Matt Cullen heads Class of 2024 for the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame

Matt Cullen, a three-time Stanley Cup champion, heads the United States Hockey Hall of Fames Class of 2024, which was announced Thursday morning.

Cullen, a native of Virginia, Minn., played high school hockey in Moorhead, college hockey at St.

Cloud State, and skated in 1,516 NHL games, scoring 266 goals.

He won the Cup twice with Pittsburgh and once with Carolina, and played three seasons for the Wild.

He is joined in the Class of 2024 by Brianna Decker, Kevin Stevens, Frederic McLaughlin and the 2002 Paralympic sled hockey team.

The group will be enshrined Dec.

4 in Pittsburgh; the U.S.

Hall of Fame is in Eveleth, Minn.

This is the 52nd class, and brings the number of members to 209 .

Cullen was a second-round pick by Anaheim in 1996 and spent his first six NHL seasons with the Ducks.

He was traded to Florida in 2003, then signed with Carolina in 2004 and scored 25 goals for the Cup-winning Hurricanes.

His NHL journey continued with stops in New York, Ottawa, Minnesota and Nashville before he signed with the Penguins and won Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017.

He finished his career with a season in Minnesota and another in Pittsburgh.

At St.

Cloud State he had 86 points in 75 games over two seasons, and his No.

9 jersey has been retired by the Huskies.

He and his family live in Moorhead.

Decker was a college star at Wisconsin, where she won an NCAA title in 2011 and the Patty Kazmaier Award in 2012.

She was a three-time Olympian, winning gold in 2018 in South Korea, and played on six gold-medal winning world championship teams.

Shes now a coach at Shattuck-St.

Marys in Faribault.

Stevens spent 15 seasons in the NHL, and won two Stanley Cups with Pittsburgh.

He had 54 goals and 69 assists in 1991-92 playing with Mario Lemieux, and was a Hart Trophy runner-up to Lemieux that season.

In 874 NHL games, he had 329 goals.

He was an All-America at Boston College and played on the 1988 U.S.

Olympic team.

Stevens now scouts for the Penguins and, after having his career derailed by drug addiction, works for a non-profit to assist others in that predicament.

McLaughlin, who died in 1944 at age 67, was a key figure in the founding of the Chicago Blackhawks and served as the team president for two Stanley Cup champions.

He was noted for his support of American-born players.

The 2002 Paralympic sled hockey team won gold in Salt Lake City, setting the stage for the programs continued success.

The teams top player, defenseman Sylvester Flis, had 11 goals and 18 points in the tournament, records that still stand today.

The teams goalie was Manny Guerra of Plymouth..

This article has been shared from the original article on startribune, here is the link to the original article:

https://www.startribune.com/hockey-hall-fame-matt-cullen-kevin-stevens-brianna-decker-eveleth/601138745