Olympian Brianna Decker heads 2024 USA Hockey Hall of Fame class

Olympic champion Brianna Decker, former NHL players Kevin Stevens and Matt Cullen, former Chicago Blackhawks quarterback Frederic McLaughlin and the 2002 Olympic gold medal-winning Paralympic sled hockey team are being inducted into the USA Hockey Hall of Fame.

The United States Hockey Federation announced the class at a ceremony to be held in Pittsburgh on Dec. 4.

“The impact of the Class of 2024 spans every aspect of the sport, and each honoree reflects the extraordinary contributions it takes to earn the highest honor in American hockey,” said USA Hockey president Mike Trimboli. “They are all unique stories 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 also has six world championship titles, was named MVP and leading scorer once and led the University of Wisconsin team to a national championship in 2011.

Decker, who is now retired at age 33, had 81 goals and 89 assists for 170 points in 147 international games during his 15-year career.

Stevens played a key role in helping the Pittsburgh Penguins win the Stanley Cup in 1991 and ’92, scoring a playoff-best 17 goals in the former and becoming a first-team NHL All-Star the following season. He overcame substance abuse and became an advocate for addiction awareness and support.

Cullen won the trophy three times with Carolina, starting in 2006. Like Stevens, he won back-to-back with Pittsburgh in 2016 and ’17. He played 21 seasons for eight different teams and is one of only two U.S.-born players to skate in more than 1,500 games in the league.

Kevin Stevens of the Pittsburgh Penguins celebrates teammate Jaromir Jagr’s second goal as New York Rangers goalkeeper John Vanbiesbrouck (left) and Paul Broten (right) regroup during the third period of a 3-2 Penguins win at Madison Square Garden on Monday, May 12, 1992 in New York. Source: AP/Bill Kostroun

McLaughlin led a group that started the Blackhawks franchise in the 1920s, growing hockey in Chicago while trying 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.

In 2002, held in Salt Lake City, the United States became the first country to win a gold medal in sledge hockey at the Paralympic Games since the sport’s debut in 1994. The Rick Middleton-coached team went undefeated, outscoring their opponents 26–6, led by tournament MVP Sylvester Flis. His 11 goals and 18 points led the tournament, which are still Paralympic records.