Hockey Hall of Fame selects Francis, Messier, three others

TORONTO (AP) — It took only one look for voters to pick this year’s class of Hockey Hall of Famers.

Mark Messier, Ron Francis, Al MacInnis and Scott Stevens all were elected in their first year of eligibility.

“I have a lot of respect for all the guys who were inducted this year,” Messier said after the announcement Thursday. “I think their stats and what they’ve done speak for themselves.”

It is the Hall’s first group of four players since 2001 when Mike Gartner, Jari Kurri, Slava Fetisov and Dale Hawerchuk also pushed the selection to the maximum.

“There was a number of players eligible this year beyond the number that we could put in,” said former Toronto coach Pat Quinn, a member of the 18-person selection committee. “The deliberations were strong.”

Igor Larionov, the former Russian great who excelled on both sides of the ocean, didn’t make it. Adam Oates and Claude Lemieux were other first-year eligibles who were passed over, while Glenn Anderson, Doug Gilmour, Kevin Lowe, Steve Larmer and Pavel Bure were again left out again.

It was hard to argue with the four selected.

“The players elected represent the epitome of hockey excellence,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement. “Their careers were distinguished by their skill, by their drive, by their refusal to accept anything less than the best.

“I congratulate the honorees and I commend the selection committee on having created a spectacular Class of 2007.”

NHL executive Jim Gregory will enter as a builder, a well-deserved honor for a man who has given his life to hockey. Gregory was general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs from 1969-79 before running the NHL’s Central Scouting Bureau. He’s currently a senior vice president with the league.