Brianna Decker (born May 13, 1991) is an American former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

forward who played for the

Wisconsin Badgers The Wisconsin Badgers are the College athletics in the United States, athletic teams representing the University of Wisconsin–Madison. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I ...

Boston Blades Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and financial center of New England, a region of the Northeastern United States. It has an area of and a ...

, Boston Pride,

Calgary Inferno The Calgary Inferno (previously known as Team Alberta, nickname "Honeybadgers", during the 2011–12 season) was a women's ice hockey team that joined the Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL) for the 2011–12 CWHL season, 2011–12 season. The ...

Professional Women's Hockey Players Association The Professional Women's Hockey Players Association (PWHPA) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to advocating for the promotion of professional women's ice hockey. It was founded in May 2019 following the dissolution of the Canadian Women's Ho ...

, and

United States women's national ice hockey team The United States women's national ice hockey team is controlled by USA Hockey. The U.S. has been one of the most successful women's ice hockey teams in international play, having medaled in every major tournament. In 1998, the women's Olympic ...

. She won the 2012

Patty Kazmaier Award The Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award is given to the top female college ice hockey player in the United States. The award is presented during the women's annual ice hockey championship, the Frozen Four. The award was first presented in 1998. The ...

while playing for the University of Wisconsin, recognizing the best female ice hockey player in NCAA Division I play. With the Boston Pride, Decker would score the first hat trick in NWHL history on October 25, 2015.

Playing career

NCAA

In her freshman season (2009–10) with the Wisconsin Badgers women's ice hockey program, Decker scored the Badgers' first goal of the season in a game against North Dakota (October 3). During the season, she accumulated seven multi-point games and four multi-goal games. She was third in team scoring despite missing almost half of the first part of the season. On September 25, 2011, Decker scored her third career hat trick in a 13–0 defeat of the Lindenwood Lady Lions ice hockey program. Her 12-game winning goals during the 2010–11 season are a program record. She holds the Badgers' longest scoring streak at 32 games (February 11, 2011 to January 6, 2012). She accumulated 77 points (33 goals, 44 assists) during the streak. In her junior season, Decker won the 2012

USA Hockey

She won gold at the 2009 IIHF World Women's U18 Championship. On January 28, 2011, it was announced that Decker was named to the preliminary roster for the US Women's National Team. From April 4 to 12, 2011, she was one of 30 players that took part in a selection/training camp and was named to the final roster that participated at the

2011 IIHF Women's World Championship The 2011 IIHF Women's World Championship was the 13th edition of the Women's Ice Hockey World Championship run by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). It was held from April 16 to 25, 2011 in Zürich and Winterthur, Switzerland, and t ...

. At the

, Brianna Decker was among the tournament's top five scorers. Decker's 11 points (four goals, seven assists) placed her second. In 2017, Decker was a member of the winning US team for the

2017 IIHF Women's World Championship The 2017 IIHF Women's World Championship was an international Ice hockey tournament run by the International Ice Hockey Federation. It was held in Plymouth Township, Michigan, United States from 31 March to 7 April 2017. The USA Hockey Arena ...

, receiving two assists in the final against Canada. On January 2, 2022, Decker was named to

Team USA The United States national team or Team USA may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions. Olympic teams Additionally, these teams may compete in other international competitions such as ...

's roster to represent the United States at the

2022 Winter Olympics The 2022 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), were an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Beijing, China, and surrounding areas wit ...

after having been a top scorer for the team at the two previous Olympic Games and earning a silver (2014) and gold medal (2018). In the opening preliminary round 5-2 victory over

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

on February 3, Decker suffered a knee injury in the middle of the first period and was ruled out of the Olympics. Decker announced her retirement from USA Hockey on March 2, 2023. She finished her career with 81 goals and 170 points in 147 games, and was fourth in IIHF Women's World Championship all-time scoring with 68 points.

Professional

CWHL

Making her debut for the

on January 17, 2015, Decker accumulated seven points (three goals, four assists) in an 11–3 win against the Brampton Thunder. Decker would finish the season leading all American-born players in scoring while ranking second overall in the scoring race for the Angela James Bowl with 32 points. In addition, she tied with Blades teammate Tara Watchorn as the league leader in plus/minus rating with a +25. During the 2015 Clarkson Cup playoffs, Decker led all players in scoring while registering two goals in the championship game, a 3–2 overtime win over the

Montreal Stars Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

NWHL

Signing as a free agent with the Boston Pride of the

National Women's Hockey League The Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) was a women's professional ice hockey league in the United States and Canada that operated from March 2015 until June 2023. The league was established in 2015 as the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL), com ...

, Decker made league history on October 25, 2015. During a 5–3 road win against the Buffalo Beauts, Decker would score the first hat trick in league history. All three goals were scored against Beauts goaltender Brianne McLaughlin. Decker was awarded Most Valuable Player consecutively by the NWHL for her performance in the 2015–16 season and 2016–17 season.

Return to CWHL

On July 24, 2018, Decker and fellow Team USA gold medalist

Kacey Bellamy Kacey Lee Bellamy (born April 22, 1987) is a former American ice hockey defender for the Calgary section of the PWHPA, an Olympic Gold medalist, and seven-time IIHF World Women's Championship winner. She also played for the Boston Pride in ...

signed as free agents with the

. Decker would score the game-winning goal versus

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in the 2019 Clarkson Cup finals, with Bellamy gaining the assist. Of note, Decker would also be recognized as the MVP of the 2019 Clarkson Cup playoffs.

NHL

On January 25, 2019, Decker participated in the NHL All-Star Skills Competition, where she demonstrated the premier passing drill event. Her demo time of 1:06 was faster than all eight men who competed in the event. The $25,000 prize money went to

Leon Draisaitl Leon Tim Draisaitl (; born 27 October 1995) is a German professional ice hockey forward and alternate captain for the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League (NHL). In 2020, Draisaitl became the first German player to win the Art Ross Tro ...

, who finished at 1:09. Ice hockey equipment manufacturer CCM announced that it would pay Decker $25,000 for achieving the fastest time.

PWHPA

Decker participated in the #ForTheGame movement in connection with the PWHPA, beginning in May 2019. She played for Team Johnston in PWHPA's Dream Gap exhibition tour. Skating for Team New Hampshire during the 2020–21 PWHPA season, Decker participated in a PWHPA Dream Gap Tour event at New York's

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...

on February 28, 2021, the first women's ice hockey event at the venue. Playing for a team sponsored by the Women's Sports Foundation, Decker recorded two goals and two assists in a 4-3 win, earning the First Star of the Game.

Coaching career

In 2024, Decker joined the USA U18 women's team as an Assistant coach. She is also an Associate Head Coach for the Shattuck-St. Mary's Girls Prep team, where she previously played as a teenager.

Career statistics

NCAA

WCHA

CWHL

NWHL

Awards and honors

NCAA

*Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award winner (2012) *RBK Hockey/AHCA Division I second-team All-American (2010–11) *All-WCHA First Team (2010–11) *WCHA Final Face-off Most Valuable Player (2010–11) *All-WCHA Rookie Team (2009–10) *three-time WCHA Rookie of the Week (2009–10) *WCHA Preseason Rookie of the Year (2009–10) *Badgers Rookie of the Year (2009–10) * All-WCHA Academic Team (2010–11) *WCHA Rookie of the Week (Week of October 5, 2009) * 2012 Wisconsin Offensive Player of the Year Award

CWHL

*CWHL co-leader, Plus-Minus rating +25 (2014–15) *CWHL Scoring Leader among American-born players (2014–15) *2015 CWHL Rookie of the Year Award Winner * 2019 Clarkson Cup Playoff MVP

IIHF

*Inductee into the 2014 Winter Olympics for the US team

NWHL

*Isobel Cup Playoffs Most Valuable Player Award (2016) *NWHL Most Valuable Player Award (2016)

USA Hockey

Bob Allen Women's Player of the Year Award The Bob Allen Women's Player of the Year Award is given annually by USA Hockey to an outstanding American-born female ice hockey player. It was first presented in 1994. History In 2007, the name of the award was changed to honor the late Bob Alle ...

(2015, 2017)

References

External links

*
Brianna Decker
at

USA Hockey USA Hockey is a national ice hockey organization in the United States. It is recognized by the International Olympic Committee and the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee as the governing body for organized ice hockey in the United S ...

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Decker, Brianna 1991 births Living people American expatriate ice hockey players in Canada American women's ice hockey forwards Boston Blades players Boston Pride players Calgary Inferno players Clarkson Cup champions Ice hockey players from Wisconsin Ice hockey players at the 2014 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 2018 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 2022 Winter Olympics Isobel Cup champions Medalists at the 2014 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2018 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2022 Winter Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in ice hockey Olympic silver medalists for the United States in ice hockey Patty Kazmaier Award winners Sportspeople from Waukesha County, Wisconsin Wisconsin Badgers women's ice hockey players Professional Women's Hockey Players Association players 21st-century American sportswomen