The USA Hockey Hall of Fame is inducting new members.
Matt Cullen had a long NHL career, playing from 1997 to 2019. He started with Anaheim, scoring 200 points in 427 games over six years. In 2003, he was traded to Florida, beginning his journey across different teams. Cullen won his first Stanley Cup with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006 and later two more with Pittsburgh in 2016 and 2017. After playing over 1,500 games and scoring 731 points, he retired in 2019 and now works as a development coach for the Penguins.
Kevin Stevens also had an impressive run with Pittsburgh, helping them win back-to-back Stanley Cups in ’91 and ’92. His peak season saw him score a whopping 54 goals and rack up 123 points. After being traded to Boston in ’95, Stevens played for several other teams before returning to Pittsburgh briefly before retiring at age 36. He ended his career with an impressive tally of 726 points in just under nine hundred games. Since then, he’s been scouting for the Penguins.
Brianna Decker’s achievements are equally remarkable. She has won gold medals at every major event: twice at the World-U18 Championship, once at the Olympics, and six times at the Women’s World Championship. Her international debut came at age seventeen during the World-U18 Championship where she scored seven points over five games. Decker continued her stellar performance through three Olympic appearances and numerous professional leagues until her final game at the Winter Olympics in ’22.
Honoring Non-Players:
Frederic McLaughlin brought hockey to Illinois by founding the Chicago Blackhawks in ’26. Naming them after his WWI division “Blackhawk,” he built a strong team that won Stanley Cups in ’34 and ’38 despite having no prior experience in hockey management. Revered yet quirky—once called “the biggest nut I’ve ever met” by Conn Smythe—McLaughlin owned the Blackhawks until his death in ’44 and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame nineteen years later.
Paralympic Glory:
The USA’s gold medal win by their sled hockey team at the Paralympics marked a historic moment in ’02 as it was their first victory since its inception eight years earlier. They remained undefeated throughout six matches culminating with a nail-biting victory against Norway (4-3) led by Sylvester Flis whose record-setting performance still stands today! This triumph set off an era of dominance for Team USA who have since clinched golds consecutively across four more Paralympics!
Fans might think this news brings well-deserved recognition to these incredible athletes.
What do you think about these inductions?
