IIHF Hall of Fame: Canada's Ryan Smyth highlights Class of 2020 inductees

Jace Mallory

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IIHF Hall of Fame: Canada's Ryan Smyth highlights Class of 2020 inductees image

The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) announced its Hall of Fame Class of 2020 inductees on Tuesday, consisting of five players and one individual in the builder category.

Alexei Yashin (Russia), Mark Streit (Switzerland), Kimmo Timonen (Finland), Mathias Seger (Switzerland) and Ryan Smyth (Canada) enter the Hall as player inductees while Korea's Mong-Won Chung is the lone builder inductee.

There are currently 229 members of the IIHF Hall of Fame but that number will inflate in May when these five men are inducted. Russia leads all countries with 35 members with Canada just one behind and with both nations welcoming one additional member in 2020, Russia will maintain its slim lead.

MORE:  How Canada won the 2020 IIHF World Junior Championship

County Inductees
Russia 35
Canada 34
Sweden 30
Czech Republic 24
United States 24
Finland 20
Germany 13
Slovakia 9
Switzerland 5
Austria 4
France 4
Great Britain 4
Hungary 3
Japan 3
Denmark 2
Italy 2
Latvia 2
Romania 2
Slovenia 2
Belarus 1
Belgium 1
Bulgaria 1
Kazakhstan 1
Norway 1
Poland 1
Ukraine 1

*Class of 2020 inductees are not reflected in the table above

You can find the complete list of inductees, including year inducted and category by clicking here .

Alexei Yashin

Yashin played in nine World Championships, winning gold at his first in 1993 before adding a silver (1998) and bronze (2005) to his collection. He also won gold (1992) and silver (1991) with Russia at the World Junior Championships and won silver (1998) and bronze (2002) medals at the Olympics (placed in fourth in third and final Olympic Games in 2006).

In the NHL, Yashin played 850 games over the course of 12 seasons with the Ottawa Senators and New York Islanders.

Mark Streit

The longest-tenured Swiss player in NHL history has solidified his spot and rightfully so. Streit played 12 seasons in the NHL, totaling 786 games. He earned his only Stanley Cup with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2017.

Streit captained Switzerland at the World Championships in nine of his 13 career tournaments. He was also Switzerland's captain in three of his four Olympic Games in 2006, 2010 and 2014 (was not captain in 2002 Olympics).

Kimmo Timonen

The four-time Olympic medalist from Finland cracks the Hall of Fame ballot. Winning silver in 2006 and bronze in 1998, 2010 and 2014, Timonen was a steady blueliner for the Finland International Team. He also won three silver medals at the Wolrd Championships in 1998, 1999 and 2001.

Timonen overcame significant blood clots in 2014 that could've ended his career. Instead, he battled back and won the Stanley Cup in 2015 with the Chicago Blackhawks. A four-time NHL All-Star, Timonen played for the Nashville Predators, Philadelphia Flyers and Blackhawks during his 16-season NHL career.

Mathias Seger

Seger represented Switzerland in four Olympic Games from 2002 to 2014 and played in an IIHF record 16 World Championships. He also spent 17 seasons with the ZSC Lions in the NLA; he never played in the NHL.

Ryan Smyth

"Captain Canada" was the final player announced on Tuesday. He represented Canada at the World Juniors, eight World Championships, the World Cup of Hockey and two Olympic Games (2002 and 2006), winning gold at all four tournaments (twice at IIHF World Championships). Smyth wore the "C" patch for five years at the World Championships.

In the NHL, he played 1270 games over 19 seasons, spending 15 in Edmonton with the Oilers. He made the All-Star Game in 2007.

Mong-Won Chung

Chung is the 64th builder to make it into the Hall of Fame and the very first Korean in the Hall. He established Anyang Halla, the first Korean ice hockey team, in 1994. He also helped create the Asia League in 2003 and was the architect of the Unified Korea 2018 Olympic women’s ice hockey team.

Jace Mallory