Grant Fuhr

Grant Scott Fuhr was born on 28 September 1962 in Spruce Grove, Alberta, just outside Edmonton. A hockey fan from childhood, he announced at seven that he wanted to be a goalie. He starred for the Victoria Cougars of the Western Hockey League for two seasons, earning First Team All-Star honours in 1980 and 1981, and was drafted eighth overall by the Edmonton Oilers in the 1981 NHL Entry Draft.

Fuhr became the backbone of the Oilers' dynasty of the 1980s, a team built around extraordinary offensive talent. With Fuhr in goal, Edmonton won the Stanley Cup five times between 1984 and 1990, in 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988 and 1990. He was the starter on the first four teams, and injury kept him out of the 1990 playoffs. In 1984 he became the first Black player to have his name engraved on the Stanley Cup.

His best year was 1987–88. He won 40 games, appeared in 75 of 80 Oilers games and won the Vezina Trophy as the league's top goaltender, and was runner-up to teammate Wayne Gretzky for the Hart Trophy as the most valuable player. Fuhr played in five All-Star Games in the 1980s, and was part of Canada's 1987 Canada Cup champions. Gretzky considered him the greatest goaltender in NHL history.

He later played for Toronto, Buffalo, Los Angeles, St. Louis and Calgary, finishing a 19-season career with 403 regular-season wins. In 1995–96 he set a record for the most appearances by a goaltender in a single season, and shared the Jennings Trophy in 1994. He retired in 2000 and worked as a goaltending coach for the Calgary Flames and later the Phoenix, now Arizona, Coyotes.

In 2003, in his first year of eligibility, Fuhr was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, the first Black player to be honoured. The Oilers retired his number 31 the same year, and he entered the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame in 2004. He inspired a generation of young Black players, among them Jarome Iginla, who grew up idolising him and began his own hockey career as a goalie.