Hockey Hall Of Fame: Darwitz

As the youngest sibling, she had a choice: Go with mom and her older sister, Nikki, to tap dancing class, or go with dad and her older brother, Ryan, to hockey practice. Which vehicle did she want to hop into?

“I beelined it for my dad’s and (with) my brother to go to the hockey rink,” said Natalie Darwitz. “I kind of grew up as a rink rat.”

Good choice, young Darwitz.

Her exposure to the rink, and continued requests to play hockey, paid off when her parents granted her wish on her 5th birthday. She was going to play hockey.

“For me, it was my passion,” Darwitz said. “I always had a stick in my hand.

“There were pictures of me in My Little Pony roller skates with a Christian hockey stick in my hand playing in the driveway or trying on my brother’s equipment.”

Natalie Darwitz set numerous state tournament records during her time with the Eagan High School girls’ team. In the 1998 consolation final, a 5-3 Eagan victory over Anoka, Darwitz scored two goals 11 seconds apart, a state tournament record for the least amount of time between goals scored by the same player. (Photo courtesy of Natalie Darwitz)

Jump ahead 30-plus years later, and that rink rat from Eagan, Minn. is getting inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto on Nov. 11. The Hall of Fame induction weekend is Nov. 8-11. Darwitz, 41, is one of the most successful and notable hockey players to hail from Minnesota, with a lengthy list of hockey accomplishments spanning from her youth to the Olympics.

Not an uncommon story, Darwitz played on boys’ teams until she was in seventh grade. She credits a lot of her success to those early years playing with the boys, who she said were great and treated her like any other teammate.

Topping out at her 5-foot-3 height, she switched to girls’ hockey and played for Eagan High School, coached by her dad, Scott, from seventh grade until her sophomore year, racking up 468 points across four seasons. She led Eagan to three state tournaments where she scored plenty of goals and set a few records.

Skating backwards, sort of
Beyond her high school career, Darwitz skated a path somewhat in reverse: She became an Olympian first, and then played college hockey. That’s how things were set up at the time, as momentum for girls’ and women’s hockey really took off after the 1998 Olympics, the first Olympic Games which included women’s hockey.

Darwitz was the youngest to make the U.S. national team at 15 years old, and she competed at her first Olympics at 18 years old in 2002, winning a silver medal.

Following her first Olympics, Darwitz played three seasons with the University of Minnesota Gophers, winning back-to-back national championships in 2004 and 2005. Darwitz, who racked up scoring records and awards, skated on a line with U.S. national teammate Krissy Wendell-Pohl and Kelly Stephens.

Wendell-Pohl, who is getting inducted into the Hall of Fame with Darwitz, describes her former teammate and friend as a quiet leader with a skillset that speaks for itself, “but her will to win and her will and determination is just unmatched to anybody I ever played with or against.”

“She just had this compete level that she made those players around her that much better,” Wendell-Pohl said. “Even more so just her IQ of being able to break down a team. She was almost like the second coach for me. I would learn from just playing with her and around her.”

Playing for the Gophers was also a full-circle moment for Darwitz. She’d watched plenty of Gophers hockey games over the years before lacing up her skates at the college rink.

“I remember growing up, every Friday, my family would order pizza and we’d watch the men Gopher hockey team play,” Darwitz said. “So, it just kind of was in your blood that that’s what you’re going to do.”

Years later, Darwitz was also behind the bench as an assistant coach for the Gopher women’s program.

Hall of Fame friends
Darwitz, and Wendell-Pohl, are two well-known women’s hockey players, and that reach goes beyond the boundaries of Minnesota. Only two other U.S.-born women are in the Hockey Hall of Fame: Cammi Granato (2010) and Angela Ruggiero (2015). Darwitz and Wendell-Pohl will go into the Hall as the third and fourth on that list, and representing Minnesota makes it that much more special for them.

Krissy Wendell-Pohl and Natalie Darwitz played hockey together for Team USA and the University of Minnesota Gophers. Now, they’re going into the Hall of Fame together. (Photo courtesy of Natalie Darwitz)

“We saw a lot of things together and experienced a lot together,” Darwitz said. “It just makes it more memorable.”

Of the seven members of this year’s Hockey Hall of Fame class, Darwitz and Krissy Wendell-Pohl are the first two women since 2010 to enter the Hall in the same year. They’re already in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame, inducted in 2018 (Darwitz) and 2019 (Wendell-Pohl).

While they were teammates on various hockey stages, their connection runs much deeper than sharing a locker room or space on a line. Besides growing up in the Twin Cities metro area, they each left home as teenagers to pursue their Olympic aspirations.

“We kind of got thrown into the fire together,” Darwitz said. “We kind of saw each other grow up.

“So, I think it’s a really unique, fun situation that not only were we teammates, but we really saw each other in the growth phase. We went through stressful situations. Going through an Olympic process isn’t rainbows and butterflies. You’re going through seeing teammates get cut. You’re going through that process, too, yourself. So, we really experienced a lot of memorable moments.”

Being a couple of years apart in age, the first time they played together was at the U.S. national program. Darwitz, the younger of the duo by two years, was a constant, supportive presence for Wendell-Pohl, someone she could lean on. It brought about a confidence for Wendell-Pohl, having Darwitz by her side as someone who navigated a similar hockey journey.

Natalie Darwitz is a three-time Olympic medalist, three-time IIHF women’s World Championship gold medalist and five-time IIHF women’s World Championship silver medalist. (Photo courtesy of Natalie Darwitz)

“It would almost feel weird if I was going to this weekend without her,” Wendell-Pohl said. “Just because I do feel like any time I went into battle, whether it was with the U.S. team or college, I always had Natalie.”

As far as memories go, little snippets from each phase of her hockey career stand out to Darwitz, including skating on outdoor rinks with her older brother and his friends, to having her dad coach her in high school. She took pride in playing for her community and seeing the “good luck at the state tournament” wishes around Eagan.

Leaving home to play hockey at such a young age, it also made Darwitz appreciate home a lot more. Home is where her parents are. Every time her mom and dad attended a game – whether in Minnesota or further away – Darwitz always found them in the crowd from her on-ice view after warm-ups and gave them a wave.

“That’s an emotional thing for me,” Darwitz said. “Because they let me play hockey number one, when it wasn’t a norm to have a girl play hockey. So, I have to give them credit for going against the grain and allowing their daughter to follow her passion even though it wasn’t normal at the time.”

Darwitz is grateful for her hockey career, which includes all the people she’s met along the way, too. “Hockey’s funny,” she added, in that she’s receiving an individual award even though it’s a team sport. She credits the great teammates and coaches on her career path, too, whether they helped in a big or small way.

“All walks of life, it’s just coming full circle, and I’m super grateful for all that,” Darwitz said.