USA Hockey announced the Class of 2024 for the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame on Tuesday afternoon. New enshrinees include Brianna Decker, Kevin Stevens, and Matt Cullen as Players, all with extensive international experience. Joining them as a Builder will be Major Frederic McLaughlin, and in the Team category the 2002 Paralympic Sled Hockey Team will be honoured.
 
This year’s induction ceremonies will take place on 4 December, 2024, in Pittsburgh, and will also include the annual presentation of the Lester Patrick Trophy and the Wayne Gretzky International Award.
 
"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," said Mike Trimboli, president of USA Hockey. "Their stories are all unique and have positively impacted so many. We very much look forward to enshrining the Class in December."
 
Decker played for 11 years at the top level of women’s hockey, from 2011 to 2022, during which time she won Olympic gold in 2018 as well as six golds at the Women’s Worlds. She began her career playing at the Women’s U18 in both 2008 and ’09, winning gold in the latter. She then starred in NCAA play, winning the Patty Kazmaier Award in 2011-12 while playing for the University of Wisconsin Badgers.
 
Additionally, Decker won the Clarkson Cup twice, with the Boston Blades in 2014-15 and in 2018-19 with the Calgary Inferno. She was the tournament MVP at the 2017 Women’s Worlds. That tournament marked one of six gold medals for her at the WW and one of three times she was named to the tournament all-star team (2013, 2015). In all, Decker won medals at all eleven senior events she played.
 
Her playing career ended suddenly. During the opening game of the 2022 Olympics, she suffered a serious injury and never played again.
 
"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 of her recognition. "Being a part of that was obviously super special."
 
"Believe it or not, my favourite hockey player growing up was Jaromir Jagr," Decker added. "My parents never played, so I looked up to my brothers quite a bit. From a female standpoint, Cammi Granato had a huge impact on me as a kid. She helped the U.S. win the Olympics in '98 and I was seven years old at the time, so that was kind of the real dream. I didn't think I was ever going to play in the NHL, and I think some girls still think they will, but now there's a league (PWHL) they can play in, and that's great."

Cullen played at the 1996 World Juniors and later played at four men's World Championships between 1998 and 2004, winning a bronze medal in 2004. As well, he won the Stanley Cup three times, first with Carolina in 2006 and later with Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2016 and 2017.
 
Stevens played in the World Championship with the U.S. on three occasions, 1987, 1990, and 1996, as well as at the 1988 Calgary Olympics, winning one bronze medal. In the NHL, he won the Stanley Cup with the Penguins as well, in 1991 and 1992, alongside Mario Lemieux. In all, he had 329 NHL goals in 824 games over 15 seasons.
 
"I've been through the grind, I guess you can call it, and I came out the other side,” Stevens said. “I just try to help people and do my best every day, and if I can help one person a day out there, then I'm doing my job."
 
Major Frederic McLaughlin was the first owner of the Chicago Black Hawks and a fiercely proud American who successfully led the Hawks to a Stanley Cup in 1937-38 with mostly American players. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1963.
 
"I think a 2017 New York Times article that focused on [McLaughlin's] campaign to promote American players was something I didn't appreciate until I read that article, and I found it amazing that he pursued that for almost 20 years, even though he was criticized so heavily for it at the time," said McLaughlin's granddaughter, Castle McLaughlin. "People thought he was crazy, and he persisted in trying, in that goal, to develop more American players. That would have to be my most memorable thing I was able to learn about my grandfather."
 
Lastly, the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame welcomes the 2002 Paralympic Sled Hockey Team, which was the first American paralympic team to win gold and established the program as the best in the world. That year, the team was led by Sylvester Fils, who led the 2002 Paralympics in points (18) and goals (11), records to this day, and was named tournament MVP. The team had a perfect 5-0 record during the preliminary round, and in the playoffs they defeated Norway, 4-3, in a shootout to claim gold.
 
"Bringing Rick Middleton on board (as coach) was a tremendous success for us," said Kip St. Germaine, who scored the winning goal in the shootout in the gold medal game. "It brought instant credibility amongst the players because of the career he had in the NHL and his knowledge of the game … he translated it to our game. Rick focused on our strengths, our speed, and minimized our weaknesses. With sled hockey, you could use both hands, but we only had one player who was a left-handed shot. Everyone else was right-handed. So, we put everything to the right-hand side, dumped it in and chased it that way. The other team had to look over their shoulders to see where we were coming from. It was really instrumental, bringing Rick on board."
 
The U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame was established in 1973, and a museum in Eveleth, Minnesota opened that year as a suitable location to honour those men and women who have contributed to the growth, development, and success of the game in the United States.