TORONTO– When Pierre Turgeon is inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on Monday, he will forever be engraved alongside some of his childhood heroes like Jean Béliveau, Guy Lafleur and Maurice “Rocket” Richard.
Of course, being honored and remembered alongside some of the most famous names in sports, entertainment and even politics is nothing new for the 54-year-old.
In Williamsport, Pennsylvania, about 300 miles south of the Hall in downtown Toronto, you’ll find the World of Little League Museum. Inside the building, which celebrates the history and essence of all things Little League baseball, is the Hall of Excellence, where the crème de la crème of the sport are immortalized.
There are only two criteria to be part of this esteemed group, according to the museum:
1. You “must have played in an approved local little league.”
2. You “must have become a recognized role model as an adult.”
Actors Kevin Costner and Tom Selleck are among the 63 people devoted to it. The same goes for Presidents Joe Biden and George W. Bush; former NFL coaches Tom Coughlin and Tony Dungy; MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred; former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, Baseball Hall of Famers Mariano Rivera, Mike Schmidt, Tom Seaver, Nolan Ryan and Jim Palmer; Dick Vitale, NCAA basketball analyst; Basketball Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar; NASCAR’s Kyle Petty; golfer Hale Irwin; and musician Bruce Springsteen.
“And out of all these famous people, there’s only one person who’s in the Little League Hall of Fame and the Hockey Hall of Fame. And this is my friend Pierre Turgeon,” said Stéphane Matteau, Turgeon’s childhood friend and one of the heroes of the New York Rangers’ 1994 Stanley Cup championship team. “(The current general manager of the Rangers) Chris Drury is the only other NHL player to be in the Little League Hall, but he is not in the Hockey Hall.
“Pierre is the only one to be in both. How special is this?
Ask Turgeon the same question, and a word will come to the mind of the first attacker.
“Surreal,” he says.
He paused for a moment to collect his thoughts.
“I mean, you grow up in Quebec and idolize the Lafleurs, the Béliveaus, the Richards,” he said. “And then, not only are you living the dream playing for the Montreal Canadiens, the team you grew up cheering for, but you’re actually the team captain when they shut down the Montreal Forum in 1996 and you rub shoulders with Lafleur, Béliveau, the Rocket and so many other Canadian greats. It’s definitely a highlight, if not the highlight, of my life.
“And now to go into the Hockey Hall of Fame, where so many greats are honored, well, like I said, it’s surreal.”
The dream didn’t stop there.
In 2007, he became the first Canadian and first NHL player to be inducted into the Little League Hall of Excellence after representing his country in the 1982 Little League World Series on a hometown team native of Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec. Playing with his buddy Matteau, Turgeon used his throws and strikes to lead Canada to the semifinals, where they lost 10-7 to Taiwan.
“When I was 11, I was already 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighed 185 pounds, so I was bigger than most kids,” Turgeon said.
Better too.
“He could really throw, really throw that fastball,” Matteau said. “And I think he went 9 for 12 at the plate.
“It was our miracle summer.”
