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Clarke named to Hockey Hall of Fame selection committee

Flyers star Bob Clarke was one of three new members chosen to serve on the selection panel.

Flyers senior vice president Bob Clarke at the Winter Classic in 2010. (Elise Amendola/AP file photo)
Flyers senior vice president Bob Clarke at the Winter Classic in 2010. (Elise Amendola/AP file photo)Read more

NEW YORK - For years, Bob Clarke has been one of many Flyers executives to lobby for superstar Eric Lindros to be included in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Now, Clarke will have his say - and not just on Lindros.

The Hockey Hall of Fame announced today that Clarke was appointed as one of three new members of the 18-person selection committee - which votes in secret. He will join Nashville GM David Poile and Los Angeles president of business operations, Luc Robitaille, to serve under new selection committee chairman John Davidson.

That trio will replace NHL senior vice president Jim Gregory, Serge Savard, and former Flyers coach Pat Quinn, who all reached the stipulated limit for length of service.

Clarke, now 64, still serves as a Flyers senior vice president. He has not spent much time around the team this season, living mostly in Florida.

"It is a good honor for Clarkie and I'm glad," Flyers GM Paul Holmgren said. "It's kind of a secret society there. You don't even know who is on it, and we got a lot of names who are involved at least in this new chapter and that's good for Bob and John Davidson being the head of it. That's fresh blood."

The selection committee will meet on June 23-24 to consider duly nominated candidates for election. To be elected as an "honoured member," a candidate must receive 14 votes out of the 18 available.

Peter Forsberg, Mike Modano, Mark Recchi and Dominik Hasek are just a few of the names the committee will deliberate on for the first time this summer - in addition to the usual suspects such as Lindros (2010 eligible), Jeremy Roenick (2012), Paul Kariya (2013), Rob Blake (2013) and others.

Clarke's coach, Fred Shero, was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame last fall. Clarke was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1987.

Here is an updated list of the selection committee members:

John Davidson, chairman - Columbus Blue Jackets president of hockey ops.

Scotty Bowman - retired nine-time Stanley Cup-winning coach

David Branch - OHL commissioner

Brian Burke - Calgary Flames president

Colin Campbell - NHL senior vice president

Bob Clarke - Flyers senior vice president

Eric Duhatschek - Globe and Mail columnist

Mike Emrick - NBC broadcaster

Michael Farber - Sports Illustrated columnist

Marc de Foy - Montreal hockey columnist

Mike Gartner - retired Hall of Fame player

Anders Hedberg - GM of Swedish National Team

Igor Larionov - retired Hall of Fame player

Lanny McDonald - retired Hall of Fame player

David Poile - Nashville Predators general manager

Luc Robitaille - retired Hall of Fame player

Peter Stastny - retired Hall of Fame player

Bill Torrey - architect of New York Islanders dynasty

Blog: ph.ly/FrequentFlyers