Matt Cullen knows how hard it is to win a championship.
After all, he raised the Stanley Cup three times during his 21-year NHL career.
But he experienced a different championship moment this spring when the Fargo Force hoisted the Clark Cup as the USHL champions.
When Cullen — who retired in 2019 and recently found out he’d be inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame this December — watched as Force players and coaches celebrated the championship moment, he did so as a minority owner of the USHL team.
“I was really invested in it,” Cullen said. “I was so happy for the group. I was just so happy for them. It was a cool feeling for me. I wanted them to win so badly, and they deserved to win. I felt like they had had an awesome season, and it was so cool to see how happy that the boys were and how excited they were.”
Cullen, who went to high school just across the North Dakota-Minnesota border in Moorhead, Minnesota, where he still lives, joined the Force’s ownership in September 2022, also adding the title of director of player development.
While it would be strange to see an NHL owner on the ice working with players, that is exactly where you will find the 47-year-old Cullen a few days each week. He also spends time with the coaches working through concepts and the front office going over the business side of things, lending his insights from his playing career. Cullen is just one of three Americans to play 1,500 NHL games, doing so with eight teams.
Cullen’s presence appears to have had a major impact on the Force. In the first two seasons with the team, the Force have won the Anderson Cup as the best regular-season team each year and added the team’s second Clark Cup this past season.
Cullen deflects, giving credit to others in the organization, which is led by Cary Eades, the president of hockey operations and assistant general manager.
“It’s been cool,” Cullen said. “You’re allowed at this level to kind of dive in wherever you want, wherever you can. It’s fun for me because I like being on the ice with the kids, I enjoy talking with the coaches, but I also like learning the other side of it, the management side, the operational side of a team, everything that goes into it. It’s really been cool for me to see it all and experience it all.”
Fargo and every other USHL team will drop the puck for the 2024-25 season at the 2024 DICK’S Sporting Goods USHL Fall Classic from Sept. 18-22 at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry Township, Pa. Each USHL team will play two regular-season games while 36 youth programs (14U, 15U, 16U, 18U) will compete in separate tournaments.
One of the surprises for Cullen has been the talent in the USHL. Cullen didn’t play in the USHL while he was at Moorhead High School. But then again, he was playing for his dad and was one of the top players in Minnesota, winning the Associated Press Player of the Year honor as a senior in 1995.
“I’ve been so impressed with the league itself,” Cullen said. “When I was a younger guy coming out of high school, the USHL wasn’t at this level. I would say it’s the play and the talent of the players and the level of play is just so much better than I expected. So, I’ve enjoyed that. The talent level of the players has been fun. The competitive level is really high.”
The Force is just one of the things keeping Cullen’s calendar full. He and wife Bridget have three sons — Brooks, 18, Wyatt, 16, and Joey, 14 — all playing hockey at various levels.
Additionally, Cullen also has the Cullen Force Academy that trains youth players, founded the Cullen Children’s Foundation that provides financial support for kids facing health challenges, is part of the Moorhead Youth Hockey Association that his youngest son still plays in and is a player development coach with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Cullen played three of his final four NHL seasons with the Penguins and can make most of his contributions from Moorhead.
“It keeps me busy, but it keeps me up to date on the game,” Cullen said. “The game changes so much every year, so it’s nice to be involved with it, be a part of it, I still love being around it.”
Cullen doesn’t know whether his role with the Force will one day lead him to becoming part of an NHL ownership team. Right now, he is just enjoying his current role with the Force and having the opportunity to be around his kids and watch them play.
“I don’t know. I don’t have an answer at this point,” Cullen said. “I’ve just really enjoyed it. I don’t have any plans at the moment. Life is really busy with the boys, that’s kind of my biggest priority is just being around for the boys while they’re young.”
Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.
