Olympian Brianna Decker headlines U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame class of 2024
Olympian Brianna Decker, former NHL players Kevin Stevens and Matt Cullen, late Chicago team founder Frederic McLaughlin and the 2002 Olympic gold medal-winning Paralympic sledge 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 honouree is reflective of the extraordinary contributions necessary to earn the highest honour 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, Decker put up 81 goals and 89 assists for 170 points in 147 international games over a 15-year career.
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.
He’s currently a special assignment scout for the team.
Cullen won the Cup three times with Carolina in 2006. Like Stevens, he won 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.
Cullen is also employed by the Penguins as a player development coach.
McLaughlin led a group that started the Chicago franchise in the 1920s, growing hockey in the city 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 sledge hockey gold at the Paralympic Games, 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.
