Joe Pavelski will join the greatest players in American hockey history later this year when he is inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame.
USA Hockey announced the 2025 Hall of Fame Class Wednesday morning, including the former Waterloo Black Hawk captain. Pavelski skated at Young Arena for two seasons, from the fall of 2002 through the spring of 2004, completing his United States Hockey League career with a Clark Cup championship. He becomes the third former Black Hawk honored in Eveleth, Minnesota, home to the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame since 1973.
Pavelski was the USHL Rookie of the Year in 2002/03. The then-18-year-old led Waterloo with 36 goals and 69 points; Pavelski's goal total led the league, while his point tally tied for third. The Black Hawks' 38 wins that season were a team record up to that time. During the summer which followed, the San Jose Sharks selected him in the seventh round of the 2003 NHL Draft.
Pavelski was Waterloo's captain during his USHL second season. He produced another 52 points (21 goals, 31 assists) in 54 regular season games. During the postseason, Pavelski led the Hawks to upsets over both of the league's regular season division champions. He contributed six goals (including three game-winners) and six assists as Waterloo broke a 25-year championship drought. For those accomplishments and many other achievements which would follow, the Black Hawks retired Pavelski's #8 in January, 2009.
From Waterloo, Pavelski returned to his home state to skate for the Wisconsin Badgers. In two seasons, he generated 101 points in just 84 NCAA games. Wisconsin was college hockey's national champion in 2006.
By the following fall, Pavelski was with San Jose in the NHL. His professional career covered 18 seasons with the Sharks and the Dallas Stars. He recorded 1,068 regular season points (476 goals, 592 assists) in 1,332 career games and currently ranks among the top 12 Americans in each of those four statistical categories. During the Stanley Cup Playoffs, he helped San Jose to the Final in 2016, then Dallas in 2020. No American-born player has recorded more NHL postseason goals than Pavelski's 74, accumulated in 201 playoff appearances.
Playing in international competition, Pavelski skated in the Olympic Games twice, helping Team USA to the 2010 silver medal in Vancouver. He also represented his country during the 2009 IIHF World Championships and the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.
Two other Black Hawks alumni previously earned a place in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame. High-scoring forward Paul Johnson was a member of the 2001 Hall of Fame Class; Johnson played in Waterloo after helping the U.S. win gold during the 1960 Olympics. Keith Christiansen was a Black Hawk for one season (1967/68), later contributing to the United States' 1972 Olympic silver medal effort. Christiansen was honored by the Hall of Fame in 2005.
Pavelski's Hall of Fame classmates are fellow players Tara Mounsey, Scott Gomez, and Zach Parise, plus photographer Bruce Bennett. The group will be recognized at a ceremony in St. Paul December 10th.
