Former Badger women’s hockey player Brianna Decker will join the 2024 U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame class, USA Hockey announced Thursday.
As the first women’s hockey player from the University of Wisconsin-Madison to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, Decker, unsurprisingly, has an impressive resume.
Decker played with the U.S. Women’s National Team for over 15 years and received two USA Hockey Bob Allen Women’s Player of the Year awards. Decker also totalled 170 points in the 147 games on the team.
At Wisconsin, Decker led the team for two years, first as an alternate captain her junior year and then as captain her senior year. In 2011, the Badgers won the National Championship and Decker proved her skill in the games leading up to the final. She scored her 100th career point with a goal against North Dakota and assisted the game-winning goal against Boston College in the semifinal.
Decker always knew she would consider Wisconsin for hockey and academics because she grew up not far from Madison. Born in Dousman, Wisconsin, Decker lived an hour's drive away from the city where she’d later play college hockey.
“I told myself in fourth grade that I wanted to be a Badger one day,” Decker told Bally Sports Wisconsin.
Decker mentioned her experience growing up with three hockey-loving brothers and spoke fondly in an interview of the time spent practicing on streets and ponds. Decker said there was a lot to consider when choosing a school, but, ultimately, “Wisconsin had my heart.”
Even before she became a Badger, Decker played for the U.S. Women’s National Hockey Team. During those two seasons, Decker put up 16 points, but she stepped it up after getting into college play. In the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons, Decker totalled 21 total points for Team USA. Decker’s most notable moments on the national team were three Olympic games. The team won two silver medals — in 2014 and 2022 — and one gold in 2018.
Now, Decker spends her time coaching where she went to prep school at Shattuck Saint Mary’s in Minnesota.
“I’d say that Shattuck St. Mary’s was the pivotal moment in my hockey career,” Decker told Bally Sports Wisconsin. Decker spent four seasons with Shattuck Prep and helped the team win three USA Hockey Under-19 National Championships.
Decker has always sought to give back to the women’s hockey community, finding coaching experiences as early as 2012, when she graduated from UW-Madison. Decker served at multiple development camps for USA Hockey and stuck close to home as an assistant coach with the Madison Capitals.
She’s currently on the Premier Hockey Federation board, which aims to create a hockey league for women, drawing inspiration from the WNBA.
Brianna Decker has proved herself a deserving recipient of the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame. The work she has done for the hockey community and women in hockey allows her to pave the way for other Wisconsin women looking for this achievement.
