Mike Vernon, the undersized goaltender who fought Patrick Roy and helped end the Detroit Red Wings’ 42-year Stanley Cup drought, is among the 2023 Hockey Hall of Fame selections.
The class was announced Wednesday and also included players Tom Barrasso (who beat out Steve Yzerman for rookie of the year in 1984), Henrik Lundqvist, Pierre Turgeon and Caroline Ouellette, and, as builders, Ken Hitchcock and Pierre Lacroix.
Vernon came to Detroit in June 1994 when the Wings traded defenseman Steve Chiasson to the Calgary Flames to get him. That was shortly after Chris Osgood’s promising rookie season had ended in tears with a crushing Game 7 loss in the first round to the San Jose Sharks.
In September 1995, the Wings opened camp with Vernon, Osgood, Bob Essensa and Kevin Hodson. Vernon was viewed as a piece of the puzzle that would turn the Wings – then boasting a roster that included Steve Yzerman, Nicklas Lidstrom, Sergei Fedorov and Vladimir Konstantinov – into a Cup champion. Vernon had won the Cup in 1989 with the Flames.
“He’s been an established goalie in the league for 10 years,” Scotty Bowman said at the time. “He’s been the main man, and I don’t think he’s lost anything in the process of being traded from Calgary to here.”
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It would take three years – and the heartbreak of the 1995 Cup Finals sweep at the hands of the New Jersey Devils – for Vernon to help the Wings be the last team standing. Along the way, he endeared himself to Wings fans when he fought Patrick Roy – 6-foot-2 to Vernon’s 5-foot-9 – in the famous March 26, 1997 brawl at Joe Louis Arena. Vernon got the better of Roy, and Wings got the better of the Colorado Avalanche, winning 6-5 in overtime, in what was Vernon’s 300th career victory.
After the game, Roy shot the puck down to Vernon so he could keep it as a memento. “I wasn’t surprised he did it,” Vernon said at the time. “Patrick and I don’t know each other that well, but we respect each other. I’m sure he’s happy for me. It’s just a courtesy to me. He showed class. Patrick’s not a bad person. Some guys might not have done it.”
Vernon had bigger mementos when the season ended: He was named the most valuable player of the playoffs on June 7, 1997, after the Wings finished their sweep of the Philadelphia Flyers and brought the Cup back to Detroit for the first time since 1955. “Nobody could be happier for Vernie,” Kris Draper said that night. “He’s played great for us.”
It was Vernon’s first Conn Smythe and second Cup. “I can honestly say that this one has a lot more emotion to it,” he said. “The first time winning a Cup is truly an amazing feat, and I don’t think I really sat back and enjoyed it. It was just craziness. I think this one here, with what I’ve gone through in the last couple years, the disappointment against Jersey and not playing that much last year, having the opportunity to capitalize on this season, is truly amazing.”
With Osgood the designated goaltender of the future, the Wings traded Vernon to the San Jose Sharks for draft picks in August 1997.
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames. Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter. Her latest book, “On the Clock: Behind the Scenes with the Detroit Red Wings at the NHL Draft,” is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.