The 2011 United States Hockey Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony

Tonight in Chicago, the United States Hockey Hall of Fame will enshrine it's class of 2011 into the hall. The 39th annual ceremony will be hosted by ESPN's Steve Levy and take place a the Renaissance Chicago Downtown Hotel at 7 PM. This is the first time the induction ceremony has been held in Chicago.

Joining the 148 members already in the hall will be broadcaster "Doc" Emrick, Philadelphia Flyers owner Ed Snider and players Chris Chelios, Gary Suter and Keith Tkachuk.

Emrick has been broadcasting hockey for nearly 40 years, including 13 Stanley Cup Finals for NBC, Versus, Fox and ESPN. He has also called play-by-play for the Olympics and was the voice of the New Jersey Devils from 1993 to 2011. Other honors he has been granted include the Hockey Hall of Fame's Foster Hewitt Memorial Award, an Emmy Award, the Lester Patrick Trophy and is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame selection committee.

Snider is the founding owner of the Flyers and the longest tenured individual owner in the NHL. He also founded the Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation which provides underprivileged children an opportunity to learn and play hockey, as well as saving three inner city rinks in Philadelphia targeted for closing and funding and administering five of the city's rinks. He as also been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame and the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame.

Here is a capsule look at the players being inducted tonight.

2004 Team USA Chris Chelios Jersey≈1983 NCAA Champion1986, 2002 and 2008 Stanley Cup Champion1989, 1993 and 1996 Norris Trophy2007 Mark Messier Leadership Award≈1996 World Cup of Hockey Gold Medal2002 Olympic Silver Medal≈11 time NHL All-Star≈Chelios, a 26 year NHL veteran, holds the NHL record for Games Played by aDefenseman (1,651) and is in the top ten in all-time scoring amongdefensemen. He competed for the United States at two World JuniorTournaments (1980 and 1982), four Olympics (1984, 1998, 2006 and 2006),including the final three as team captain. Additionally, he was a member of the United States team at the 1984, 1987 and 1991 Canada Cup and the 1996 and2004 World Cup of Hockey, including as team captain in 2004.

1988-89 Calgary Flames Gary Suter Jersey≈1989 Stanley Cup Champion1986 Calder Trophy≈2002 Olympic Silver Medal≈Four time NHL All-Star≈Suter, a 17 year NHL veteran, was the first American to win the Calder Trophy and ranks 13th among American-born players and fourth among Americandefensenmen. He also represented the United States at the World JuniorTournament (1984) the World Championships (1985 and 1992), the CanadaCup (1987 and 1991), the World Cup of Hockey (1996) and the Olympics (1998 and 2002).

1992 Team USA Keith Tkachuk Jersey≈1992 World Juniors Bronze Medal1996 World Cup of Hockey Gold Medal2002 Olympic Silver Medal≈5 time NHL All-Star≈Tkachuk, a 19 year NHL veteran, is one of only four American-born players to score 500 NHL goals and was just the sixth American to score 1,000 points.He scored 50 goals in a season twice, including 52 in 1996-97 to become thefirst American to lead the NHL in goal scoring. Also, he became captain of the Winnipeg Jets in only his second season in the league. Additionally, hecompeted for the United States at two World Junior Tournaments (1991 and1992), four Olympics (1992, 1998, 2006 and 2006) and the World Cup ofHockey (1996 and 2004), including scoring four goals in one game againstRussia in 2004.