U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Class of '23 Reacts and Reflects on Earning Honor
After being announced as the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame's Class of 2023 on Friday morning, each inductee reflected on everything that brought them to this point.
Brian Burke said he isn't sure why he was named to the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame's Class of 2023 on Friday.
But he does know why former NHLers Dustin Brown and Jamie Langenbrunner, three-time Olympic medallist Katie King Crowley and 32-year NHL linesman Brian Murphy were.
"I know why Katie's here – Katie, you were a star," the longtime hockey executive said during a virtual press conference on Friday. "Jamie Langenbrunner might be the smartest player I ever had... Dustin Brown was fearless. Brian Murphy, you could put 'Murph' in any game – it didn't matter how serious it was, didn't matter what the score was, didn't matter if there's been a bunch of fights the game before – you could trust 'Murph.' "
USA Hockey announced this group as the next to be enshrined, with an induction celebration scheduled for Dec. 6 in Boston. They'll be the 51st class installed to the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame since the first class in 1973, four years after the Hall of Fame was incorporated in 1969.
"It's a class that is highlighted by extraordinary accomplishment and contributions to our game," said USA Hockey executive director Pat Kelleher. "The best news is that they all still are involved in our game and give back to the sport of hockey in our country to make it better and better in a variety of different ways."
In fact, Langenbrunner said he got the call from Kelleher while in free agency meetings with the Boston Bruins in his current job as assistant GM-player personnel.
"I've been blessed to play with some really great teams and some really great teammates, and I owe a lot to a lot of people," Langenbrunner said.
The 48-year-old spent 16 full seasons in the NHL, racking up 1,109 career games, 243 goals, 420 assists and 663 points. He spent parts of his first eight seasons with the Dallas Stars, where he won the Stanley Cup with them in 1998-99. After the Stars sent Langenbrunner to the New Jersey Devils at the 2002 trade deadline, he then spent parts of nine seasons with his new team. In 2002-03, he captured his second Stanley Cup championship after leading all playoff scorers with 11 goals and 18 points. The Devils traded him back to the Stars in 2010-11 before he signed with the St. Louis Blues in 2011-12.
On the international stage, the Cloquet, Minn., native suited up for Team USA at two world juniors tournaments, the 1998 Nagano Olympics, the 2004 World Cup of Hockey and the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, where he wore the captain's 'C' and led the Americans to silver.
"To be honest with you, I was shocked I made the team," Langenbrunner said. "I thought that time had passed me, so getting the call was amazing, and then to be named (captain) was also a real honor; probably the single greatest individual honor I received." He also thanked Burke, the 2010 Team USA GM, for that honor.
While Langenbrunner made his first Olympic appearance in Nagano, King Crowley was part of the American squad for the first time the global event featured a women's ice hockey competition. She said winning gold against Canada was her finest on-ice accomplishment, which was special to share with her teammates and Team USA staff.
"That was the first time anyone had walked into the Olympic Stadium or played on any Olympics, and for all of us to do it together for the first time and to win the gold medal for the first time was truly amazing," she said.
King Crowley spent nine years with the women's national team as a player, competing in 223 career games and recording 152 goals and 125 assists for 278 points. The Salem, N.H., native also won Olympic silver in Salt Lake City in 2002 and bronze in Turin in 2006. On the World Championship stage, King Crowley won five silver medals and a gold medal in 2005.
Since 2003-04, King Crowley's been part of the coaching staff at Boston College, starting out as an assistant coach and becoming the head coach in 2007, which she's held ever since. During that time, she's coached Boston College to six NCAA Frozen Fours, 11 NCAA tournaments, five Hockey East regular-season titles, three Hockey East championships and six Beanpot tournament wins.
"This is not a dream we have, but it's a result of all of us chasing our dreams and found those dreams to the best of our abilities." - Dustin Brown
Brown took the Ithaca (N.Y.) high school and OHL route before he began his 18-season NHL career.
Only six Americans played more NHL regular-season games than Brown's 1,296, where he recorded 325 goals and 387 assists for 712 points. The physical presence was the NHL's all-time hits leader when he retired. Brown also played in 92 playoff games, where he had 49 points and captained the Los Angeles Kings to their first-ever Stanley Cup championship. He became just the second American captain in NHL history to lead a team to the Cup, and he did it again in 2014.
On top of his NHL team accomplishments, Brown represented Team USA in two world junior championships, four men's World Championships (winning bronze in 2004), the 2010 Olympics as an alternate captain to Langenbrunner and the 2014 Olympics.
"I know the Kings family very, very well, but USA Hockey gave me an opportunity to meet a lot of different people I wouldn't have otherwise met along the way, and those relationships I still have to this day," Brown said.
Burke's time with USA Hockey included being a driving force in establishing the U.S. Men's National Team Advisory Group in 2007 to help select players and staff for the main international events. And on top of being the GM for the 2010 Olympic team, he was the director of player personnel for the 2014 men's Olympic team and served in management roles for the 2009 and 2010 World Championship and 2016 World Cup squads.
On the NHL side, the Edina, Minn., native began as a player agent before becoming the director of hockey operations for the Vancouver Canucks in 1987. From there, he's served as the GM for the Hartford Whalers for 1992-93, the Canucks from 1999 to 2004 (where he drafted the Sedin brothers in an event of trading acrobatics), the Anaheim Ducks from 2005 to 2008-09 (where they won the Cup in 2007), and the Toronto Maple Leafs from 2008-09 to 2013. He was then the president of hockey operations for the Calgary Flames for five years and, most recently, the Pittsburgh Penguins until the end of last season.
As for Brian Murphy, he was on the ice as an official during much of the time that each of the four other inductees spent their careers. The Dover, N.H., native worked the 2004 and 2016 World Cup of Hockey tournaments, as well as the 2010 Olympics.
Murphy made his NHL debut in 1988 and is one of only a handful of officials who can say they worked games as a referee or as a linesman. He became a full-time linesman in 1990 and is one of just eight people in NHL history to officiate more than 2,000 regular-season games.
During his 32-year career that lasted until 2020, Murphy was assigned to many marquee events, including more than 300 playoff games, the 1999 All-Star Game and the 2010 Winter Classic in Boston. But he said some of the best moments came from working in nine Stanley Cup finals, especially the Game 7s in 2003 and 2004.
" 'Burkie' could relate to this when I say this – there is no bigger event that a league puts on than a Game 7 of a Stanley Cup finals," Murphy said. "When the league selects you to officiate those games, it's almost overwhelming.
"When you're an official in the Stanley Cup finals, and you get down to that point, they bring the Cup the into the room, so that guy would be in polishing the Cup in the room in between periods, and you go out there, and these guys are battling for it."
All these accomplishments for each of these inductees came from grassroots hockey in the United States, as well as contributions from volunteers, family, friends, coaches and more, which each recipient acknowledged. But it also took an elite level of dedication on their end, which is why the Class of 2023 aren't taking this recognition for granted.
"This is not a dream we have, but it's a result of all of us chasing our dreams and found those dreams to the best of our abilities," Brown said.