The Ottawa Sport Hall of Fame will honour Jason York's 757-game career, more than half of it played with the Senators.
Jason York is heading to the Ottawa Sport Hall of Fame on Wednesday night.
The honour recognizes York's long NHL career that included five memorable seasons with the Ottawa Senators during the rise of the franchise in the late 1990s.
"Yorkie's" run began 30 years ago this fall when he was traded from Anaheim to Ottawa, and in his first season playing in his hometown, the Senators made the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time.
York played 380 games wearing the centurion crest and made the playoffs every year he was here. In 2001, he became an unrestricted free agent and signed back in Anaheim.
In all, York played 757 games in the NHL and scored 42 goals, 187 assists, and 229 points.
His last NHL game came in 2007 with the Boston Bruins, and fittingly, it was against the Ottawa Senators, the team he spent more than half of his NHL career with. It figures that Daniel Alfredsson, Yorkie's ex-teammate and old captain, would lead the way with a three-point evening in a 6-3 Ottawa win.
The Senators were pretty good back then. A few months later, Alfie led the Senators to their only appearance in the Stanley Cup Final.
After his playing days, York took a multi-year turn at TSN 1200 radio in Ottawa, where I also happened to hang my work hat for a couple of decades. He did the show right after mine, and in the studio changeover and chit-chat, I can't recall him ever being in a bad mood. The guy always seemed to be in mid-chuckle.
These days, York does NHL colour commentary for regional TV broadcasts of the Calgary Flames, and he also has a Senators podcast, Coming in Hot. He says he's excited that he's going to have his people around him on Wednesday night.
“It’s a great honour," York told Andrew Wilimek on the Senators website. "I’m going to have a lot of friends and family there, which is going to be special for me, because that’s what it’s all about,” said York.
York will be honoured along with the 1976 Rockland Nationals, who also have a strong Senators connection. A 33-year-old Bryan Murray was that team's head coach. York played for the Shawville native in 2001, the year he moved back to Anaheim.
Also being honoured Wednesday night:
- Keith Brown (Builder – Community)
- Rachel Homan & Emma Miskew (Athletes – Curling)
- Val St. Germain (Athlete – Football)
Legacy Category: Joe Barber (boxing), Paul Barber (horse racing), Vera Charlebois (golf), Bud Clark (skiing), Françoise Desbiens (speed skating), Joe Lamb (hockey), Allan Shields (hockey), and the 1906 Capital Lacrosse Club.
Quite frankly, the list of guys from Ottawa who played more than 750 games in the NHL is extremely small, so it's a little surprising that it's taken 19 years for York to get the call.
But for honours like these, it's always better late than never.
By Steve Warne
The Hockey News
This article was first published at The Hockey News Ottawa Senators site
