NCAA hockey alums Matt Cullen, Brianna Decker and Kevin Stevens will be enshrined into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame as the class of 2024.
The trio will be joined by Frederic McLaughlin and the gold medal-winning 2002 Paralympic sled hockey team.
“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,” said USA Hockey president Mike Trimboli in a statement. “Their stories are all unique and have positively impacted so many. We very much look forward to enshrining the class in December.”
The U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame induction celebration, which will feature the formal enshrinement of the class of 2024 and also include the presentation of the NHL’s Lester Patrick Trophy, will be held Dec. 4, 2024, in Pittsburgh. Additional details will be provided later this month.
A three-time Stanley Cup champion, Cullen (Moorhead, Minn.) had an extraordinary playing career that included 21 seasons in the NHL with eight different clubs. He is one of just two American-born players ever to compete in 1,500 or more regular-season games in the NHL.
Always reliable, Cullen recorded 731 career regular-season points (266 goals, 465 assists) in the NHL over 1,516 games, and tallied 58 points (19 goals, 39 assists) in 132 playoff games.
Drafted 35th overall by Anaheim in the 1996 NHL Draft, Cullen spent six seasons with the Ducks to start his NHL journey.
He was traded to the Florida Panthers on Jan. 20, 2003, and played one season with the Panthers before signing with the Carolina Hurricanes as a free agent on Aug. 5, 2004.
Cullen recorded an NHL career-high 25 goals during the regular season for Carolina and contributed 18 points (four goals, 14 assists) in the Stanley Cup Playoffs to help the Hurricanes win the Cup, including two assists in a 3-1 victory in Game 7 against the Edmonton Oilers in the Final.
He signed a four-year contract as a free agent with the New York Rangers before the 2006-07 season, but after one year was traded back to Carolina. He spent two more full seasons with the Hurricanes before he was traded to the Ottawa Senators for the final 21 games of the 2009-10 season.
Cullen returned home to play for the Minnesota Wild, playing three seasons (2010-2013), before joining the Nashville Predators on a two-year contract before the 2013-14 campaign.
The forward joined his eighth NHL team when he signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins on Aug. 6, 2015. In 2015-16, he recorded 32 points (16 goals, 16 assists) in 82 regular-season games, won 55.7 percent of his face-offs and scored three shorthanded goals. Cullen had six points (four goals, two assists) in 24 playoff games, including two game-winning goals, to help Pittsburgh win the Cup.
In 2016-17, Cullen finished with 31 points (13 goals, 18 assists) in 72 regular-season games, before contributing nine points (two goals, seven assists) in 25 playoff games to help the Penguins repeat as Stanley Cup champions.
He returned to the Wild in 2017-18 and then signed as a free agent with the Penguins for his 21st and final NHL season in 2018-19.
Cullen spent the 2004-05 NHL lockout season competing in Italy with Cortina.
Prior to his professional career, Cullen played two seasons of college hockey at St. Cloud State and totaled 86 points (27 goals, 59 assists) in 75 games. He was inducted into the St. Cloud State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2023, and had his No. 9 jersey retired, becoming just the second Husky to receive the honor.
Cullen represented the United States on the international stage on five occasions, highlighted by helping the U.S. to the bronze medal in the 2004 IIHF Men’s World Championship. He also competed in the Men’s World Championship in 1998, 1999 and 2003 and was a member of Team USA for the 1996 IIHF World Junior Championship.
Always with a passion to help others, Cullen and his wife Bridget founded the Cullen Children’s Foundation in 2003, an organization dedicated to financially assisting children’s healthcare organizations within the Fargo-Moorhead area.
An Olympic gold medalist, NCAA champion and eight-time world champion as a player, Decker (Dousman, Wis.) had a remarkable on-ice career, and today continues to positively impact the game as a coach at Shattuck-St. Mary’s and with Team USA on the international stage.
A three-time Olympian, Decker helped the U.S. to gold at the 2018 Games in PyeongChang, South Korea, and silver at both the 2014 Games in Sochi, Russia, and 2022 Games in Beijing, China.
She also played an integral role in helping the U.S. win gold on six occasions at the IIHF Women’s World Championship (2011, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019) and silver twice (2012, 2021). She was named the MVP of the 2017 event and also earned the directorate award as the tournament’s best forward that year.
She also helped the U.S. earn gold at the first two IIHF Under-18 Women’s World Championships in 2008 and 2009.
Over her 15-year career with the U.S. Women’s National Team program, she played in 147 games and tallied 170 career points, including 81 goals and 89 assists. A two-time recipient of the USA Hockey Bob Allen Women’s Player of the Year Award, she is third in U.S. history in career points (68) at the IIHF Women’s World Championship and fourth all-time in assists (40).
During her four-year collegiate career at Wisconsin (2009-13), Decker was named the 2012 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award winner as the top player in NCAA Division I women’s ice hockey, earned All-America honors in 2011, 2012 and 2013, and helped the Badgers win the NCAA national championship in 2011. She recorded 244 career points, including 115 goals, both which stand second all-time at UW.
Decker also played professionally in the CWHL, NWHL and PWHPA between 2014-21. She is a two-time NWHL Most Valuable Player with the Boston Pride and helped the team win the league’s inaugural Isobel Cup in 2015-16.
Decker began her coaching career near the end of her playing career, serving as an assistant coach for the U.S. Under-18 Women’s National Team for the IIHF Under-18 Women’s World Championship on four occasions. She helped guide Team USA to gold in 2024 and 2020, silver in 2019 and bronze in 2023.
Off the ice, she launched the Brianna Decker Endowment for Girls Hockey within The USA Hockey Foundation in 2019 to provide grants to 8U and 10U hockey programs across the country to help increase girls hockey participation.
A two-time Stanley Cup champion, Stevens (Pembroke, Mass.) spent over 15 seasons playing in the NHL. A dominant power forward, “Artie” as he is fondly known, has inspired many, not only through his remarkable comeback from a devastating facial injury in 1993, but also through the resilience and dedication he has shown in overcoming substance abuse and his subsequent advocacy for addiction awareness and support.
His esteemed NHL career included 11 campaigns competing for the Pittsburgh Penguins, including both to start and end his career. He also spent time with the Boston Bruins, Los Angeles Kings, New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers.
After playing 16 games with Pittsburgh in 1987-88 and 24 in 1988-89, he broke into the lineup full-time in 1989-90. The following season he contributed 86 points (40 goals, 46 assists) in 80 regular-season games and 33 points (17 goals, 16 assists) in 24 playoff games to help the Penguins to their first Stanley Cup title.
In playing an out-sized role in leading Pittsburgh to its second straight Stanley Cup, Stevens registered a career-high 123 points (54 goals, 69 assists) in 1991-92 as an alternate captain to set an NHL regular-season record for most points by an American-born player. A Hart trophy finalist that season, he finished second in the league overall in points, only behind teammate Mario Lemieux.
During the 1992-93 season, he had his second straight 100-point season, finishing the year with 111 points, including 55 goals, the most ever recorded by an American-born player. That record stood for 29 years before being eclipsed by Auston Matthews in 2022.
All total during his NHL career, Stevens amassed 726 points (329 goals, 397 assists) in 874 career regular-season games and added 106 points (46 goals, 60 assists) in 103 playoff contests.
Stevens represented the U.S. on the international stage on four occasions, including as a member of the 1988 U.S. Olympic Men’s Ice Hockey Team. He also played in three IIHF Men’s World Championships (1987, 1990, 1996), helping Team USA to a bronze medal as captain in 1996.
Over his four-year career competing at Boston College (1983-87), Stevens helped the Eagles reach the NCAA tournament each season and recorded 170 points (71 goals, 99 assists) in 158 career games. The 1987 All-American and two-time captain was inducted into the Boston College Varsity Club Hall of Fame in 2021.
Since hanging up his skates in 2002, Stevens has worked for the Pittsburgh Penguins where today he serves as a special assignment scout with the organization.
Buoyed by his own experiences, Stevens created Power Forward in 2018, a non-profit organization that assists others struggling with addiction.
NOTES: U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame inductees are chosen on the basis of extraordinary contribution to the sport of hockey in the United States. The U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame was incorporated in 1969 and inducted its first class in 1973. The class of 2024 will be the 52nd installed to the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame. To date, there are 205 enshrinees.
