Brianna Decker is one of the most highly-decorated ice Hockey players of all-time. She is arguably the greatest female player in the history of the sport. Many onlookers believe her skills could've also matched up nicely against men's players as well. A competition during the 2019 NHL All-Star Game festivities helped illustrate this point.
More recently, Decker had been recovering from a particularly nasty set of injuries. Including a broken leg and torn ankle ligaments. Decker had been wanting to wait until after her recovery process was complete to make a major career decision.
Which it seems that she has done.
Announces the end of her playing career
Brianna Decker is retiring as a professional ice hockey player, indicates ESPN. "I felt like it was a good time to retire," Decker remarked. She also called hockey her "life's passion" and thanked her family, friends and teammates for their "unwavering support."
Decker now intends to pursue a career in coaching. She had already taken an assistant coaching position with Shattuck-Saint Mary's. A boarding school located in Faribault, Minnesota, near the Twin Cities. The school has famously trained several future professional and Olympic hockey players, including Decker.
Decker is a native of Dousman, Wisconsin, in the Milwaukee region.
She would play at the collegiate level for the Wisconsin Badgers, eventually becoming team captain. Decker helped the Badgers reach the Frozen Four twice. As well as notch two regular season championships and tournament championship of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association.
Decker's individual honors included being named a three-time All-American.
In 2012, she was the recipient of the Patty Kazmaier Award. Comparable to football's Heisman Trophy, it's awarded to the top female college ice hockey player in the United States.
Professionally, Decker would play in the Canadian Women's Hockey League and the National Women's Hockey League. In the CWHL, she won Clarkson Cup Championships with the Boston Blades and the Calgary Inferno.
In her first season, she was named the league's Rookie of the Year. She was voted as the Playoff MVP in 2019.
On the NWHL side, Decker was twice named the league's Most Valuable Player. In 2016, she was a member of the regular season and Isobel Cup Champion Boston Pride. For her part, she was again voted as the MVP of the playoffs. Decker also has the distinction of scoring the first hat trick in the league's history.
Won Olympic and World Championship gold medals
Brianna Decker was also a longtime member of the United States women's national ice hockey team. In 2009, she was a member of the world champion under-18 team. Shortly after, she joined the senior team. With whom she would win six world championship gold medals and two silver medals.
Decker played for Team USA during three editions of the Winter Olympics. In 2018, she was an alternate captain with the gold medal-winning team in South Korea. Decker and her teammates scored silver medals in her other trips. According to NBC, Decker hopes to one day coach an Olympic team.
