Neal Broten
American hockey legend, Olympic gold medalist, and Stanley Cup champion.
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. He is the younger brother of Aaron Broten and older brother of Paul Broten.
Quick Facts
- Born
- 29 November 1959
- Birthplace
- Roseau, Minnesota, U.S.
- Position
- Center
- Shoots
- Left
- Played for
- Minnesota North Stars
- BSC Preussen
- Dallas Stars
- New Jersey Devils
- Los Angeles Kings
- Draft
- 42nd overall
- Drafted by
- Minnesota North Stars
Lore & Background
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). His 1978 achievement of four assists in a single period still stands as a Roseau Rams' record today. 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.
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. 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 select group of players to have 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).
Through 2025, Broten is one of two players to have won the Hobey Baker, Olympic gold, and Stanley Cup, alongside Chris Drury. Through 2025, Broten is one of several American players to have won both Olympic gold and the Stanley Cup, including Ken Morrow, Chris Drury, and others.
Reader's Guide
Broten was a 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. Broten became the first American to score a Cup-winning goal. Fellow Americans Brett Hull, Mike Rupp, Patrick Kane, Alec Martinez and Matthew Tkachuk have done it since.
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.
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