After 30-Year Wait, Kings' Rogie Vachon Inducted Into NHL Hall Of Fame
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com/AP) — Because he has been eligible for three decades, Rogie Vachon said he stopped waiting for the call from the Hall of Fame. But the 70-year-old still remembered his first NHL save.
"My first shot in the NHL was a breakaway from Gordie Howe from the blue line in," Vachon said of the Hall of Famer who died just two weeks ago. "I don't know if I closed my eyes when he shot, but I stopped him and that probably kept me in the league for 16 years."
34 years after retirement, Rogie Vachon gets the @HockeyHallFame call. https://t.co/XpSkNQKRbv pic.twitter.com/FhZMpKCMTv
— NHL (@NHL) June 28, 2016
Vachon won the Vezina Trophy with the Canadiens in 1967-68 and was part of three Cup-champion teams in Montreal. He went on to play with the Los Angeles Kings, Detroit Red Wings and Boston Bruins and finished with 355 victories.
Vachon will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on Nov. 14, and will be joined by Eric Lindros, Sergei Makarov and Pat Quinn.
The former Kings goalie is only one of five players to have his number retired by the organization (Vachon, Dionne, Taylor, Gretzky, Robitaille).