Natalie Darwitz was at the Wild’s annual leadership summit for prep hockey captains and their coaches in June. While she was on stage, her phone began to buzz and wouldn’t stop.
Neal: Natalie Darwitz and Krissy Wendell-Pohl, Hockey Hall of Famers? It’s happening, and it’s right.
A pair of former Gophers, Natalie Darwitz and Krissy Wendell-Pohl continue to contribute to the game that took them around the world.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
November 10, 2024 at 1:00AM
Once off stage, she looked at her phone and read a text from puck legend and Hall of Famer Cammi Granato.
“You better answer your phone,” Granato wrote.
The next time her phone rang, Darwitz learned she was joining the club as part of the 2024 Hockey Hall of Fame class.
“So, yeah, I was tough to get ahold of, that’s the story,” she said. “So I wish it was a little bit better. You know, you hear about Joe Mauer sitting by the telephone waiting for the call and all these stories. I was ignoring my phone, to be honest with you.”
Darwitz spoke Friday from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, traveling to Toronto for Monday’s induction ceremony. Krissy Wendell-Pohl, another local legend and Darwitz’s former Gophers and U.S. teammate, is part of the same class.
Minnesota hockey royalty is headed to the Hall together, and it is fitting.
Darwitz joined the Eagan hockey team as a seventh-grader and quickly became a high school legend with a devastating combination of skill and vision.
Wendell was the fifth girl, and the first girl catcher, to play in a Little League World Series when she appeared with Brooklyn Center in 1994. She was a force in hockey for the Park Center girls team, scoring 219 goals in two seasons. Unselfishness kept her from scoring more.
“She probably could have had another 100 goals,” said Darwitz, who scored 175 goals of her own during seventh and eighth grades. “I mean, she’s just an incredible talent, and probably one of the most pure goal-scorers I’ve ever seen play the game.”
They faced each other once in high school, when Wendell-Pohl scored seven goals in Park Center’s 10-4 victory over Eagan in the 1999 season opener. The two later teamed up for Team USA and the Gophers, winning medals and national championships.
Each sharpened her game playing against boys before powering girls and women’s hockey into relevance.
They continue to contribute to the game. Wendell-Pohl is a scout for the Penguins. Darwitz was the general manager for PWHL Minnesota, leading it to a championship in the league’s inaugural season. She was ousted within days of winning the title after a rift developed between her and coach Ken Klee.
“It was a job and, even though I enjoyed it, for whatever reasons it didn’t work out,” said Darwitz, now a Wild ambassador. “I’ll be better off in the long run.”
She’ll be in a better place Monday, behind a podium in Toronto. Hopefully with her phone turned off.
Kicking history
Let’s see. The Vikings had to put kicker Will Reichard and long snapper Andrew DePaola on injured reserve and sign John Parker Romo and Jake McQuaide to replace them. What could possibly go wrong?
Given the Vikings’ history with kickers, everything.
I’ll be watching Sunday’s game in Jacksonville like I watch auto racing. Waiting for the wreck.
Gary Anderson and Blair Walsh are known for their legendary postseason misses. Through the years, we’ve watched the Vikings trot out the likes of Doug Brien, Paul Edinger, Dan Bailey, Daniel Carlson and Greg Joseph only to see them let down the fan base.
They appear to have a long-term solution in Reichard, who might get the go-ahead one day from coach Kevin O’Connell to attempt a 70-something-yard field goal. But now, he’s sidelined.
Sunday’s game better not come down to a field goal.
Another title for Buzz Lagos
Buzz Lagos began his soccer career as an assistant coach at St. Paul Academy in 1969. His teams won four titles between 1986 and 1994.
And that was the same Buzz Lagos, now 80, on the sidelines last week as SPA won its seventh state title and third consecutive. The Spartans downed Rochester Lourdes 2-0 for the Class 1A crown.
“Being part of it makes it special,” Lagos said.
Between stints with the Spartans, he founded the Minnesota Thunder, and that team wound up playing in four A-League title games, winning in 1999. He often talked about bringing an MLS franchise to Minnesota those days. It’s hard to watch the Loons play today without thinking about Lagos’ dream coming true.
Lagos is back at SPA, where it all began for him, as a volunteer assistant. He doesn’t have to work. He loves the game that much. And he’s coming back next season. “I still have it in me to do it,” he said.
… and two predictions
• Despite scoring 19 points Thursday, Jaden McDaniels is averaging only 9.3 points a game. That will encourage Timberwolves coach Chris Finch to experiment with him coming off the bench.
• The Wild will defeat Chicago and Montreal this week, setting up a showdown with Dallas next Sunday that the Wild will lose in overtime.
Host Michael Rand returns from a sick day to talk about not one but two Wolves losses to the Blazers. What exactly is going on with this team? Plus Gophers quarterback Max Brosmer joins the show to talk about his journey to the Big Ten, his belief in himself and what he has learned this season.
