“All of USA Hockey is extremely proud of both Cammi and Art,” said Dave Ogrean, executive director of USA Hockey. “Both are very deserving of this recognition by the international hockey community.”

Joining Berglund and Granato in the IIHF Class of 2008 are Angela James, Geraldine Heaney and Mario Lemieux of Canada, Igor Larionov of Russia and Philippe Bozon of France. The induction will take place in Quebec City in May 2008 during the 2008 IIHF Men’s World Championship. The exact date will be announced at a later time.

“Cammi and Art have both meant so much to hockey not only in the United States, but across the world,” said Ron DeGregorio, president of USA Hockey. “Cammi’s pioneering leadership in women’s hockey has been so important and Art did a wonderful job leading our international hockey department when there was not the same human and financial resources available as there is now.”

Berglund’s career in international ice hockey spans portions of five decades, during which time he has managed or served on the administrative staff of more than 30 U.S. teams in a variety of tournaments worldwide.

Berglund served as USA Hockey’s director of national teams and international activities for 11 years before being named senior director of international administration in 1996.

His start in international ice hockey came soon after his graduation from Colorado College in 1963, where he was the leading scorer for the Tigers during his senior season.

After a brief professional playing stint in Switzerland and Austria, Berglund was hired by Thayer Tutt to work at the Broadmoor World Arena in Colorado Springs, Colo. Tutt was instrumental in bringing the first Soviet teams to the USA for international competition, and Berglund was their host.

Berglund went on to manage the Broadmoor World Arena for 13 years and, during that time, served USA Hockey in a variety of capacities. He managed the 1973, 1974 and 1975 U.S. National Teams before accepting his first Olympic assignment as general manager of the 1976 U.S. Olympic Team.

Moving to the NHL during parts of the 1970s and ‘80s, Berglund was enlisted by the St. Louis Blues as a U.S. scout and by the Colorado Rockies as director of player recruitment.

In 1977, Berglund was named general manager of the first U.S. National Junior Team. It was a position he would hold a total of eight times.

The 1980s and ‘90s were full of senior-level international assignments for Berglund. He handled general manager duties with six U.S. National Teams along with the 1988 U.S. Olympic Team. Berglund was also assistant general manager for the 1981 and 1991 U.S. Canada Cup Teams and the 1983 U.S. National Team. He chaired the 1984 U.S. Olympic Player Selection Committee and was director of player personnel for the 1992 and 1994 U.S. Olympic Teams.

In 1990, Berglund served as chair of the ice hockey competition for the Goodwill Games in Seattle, where Team USA won the silver medal. He also oversaw the organization of the U.S. National Team that captured the bronze medal at the 1996 IIHF World Championship. He was also GM of the 1998 U.S. Select Team, which finished in first place at the IIHF A-Pool World Championship Qualification Tournament in Klagenfurt, Austria.

As director of player personnel, Berglund helped engineer a silver medal for the 2002 U.S. Olympic Men’s Ice Hockey Team at the XIX Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City, Utah.

He received the NHL’s prestigious Lester Patrick Award in 1992 for outstanding contributions to the sport of ice hockey in America. In addition, the American Hockey Coaches Association named Berglund winner of the 2000 Jim Fullerton Award, which annually recognizes an individual who demonstrates a love for the purity of the sport.

In 2004, USA Hockey made Berglund only the third-ever recipient of its prestigious Builders’ Award as he joined the company of Walter Bush and William Thayer Tutt.

He was inducted into the Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in 2004 and the Colorado College Athletic Hall of Fame in 2006.

Berglund retired from his full-time job at USA Hockey as its senior director of international administration on June 30, 2005, but still serves as a consultant to the organization. He resides in Colorado Springs, Colo., with his wife, Char.

“Art has worked as hard and long to promote and elevate the American hockey player than anyone ever,” said Ogrean. “He has pioneered initiatives and programs that are taken for granted today. And he has been a highly-respected voice among his international hockey peers for over 30 years.”

Granato’s successful playing career, particularly at the international level, has played a key role in the growth of women’s hockey.

Granato began playing hockey as a five-year-old, skating in the backyard of her Downers Grove, Ill., home with her sister and three brothers, including future National Hockey League star Tony Granato. Unable to play in a league with girls her age, she joined a boys’ team and went on to earn a scholarship at Providence College, where she established goal-scoring records and captured ECAC Player of the Year honors from 1991-93.

A 15-year member of the U.S. Women’s National Team beginning in 1990, Granato is the program’s all-time scoring leader with 343 points (186-157) in 205 games. She achieved international fame by captaining Team USA to the gold medal at the 1998 Olympic Winter Games in Nagano, Japan, the first year women could compete in ice hockey. The gold-medal game, a nationally broadcast 3-1 victory over archrival Canada, brought unprecedented exposure to the sport and inspired a surge in girls’ hockey participation. Granato earned the honor of carrying the U.S. flag at the Games’ Closing Ceremonies.

Four years later, she captained the United States to the silver medal at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City. In her last international competition, the 2005 IIHF World Women’s Championship, she led Team USA to its first ever gold-medal victory. It was her ninth World Championship as part of the U.S. squad, as she helped the team to silver-medal finishes in the eight previous tournaments.

Granato worked as a commentator on Los Angeles Kings radio broadcasts in 1998-99, becoming the second female broadcaster in NHL history, and for NBC in its coverage of the NHL and the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Torino, Italy.

Granato, the all-time leading scorer in major international competition, was honored with one of the sport’s most prestigious awards in 2007, when she received the NHL’s Lester Patrick Award in recognition of outstanding service to hockey in the United States.

“Cammi helped ignite the passion of young girls throughout North America to play ice hockey,” said Ogrean. “She demonstrated that women could play the game with as much drive, skill and determination as men. She was a leader when we needed it most and has been a face of the sport in America as participation has grown to nearly 60,000 female players.”

NOTES: The IIHF Hall of Fame was introduced in 1997 and with the addition of the Class of 2008, includes 150 hockey greats from 22 nations, including 15 previous inductees from the United States (Herb Brooks, Walter Brown, Bill Christian, Bill Cleary, Gerry Cosby, Jim Craig, Mike Curran, Mark Johnson, Jack McCartan, John Mayasich, Lou Nanne, Bob Ridder, Jack Riley, Hal Trumble, Thayer Tutt).