Minnesota Hockey Ties Just Gave Wild Fans A Hall Of Fame Reason To Care

Despite its national scope, the 2026 U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame class is deeply rooted in Minnesota's rich hockey tradition.

USA Hockey’s Class of 2026 brings a heavy Minnesota flavor to the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame, with Amanda Kessel, Phil Kessel, T.J. Oshie, Ryan Suter and Stan Wong set to be inducted on Nov. 30 in Washington, D.C.

The ceremony will be held alongside the presentation of the NHL’s Lester Patrick Trophy, and the class becomes the 54th installed in the Hall. That pushes the total number of inductees to 220.

The U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Museum is in Eveleth, Minn.

USA Hockey president Mike Trimboli said, "You don't have to look far in our sport to find someone whose life was touched by one of these five," said Mike Trimboli, president of USA Hockey. "Their extraordinary contributions will be felt for generations to come, and it is with great pride that we welcome them among the all-time greats of the sport in our country."

Amanda Kessel’s résumé is loaded from top to bottom. A three-time Olympian, she helped the U.S. win its first women’s hockey gold medal since 1998 in 2018, scoring the deciding shootout goal against Canada in the gold-medal game.

She also earned silver at the 2014 and 2022 Olympics. In seven IIHF Women’s World Championships, she put up 59 points in 43 games and collected four gold medals and three silver medals.

Her college career at Minnesota was just as electric. Kessel won NCAA Division I national titles in 2012, 2013 and 2016, and in the 2012-13 season she piled up 101 points in 37 games, becoming only the fifth player ever to hit 100 points in a single NCAA Division I women’s hockey season.

She finished with 248 career points, third in Minnesota women’s hockey history, and won USA Hockey’s Bob Allen Women’s Player of the Year award in 2013. She now works as manager of minor league operations for the Pittsburgh Penguins and assistant general manager for the club’s AHL affiliate.

Oshie’s path to the Hall runs straight through Warroad, Minn., and through one of the most memorable Olympic moments of his era. At the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, he went four-for-six in shootout attempts against host Russia, including the clincher in a 3-2 preliminary-round win that earned him the nickname "T.J.

Sochi." He finished that tournament with four points in six games as the U.S. placed fourth.

Before his NHL career, Oshie played for the Sioux Falls Stampede in the USHL and spent three seasons at North Dakota, where he totaled 142 points and helped the Fighting Sioux reach three straight NCAA Men’s Frozen Four appearances. Drafted 24th overall by the St.

Louis Blues in 2005, he made his NHL debut on Oct. 10, 2008.

Across 1,010 regular-season games with the Blues and Capitals, he scored 695 points with 302 goals and 393 assists. Oshie also helped Washington win its first Stanley Cup in 2017-18, producing 21 points in 24 playoff games, and he represented Team USA at three IIHF Men’s World Championships, the 2006 IIHF World Junior Championship and the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.

Suter’s name has been attached to durability and heavy minutes for two decades. The Madison, Wis., native played 1,526 regular-season NHL games over 20 seasons, which ranks second all-time among American-born players.

He spent eight seasons with the Minnesota Wild, earned NHL First Team All-Star honors in his first year there and wore the alternate captain’s designation throughout his time in Minnesota. He helped the Wild make the playoffs six times, and he remains the NHL’s career leader in regular-season time on ice since the league started tracking that stat in 2005-06.

His career totals finished at 696 points, including 107 goals and 589 assists, and he helped his teams reach the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 16 of his 20 seasons. On the international stage, Suter won silver with the U.S. at the 2010 Olympics and gold at the 2004 IIHF World Junior Championship, the country’s first title in that event. He also appeared in five IIHF Men’s World Championships and was part of the 2016 World Cup of Hockey team.

Phil Kessel and Stan Wong round out the 2026 class.

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