the '15 Hockey HOF class includes former NHLers NICKLAS LIDSTROM, SERGEI FEDEROV, CHRIS PRONGER and PHIL HOUSLEY, former U.S. Olympic team player ANGELA RUGGIERO, and former Hockey HOF Chair BILL HAY, who enters in the "Builder" category (Mult., 6/29). In Colorado Springs, Joe Paisley notes Hay also previously served as Hockey Canada President & COO and Flames President & CEO (Colorado Springs GAZETTE, 6/30).
