Krissy Wendell-Pohl
Quick Facts
Biography
Kristin Elizabeth "Krissy" Wendell-Pohl (born September 12, 1981, known as Krissy Wendell until 2007) is an American women's ice hockey player. During the 2004–05 season, Wendell set an NCAA record for most short-handed goals in one season, with seven. At the conclusion of her college career, she held the record for most career short-handed goals, with 16. Both marks have since been equaled by Meghan Agosta. Wendell is currently in the Top 10 for all-time NCAA scoring, with 237 career points.
Playing career
While attending Park Center Senior High School in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, Wendell led the girls' hockey team to a state championship. At the time she graduated from high school, Wendell was the state of Minnesota's all-time leading girls' high school scorer.
Wendell was a co-captain of the Minnesota Golden Gophers women's ice hockey team. A forward, she scored 133 points in two seasons (2002–2003, 2003–2004) for the Gophers. Wendell scored the game-winning goal in the 2005 Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) championship game against Wisconsin. Wendel followed that with a hat-trick against ECAC champion Harvard. Wendell was the NCAA runner-up in the scoring race to her teammate Natalie Darwitz with 98 points. Wendell did lead the NCAA in short-handed goals, with seven. She won the Patty Kazmaier Award in 2005 for best female collegiate hockey player. Wendell was the first player from Minnesota, and the first from the WCHA, to win the award.
Wendell was one of the stars of the United States women's national ice hockey team, and served as their team captain. She made her debut with the team at the 1998 Three Nations Cup. At the 2005 IIHF Women's World Championship, Wendell was named MVP, and led all players in scoring with nine points, as the United States won its first gold medal at the women's world championships. She was a member of the United States team at the 2006 Winter Olympics, winning a bronze medal.
Personal life
In 1994, Wendell was the fifth girl to play in the Little League World Series, and the first to start at the catcher position.
Wendell was featured on the Nickelodeon game show, Figure It Out, when she was 16.
She married NHL player John Pohl on August 11, 2007, in Roseville, Minnesota.
Awards
- 2000 Minnesota Ms. Hockey Award
- 2000 Bob Johnson Award for excellence in international competition (awarded at the USA Hockey Annual Congress)
- 2001 USA Hockey player of the year
- 2002 Olympic Silver Medal
- 2003, 2004 NCAA D1 W. Ice Hockey Champion
- 2004 Little League Hall of Excellence
- 2004 Most outstanding player award in the NCAA Division I Women's Hockey Tournament
- 2005 Patty Kazmaier Award
- 2005 USA Hockey Bob Johnson Award
- 2005 Most Valuable Player, Women's World Hockey Championships
- 2006 Olympic Bronze Medal
- 2007 All-Star, Women's World Hockey Championships
- 2019 U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame