USA Hockey Hall of Famer Natalie Darwitz discusses returning to the Gophers
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By Jess Myers, Mick Hatten
Natalie Darwitz is one of the most decorated players to play hockey. Darwitz is a member of the USA Hockey Hall of Fame, the Minnesota Sports Hall of Fame and the Minnesota High School League Hall of Fame.
She played in three Olympic Games (2002, 2006, 2010) and was the youngest player to join the senior women's national team at age 15. She played in her first Olympics at age 18, was a three-time All-American at the University of Minnestoa and helped the Gophers win two national titles.
After she retired, she was an assistant for the Gophers and then the head coach for the Lakeville South girls hockey team and was the head coach at Hamline University from 2015-21, helping the Pipers to two straight Frozen Fours in NCAA Division III before rejoining the Gophers staff. She discusses all of this and more with The Rink Live's Mick Hatten.
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Part 1: 10:00 - 17:09 - Playing For Team USA at 15 Years Old
Part 2: 17:10 - 26:44 - Why Did A 3-Time Olympian Retire From Hockey at Age 26?
Podcast Timestamps:
4:45 -- How Natalie ended up as an assistant coach with the Gophers this season
7:00 -- How women's hockey has changed in the last 10 years
10:00 -- Why she decided to retire in 2010 at age 25
14:25 -- How she got into coaching and how coaching helped her as a player
17:10 -- How and why she started playing hockey
19:20 -- Playing high school hockey
20:15 -- Joining the USA senior national team at age 15
22:30 -- What was it like playing in the Olympics
26:45 -- Turning Hamline University into a national title contender during her time there.
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