Defenceman Dan Hamhuis and forward Shawn Horcoff crossed paths many times throughout their lengthy NHL careers but they weren’t always opponents.
It happened in the spring of 2009 when they played together on Team Canada in Switzerland for the 2009 IIHF World Hockey Championship and won the silver medal.
They’ll have a chance to relive their memories of that tournament this summer in Penticton as featured guests at the BC Hockey Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
Hamhuis, 42, played 1,148 regular season games and 68 playoff games in a stellar 15-season NHL career as a defenceman with the Nashville Predators, Vancouver Canucks, and Dallas Stars.
The native of Smithers, who played four seasons with the Prince George Cougars and is now in his 11th season as a part owner of the WHL team, retired from the NHL in 2020 after totalling 62 goals and 315 points.
“I got a call from Jim Hughson a couple weeks ago informing me that I’d be inducted this year and it’s kind of neat to look at the Hall of Fame and see all the names that are in there and it’s pretty cool to be in there with those guys,” said Hamhuis, from his home in Smithers.
“It’ll be good to see Shawn Horcoff, he and I played together in the world championships at one point. The world championship experiences are always pretty cool because once you get to know the guys you always have a connection with them throughout your career even though you’re always playing against them and I look forward to seeing him.”
Hamhuis represented Canada seven times. He helped the world junior team win bronze in 2000 and silver in 2001 and at world championships won two gold (2007 and 2015) and two silver (2008 and 2009). He also helped win Olympic gold in Sochi in 2014.
In 14 NHL seasons as a centre with the Edmonton Oilers, Dallas and the Anaheim Ducks, Horcoff played 1,008 regular season games and 46 playoffs, totalling 197 goals and 531 points. Horcoff, 46, was born in Trail and raised in Castlegar.
Their run for gold at the 2009 world championships fell short with a 2-1 loss to Russia in the final in Bern, playing for a Canadian team that also included former Cougars goalie Chris Mason and defenceman Joel Kwiatkowski.
The July 12 ceremony will also induct longtime Vancouver Canucks scout Mike Penny, Larry Kwong of Vernon, the first NHL player of Asian descent, and hockey development pioneer Ted Hargreaves, who introduced skills training instruction films for coaches in BC.
Inducted in the team category will be the 1987 Richmond Sockeyes, who won the Centennial Cup junior A national championship, and 1978 Kimberley Dynamiters, who claimed the senior-A Canadian title.
That Sockeyes team included retired Prince George firefighter Jim Gunn, who will be the subject of an upcoming Citizen feature story.
Located at South Okanagan Events Centre in Penticton, the BC Hall of Fame opened in 1994. Eric Brewer, another former Cougar defenceman and current part-owner of the team, was inducted in 2020. Former Prince George resident Darcy Rota was in the 2003 induction class.
