By Thomas Fee

Former Providence College player, coach and athletic director and current New Jersey Devils President, CEO and General Manager Lou Lamoriello was announced today as one of the three United States Hockey Hall of Fame inductees. Mike Modano, the NHL’s all-time goal-scoring and points leader among American-born players and Eddie Olczyk, the well known NBC Sports Commentator and nine-time member of Team USA will be inducted as well.

Lamoriello – one of the most important figures in shaping modern-day college hockey – starred in both baseball and hockey at Providence College and served as captain for both teams his senior season in 1963. He became head coach of the Friars in 1968 and served in this position until 1983, when he became the school’s athletic director.

Perhaps Lamoriello’s biggest contribution to the world of college hockey came in 1983, when he joined athletic directors from Boston University, Boston College, Northeastern and New Hampshire to form the Hockey East Association. He served as the conference’s first commissioner starting in 1984 along with his A.D. role at Providence. In 1987 he resigned to take the job as president of the New Jersey Devils. The Hockey East Executive Committee voted in 1988 to name the championship trophy of the league after Lamoriello.

Lamoriello has established a winning tradition with the Devils. Under his watch, the Devils have appeared in five Stanley Cup finals, winning in 1995, 2000 and 2003. Those teams featured multiple well-known college hockey stars including Bill Guerin, Brian Gionta, Scott Gomez, Brian Rolston and Brian Ralfalski.

Lamoriello has also been involved with USA Hockey on the international level. He served as general manager of the gold-medal winning Team USA at the 1996 World Cup of Hockey and for the 1998 Olympic team in Nagano, Japan.

Eddie Olczyk also has a strong connection with college hockey. His oldest son Eddie is a rising senior for Massachusetts while his youngest son, Tommy, is a rising sophomore for Penn State, a team that enters its first season as a varsity program this coming season. Both of Olczyk’s sons recently took part in the Carolina Hurricanes rookie conditioning camp.

Lamoriello and Olczyk join the many members of the US Hockey Hall of Fame with NCAA connections. In total 156 members have been enshrined in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame since it was established in 1973.