A trio of Team Canada alumni – Geraldine Heaney, Scott Niedermayer and Brendan Shanahan – learned Tuesday they will join the greats of the game this November when they are inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Heaney is the third female player to earn enshrinement, joining former Team Canada teammate Angela James and former U.S. captain Cammi Granato, both of whom were inducted in 2010.

Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, but raised in Weston, Ont., Heaney played 125 games with Canada’s National Women’s Team between 1990 and 2002, finishing with 27 goals and 66 assists. Her 93 points are the 13th most in national team history, and leaves her 20 points ahead of any other Canadian defenceman.

Heaney was a part of seven IIHF World Women’s Championship gold medal-winning teams (1990, 1992, 1994, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001), and scored one of the most memorable goals in women’s hockey history in the 1990 gold medal game, helping Canada to the first-ever world title.

Twice named Best Defenceman at the world championship, in 1992 and 1994, she won Olympic silver in 1998, the first time women’s hockey was part of the Games, and played her final international contest in the 2002 gold medal game as Canada won its first Olympic gold.

Niedermayer had a 17-year NHL career that saw him win every major North American championship at least once. The Cranbrook, B.C., native played 46 games with the Maple Leaf on his chest, recording 16 points (seven goals, nine assists).

It was undoubtedly his final appearance in the red and white of Team Canada that Niedermayer will be best remembered for – he donned the ‘C’ in his home province and helped lead Canada to the gold medal at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver.

The Vancouver gold capped off a remarkable international career that saw Niedermayer win an IIHF World Junior Championship gold medal (1990), an IIHF World Championship gold medal (2004), two Olympic gold medals (2002, 2010) and a World Cup of Hockey championship (2004). He is one of just seven Canadians in the IIHF Triple Gold Club (Olympic gold, Worlds gold, Stanley Cup).

Like Niedermayer, Shanahan is a member of the IIHF Triple Gold Club, winning IIHF World Championship gold in 1994, Olympic gold in 2002 and the Stanley Cup with the Detroit Red Wings in 1997, 1998 and 2002.

In total, the Mimico, Ont., native represented Canada seven times, including the IIHF World Junior Championship, Canada Cup, World Cup of Hockey, two world championships and two Olympic Winter Games.

Shanahan helped Canada to victory on three occasions, winning the Canada Cup in 1991 in addition to his IIHF World Championship and Olympic triumphs, and wore the ‘C’ at his final international appearance, at the 2006 IIHF World Championship.

Heaney, Niedermayer and Shanahan will be inducted along with fellow honourees Chris Chelios and Fred Shero during a ceremony at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto on Monday, Nov. 11.

GERALDINE HEANEY

SCOTT NIEDERMAYER

BRENDAN SHANAHAN