With the draft over and free agency started, things have calmed down for PWHL Minnesota but not for their former general manager Natalie Darwitz and her former University of Minnesota Golden Gopher teammate Krissy Wendell-Pohl. Both former Golden Gophers were inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on Tuesday, June 25.
There are so many deserving women’s players; some have been given the honor, and others haven’t. This should just be the start of including more women’s players every year. It’s the first time two women have been inducted since 2010, and it should happen more often. In this article, we’ll look at both Darwitz’s and Wendell-Pohl’s careers and then talk about why they deserved this honor and the players who should be included in the future. We’ll start with a look at Darwitz’s career and move on from there.
Darwitz’s Impressive Career
Darwitz played long before the PWHL and other professional women’s leagues could start. She played all of her career in Minnesota and set some amazing point totals for her local high school in the late 1990s. In three out of her four years at Eagan High School, she scored over 100 points and over 50 goals every season.
After high school, she spent time on the World Championship and Olympic teams before heading to the University of Minnesota (U of M) for college. She spent three years in college, amassing over 60 points per season, including a season with over 70 assists.
Following college, she spent more time on the World Championship and Olympic teams, including her final three seasons, where she was a captain. When her playing days were finished, she started her lengthy coaching career. That began at her old high school, Eagan, as an assistant coach, and then she jumped to her former college, the U of M, also as an assistant. She jumped to head coach at Lakeville South High School a couple of years later before finding Hamline University, where she spent six years as their head coach.
She returned to the U of M as an assistant coach for another couple of years before spending the last year as the general manager of the newly formed PWHL Minnesota and helped lead them to the first Walter Cup Championship. It’ll be interesting to see where her path leads now, as she was let go of that position shortly after the big win.
Wendell-Pohl’s Outstanding Numbers
Similar to her former teammate, Wendell-Pohl rocked her high school days back in the late 1990s and made it clear that she was above most players her age. In her two seasons with her local high school, Park Center, she wracked up 149 points and 165 points, respectively. Just like Darwitz, she also spent time on the World Championship and Olympic teams before she found Darwitz at the University of Minnesota.
For the three years she spent there, she tallied at least 50 points a season, and in her final season, she reached 104 points. She also had the captain’s “C” on her jersey. In the final two seasons of her playing career, she would wear that “C” once again for the World Championship and Olympic teams.
Unlike Darwitz, she didn’t go on to coaching, but nearly ten years after her playing career ended, she had a year of broadcasting for the U of M. Following that adventure, it was a few years before she joined the Pittsburgh Penguins in the NHL as an amateur scout in 2021, and she’s still with them today. It’ll be interesting to see if she ever becomes part of the PWHL or stays with the NHL.
Darwitz & Wendell-Pohl Just the Start
After reviewing their careers and the many accolades that didn’t fit into this article, it’s clear that both Darwitz and Wendell-Pohl deserved this honor. They’ve done so many things for women’s hockey and were great hockey players in their own right. They have also continued to work in hockey, and Darwitz obviously helped bring home a Walter Cup Championship for her hometown team, PWHL Minnesota.
Regardless of how it ended for Darwitz in the PWHL, her name going into the Hockey Hall of Fame shouldn’t be questioned. She and Wendell-Pohl were scoring machines and had strong leadership skills as they were both captains of their respective teams. However, this should just be the start of naming more women’s players to the Hockey Hall of Fame.
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Several women, such as Cammi Granato and Angela Ruggiero, are in the Hockey Hall of Fame, but there should be more. Players like Meghan Duggan, Julie Chu, and Cassie Campbell-Pascall are just a few of the names who haven’t been named to the Hall of Fame but should be. With the PWHL in existence now, they’ll have to make room for more professional women’s players to be included in the Hockey Hall of Fame. The game is growing, and there will be more top players who show off their skills, which means more names worthy of the top honor.
Stats courtesy of Eliteprospects.com