American forward Brianna Decker, a six-time World Champion, Olympic Gold Medalist, NCAA champion and unofficial member of the women’s Triple Gold Club with two Clarkson Cups and an Isobel Cup, today announced her retirement from hockey at the age of 31, moving into a full-time coaching capacity.

A Wisconsin native, Decker debuted with the Univeristy of Wisconsin Badgers in 2009, winning a national title in 2011 and the Patty Kazmaier Award in 2012 as the top women’s collegiate player. Following graduation, Decker ping-ponged between the CWHL and NWHL, winning the Clarkson Cup in 2015 with the Boston Blades before heading across town to join the NWHL’s Boston Blades the following year. Decker would win the Isobel Cup in 2016 in her first of two seasons with the Blades, returning to the CWHL the following year with the Calgary Inferno, capturing what would end up being the final Clarkson Cup. Following the CWHL’s closure in 2019, Decker became a founding member of the PWHPA, spending her final two pro seasons with the Calgary franchise.

Debuting for the senior national team in 2010 at the Four Nations Cup, Decker made her World Championship debut in 2011, her first of eight appearances, of which she won a staggering six World titles (2011, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019), part of the U.S.’s five consecutive title run between 2013-19, also capturing Silver in 2012 and 2021. Decker would also capture another six Four Nations Cups (2011, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018), but her career highlight came at the 2018 PyeongChang Games, capturing the first American Gold medal in twenty years. Decker would win Silver at the 2014 and 2022 Olympics, the latter appearance cut short to a single game after a knee injury, in what would end up being her final international game.

Decker was a thirteen-time IHLC champion over the course of her career, winning first at the 2010 Four Nations Cup, with her final coming over a decade later at the 2021-22 Rivalry Series. We wish Brianna and her family the very best for her retirement and the things to come!

Photo Credit: IIHF – HHOF – IOC