Unlike the 2025 NHL Awards, which were fun but highly produced individual events, the Hockey Hall of Fame announced the 2025 class organically, meaning the nods were a complete surprise and some of its inductees were not super available at the moment.
“Holy doodle,” Joe Thornton said over the phone when learning of the news from Ron Francis. “Holy doodle, boy. Oh my god. Oh my god, I’m shaking. Thanks boys. Holy moly.”
Thornton did not answer the phone the first time, but Lanny McDonald and Francis were urged by the HHOF’s Kelly Masse to try again.
“I’m flying back home,” Thornton explained. “I’m flying back home today. So that’s what I was probably doing.”
He added, “I appreciate you guys so much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. What a, what a tremendous honor… Oh my god. I don’t know what to say. This is incredible.”
While Thornton’s response was fun and off-the-cuff, the HHOF phone call had even worse timing for others. According to the Toronto Sun’s Lance Hornby, Alexander Mogilny, who waited 17 years to be inducted, was asleep overseas at 3 AM. After learning of his nod, he went back to bed and didn’t participate in a conference call with reporters.
Meanwhile, longtime Bruin and former Capital, Zdeno Chara, was on vacation and couldn’t be reached by phone.
Chara is believed to still not know that he has been inducted as of publication. So if you see Zee — let him know!
So, in total, three of the players didn’t speak to the media about one of the greatest milestones of their careers because they didn’t pencil a possible Hall nod into their schedules.
Humble!
