TORONTO, ONTARIO – Former Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) and Canadian Hockey Association (CHA) President Murray Costello was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on Monday.

Hockey Canada, along with its 13 member branches, the 540,000 registered players in Canada and over four million volunteers involved in minor hockey, would like to congratulate Murray Costello on his induction to the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Costello, a native of South Porcupine, ON, was the first full-time president of the CAHA and served in this capacity from 19.

Over the course of Costello’s time at the head of Canada’s governing body for hockey, he was instrumental in the implementation of a number of initiatives that continue to impact on the game at all levels in Canada to this day.

Costello, 71, was the driving force behind Hockey Canada’s Program of Excellence in men’s and women’s hockey. On the men’s side, his work, in collaboration with the Canadian Hockey League, led to the World Under-17 Challenge, the National Under-18 Program and the National Junior Team Program. On the women’s side, the Program of Excellence now consists of the National Under-18 Championship, the National Under-22 Team Program and the National Women’s Team Program.

With Costello at the head of the CAHA, Canada played host to the first ever World Women’s Hockey Championship in 1990.

Costello was also instrumental in the implementation of a number of fair play initiative programs.

“Murray was a tremendous positive influence on hockey in Canada at all levels,” said Bob Nicholson, Hockey Canada President. “Through his leadership, the foundation was established for most of Hockey Canada’s programs, from the highly successful high performance programs all the way through the grass roots programs.”

“He always paid tribute to the volunteers and their role in developing our game. I believe that this is a large part of his legacy to the game of hockey in Canada. Hockey Canada continues to follow the example that he set. ”