A pair of former men’s college stars are among those set to be inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame.
Tony Amonte, who put up 126 points in two seasons at Boston University, and former Vermont standout John LeClair were among four individuals announced Monday as part of the Class of 2009.
The 1998 U.S. women’s Olympic team, goaltender Tom Barrasso and inventor Frank Zamboni round out the group.
Before registering 900 points in a five-team, 15-year NHL career, Amonte made his mark on the Terriers. He scored 56 goals in 79 games played from 1989 to 1991.
LeClair became the first American-born player to record three consecutive 50-goal seasons in the NHL. He won the Stanley Cup with Montreal in 1993 as part of a 16-year NHL career.
The Vermont native played four seasons for the Catamounts, amassing 56 goals and 116 points in 92 games from 1987 to 1991.
The groundbreaking women’s Olympic team joins the Hall, which already featured the gold medal-winning men’s Olympic teams from 1960 (inducted in 2000) and 1980 (inducted in 2003).
All 20 players from the Ben Smith-coached 1998 team played collegiately. They are: goaltenders Sara DeCosta (Providence) and Sarah Tueting (Dartmouth); defenders Tara Mounsey (Brown), Angela Ruggiero (Harvard), Colleen Coyne (New Hampshire), Sue Merz (New Hampshire), Vicki Movsessian (Providence) and Chris Bailey (Providence); and forwards Lisa Brown-Miller (Providence), Karyn Bye (New Hampshire), Laurie Baker (Providence), Sandra Whyte (Harvard), A.J. Mleczko (Harvard), Jenny Schmidgall (Minnesota-Duluth), Shelley Looney (Northeastern), Alana Blahoski (Providence), Katie King (Brown), Cammi Granato (Providence), Gretchen Ulion (Dartmouth) and Tricia Dunn (New Hampshire).
Granato was inducted into the Hall as an individual last year, becoming the first woman among the honored group.
The date and location of the induction ceremony will be announced by USA Hockey in August.
