In May, the Minnesota Frost of the PWHL notched their second consecutive league championship. Furthermore, they managed to accumulate one million fans total during the season.
Now, the Frost is going all out with the hiring of a soon-to-be Hall of Famer as a coach. On Monday, the Frost officially announced eventual Hall of Fame player Brianna Decker as an assistant coach, per Michael Russo of The Athletic.
This November, Decker will be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. She will join alongside Joe Thornton, Duncan Keith, Jennifer Botterill, Alexander Mogilny, and Zdeno Chara.
Decker has a decorated hockey career. In college, Decker helped lead the Wisconsin Badgers to an NCAA championship.
Altogether, she accumulated 244 points (115 goals), the second most in program history. In 2012, Decker won the Patty Kazmaier Award as the top women's hockey player.
Also, she helped lead the U.S. women's hockey team to an Olympic gold medal in 2018. For Team USA, Decker notched 170 points (81 goals).
In 2022, Decker suffered a career-ending injury at the Beijing Olympics. Ultimately, she had a broken fibula and torn ankle ligaments, leading her to retire in March 2023.
Recently, she took up coaching with the U.S. U-18 Women's National Team.
The Frost are the premier franchise in the PWHL
Decker is joining a team that has set the tone for success in the early years of the PWHL. During the inaugural season of 2023-2024, the then PWHL won the first ever Walter Cup in a five game series over Boston.
Now with a second straight title, the Frost are poised to go for an unprecedented third straight title in the third year of the league.
It also helps that they are playing in a state where hockey is a focal point of their sporting culture. Furthermore, the Frost play at Xcel Energy Center, home of the NHL's Minnesota Wild.
