Neal: Brianna Decker is back on her skates, but in new role with Frost

The U.S. women’s hockey team, buttressed with several members of the Minnesota Frost, throttled Canada in a four-game sweep of the rivalry series between the teams that ended on Dec. 13.

The remaining Frost players have been working out at Tria Rink in St. Paul, waiting for the Professional Women’s Hockey League season to resume. Brianna Decker has been right there with them.

I swung by a couple recent practices. And it was great to see Decker on skates again.

The hockey legend is just 34 and possibly could have been part of the domination of Canada. But her career took a turn, and now the former forward is in her first year as a member of the Frost’s coaching staff. She’s working with head coach Ken Klee, a relationship that goes back to 2015 and 2016 when he coached her on gold medal-winning World Championship teams.

Decker knew for a long time she would one day become a coach. It’s unfortunate she got started a little early.

“Playing for as long as I had, I felt like coaching just seemed like the right fit for me, and I had a lot of great coaches along the way that I’ve learned from, and I always tried to learn from them, not only as a player, but whole different coaching styles and what my coaching style wanted to be as I became one,” Decker said. “So it’s been, yeah, it’s been kind of seamless.”

The last time I saw Decker, she was on crutches.

It was a dirty play. Decker watched the rest of the game in the corner of the Wukesong Sports Centre and hugged each teammate as they came off the ice following the game. She stayed with the team for the remainder of the tournament.

Decker attempted a comeback, but she wasn’t the same.

“I trained for, like, a year,” she said, “and it was ... the ankle wasn’t holding up too well. So I just kind of gave it up.”

Decker spent the next few seasons as a coach at the developmental level of USA Hockey and at Shattuck-St. Mary’s School in Faribault. The three-time Olympian was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in November.

When one door closes, another one opens. In this case, Decker had a door slammed shut on her. But she knew where she was headed.

“She was like, ‘No, I kind of turned that page, coach. I’m good with where I’m at. I’m happy with how my career went.’”

Now the well-decorated Decker is working with the Frost’s defense and penalty kill as part of an interesting coaching staff with legendary connections.

Klee has directed the Frost to championships in each of the first two seasons of the PWHL. And there’s Chris “Critter” Johnson, former Augsburg player and son of Mark Johnson, a driving force on the 1980 USA Olympic Team and current Wisconsin women’s coach — whom Decker played for in college.

Mark Johnson’s “Miracle on Ice” team was awarded a congressional gold medal last week at the White House, which was a long time coming.

The Frost players who were on Team USA duty have returned, and the team, 2-2 on the young season, plays Boston on Friday at Grand Casino Arena. Decker is working with a number of her former national teammates.

“I remember calling my parents and being actually scared because she was so fierce and ferocious at the center on faceoffs and stuff,” Heise said. “I get to learn a lot from her. And even though she’s our D coach right now, I think it’s important to take in anything I can. And she’s an open book. If I have a question, she’s there to ask.”

One unanswered question remains: Did Decker ever forgive Savolainen?