Neal Broten

Neal LaMoy Broten (born November 29, 1959) is an American former professional ice hockey player. A member of the 1980 US Olympic hockey team that won the gold medal at Lake Placid in 1980, Broten was inducted into the US Hockey Hall of Fame in 2000 having appeared in 1,099 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season games from 1981 to 1997 with the Minnesota North Stars, Dallas Stars, New Jersey Devils and Los Angeles Kings.[1] He is the older brother of Aaron and Paul Broten.

Neal Broten
Born (1959-11-29) November 29, 1959
Roseau, Minnesota, U.S.
Height 5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
Weight 185 lb (84 kg; 13 st 3 lb)
Position Center
Shot Left
Played for Minnesota North Stars
BSC Preussen
Dallas Stars
New Jersey Devils
Los Angeles Kings
National team  United States
NHL Draft 42nd overall, 1979
Minnesota North Stars
Playing career 1980–1997

Early career

Broten, like his two brothers, attended Roseau High School, a perennial hockey contender in the state of Minnesota, where he appeared with the Rams in the state tournament in three consecutive years (1977–79).[2] His 1978 achievement of four assists in a single period still stands as a Roseau Rams' record today.[3]

As a college freshman playing for Herb Brooks and the Minnesota Golden Gophers, Broten scored 21 goals, had 50 assists, and was named WCHA Rookie of the Year [1] His final goal of that season was the game winner that clinched the 1979 NCAA Championship in which the Gophers defeated the University of North Dakota by a score of 4–3.[1] Broten would later win the inaugural Hobey Baker award in 1981, which honors the US collegiate hockey's best player.

Broten is one of a few players to have played on teams that won the NCAA hockey championship (University of Minnesota in 1979), the Olympic Gold Medal (Team USA, 1980), and the Stanley Cup (New Jersey Devils, 1995). He is the only player to have won the Hobey Baker, the Olympic Gold Medal and the Stanley Cup. In addition Neal Broten and Ed Belfour are the only players to have won an NCAA championship, an Olympic Gold medal and the Stanley Cup.

NHL/International career
Neal Broten
Medal record
Men's ice hockey
Representing the  United States
1980 Lake PlacidTeam

Broten was member of the United States Olympic team that won a gold medal at the 1980 Winter Olympics in an event known as the Miracle on Ice. He was also a member of Team USA at the 1981 Canada Cup and 1984 Canada Cup tournaments as well as the 1990 Ice Hockey World Championship.

Broten played 17 seasons in the National Hockey League. Highlights of his long NHL career include the first American to score more than 100 points in a single season (1985–86) as well as two NHL All-Star Game appearances in 1983 and 1986.

He won a Stanley Cup with the New Jersey Devils in 1995, scoring the game-winning goal in Game Four against the Detroit Red Wings to clinch the title. Coincidentally, his 1980 Soviet counterpart Viacheslav Fetisov was on the ice for the heavily favored Red Wings when Broten scored the clincher.[4] Broten became the first American to score a Cup-winning goal. Fellow Americans Brett Hull, Mike Rupp, Patrick Kane, and Alec Martinez have done it since.

Broten served as the captain of the Dallas Stars for two months during the lockout-shortened 1994–95 NHL season after the trade of previous captain Mark Tinordi, serving as captain for a month prior to his trade to New Jersey. He had previously served as an alternate captain on a number of occasions.

During the 1982–83 NHL season, Broten participated in a rare fight against Wayne Gretzky. It was one of only a handful of fights during both his and Gretzky's careers. Broten later recalled how he and his teammates would later have to deal with Gretzky's enforcers, Marty McSorley and Dave Semenko.[5]

Broten initially refused to play for the North Stars in 1991–92 due to a contract dispute, instead playing in Germany for BSC Preussen Berlin where he filled in for his former U.S. Olympic teammate Dave Silk who was on temporary leave in the U.S. with his pregnant wife.

Post career
Broten in 2008 (second from right)

Broten briefly came out of retirement in 1999 to once again play for the US national team in the 1999 Ice Hockey World Championship qualifying tournament (the U.S. team featuring several NHL players had surprisingly finished among the bottom four in the previous 1998 world championship tournament) when no active NHL players were available. He scored six points in three games as the U.S. won the tournament, before retiring from hockey for good. He lives in River Falls, WI. In 2014, Broten's nephew, Shane Gersich, was drafted by the Washington Capitals.

Broten is not featured in the 1981 TV movie about the 1980 U.S. hockey team called Miracle on Ice except in archival footage of the gold medal ceremony.

In the 2004 Disney movie Miracle, he is portrayed by Trevor Alto. Alto played college hockey for the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds.[6]

In the 2008 documentary, Pond Hockey, he reflects on his youth growing up playing hockey in his hometown of Roseau, MN.

Awards and honors
Award Year
All-WCHA First Team 1980–81 [7]
AHCA West All-American 1980–81 [8]

Transactions

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs
Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1977–78 Roseau High School HS-MN 26 43 77 120
1978–79 Minnesota Golden Gophers WCHA 40 21 50 71 18 — — — — —
1979–80 United States Intl 55 25 30 55 20 — — — — —
1980–81 Minnesota Golden Gophers WCHA 36 17 54 71 56 — — — — —
1980–81 Minnesota North Stars NHL 3 2 0 2 12 19 1 7 8 9
1981–82 Minnesota North Stars NHL 73 38 60 98 42 4 0 2 2 0
1982–83 Minnesota North Stars NHL 79 32 45 77 43 9 1 6 7 10
1983–84 Minnesota North Stars NHL 76 28 61 89 43 16 5 5 10 4
1984–85 Minnesota North Stars NHL 80 19 37 56 39 9 2 5 7 10
1985–86 Minnesota North Stars NHL 80 29 76 105 47 5 3 2 5 2
1986–87 Minnesota North Stars NHL 46 18 35 53 33 — — — — —
1987–88 Minnesota North Stars NHL 54 9 30 39 32 — — — — —
1988–89 Minnesota North Stars NHL 68 18 38 56 57 5 2 2 4 4
1989–90 Minnesota North Stars NHL 80 23 62 85 45 7 2 2 4 18
1990–91 Minnesota North Stars NHL 79 13 56 69 26 23 9 13 22 6
1991–92 BSC Preussen 1.GBun 8 3 5 8 2 — — — — —
1991–92 Minnesota North Stars NHL 76 8 26 34 16 7 1 5 6 2
1992–93 Minnesota North Stars NHL 82 12 21 33 22 — — — — —
1993–94 Dallas Stars NHL 79 17 35 52 62 9 2 1 3 6
1994–95 Dallas Stars NHL 17 0 4 4 4 — — — — —
1994–95 New Jersey Devils NHL 30 8 20 28 20 20 7 12 19 6
1995–96 New Jersey Devils NHL 55 7 16 23 14 — — — — —
1996–97 New Jersey Devils NHL 3 0 1 1 0 — — — — —
1996–97 Los Angeles Kings NHL 19 0 4 4 0 — — — — —
1996–97 Phoenix Roadrunners IHL 11 3 3 6 4 — — — — —
1996–97 Dallas Stars NHL 20 8 7 15 12 2 0 1 1 0
NHL totals 1099 289 634 923 569 135 35 63 98 77

International
Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM
1979 United States WJC 5 2 4 6 10
1980 United States OG 7 2 1 3 2
1981 United States CC 6 3 2 5 0
1984 United States CC 6 3 1 4 4
1990 United States WC 8 1 5 6 4
Junior totals 5 2 4 6 10
Senior totals 27 9 9 18 10
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See also

References
  1. "USA Hockey". USA Hockey. Archived from the original on November 17, 2012. Retrieved October 2, 2012.
  2. "2010-2011 Roseau Rams Hockey - History". Roseauramshockey.com. Archived from the original on September 15, 2012. Retrieved October 2, 2012.
  3. "Neal Broten". Vintageminnesotahockey.com. Retrieved October 2, 2012.
  4. Michael Farber (July 3, 1995). "The surprising Devils crushed the favored Red Wings four - 07.03.95 - SI Vault". Sportsillustrated.cnn.com. Retrieved October 2, 2012.
  5. "Wayne Gretzky vs. Neal Broten | Off Wing Opinion". Ericmcerlain.com. January 17, 2007. Archived from the original on May 14, 2009. Retrieved October 2, 2012.
  6. Trevor Alto biography at the Internet Movie Database
  7. "WCHA All-Teams". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  8. "Men's Ice Hockey Award Winners" (PDF). NCAA.org. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
  9. "Wild hockey fans pick greatest high school team, player | Minnesota Public Radio News". Minnesota.priprod.publicradio.org. April 10, 2009. Archived from the original on April 15, 2013. Retrieved October 2, 2012.
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Mark Tinordi		 Dallas Stars captain
January–February 1995		 Succeeded by
Derian Hatcher
Awards and achievements
Preceded by
None		 Winner of the Hobey Baker Award
1980–81		 Succeeded by
George McPhee
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