You can't say much about Natalie Darwitz that hasn't been said. She's one of those superstar names from the earlier years of women's hockey and she pretty much did everything. She's stuck with it too. She won 11 medals in Olympic Games and World Championships (several as team captain) and now has come back home to coach at Hamline University in St Paul, MN.
Her fame started when she suited up for the Wildcats girls hockey club at Eagan High School in 7th grade; she played there for 4 years before becoming the youngest woman ever selected to the US National team at the age of 15. After that happened, she basically just trained for the 2002 Olympics from that point on and did not play high school hockey.. At Eagan, Natalie had already scored 487 points in 102 games, led them to three state tournaments, and still holds four state tournament records. In her senior year, instead of playing High School hockey, she was at Salt Lake City wearing this jersey in her first of three Olympics. Eagan High School retired her number while she was still in high school...not many can claim that honor.
At the University of Minnesota, she won two national championships and is still the all-time career leader in points scored with 246 (9 ahead of #2 Krissy Wendell, and with 2 less games played). Her unbelievable 2004-2005 scoring tear means she still has the per-season Gopher records for both assists in season (72) and points in a season (114), as well as two NCAA records: points per game (2.85!) and assists per game (1.80). With how competition has grown in this section of the sport, it's hard to see those records getting a lot of competition.
Natalie did play a couple seasons with the Minnesota Whitecaps, but it is not her league play that she is best known for; it's her international play. The amount of quality play and leadership that she gave to the US National teams since the late 90's is not rivalled by many, and it's what got her inducted into the US Hockey Hall of Fame in 2018. She is a big and very much still active asset for women's and girl's hockey in the state of Minnesota, and a true legend.
Her fame started when she suited up for the Wildcats girls hockey club at Eagan High School in 7th grade; she played there for 4 years before becoming the youngest woman ever selected to the US National team at the age of 15. After that happened, she basically just trained for the 2002 Olympics from that point on and did not play high school hockey.. At Eagan, Natalie had already scored 487 points in 102 games, led them to three state tournaments, and still holds four state tournament records. In her senior year, instead of playing High School hockey, she was at Salt Lake City wearing this jersey in her first of three Olympics. Eagan High School retired her number while she was still in high school...not many can claim that honor.
At the University of Minnesota, she won two national championships and is still the all-time career leader in points scored with 246 (9 ahead of #2 Krissy Wendell, and with 2 less games played). Her unbelievable 2004-2005 scoring tear means she still has the per-season Gopher records for both assists in season (72) and points in a season (114), as well as two NCAA records: points per game (2.85!) and assists per game (1.80). With how competition has grown in this section of the sport, it's hard to see those records getting a lot of competition.
Natalie did play a couple seasons with the Minnesota Whitecaps, but it is not her league play that she is best known for; it's her international play. The amount of quality play and leadership that she gave to the US National teams since the late 90's is not rivalled by many, and it's what got her inducted into the US Hockey Hall of Fame in 2018. She is a big and very much still active asset for women's and girl's hockey in the state of Minnesota, and a true legend.