Helene Elliott is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
sportswriter for the
Los Angeles TimesThe Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
who is a general sports columnist. She is the first female
journalistA journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
to be inducted into the
Hockey Hall of FameThe Hockey Hall of Fame is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it is both a museum and a hall of fame. It holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League records, memorabilia and NHL trophies, including the Stanley Cup...
, receiving the
Elmer Ferguson Memorial AwardThe Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award is an award given "in recognition of distinguished members of the newspaper profession whose words have brought honour to journalism and to hockey". Recipients are selected by the Professional Hockey Writers' Association and gain automatic entrance into the Hockey...
for bringing "honor to journalism and to hockey" in 2005.
One of the first women to cover the sport, Elliott began her career in the late 1970s when many locker rooms and
press boxThe press box is a special section of a sports stadium or arena that is set up for the media to report about a given event. It is typically located in the section of the stadium holding the luxury box. In general, newspaper writers sit in this box and write about the on-field event as it unfolds...
es were closed to women, except by court order. As such, she often had to wait for hours after games ended to conduct interviews. She has covered almost all major events in
ice hockeyIce hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
, including every Stanley Cup Finals since , the "
Miracle on IceThe "Miracle on Ice" is the name in American popular culture for a medal-round men's ice hockey game during the 1980 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid, New York, on Friday, February 22...
" defeat of the
Soviet UnionThe Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
national team by the U.S. team in the
1980 Winter OlympicsThe 1980 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIII Olympic Winter Games, was a multi-sport event which was celebrated from 13 February through 24 February 1980 in Lake Placid, New York, United States of America. This was the second time the Upstate New York village hosted the Games, after 1932...
, and the growth of hockey on the
West CoastWest Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...
fueled by
Wayne GretzkyWayne Douglas Gretzky, CC is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former head coach. Nicknamed "The Great One", he is generally regarded as the best player in the history of the National Hockey League , and has been called "the greatest hockey player ever" by many sportswriters,...
's arrival to the
Los Angeles KingsThe Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles, California. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League...
.
She is married to author Dennis D'Agostino, a former publicist with the
New York MetsThe New York Mets are a professional baseball team based in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York. They belong to Major League Baseball's National League East Division. One of baseball's first expansion teams, the Mets were founded in 1962 to replace New York's departed National League...
and
KnicksThe New York Knickerbockers, prominently known as the Knicks, are a professional basketball team based in New York City. They are part of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association...
.
In 2006, after many years of covering hockey and Olympic sports, she became a general sports columnist.