Patrice Bergeron will not be going into the Hockey Hall of Fame alone.
The former Bruins captain headlines the Class of 2026, a six-person group that includes five ex-players and one builder. The induction ceremony will take place in Toronto, with Bergeron joined by Carey Price, Pekka Rinne, Keith Tkachuk, Cindy Curley and longtime NHL executive Brian Burke.
Bergeron’s case was never going to need much selling. He spent all 19 of his NHL seasons in Boston after the Bruins took him 45th overall in the 2003 NHL Draft, and he became one of the league’s defining two-way centers.
By the end, his résumé had stacked up to 427 goals and 1,040 points in 1,294 regular-season games, plus six Selke Trophies - the most in NHL history. He also helped the Bruins win the Stanley Cup in 2011 and added Olympic gold with Team Canada in 2010 and 2014.
Price’s path to the Hall came through Montreal, where he played his entire 15-season career and became one of the franchise’s most important goaltenders. He finished with 361 regular-season wins in 712 appearances, both Canadiens records for a goalie, along with a .917 save percentage and 49 shutouts.
His peak season arrived in 2014-15, when he won the Hart Trophy, Vezina Trophy, William M. Jennings Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award.
Rinne built a similar legacy in Nashville. Drafted by the Predators in the eighth round in 2004, he spent his whole NHL career with the club and became the face of the position there.
He retired with 369 wins and 60 shutouts in 683 games, and his best individual season came in 2017-18, when he posted 42 wins and a .927 save percentage on the way to the Vezina Trophy. Rinne also played a major role in Nashville’s run to its first Stanley Cup Final in 2017, when the Predators lost to the Penguins in six games.
Tkachuk’s Hall call recognizes one of the most dangerous power forwards of his era. Over 18 seasons with the Jets, Coyotes, Blues and Thrashers, he piled up 538 goals and 1,065 points in 1,201 regular-season games, along with more than 2,200 penalty minutes. His 52 goals in 1996-97 made him the first American-born player to lead the NHL in goals in a single season.
Curley enters as a trailblazer for women’s hockey. At Providence College, she put up 225 points, including 110 goals and 115 assists, over four seasons and helped the Friars win ECAC championships in 1984 and 1985.
She finished her college career with 62 points in just 21 games as a senior. Curley also made a major mark with the United States women’s national team, starring at the inaugural IIHF Women’s World Championship in 1990, where she led the tournament with 23 points in five games.
Her 11 goals and 12 assists remain single-tournament records.
Burke is the lone builder in the class, honored for a long run in NHL management and hockey operations. He began in 1987 as the Canucks’ director of hockey operations, later served as general manager of the Whalers, and then moved to the NHL’s head office in 1993 as senior vice president and director of hockey operations.
Burke returned to Vancouver in 1998 as president and general manager, where the team made a pair of notable selections at the 1999 NHL Draft, acquiring Daniel and Henrik Sedin. His biggest team achievement came in Anaheim, where he joined the Ducks in 2005 and helped build the roster that won the franchise’s first Stanley Cup in 2007.
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Rumors have tied the Bruins to players in Detroit, including Dylan Larkin, while other speculation has centered on adding help to the back end. Management, though, is said to favor younger defensemen with team control, which makes the next move more complicated than simply chasing the biggest name available. With the Bruins off to such a strong start, the question is not whether they will be active, but how far they are willing to go to keep this momentum intact. [Read more 🡒]
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Bruins Just Turned Bergeron Night Into A Bigger Fan Event
The Bruins are turning Patrice Bergerons jersey retirement into more than just a pregame ceremony. Boston has laid out a full slate of events for Dec. 1 at TD Garden, building around the moment when Bergeron becomes the 14th player in franchise history to have his number raised to the rafters after a career spent entirely with the Bruins. The night is being framed as a celebration of one of the most important players in team history, with the organization leaning into the kind of fan experience that matches Bergerons standing in the city.
Along with the ceremony itself, the team is planning an Alumni Gold Carpet Entrance, a pregame party and other fan activities to set the tone long before the puck drops. The event is designed to feel bigger than a standard jersey retirement, giving supporters a chance to take part in the tribute from the moment they arrive at the Garden. For a player who defined an era in Boston, the Bruins are making sure the night carries the kind of pageantry his career deserves, even if the biggest emotional moment is still to come. [Read more 🡒]