joe sakic murray costello 640

Sakic and Costello earn induction into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame

April 11, 2013
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Joe Sakic, who won four gold medals with Team Canada and is one of just eight Canadians to have earned membership in the IIHF Triple Gold Club (Olympics, IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship, Stanley Cup), and former Hockey Canada president Murray Costello will be inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame this October, it was announced Thursday.

Both Sakic and Costello are members of the Hockey Hall of Fame; Costello went into the Hall as a builder in 2005, while Sakic was inducted last year.

Sakic, a Burnaby, B.C., native, represented Canada on eight occasions, including one IIHF World Junior Championship (1988), two IIHF World Championships (1991, 1994), two World Cups of Hockey (1996, 2004) and three Olympic Winter Games (1998, 2002, 2006).

He finished his Team Canada career with 45 points (25 goals, 20 assists) in 55 games, and is one of very few players in international hockey history to have won gold at the World Juniors, world championship and Olympics, as well as a World Cup title.

Sakic was front and centre for a pair of historical gold medal victories – he scored in the shootout to help Canada beat Finland in the gold medal game at the 1994 IIHF World Championship, giving the Canadians their first world title since 1961, and had two goals and two assists in the 2002 Olympic final, leading Canada to its first Olympic gold in 50 years.

He finished with seven points (four goals, three assists) in six games in Salt Lake City, earning MVP honours, and captained Team Canada four years later, wearing the ‘C’ at the Turin Games in 2006 in what would be his final international appearance.

Costello was president of the Canadian Hockey Association, and then Hockey Canada, from 1979 to 1998, playing a major role in the consolidation of the CHA and the former independent Hockey Canada organization into an all-new organization under the name of Hockey Canada.

He was instrumental in the creation of the Canadian women's hockey program, which spurred the growth of the sport among young women. Ottawa, Ont., hosted the inaugural IIHF World Women's Championship in 1990, which helped pave the way for the debut of women's hockey in the 1998 Olympic Winter Games.

Following his retirement from Hockey Canada in 1998, Costello joined the International Ice Hockey Federation as a council member, and was vice-president of the IIHF from 2008 until his retirement last spring. He has been a key member of numerous IIHF committees, including as chairman of the competition, junior, medical and technical/arena committees.

A native of South Porcupine, Ont., Costello played in the National Hockey League for the Chicago Blackhawks, Boston Bruins and Detroit Red Wings from 1953-57. After his playing career ended, Costello earned a law degree and became an executive with the Western Hockey League's Seattle Totems. He moved on to become the WHL's publicity director and eventually the arbitrator for the World Hockey Association Players Association.

The full Class of 2013 for Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame includes Sakic, Costello, Russ Howard (curling), Alison Sydor (cycling), the gold medal-winning 1992 women’s rowing team, André Viger (wheelchair marathon) and Dr. Jean-Guy Ouellet, who, like Costello, will be inducted as a builder.

The official induction ceremony will take place October 16 in Toronto.

Joe Sakic – Statistics – International

Year Team Event GP G A PTS PIM Result
1988 CAN WJC 7 3 1 4 2 Gold
1991 CAN WC 10 6 5 11 0 Silver
1994 CAN WC 8 4 3 7 0 Gold
1996 CAN WCUP 8 2 2 4 6 2nd
1998 CAN OLY 4 1 2 3 4 4th
2002 CAN OLY 6 4 3 7 0 Gold
2004 CAN WCUP 6 4 2 6 2 1st
2006 CAN OLY 6 1 2 3 0 7th

CAN TOTAL - OLY 16 6 7 13 4

CAN TOTAL - WCUP 14 6 4 10 8

CAN TOTAL - WC 18 10 8 18 0

CAN TOTAL - WJC 7 3 1 4 2

For more information:

Esther Madziya
Manager, Communications
Hockey Canada

(403) 284-6484 

[email protected] 

Spencer Sharkey
Manager, Communications
Hockey Canada

(403) 777-4567

[email protected]

Jeremy Knight
Manager, Corporate Communications
Hockey Canada

(647) 251-9738

[email protected]

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