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).[2] His 1978 achievement of four assists in a single period still stands as a Roseau Rams' record today.[3]
Broten is one of two players, along with Ed Belfour, to have played on teams that 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).[citation needed] He is the only player to have won the Hobey Baker, the Olympic Gold Medal and the Stanley Cup. He is one of only two American players, along with Ken Morrow, to have won both the Olympic gold and the Stanley Cup.
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.
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.[5]
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 in 2008 (second from right)
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.
