Phil, Amanda Kessel, Oshie among 5 elected to U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame

Phil Kessel, a three-time Stanley Cup winner and the NHL consecutive games played record holder, and his sister Amanda Kessel, an Olympic gold medalist and four-time IIHF Women's World Championship gold medalist, headline a group of five elected to the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Class of 2026, USA Hockey announced Thursday.

T.J. Oshie, a 2018 Stanley Cup champion with the Washington Capitals and the shootout star of the 2014 Sochi Olympics, Ryan Suter, whose 1,526 regular-season games are second-most in NHL history by a United States-born defenseman, and longtime USA Hockey athletic trainer Stan Wong will also be inducted at the dinner and ceremony in Washington on Nov. 30.

"You don't have to look far in our sport to find someone whose life was touched by one of these five," USA Hockey president Mike Trimboli said. "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."

The Kessels, each natives of Madison, Wisconsin, will be the second sister-brother pair inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame, joining Cammi Granato, who became the first woman inducted in 2008, and Tony Granato, who was inducted in 2020.

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A high-scoring forward, Phil Kessel played one season at the University of Minnesota, where as a freshman in 2005-06 he had 51 points (18 goals, 33 assists) in 39 games before being selected by the Boston Bruins with the No. 5 pick in the 2006 NHL Draft and turning pro.

The 38-year-old had 992 points (413 goals, 579 assists) in 1,286 regular-season games and 83 points (34 goals, 49 assists) in 100 Stanley Cup Playoff games during his 17 NHL seasons with the Bruins (2006-09), Toronto Maple Leafs (2009-15), Penguins (2015-19), Arizona Coyotes (2019-22) and Vegas Golden Knights (2022-23).

"Obviously, this is a great honor," Phil Kessel said. "I loved playing for USA Hockey over the years, enjoyed my time, enjoyed all the friends I made. It was always a great honor to play for the team, and I'm just happy to be inducted. This is a great class. Obviously, I'm excited to go in with my sister. She was a great player."

He had 29 points (11 goals, 18 assists) in 70 games in 2006-07 and became the first rookie to win the Masterton Trophy for perseverance and dedication to hockey after being diagnosed with testicular cancer in December 2006.

Kessel went onto become one of the most durable players in the NHL, playing in a League-record 1,064 consecutive regular-season games from Nov. 3, 2009, through the end of his career. He played in his 990th consecutive game to surpass Keith Yandle's previous NHL record (989) on Oct. 25, 2022, with Vegas against the San Jose Sharks.

"We were competitive from a young age, obviously, and I think that kind of pushed us along," Kessel said of he and Amanda. "Me, my sister, my brother (Blake), who was a great player, an all-American (at the University of New Hampshire), also. We were competitive, and I think when you grow up in a competitive household, and in no matter what we played, whatever kind of games we played, it was always who wanted to win and a battle."

Teaming with Carl Hagelin and Nick Bonino on the "HBK Line", Kessel led the Penguins with 10 goals and 22 points in 24 playoff games to help them win the Stanley Cup in 2016. He had 23 points (eight goals, 15 assists) in 25 playoff games when Pittsburgh repeated as Stanley Cup champion in 2017. He ended his NHL career with two assists in four playoff games when Vegas won the Stanley Cup in 2023.

Kessel represented the U.S. twice at the IIHF Under-18 World Championship (2004, 2005), twice at the IIHF World Junior Championship (2005, 2006), three times at the IIHF World Championship (2006, 2007, 2008) and twice at the Olympics (2010, 2014). After winning a silver medal in at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, he was voted the best forward at the 2014 Olympics, where he led the U.S. with five goals and eight points in six games.

Also a high-scoring forward, Amanda Kessel starred at the University of Minnesota, where she won three NCAA championships (2012, 2013, 2016) and had 248 points (108 goals, 140 assists) in 126 games. As a junior in 2012-13, she won the Patty Kazmaier Award as the top player in NCAA Division I women's hockey after leading the NCAA with 101 points (46 goals, 55 assists) in 37 games. 

Kessel missed nearly two years following the 2014 Olympics because of concussion symptoms before returning to help Minnesota win the 2016 NCAA championship with 17 points (11 goals, six assists) in 13 games.

"Obviously, this is a tremendous honor and not one that I really thought of during my playing career," she said. "It's something that was unexpected ... it really hasn't sunk in just because this is what I did my whole life. We didn't really have a steady professional women's hockey league at the time, so USA Hockey really was everything for the women's game, and the world   championships, the camps, all of that, that was our Stanley Cup. So, it's quite an honor."

She represented the United States three times at the Olympics, winning a gold medal in 2018 and silver in 2014 and 2022. She played in the IIHF Women's World Championship seven times, winning gold in 2013, 2017, 2019 and 2023 and silver in 2012, 2021 and 2022. The 35-year-old played professionally for two seasons with the New York/Metropolitan Riveters of the National Women's Hockey League (2016-17, 2018-19) and in Professional Women's Hockey Players' Association events from 2019-23.

Following her playing career, Kessel moved into management with the Pittsburgh Penguins and she currently serves as the organization's manager of minor league operations and assistant general manager of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League.

"It's, obviously, really special to go in with my brother, who's helped me a ton throughout my career, and I couldn't be more proud of him as well," Kessel said.

Oshie, a native of Everett, Washington, will join his second-cousin, Henry Boucha, a 1995 inductee, in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame. Boucha convinced Oshie's father, Tim, to move him to Warroad, Minnesota as a high school sophomore in 2002, so he would have a better chance of advancing as a hockey player.

Oshie starred at Warroad High School for three seasons, helping it win the Minnesota State Class A championship in 2003 and 2005, before the St. Louis Blues selected the skilled forward with the No. 24 pick in the 2005 NHL Draft. Oshie played three seasons at the University of North Dakota, putting up 142 points (59 goals, 83 assists) in 128 games, before turning pro with the Blues in 2008.

The 39-year-old had 695 points (302 goals, 393 assists) in 1,010 NHL regular-season games and 69 points (34 goals, 35 assists) in 106 playoff games during 16 seasons with the Blues (2008-15) and Capitals (2015-24) before he stopped playing because of a chronic back injury. He had 21 points (eight goals, 13 assists) in 24 playoff games when Washington won the Stanley Cup in 2018.

"Being inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame definitely was not something that I really ever thought was a possibility," Oshie said. "I felt like more about myself as more of a role guy and, especially on the USA hockey teams, I just wanted to bring some energy, get some hits, and score in the shootout if I was called upon. So, it was a pretty big surprise when I got the call, and I just feel incredibly blessed, not only for myself, but just my family. I know it was really important for them for me to wear the USA jersey."

Oshie already was well-known by then for scoring four times on six shootout attempts in a 3-2 win against Russia in a preliminary round game at the 2014 Olympics. He also represented the U.S. at the 2006 World Junior Championship, twice at the World Championship (2009, 2010) and at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.

Suter also has family connections in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame. His late father, Bob Suter, was inducted as part of the gold-medal winning 1980 men's Olympic team in 2003, and his uncle, Gary Suter, was inducted in 2011.

A defenseman like his father and uncle, Suter followed in their footsteps by playing at the University of Wisconsin in 2003-04 before turning pro. Selected by the Nashville Predators with the No. 7 pick in the 2003 NHL Draft, the Madison, Wisconsin, native had 696 points (107 goals, 589 assists) in 1,526 regular-season games and 45 points (seven goals, 38 assists) in 138 playoff games during his 20 seasons in the League with the Predators (2005-12), Minnesota Wild (2012-21), Dallas Stars (2021-24) and Blues (2024-25).

"The experience that USA Hockey provided us, getting to see the world, getting to represent our country, there's obviously no greater feeling and honor to wear the flag on your sweater," Suter said. "And I'm just very fortunate to be a part of this. My dad's a member, my uncle's a member, and obviously just very honored to be part of this Hall of Fame class."

Only Chris Chelios (1,651) played in more NHL regular-season games among U.S.-born defensemen.

Internationally, Suter was part of the first U.S. team to win the gold medal at the 2004 World Junior Championship and won a silver medal at the 2010 Olympics. He played for the U.S. twice at the Under-18 World Championship (2002, 2003), three times at the World Junior Championship (2003, 2004, 2005), five times at the World Championship (2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2019), twice at the Olympics (2010, 2014) and at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.

Wong, of Boca Raton, Florida, worked in the NHL as the head athletic trainer for the Capitals (1986-99) and Florida Panthers (1999-2002) before becoming a fixture with USA Hockey at international competitions. Including 2026, the 68-year-old served as athletic trainer at the World Junior Championship 24 times, where the U.S. won the gold medal six times (2004, 2010, 2013, 2017, 2021, 2024), one silver medal (2019) and five bronze medals (2007, 2011, 2016, 2018, 2023).

The 2020 recipient of USA Hockey's Bob Johnson Award for excellence in international competition, Wong was as an athletic trainer at the Olympics five times (2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022), helping the U.S. win a silver medal in 2010. He also worked the past 19 World Championship (2007-26), where the U.S. won a total of five medals (gold in 2025, bronze in 2013, 2015, 2018, 2021).

Wong received the Dr. Alan Ashare Excellence in Safety Award, for positively impacting the safety of the game and going above and beyond to make hockey a safer game for all participants, at the USA Hockey President's Dinner on June 5 in Denver.

"I am so honored and so humbled by this selection," Wong said. "It's beyond words. To mildly put it, USA Hockey has been my lifeblood for the last 25 years, and it's given me so much. It's kept me in the sport that I love, it really has, and it's let me meet such tremendous people, and that's how I really gauge everything, off of the people I've met, the players, coaches, support staff, physicians, behind the scenes, the PR, everybody. I love people, and I love meeting new people, and USA Hockey has given me that opportunity, so I am forever grateful for that."