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Three more AHL alumni heading to Hockey Hall of Fame

Photos: Getty Images

The Hockey Hall of Fame on Tuesday announced that American Hockey League alumni Guy Carbonneau, Sergei Zubov and Jim Rutherford are part of the induction class of 2019.

Carbonneau and Zubov will be enshrined in the players’ category along with Hayley Wickenheiser and Vaclav Nedomansky; Rutherford will be joined by Jerry York in the builders’ category. The induction ceremony will take place on Nov. 18 in Toronto.

Carbonneau made his professional debut with the AHL’s Nova Scotia Voyageurs during the 1980 Calder Cup Playoffs and spent the following two seasons with the club, totaling 62 goals and 120 assists for 182 points in 155 regular-season AHL contests.

Carbonneau went on to spend 18 seasons in the NHL with Montreal, St. Louis and Dallas, totaling 260 goals and 403 assists in 1,318 games. He was a three-time winner of the Frank J. Selke Trophy as the NHL’s outstanding defensive forward, and won Stanley Cup championships with the Canadiens (1986, 1993) and Stars (1999).

Zubov came to North America in 1992-93 and played 30 games with the AHL’s Binghamton Rangers that season, collecting seven goals and 29 assists for 36 points and helping the team to the best regular-season record in AHL history (57-13-10).

One of the top offensive defensemen of his time, Zubov would go on to appear in 1,068 NHL games with the New York Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins and Dallas Stars, collecting 152 goals and 619 assists for 771 points. The four-time NHL All-Star won two Stanley Cups (1994, 1999) and was a gold medalist for the Unified Team at the 1992 Olympics.

Rutherford played 44 games in the AHL during his 14-year professional career, seeing time with the Hershey Bears (1971-72), New Haven Nighthawks (1981-82) and Adirondack Red Wings (1982-83).

Currently the general manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Rutherford has won three Stanley Cups as a general manager in the NHL, with Carolina in 2006 and with Pittsburgh in 2016 and 2017.

Since its first members were honored in 1945, a total of 126 players, coaches, officials and managers with ties to the American Hockey League have been selected to the Hockey Hall of Fame.