The Alberta Sports Hall of Fame inducts its Class of 2017 this weekend.

On Friday afternoon in Red Deer, the storied group of six athletes, four builders, one sports writer and the entire NAIT Ooks men’s hockey team from the 1984-85 season was introduced at an appearance at the Hall of Fame and museum.

Retired Edmonton Oilers forward Ryan Smyth was among the inductees -- who in 19 seasons in the NHL, tallied 386 goals and 456 assists.

He also represented Team Canada 12 times during his career, including in 2002 as a member of the gold medal-winning Canadian Olympic team.

Smyth, born in Banff, said he couldn’t have expected to receive such an honour, not even as he saw his point totals climb and his championship titles accumulate.

“You get zeroed in on what you want to do … and try to be the best you can be but you don’t live in the future. You live in the moment. Now is the time to reflect on those types of things,” he said.

“You don’t think of it when you’re going through it, for sure, but it’s very humbling to hear and be recognized.”

This year’s Pioneer Award winner, Betty Carveth Dunn, was 20 years old playing baseball in Edmonton, when a scout asked if she wanted to play professionally.

To get paid to play, in a U.S. league she never heard of, in 1945 for that matter -- Carveth Dunn couldn't believe it at first.

“I had never heard of the All American Girls Professional Baseball League and I was pretty skeptical. But when they sent me a ticket to Chicago for tryouts, I knew it was real,” Carveth Dunn said.

Carveth Dunn pitched for the Rockford Peaches and was later traded mid-season to the Fort Wayne Daisies. She earned $75 a week, four times more than what she made as a secretary back home.

However, the game was the draw all along.

“I loved playing ball. Most of us played ball because we loved it, not for the money. But when you got paid for it in a professional league, it was a bonus,” she said.

The All American Girls Professional Baseball League was featured in the 1992 film A League of Their Own.

The full list of 2017 inductees includes:

  • Rick Duff, boxing athlete
  • Keltie Duggan, swimming athlete
  • Doug Jones, baseball builder
  • John Kucera, alpine skiing athlete
  • Hans Maciej, tennis builder
  • Herbert McLachlin, basketball builder
  • Marilyn Palmer O’Connor, golf athlete
  • Ryan Smyth, hockey athlete
  • Sharon Trenaman, squash builder
  • 1984-85 NAIT Ooks, hockey team
  • Jeff Hansen, Bell Memorial Award – sports writer
  • Betty Carveth Dunn – Pioneer Award – baseball athlete

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame.

(On right: Betty Carveth Dunn, 92, smiles as she's introduced as a 2017 Alberta Sports Hall of Fame inductee on May 26 in Red Deer.)