GLENS FALLS, NY – The Adirondack Hockey Hall of Fame committee announced today that James Henry, Claude Loiselle, and Mike Kane will be inducted as its Class of 2022. The trio will be inducted on Friday, April 15, 2022.
The AHHOF selection committee and the fan vote both were unanimous in deciding that the three men will be formally welcomed into the AHHOF. The induction ceremony will take place during the Adirondack Thunder’s game vs. the Reading Royals on Friday, April 15, 2022.
Below is the biographies of the Adirondack Hockey Hall of Fame Class of 2022:
James Henry – If any player can claim to have been the face of the Adirondack Thunder, it’s James Henry. The franchise leader in games played (303), points (230) and assists (161), Henry played six seasons with the Thunder.
Named the fourth captain in the franchise’s history before the 2018 season, Henry served in that role for his final two seasons of playing professional hockey.
Now an assistant coach for the Reading Royals, Henry won the 2018-19 ECHL Community Service Award, recognizing his involvement in many organizations, including Mission 22, a non-profit group fighting veteran suicide.
In 441 ECHL games, he recorded 309 points and was named to the ECHL All-Star Game in 2017.
Claude Loiselle – A deft centerman who averaged over a point a game in parts of four seasons with the Adirondack Red Wings, he was a productive member of the 1985-86 AHL championship team.
In 21 regular-season games in 1985-86 he totaled 15 goals and 26 points. During the run to the playoff title, he contributed five goals and 10 assists in 16 games.
Loiselle had 51 goals and 114 points in 103 regular-season games with Adirondack and had seven goals and 21 points in the playoffs. He played with five teams in a 13-season NHL career, scoring 92 goals and 209 points in 616 regular-season games.
Following his playing career, Loiselle earned a law degree and worked in management positions with the NHL, Tampa Bay, Toronto, Arizona, and the New York Islanders. He is married to JoAnn Sipowicz of Queensbury, and they have lived in her hometown since 2010. Loiselle is a member of the Facilities Committee of the Adirondack Civic Center Coalition, which operates the Cool Insuring Arena, as well as the Adirondack Hockey Coalition. He helped negotiate the purchase of the Adirondack Thunder’s ECHL franchise from the Calgary Flames.
Mike Kane – As a journalist in Glens Falls and Schenectady, Kane covered the founding of the Adirondack Red Wings and reported on the team throughout its 20 seasons. He is the author of the book Minor in Name Only: The History of the Adirondack Red Wings, published in 1994.
Kane is the only three-time winner of the James Ellery Award presented by the AHL for outstanding coverage of the league, winning it in 1982-83, 1987-88 and again in 1989-90. The award has been presented annually in some form since 1964-65. He also covered Thoroughbred horse racing and many other sports during his newspaper career in the Capital Region that spanned parts of four decades.
A graduate of Queensbury High School and SUNY Potsdam, Kane was a sports writer and editor at the Post-Star for three years and moved to the Schenectady Gazette in 1979, a few weeks before the Red Wings’ training camp opened in Glens Falls. He is the only writer to cover the Red Wings from their debut to their move to Grand Rapids, Mich. From 1982 through 1990 he was the AHL correspondent for The Hockey News.
Kane and his wife Kathy are longtime residents of Glenville.
