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First women elected to Hockey Hall of Fame

posted by Pretty Tough | Girls Who Are Fun Fierce & Feminine
Wednesday, June 23, 2010 at 2:36pm CDT

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The Hockey Hall of Fame is no longer just for men.

Hockey pioneers Cammi Granato and Angela James changed that on Tuesday when they became the first women elected to be enshrined in Toronto. Along with former NHL All-Star Dino Ciccarelli, Granato and James will go in as part of the players category during an induction ceremony in November.

While women had always been eligible for induction, the Hall made it easier for them to be voted in when it established a women’s subcategory this year.

Granato played on the U.S. women’s hockey team for 15 years and led the club to a gold medal at the 1998 Nagano Olympics. Her brother, Tony, played and coached in the NHL. Granato retired as international hockey’s all time leading women’s scorer. In official events, Granato played 54 games, scoring 54 goals and 96 points. She won one Olympic gold and one silver, as well as one World Championship gold and eight silver.

“I dreamed of being in the NHL my entire life, and this certainly makes up for those dreams,” Granato said in a statement. “Being amongst the first women to play at college and later at the Olympics, it certainly was worthwhile being a hockey pioneer.”

Angela James is considered the first true superstar of modern women’s hockey. She led Canada to a gold medal in all four world championships, most notably at the inaugural event on home ice in Ottawa in 1990, when she scored a record eleven goals in five games and established herself as the team’s great offensive threat.

“On behalf of everyone in women’s hockey, I am truly honored,” the Toronto native said. “As a kid I went to the Hall and was in awe of those who had been inducted. I am delighted to be able to join them.”