South St. Paul star named to Hockey Hall of Fame class of 2015
The Hockey Hall of Fame announced today that South St. Paul native Phil Housley will be among its class of 2015 inductees.
Housley, who was enshrined into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in 2004, joins fellow NHL players Sergei Fedorov, Nicklas Lidstrom and Chris Pronger along with women’s Olympian Angela Ruggiero, Hockey Hall of Fame Chairman Bill Hay and Carolina Hurricanes owner Peter Karmanos.
After starring at South St. Paul High School, Housley was selected by the Buffalo Sabres in the first round (No. 6 overall) of the 1982 NHL Draft. The 18-year-old defenseman so impressed Scotty Bowman, the Sabres Coach/GM at the time, Housley made the team the following Fall and was named to the 1983 NHL All-Rookie team.
He never spent a day in the minors in a career spanning 21 seasons and nearly 1500 games with eight teams. The seven-time All-Star’s 1,232 points(338 goals and 894 assists) were the most ever registered by a U.S. born player at the time of his retirement in 2003. Former Minnesota North Star and Dallas Star Mike Modano eclipsed that mark in 2007.
Housley won gold as a member of Team USA in the 1996 World Cup of Hockey and was an Olympic silver medalist in 2002 playing under coach Herb Brooks in Salt Lake City. He most recently made his mark internationally when he led Team USA to gold as Head Coach of the U.S. National junior team in the 2013 World Junior Championships in Ufa, Russia.
After eight years behind the bench guiding Stillwater High School’s boys team, Housley has spent the past two season as an assistant coach with the Nashville Predators, first under Barry Trotz and now under Peter Laviolette.
Minnesota Hockey Magazine Executive Editor Brian Halverson is a member of the Minnesota Chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association and is a contributor to The Sports Xchange's NHL coverage in St. Paul. An experienced sports feature writer and reporter, Brian's work has been published in The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, The Marquette Mining Journal, The St. Paul Pioneer Press and the Hartford Courant. Prior to joining the Minnesota Hockey Magazine team, Brian served as a WCHA co-columnist for U.S. College Hockey Online.
