The Hockey Hall of Fame announced its 2026 induction class on Monday, and while names like Patrice Bergeron, Carey Price, and Keith Tkachuk drew cheers, one decision that surprised many was Pekka Rinne’s induction ahead of Curtis Joseph.
TSN analysts Bryan Hayes and Jeff O’Neill shared their thoughts on the induction of Pekka Rinne ahead of Curtis Joseph. On a recent segment of OverDrive, Hayes expressed his surprise at Joseph being passed over despite his stellar career:
“That surprised me a little bit, I gotta be honest. How Curtis Joseph isn’t there ahead of Pekka Rinne… I’ve no idea. Awesome career, awesome goalie,” said Hayes.
Jeff O’Neill echoed Hayes’ sentiments and called Joseph’s exclusion from the Hockey Hall of Fame a joke:
“If the argument is like there’s no Cups, like whatever the argument is… I still believe the numbers — fourth in wins ever from a goaltender — and he’s still not in there. Curtis Joseph should be in the Hockey Hall of Fame. It’s a joke that he’s not,” he said.
Notably, Joseph was the first goalie in league history to record 30+ wins with five different teams. He was a consistent performer despite not winning the Stanley Cup.
Curtis Joseph is the eighth most-winning goalie in NHL history. He posted a record of 454 wins, 352 losses, 6 overtime losses, and 96 ties, along with a 2.79 goals-against average, .906 save percentage, and 51 shutouts during his more than decade-long NHL career.
Carey Price shares his thoughts on going to the Hall of Fame with Pekka Rinne
Carey Price finally got himself inducted into the 2026 class of the Hockey Hall of Fame. He was the other goalie to be inducted alongside Pekka Rinne.
Price had high praise and expressed his pride at going into the class with Pekka Rinne, whom he admires a lot.
“I just want to reiterate what Pekka said and how much respect I have for ‘Pek’ and his abilities,” Price said via NHL. “I always thought that his standard of compete level was always at the pinnacle because his battle level was unmatched by any goaltender in the League.
He added:
“It’s been a real treat to think about being able to go in (the Hall) with Peks, because we competed against each other for so long.”
Carey Price spent his entire 15-year career with the Montreal Canadiens. With 361 career wins, he’s the franchise’s all-time leader in wins and is among only five in the NHL to be awarded both the Vezina and the Hart Trophy.
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Edited by Abhishek Dilta