This week, the United States Hockey Hall of Fame announced its five-person Class of 2026, which will consist of Amanda Kessel, Phil Kessel, T.J. Oshie, Ryan Suter, and Stan Wong.

Let’s take a look at the Class of 2026:

Amanda Kessel, Forward:  From Madison, Wisconsin, Kessel played collegiately for the University of Minnesota, where the forward helped the Golden Gophers win three NCAA Championships (2012, 2013 & 2016), while individually winning the 2013 Patty Kazmaier Award.  Overall in college, she scored a staggering 248 points in 136 games.

Internationally, Kessel was a gem, winning gold in the 2018 Olympics and gold in the 2013, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2023 World Championships.  She also played in NWHL, PWHPA, and PWHL, and she is currently the manager of minor league operations for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Phil Kessel, Forward:  Like his sister, Amanda, Phil also played at the University of Minnesota, though for only one year; he shone brightly, winning the WCHA Rookie of the Year.  He was drafted fifth overall by the Boston Bruins, where he won the Bill Masterton Trophy as a rookie after recovering from testicular cancer.  Kessel later played for the Toronto Maple Leafs, but he won two Stanley Cups with the Pittsburgh Penguins later in his career. The three-time All-Star later played for Arizona and Vegas, where he concluded his career with the Vegas Golden Knights and won his third Stanley Cup.

Over his career, Kessel scored 992 points and set the record for 1,064 consecutive games played. Internationally, Kessel represented the United States in two Olympics (2010 & 2014) and three World Championships, and captured silver in the 2010 Vancouver Games.  The induction of the Kessel siblings marks the second set, following the Granatos (Tony and Cammi).

T.J. Oshie, Forward: From Everett, Washington, Oshie had three great seasons at the University of North Dakota, followed by a 16-season NHL career split between the St. Louis Blues and Washington Capitals.  Scoring 695 points, Oshie helped the Washington Capitals win their first Stanley Cup in 2018.

For Team U.S.A., he represented the Americans in one Olympics, one World Cup, and three World Championships.

Ryan Suter, Defense: The son of U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame inductee Bob Suter, and nephew of fellow HOF inductee Gary Suter, Ryan Suter played 20 seasons in the NHL with stops in Nashville, Minnesota, Dallas and St. Louis.   A three-time All-Star, Suter received Norris Trophy votes annually from 2010 to 2019, peaking with a runner-up finish in the 2012-13 campaign.  He scored 696 points over 1,526 games.

Internationally, he was a member of the 2010 Olympic silver-medal-winning team, and he also played on the 2014 Olympic team, the 2016 World Cup team, and five World Hockey Championships teams.

Stan Wong, Athletic Trainer: Wong has been a trainer for 40 years, 24 of which were with the U.S. National Team.

We here at notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate the members of the United States Hockey Hall of Fame.

From Madison, Wisconsin, Phil Kessel had a very successful career in the NHL, where he became the league’s “Iron Man”, setting a record for consecutive games played with 1,064.  As impressive as that accomplishment is, the other former players who had achieved that record over the previous decades were not the scorer that Kessel was.

Kessel was the 2006 WCHA Rookie of the Year in his lone year at the University of Minnesota, and the Boston Bruins were impressed enough to draft him with the fifth pick of that year’s draft.  The Right Wing made the team quickly, but suffered a setback immediately when he was diagnosed with testicular cancer.   He would beat it, and as a rookie, he won the Bill Masterton Trophy.  Kessel played two more years in Boston and was a player on the rise, but that would take place elsewhere.  The Toronto Maple Leafs traded two first-round and one second-round pick for Kessel before the 2009-10 Season began.

Kessel was a top scorer in Toronto, going to three All-Star Games and posting four 30-Goal seasons.  Despite this, the Leaf fans turned on Kessel due to a perceived bad attitude and poor diet.  In the hockey-mad city of Toronto, Kessel became the scapegoat for the Leafs' failures.  He was traded to Pittsburgh in 2015 and played a significant role in the Penguins' back-to-back Stanley Cup titles in 2016 and 2017, and in the latter win, he mocked his own poor diet by filling the Cup with hot dogs, which he then proceeded to eat.  He would later have his best season in hockey, posting a career-best 92 Points in 2017-18, and in 2018-19, he led the NHL in Game-Winning Goals with 10.

He continued to play a few more seasons, but his skills began to decline.  In his final NHL campaign, Kessel won his third Stanley Cup as a member of the Vegas Golden Knights.

Although he was a proven scorer with the Maple Leafs, he was not a fan-favorite in Toronto. As the Leafs were looking to rebuild anyway, Kessel was shopped around in the summer of 2015.  They found a taker in Pittsburgh, and it turned out to be one of the smartest transactions that the Penguins ever made.