The Blues' Keith Tkachuk skates in the first period against the Anaheim Ducks on April 9, 2010, in St. Louis. (AP file photo)

Keith Tkachuk waited more than a decade and a half from the end of his NHL playing career to get the call from the Hockey Hall of Fame. Not known for his patience, Tkachuk was so overcome with emotion that he waited 45 minutes to tell his family.

“I said, ‘Hey, you guys want to have a beer together?'” Tkachuk recalled. “And I told them and broke the news to them there.”

The timing gave them even more reason to celebrate. Tkachuk was elected to the Hall of Fame on Monday, less than 24 hours after his sons became teammates when Brady was traded from Ottawa to Florida, joining older brother Matthew, during a weekend that also included a U.S. Olympic gold medal celebration and a baptism.

“It’s been a great weekend for the Tkachuks,” Keith said. “It’s been a crazy weekend, but this tops it off…. This is the ultimate, for sure.”

The patriarch nicknamed “Walt” Tkachuk is part of a player class that includes center Patrice Bergeron, who won the Stanley Cup with Boston in 2011 and the Selke Trophy as the league’s top defensive forward six times, and goaltenders Carey Price from Montreal and Pekka Rinne from Nashville.

U.S. women’s hockey pioneer Cindy Curley and executive Brian Burke in the builder category also are set to be inducted on Nov. 9 at a ceremony in Toronto.

Tkachuk was one of the premier power forwards of his era, playing in the 1990s and 2000s as part of the first great generation of American pro players. He recorded 1,121 points in 1,290 games, counting the playoffs, with Winnipeg, Phoenix, St. Louis and Atlanta, and was part of the U.S. team that won the 1996 World Cup of Hockey.

Bergeron, who spent his entire career with the Bruins, was chosen in his first year of eligibility. Price and Rinne were selected in their second, with Henrik Zetterberg of the Detroit Red Wings and Rod Brind’Amour among those passed over again.

Price and Bergeron played together on Canada’s 2014 Olympic gold medal-winning team. That was during Price’s prime, which included winning the Hart Trophy as NHL MVP, Vezina as top goalie and the Lester B. Pearson as the most outstanding player as voted by his peers following a dominant 2014-15 season with the Canadiens.

“During Carey’s heyday, every goalie wanted to play like him,” said Rinne, who is the first player to make the Hall of Fame after spending his entire career with the Predators and is ranked in the top 25 in wins, save percentage and shutouts in league history.

Curley skated in the first International Ice Hockey Federation Women’s World Championship in 1990. Her 11 goals, 12 assists and 23 points in five games remain single-tournament records, and she’ll be the 15th women’s player to go in the Hall at a peak of the sport with the PWHL thriving.

Burke won the Stanley Cup as Anaheim’s general manager in 2007, one of several front-office stops for him, along with time spent as the NHL’s director of hockey operations. Burke also took on a leading role in hockey’s Pride efforts and was a longtime advocate of the women’s game, including a stint as executive director of the PWHL Players Association.

___

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL