The Triple Gold Club

On the 30th anniversary of the most celebrated event in international hockey history, was the inaugural ceremonies of the Triple Gold Club – an IIHF designation that celebrates those fortunate and talented few who have won the Stanley Cup, an Olympic gold medal and an IIHF World Championship as players.

Only 22 men have managed that hat trick. And the attendance was perfect. All 22, including seven players competing in the current Olympic tournament, made their way to Vancouver and the Molson Hockey House to receive a hero’s welcome along with a name-and-numbered sweater of their national federation, a Tissot watch and gold TGC lapel pin.

“Remarkably, through all the decades, through all those great events in the hockey world and the thousands of athletes who have played in them, only 22 have won championships in all three major competitions,” Bettman told the crowd. “The NHL is extremely proud of the character and sportsmanship of every player who has contributed to the winning of all three championships.”

The members of the Triple Gold Club were introduced in chronological order of their having won the third required championship.

• Tomas Jonsson (Islanders Cup), Mats Naslund (Montreal Cup) and Hakan Loob Calgary Cup), who became TGC members when Sweden won Olympic gold in 1994.

• Valeri Kamensky and Alexei Gusarov of Russia and Sweden’s Peter Forsberg, who entered the club upon winning the Cup in ’96 with Colorado.

• Viacheslav Fetisov and Igor Larionov, who joined the TGC upon winning the Cup with Detroit in 1997.

• Russians Alexander Mogilny and Vladimir Malakhov, who punched their TGC tickets by winning the Cup with New Jersey in 2000.

• Brendan Shanahan, Rob Blake and Joe Sakic, who earned their TGC credentials by winning Olympic gold for Canada in 2002.

• Scott Niedermayer was next – he completed his required troika by winning the World Championship with Canada in 2004.

• Czechs Jaromir Jagr and Jiri Slegr were inducted next. They hit the milestone by winning the World Championship in 2005.

• Nicklas Lidstrom and Fredrik Modin, current Swedish Olympians, were introduced next, having earned their TGC stripes by winning Olympic gold in Torino in 2006.

• Chris Pronger was honored as the lone member of the Class of 2007 – he won the Cup with Anaheim that year.

• The final group was comprised of 2008 Detroit Cup winners Niklas Kronwall, Mikael Samuelsson and Henrik Zetterberg.