BOSTON — It was only fitting that the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame held its induction ceremonies in New England last week, since five of its six honorees hailed from or had ties to the region.
The American hockey legends celebrated by the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in the Class of 2023 included five newly inducted Hall of Famers — Dustin Brown, Brian Burke, Katie King Crowley (Salem, N.H.), Jamie Langenbrunner and Brian Murphy (Dover, N.H.) — and the NHL’s Lester Patrick Trophy recipient, Joe Bertagna (Arlington, Mass.).
“Growing up I wanted to be Cam Neely,” said Crowley, one of the greatest U.S. women’s Olympians of all time who's now the Boston College women’s head coach. “I was a Bruins fan through and through, so I was watching the Bruins all the time, no matter what. We still do. … We thought we were one of them when we were playing in the basement or in the driveway.”
Hockey means that much to New Englanders. It’s more than just a sport.
Among the five Hall of Famers, Crowley’s local connections run deepest.
She has represented New Hampshire as a female hockey pioneer dating back to her days as a member of the first-ever U.S. Olympic Team in women’s hockey that won gold in 1998, taking the ice at a time when girls and women often had to play on boys’ teams. She was no different, following in the footsteps of her older brother.
“There was no girls’ (team) in Salem,” Crowley said. “There were a few other girls that played around the same age. I remember my dad taking me to a Northeastern women’s hockey game when I was 13, 14, 15 years old, and that’s when I started to see it. Then, I got invited to a USA camp where I saw now-teammates of mine like Cammi (Granato) and Karyn Bye playing.”
Ultimately a three-time Olympic medalist and nine-year member of the national team, Crowley transitioned from the ice to behind the bench and has enjoyed an equally successful career coaching that continues to this day at BC, where she has amassed a program-record 383 victories and led teams to six Frozen Four berths in her 17-plus years.
Simply, Crowley is proud to have played a major role in and had a great seat to watch the growth of the women’s game, which has gained even more recent attention with the upcoming launch of the Professional Women’s Hockey League.
“I think it’s awesome,” she said. “I feel like it jumps to where you have more girls playing every four years, but hopefully now it’ll be on a more consistent basis and continue to grow that much more. … (Women’s hockey has) changed a lot, grown tremendously in the last 15-20 years.”
Murphy has had a different view of the game locally and beyond as one of only two Americans all-time to officiate over 2,000 NHL games, including the 2010 NHL Winter Classic at Fenway Park. Though his career — which also included nine Stanley Cups, two World Cups and the 2010 Winter Olympics — reached the highest of highs, it began covering New Hampshire youth, adult and high school games before he joined Hockey East.
Like every other New Englander, the University of New Hampshire graduate had hopes and dreams of becoming a player, but it all turned into a career focused on developing the next generation of officials.
“The person you’re working with on the ice can teach you more than anybody else, so to me that’s what it’s about,” Murphy said. “It’s what made me successful, and it’s also one of the things I took the most pride in.”
Murphy’s career has come full circle, as he’s now doing that in his fourth year as Hockey East’s supervisor of men’s officials.
“Nobody grows up wanting to be an official … but I realized my playing career was over and got into it,” Murphy said. “My high school coach, Dan Raposa, was a Hockey East referee, and all I wanted to do was officiate college hockey. … I think kids should enjoy the game, and when the time comes, try some of this because the game needs to be serviced. Nobody realizes officiating is important until there’s a problem.”
In the front office, Burke’s distinguished career has been multi-faceted and touched various levels of the game from the NHL to the international and women’s games, highlighted by leading the Anaheim Ducks to their first-ever Stanley Cup in 2007.
He also served as general manager for the 2010 U.S. Olympic squad that won a silver medal, including a pair of fellow inductees in Los Angeles King legend Brown and Langenbrunner — the latter whose post-playing career has been spent in the Boston Bruins organization.
Burke — who was born in Providence, R.I., and raised in Edina, Minn., where he didn’t begin playing organized hockey until he was 13 — has the fondest memories playing for the legendary Lou Lamoriello at Providence College and serving as the Friars’ captain as a senior. He also played a year professionally for the AHL’s Maine Mariners and had a year-long general managing stop with the Hartford Whalers.
“There were always people supporting and helping me. That’s what I remember most, especially playing for Lou for four years. He was a great coach and a great mentor,” Burke said. “... I’ve been fortunate, I’ve had great bosses.”
Receiving the Lester Patrick Trophy for outstanding service to hockey in the United States is an incredible career culmination for Bertagna, another New England lifer whose career includes being the longest-serving commissioner in college hockey history for both ECAC Hockey and Hockey East, and 50 years as a coach and goaltending instructor at multiple levels.
Bertagna is in rare company as a winner of the NHL-sponsored award despite having made his biggest mark at the college level. No matter where he was working, he has always found importance in serving the game as a whole.
“What I’ve done in hockey doesn’t lend itself to stats, so I don’t have any gaudy single accomplishment between the variety of things I’ve been able to do,” Bertagna said. “I used to think a lot of times that I would wake up and go to work for hockey. … I’d look at a week’s schedule and it was going to speak at a high school dinner here, work with a goalie over here, have a conference call with the (American Hockey Coaches Association) here, and then I’m going to have my many hours for whatever league I was working for.”
Whether they hail from the region or not, all of this year's honorees have a new New England bond holding them together in hockey history.
