The Devils have had a number of experiences in recent years where they have missed out on inducting players into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Alexander Mogilny, 55th in career points (473), 34th in points per game (1.042) and perhaps most famously the first NHL draft pick to defect from the Soviet Union to the United States, never received a call-up during his 15 years of eligibility. Patrik Elias, who finished his career with 1,025 points, third most among non-Hall of Famers, also never received a call-up during his nearly six years of eligibility.
Much to the frustration of Devils fans, it's unclear whether either of them will be selected, especially when the Hall of Fame announces its next class of honorees on June 25.
But the day could be one to celebrate a different Devils: Meghan Duggan, New Jersey's director of player development for the past two seasons, is in her third year of eligibility and likely will assume the role within two weeks.
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Duggan, 36, has won seven IIHF World Championship gold medals and was captain of the U.S. women's ice hockey team that won gold at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympic Games. She also starred at the University of Wisconsin for four years, where she was awarded the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award as the NCAA female player of the year in 2011. Duggan has also played a key role in the fight for equality in ice hockey.
ESPN and Yahoo both ranked Duggan as the fifth most likely inductee into the Hall of Fame this season, with Yahoo calling her a “certain Hall of Fame inductee.”
Asked about her dreams for the future during an interview with NJ Advance Media two summers ago, Duggan said she wanted to be a pioneer in a female-led NHL.
“This is certainly a huge challenge for women in sports and in any industry,” Duggan said at the time. “I'm excited to continue paving the way for more women to get into the league.”
More demons:
–'Dirty Work': Curtis Lazar's journey from promising scorer to tenacious forward who resurrected his career with the Devils
–Devils great Patrik Elias talks about missing out on Hall of Fame induction (“It's awesome”), his battle with Lue and his current role
–Devils name Sheldon Keefe as new head coach
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Ryan Nowozinski can be contacted at rnovozinsky@njadvancemedia.comYou can follow us on Twitter thank you.
