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. He is the older brother of Aaron and Paul Broten.

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). 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 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.

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. He was traded to New Jersey before the end of the season. 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.

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 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.

In popular culture 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.

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 AHCA West All-American 1980–81

NCAA Championship - Minnesota Golden Gophers (1979) WCHA Rookie of the Year (1979) Gold Medal XIII Olympic Winter Games, Lake Placid (1980) Hobey Baker Memorial Award (1981) NHL All Star (1983, 1986) Stanley Cup champion - New Jersey Devils (1995) Lester Patrick Trophy (1998) US Hockey Hall of Fame (2000) Broten's jersey number (7) was retired by the Dallas Stars (February 7, 1998). Voted by Minnesota Wild fans as the greatest hockey player ever from Minnesota (2009).

Transactions Drafted: Minnesota North Stars, 2nd Round (42 overall), 1979 NHL entry draft. Pick was obtained by the North Stars in a draft-day trade that sent Dave Semenko from the North Stars to the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for 2nd and 3rd round draft picks. Traded to the New Jersey Devils for Corey Millen, 2/27/95 Traded from New Jersey Devils to Los Angeles Kings for future considerations, 11/22/96 Claimed on waivers by Dallas from Los Angeles, 1/28/97

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs 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 University of Minnesota WCHA 40 21 50 71 18 — — — — — 1979–80 United States National Team Intl 55 25 30 55 20 — — — — — 1980–81 University of Minnesota 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 GER 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 0NHL totals 1,099 289 634 923 569 135 35 63 98 77

International