Olympic champion Brianna Decker headlines the US Hockey Hall of Fame class of 2024
Olympic champion Brianna Decker, former NHL players Kevin Stevens and Matt Cullen, late Chicago Blackhawks founder Frederic McLaughlin and the 2002 Paralympic gold medal-winning sled hockey team are being inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame.
USA Hockey revealed the class Thursday for enshrinement at a ceremony Dec. 4 in Pittsburgh.
“The impact of the Class of 2024 spans across the sport, and each honoree is reflective of the extraordinary contributions necessary to earn the highest honor in American hockey,” USA Hockey president Mike Trimboli said. “Their stories are all unique and have positively impacted so many.”
Decker helped the U.S. win Olympic gold in South Korea in 2018 and was part of silver medal teams in 2014 and 2022 before a broken leg and torn ligaments in her ankle knocked her out of the tournament in Beijing two years ago. She was also part of six world championship titles, once as MVP and leading scorer, and led the University of Wisconsin team to the national title in 2011.
Now retired at 33 and coaching on staff of the girls prep team at Shattuck St. Mary's School, Decker put up 81 goals and 89 assists for 170 points in 147 international games over a 15-year career. She said Angela Ruggiero and Julie Chu were major influences early on who shaped how she looked at the game.
“Our generation of players made a pact that we would try to raise the bar and continue to do the same and impact the game as much as possible,” Decker said on a video call with reporters. “Being a part of that was obviously super special.”
Stevens played a prominent role in the Pittsburgh Penguins winning the Stanley Cup 1991 and '92, scoring a playoff-best 17 goals during the first of those runs and being a first-team NHL All-Star the following season. He overcame substance abuse and became an advocate for addiction awareness and support, along with working the past seven years as a Penguins special assignment scout.
"All the off-the-ice stuff, it’s really who I am now," Stevens said." I’ve been through the grind, I guess you can call it, and I came out the other side. I just try to help people and do my best every day that if I can help one person a day out there, then I’m doing my job."
Cullen won the Cup three times, with Carolina in 2006 and back to back with Pittsburgh in 2016 and ’17. He played 21 seasons with eight different teams and is one of just two U.S.-born players to skate in 1,500-plus games in the league.
McLaughlin led a group that started the Blackhawks franchise in the 1920s, growing hockey in Chicago while seeking to fill the roster with as many American players as possible. He died in 1944 and was posthumously inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1963.
The U.S. in 2002 in Salt Lake City was the country's first team to win sled hockey gold at the Paralympics, after the sport's debut in 1994. The group coached by Rick Middleton went unbeaten and outscored opponents 26-6, led by tournament MVP Sylvester Flis. His tournament-leading 11 goals and 18 points are Paralympic records that still stand.
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