Mike Gartner and Lanny McDonald call out members of the Class of 2023 from the Founders Hall of the Hockey Hall of Fame.

McDonald, a member of the Class of 1992, was named Hall president in March 2015, voted in by the board of trustees to succeed the late Pat Quinn for a 10-year term that officially began July 1.

With the end of his tenure on the horizon, McDonald couldn’t think of anyone better for the role than Gartner. He and Jeff Denomee, the Hall’s president and CEO, called Gartner in mid-summer to make their pitch.

“I said how honored I was that they would consider me to take the job and that I would seriously consider it,” said Gartner, whose 708 NHL goals during a 19-year career seasons, from 1979 to 1998, rank him eighth all-time. time. “I had a whole bunch of questions, most of them about how much time it would take.”

(He also had 627 assists with his five NHL teams, adding 43 goals and 50 assists in 122 Stanley Cup Playoff games.)

There’s a lot to balance, with Gartner and his wife, Colleen, parents of three and grandparents of five, with his business interests also part of the equation.