BRIANNA DECKER: \u2018The real reward\u2019<\/p>\n
Brianna Decker said she was humbled, overwhelmed with gratitude and still in disbelief. She thanked her fellow inductees, the selection committee and the Hockey Hall of Fame board of directors.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom the very beginning, I was surrounded by people who shaped me, not just as a player, but as a person,\u201d she said. \u201cEvery single teammate that I ever had has left a mark on me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Decker mentioned Amanda Kessel and twin sisters Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson and Monique Lamoureux-Morando, high school teammates at Shattuck-St. Mary\u2019s.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are some of the fiercest and most talented competitors I ever shared the ice with,\u201d she said. \u201cThat experience taught me about dedication, about setting standards for excellence that went far beyond the rink.\u201d<\/p>\n
She mentioned Hilary Knight, Meghan Duggan and Alex Cavallini, college teammates at the University of Wisconsin.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose years were transformative for me,\u201d Decker said. \u201cWe weren\u2019t just building a team, we were building a family and we pushed each other every single day. And it wasn\u2019t just the wins or the titles that made it special, it was the accountability and the trust that we had and the love that we had for one another.\u201d<\/p>\n
She mentioned Kacey Bellamy, Megan Bozek and Kendall Coyne Schofield, with whom she played for the United States.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey taught me how to be bold, they taught me how to lead and they taught me how to fight for something greater in life,\u201d she said. \u201cWhat stands out most when I look back at this is, these teammates, they didn\u2019t just make be a better player. Like I said, they made me a better person. They challenged me, they believed in me. We laughed, we cried. And they certainly helped shaped me.\u201d<\/p>\n
She thanked her coaches, especially Gordie Stafford in high school and Mark Johnson in college, and her family members, calling them her \u201cfirst team.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe early mornings, long drives, the emotional highs and lows, you were there for it all,\u201d she said. \u201cYou believed in me when I doubted myself, and your love gave me the foundation to chase my dreams without fear.\u201d<\/p>\n
Decker thanked USA Hockey, saying wearing the U.S. jersey was \u201cone of the proudest moments of her life,\u201d and she closed with an inspiring message.<\/p>\n
\u201cHockey has given me so much,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s given me lifelong friendships, unforgettable memories and now this incredible honor. I never played for the accolades, but this moment means the world to me, because it sure does represent all the people who supported me all the way.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo every young player out there dreaming of what is possible, know it\u2019s not about how many goals you score or how many games you win. It\u2019s about the people you meet, the relationships you build and the character you grow that truly is the real reward.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd finally, for every young girl out there, never let anyone tell you a woman can\u2019t be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.\u201d — Nicholas J. Cotsonika, columnist<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BRIANNA DECKER: \u2018The real reward\u2019 Brianna Decker said she was humbled, overwhelmed with gratitude and still in disbelief.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":284505,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[385,99],"class_list":["post-284504","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284504","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=284504"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284504\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/284505"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=284504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=284504"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=284504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}