Before Team USA beat Switzerland in the 2025 IIHF Gold Medal game, two former New York Islanders were inducted into its Hall of Fame on Sunday. Center Frans Nielsen and defenseman Zdeno Chara were among seven individuals enshrined:
Nielsen, the first player from Denmark to skate in the NHL, spent 10 of 15 years in the NHL with the Islanders. In 606 games with the franchise, he recorded 119 goals and 230 assists for 349 points. In 925 games in his full career, he has 167 goals and 306 assists for 473 points.
On the international stage, he represented Denmark at nine World Championships, tallying 16 goals and 28 assists for 44 points in 83 games, capturing a second place finish at 2016’s World Cup of Hockey. He finished his career in 2022 with Eisbären Berlin of the DEL, where he helped the club to their second straight championship.
Chara spent five of 21 years in the NHL with New York. In 303 games with the franchise, he recorded eight goals and 35 assists for 43 points, with his final NHL game coming in an Islander sweater in 2022 after his initial departure in 2001. He is the NHL’s all-time leader in game’s played by defensemen with 1,652, going along with 209 goals and 471 assists for 680 points. He won the Norris Trophy as the league’s top blueliner in 2009 and a Stanley Cup in 2011 with the Boston Bruins.
He represented Slovakia in two World Cups of Hockey, three Olympic Winter Games, and seven World Championships. He won a pair of silver medals at the World Championships in 2000 and 2012 and with Team Europe as Nielsen’s teammate in 2016. In 82 international games, he tallied 11 goals and 13 assists for 24 points.
Additional members of the class include Kim Martin-Hasson (Sweden, Goalie), David Vyborny (Czechia, Forward), Vicky Sunohara (Canada, Center), Kai Hietarinta (Finland, Builder), and Hockey Hall of Famer Henrik Lundqvist (Sweden, Goalie).
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Matthew Page wrote this story.