Dustin Brown, a two-time Stanley Cup champion with the Los Angeles Kings, marveled at the talent and skill shown by the new generation of players born in the United States, which was showcased Friday with the announcement of US Hockey USA Hockey’s Hall of Fame Class of 2023.
Brown was one of five people selected. He was joined by longtime NHL executive Brian Burke, two-time Cup winner Jamie Langenbrunner, Boston College hockey coach Katie King Crowley and retired NHL official Brian Murphy.
“There’s a lot of different kids playing hockey today and the things they’ve done … you can look at it like it’s funny or you can look at it like ‘That’s amazing’,” said Brown. “I leaned back to look at it like, ‘Oh, it’s a good thing I played when I did.’
“But it’s a good sign for USA Hockey.”
The induction ceremony will be held in Boston on December 6.
Brown became the second US-born player to captain a Stanley Cup team (Derian Hatcher, Dallas Stars, 1999) when he helped Los Angeles win it in 2012 and 2014. A first-round pick (No .13) in the 2003 NHL Draft, Brown played his entire 18-season NHL career for the Kings. He is their leader in games played (1,296) and ranks seventh with 712 points (325 goals, 387 assists). He is also third in NHL history with 3,632 hits, the most by a player from the United States since the stat was added in 2005-06.
“That’s what makes me a good player,” Brown said. “Part of me just really enjoyed it, made me unique. There are days when you wake up and it’s just sore, but I just played a really good time for my style of play that allowed me to play longer than I . always thought of.”
Brown, 38, retired after the 2021-22 season and the Kings retired his No. 23 jersey February 11. The Ithaca, New York, native also helped the United States win a bronze medal at the 2004 IIHF World Championship and silver at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.
Burke was the general manager of the Anaheim Ducks when they became the first California-based team to win the Stanley Cup in 2007. He worked for the Ducks from 2005-08, was the GM of the Hartford Whalers (1992-93), Vancouver Canucks (1998-2004), Toronto Maple Leafs (2008-13) and Calgary Flames (2013-14) and president of hockey operations for the Flames (2013-18) and Pittsburgh Penguins (2021-23). The 68-year-old was also the NHL director of hockey operations from 1993-98 and was hired as executive director of the Professional Women’s Hockey League Players’ Association on August 29.
A native of Providence, Rhode Island, Burke was GM of the silver-medal winning United States in the 2010 Olympics and director of player personnel for the fourth-place team in the 2014 Sochi Olympics.
Burke points to two events that really changed the face of USA Hockey.
“If you go back to the Wayne Gretzky trade in LA (in 1988), the Miracle on Ice (in the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics) … there were some seismic events that happened in the US,” Burke said. “The Miracle on Ice galvanized hockey across the country. The Gretzky trade really changed the face of hockey and then by extension.”
Langenbrunner played 18 NHL seasons for Dallas, the New Jersey Devils and St. Louis Blues, who retired in 2013 with 663 points (243 goals, 420 assists) in 1,109 games. His 10 goals in 23 games during the 1999 Stanley Cup Playoffs was tied for second and 17 points tied for fifth for the Stanley Cup champion Stars.
Born in Cloquet, Minnesota, Langenbrunner played in the 1998 Nagano Olympics and the 2010 games, when he was captain. The 48-year-old has worked in the front office of the Boston Bruins since 2015 and was promoted to assistant general manager, player personnel on August 10, 2022.
“Where I see the most improvement in the American player is the number of players in general,” said Langenbrunner. “I can think back to the late ’80s when I did the USA camp, and every kid was from Boston, Minnesota or maybe a handful from New York. Now you look around and California, Las Vegas, Texas, Florida … the depth of players is completely different. The skill level is completely different. They’re trying things that we would never expect to try on the ice and they’re doing it.
“These kids play a game that’s more like a video game, compared to what we do.”
King Crowley is going into his 17th season at Boston College. He is 374-148 with 53 ties and has guided the Eagles to the Frozen Four five times. In 2015-16, BC went 40-1, its only loss coming to the University of Minnesota in the national championship game.
The 48-year-old, born in Salem, New Hampshire, is a three-time Olympian, winning gold in 1998, silver in 2002 and bronze in 2006. She also won gold at the 2005 IIHF Women’s World Championship.
“It’s unbelievable,” King Crowley said of the growth in women’s hockey. “Nowadays, women are getting paid to play and it’s great to see. There are a lot of young women going to college games or watching these pro games. women playing in a professional league and that’s really exciting for our game. It’s going to continue to grow at the ground level; there are teams everywhere.”
Murphy worked as an on-ice official in the NHL from 1988-2020, and on March 16, 2019, became the eighth person to officiate 2,000 regular-season games. Although a linesman for most of his career, Murphy refereed 88 games when the NHL switched to a two-referee system in 1998-99, and made 304 playoff games, nine times in the Stanley Cup Final.
“I’ve never officiated to be recognized, so now it’s kind of out of my comfort zone,” Murphy said. “I think I was thinking a little bit about my parents, who built a rink in the back of Dover (New Hampshire) and some local businessmen who raised money to build a rink in town. I got into officiating; USA Hockey played a big role in that.