General | 9/3/2025 11:05:00 AM

Waterloo Black Hawk alum Joe Pavelski and Chicago Steel head coach Scott Gomez will be enshrined into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2025, USA Hockey announced Wednesday.

Pavelski becomes the first inductee with United States Hockey League (USHL) ties to have played during the league's Tier-1 era, which began in 2002.

Gomez played 16 seasons in the NHL between 1999 and 2016. The two-time Stanley Cup champion and forward from Anchorage, Alaska, had 181 goals and 575 assists in 1,079 games. Internationally, he represented the U.S. at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin. Gomez was announced as the next head coach of the Chicago Steel in June 2025.

Pavelski played two seasons for the Waterloo Black Hawks from 2002-2004 before embarking on a college career and an 18-year run in the NHL with the San Jose Sharks and Dallas Stars. The Plover, Wis. native played 1,332 games with 476 goals and 592 assists. Internationally, he helped the U.S. to a silver medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and played on the 2014 team in Sochi. He won a Clark Cup with Waterloo in 2004 and won an NCAA title at Wisconsin in 2006.

The U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Induction Celebration, which will include the formal enshrinement of the Class of 2025 along with the presentation of the NHL’s Lester Patrick Trophy, will be held Wednesday, December 10, 2025, in Saint Paul, Minn. 

About the USHL

The United States Hockey League and its 16 member clubs are committed to being the world's leading 16–20-year-old junior hockey league. During the 2024-25 season, USHL alumni held over 50% of NCAA Division I roster spots, and over 25% of NHL players had USHL experience. With 10 first-round selections and 49 total picks in the 2024 NHL Draft, the USHL has developed the most draft choices of any junior hockey league since 2012.

Elevated through the recently announced Declaration of Excellence with the NHL and USA Hockey, the league's player-first approach, including a 2:1 practice-to-game ratio and a schedule with 92% of games played on weekends, provides its players with the optimal environment for athletic and personal growth, creating pathways for the next generation of stars like Kyle Connor (Youngstown Phantoms), Macklin Celebrini (Chicago Steel), Matthew Knies (Tri-City Storm), Adam Fantilli (Chicago Steel) and Jeremy Swayman (Sioux Falls Stampede). More.