Natalie Darwitz

Natalie Darwitz
Natalie Darwitz
Born	October 13, 1983 (age 37); Saint Paul, Minnesota, U.S.
Height	5 ft 3 in (160 cm)
Weight	135 lb (61 kg; 9 st 9 lb)
Position	Forward
Shot	Right
Played for	Minnesota Golden Gophers
National team	United States
Playing career	1998–2010
Website	Official site
Representing United States
Women's ice hockey
Olympic Games
IIHF World Women's Championships
Women's 4 Nations Cup

Natalie Rose Darwitz (born October 13, 1983) is an American ice hockey player. Natalie was the Captain of the US Women's National Team for several seasons beginning with the 2007-08 season. She has won three World Championships since 2005, and has two Olympic silver medals and one bronze medal in Women's ice hockey for the US.

Career biography[]

Darwitz began skating at the age of five, and attended Eagan High School, from there she was a veteran of ten years on the US National Team. She competed in two Olympics, leading the 2002 Olympics in goal scoring and scoring the game-winning assist in the bronze-medal game in the 2006 Games. In three years of NCAA Hockey at her alma mater, Minnesota, she won back-to-back national championships, scored the championship goal in her final game with 1:08 to go versus Harvard (4-3), won the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Women's Ice Hockey Championship Frozen Four, was named US Women's Player of the Year, and competed in an additional three IIHF Women's World Championship.

At the '08 Worlds, Darwitz led the tournament in scoring and was named the Best Forward in the World by the International Ice Hockey Federation. She was also awarded the by USA Hockey as the best male or female player representing the United States in international play.

In August '08, Darwitz was named Assistant Coach of her alma mater, the University of Minnesota's, women's ice hockey team. At the conclusion of the 08-09 NCAA campaign, she left to return as a full-time member of the US National Team.

Darwitz was the second leading scorer at the 2009 IIHF tournament with 10 points (three goals, seven assists).^[1]

On August 2, 2011, she announced her new position as the head coach of the Lakeville South High School girls' ice hockey team.^[2] The Lakeville South Cougars finished the 2011/2012 season with a record of 21-1-6.^[3] and the 2012/2013 season with a record of 16-2-9.^[4] She is now the Head Coach of the Hamline University Women's hockey team. They finished the 2017/2018 season by going to the frozen four and placing 3rd overall across the nation.

Personal life[]

She is the youngest of three children (Nikki and Ryan); her parents are Scott and Nancy.^{[citation needed]}

Collegiate biography[]

She finished her three-season collegiate career as the University of Minnesota's (Western Collegiate Hockey Association) career points (246) and assists (144) leader. She was a three-time finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award and a three-time All-American.

As a junior (2004–05): Set an NCAA single-season record with 114 points^[5] (42-72) in 40 games … Led the nation in points per game (2.85) and assists (72) … Set a tournament record with nine points (3-6) in two games at the NCAA Women's Frozen Four … In the final game, scored the go-ahead goal with under a minute remaining to give Minnesota its second straight national title … Named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player and garnered All-America First Team honors … Top-three finalist for the 2005 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award.

As a sophomore (2003–04): All-America Second Team selection … 2004 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award top-10 finalist … First Team All-WCHA selection … Named to the WCHA All-Academic and Academic All-Big Ten teams … Tied for second on the team in points (64), despite missing 10 games with an injury … Second in goals (27) and assists (37)… Had a WCHA-best 28 power-play points (10-18) … Three-time WCHA Offensive Player of the Week … Named to the WCHA All-Tournament Team … Scored her fourth hat trick of the season to lead the team to victory in the national title game … Named to the NCAA Women's Frozen Four All-Tournament Team.

As a freshman (2002–03): All-America First Team selection … 2003 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award top-10 finalist … WCHA Rookie of the Year … Team scoring leader (33-35–68) … First-Team All-WCHA selection and WCHA All-Rookie honoree..

Accomplishments and notes[]

2005 Bob Allen Women's Player of the Year Award - awarded by USA Hockey^[6]
2005 NCAA Frozen Four Most Outstanding Player
2002 Winter Olympic All Tournament Team - voted on by the International Ice Hockey Federation
WCHA Team of the Decade (2000s)^[7]

Career statistics[]

			Regular season
Season	Team	League	GP	G	A	Pts
1998	United States Three Nations Cup	Nat-Tm	4	0	0	0
1999	United States Under-22 Series	Nat-Tm	3	1	0	1
1999	United States World Championship Team	Nat-Tm	5	2	1	3
2000	United States Under -22 Series	Nat-Tm	3	0	1	1
2000	United States World Championship Team	Nat-Tm	5	2	6	8
2000-01	United States Women's National Team	Nat-Tm	32	17	18	35
2001	United States World Championship Team	Nat-Tm	5	3	1	4
2001-02	United States Visa Skate to Salt Lake Team	Nat-Tm	30	17	21	38
2002	United States Olympic Team - Salt Lake City	Nat-Tm	5	7	1	8
2002-03	University of Minnesota Golden Gophers	NCAA	33	33	35	68
2003	United States Four Nations Team	Nat-Tm	4	2	1	3
2003	United States Under -22 Team	Nat-Tm	3	2	3	5
2003-04	University of Minnesota Golden Gophers	NCAA	26	27	37	64
2004	United States Four Nations Team	Nat-Tm	4	1	3	4
2004	United States Under -22 Team	Nat-Tm	3	0	2	2
2004	United States World Championship Team	Nat-Tm	5	7	3	10
2004-05	University of Minnesota Golden Gophers	NCAA	40	42	72	114
2005	United States World Championship Team	Nat-Tm	5	2	2	4
2005-06	United States Hilton Family Skate Team	Nat-Tm	18	9	7	16
2006	United States Four Nations Team	Nat-Tm	4	3	6	9
2006	United States Olympic Team - Torino	Nat-Tm	5	3	3	6
2006-07	Minnesota Whitecaps	WWHL	13	11	10	21
2007	United States Four Nations Team	Nat-Tm	4	1	2	3
2007	United States World Championship Team	Nat-Tm	5	4	5	9
2007-08	Minnesota Whitecaps	WWHL	7	4	7	11
2008	United States Four Nations Team	Nat-Tm	4	3	1	4
Career			275	203	249	451

External links[]

Natalie Darwitz at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com (archived)
Natalie Darwitz - Biography from US Olympic Team.com
Natalie Darwitz Photo from US Olympic Media Summit Sept 2009

Sources[]

The Women's Hockey Web
Müller, Stephan : International Ice Hockey Encyclopedia 1904-2005 / BoD GmbH Norderstedt, 2005 ISBN 3-8334-4189-5

References[]

^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-01-05. Retrieved 2017-12-30.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WT9M-k9oG0k
^ http://www.mngirlshockeyhub.com/schedule/team_instance/92382
^ http://www.mngirlshockeyhub.com/schedule/team_instance/246352?subseason=86658
^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-01-17. Retrieved 2010-01-19.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^ "Annual Awards - Through the Years". USA Hockey. Archived from the original on 13 January 2010. Retrieved 24 June 2010.
^ http://www.wcha.com/about/wcha-about.html^{[permanent dead link]}

Preceded by Hayley Wickenheiser (2007)	*IIHF World Women's Championships Best Forward* 2008	Succeeded by Hayley Wickenheiser (2009)
Preceded by Krissy Wendell (2006)	*Captain, United States Olympic Hockey Team* 2010	Succeeded by Unknown (2014)

[1] "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-01-05. Retrieved 2017-12-30.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[2] ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WT9M-k9oG0k

[3] ttp://www.mngirlshockeyhub.com/schedule/team_instance/92382

[4] ttp://www.mngirlshockeyhub.com/schedule/team_instance/246352?subseason=86658

[5] "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-01-17. Retrieved 2010-01-19.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[6] "Annual Awards - Through the Years". USA Hockey. Archived from the original on 13 January 2010. Retrieved 24 June 2010.

[7] ttp://www.wcha.com/about/wcha-about.html^{[permanent dead link]}

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

show v t Minnesota Golden Gophers women's ice hockey
Playing venues	Mariucci Arena (1997–2002) Ridder Arena (2002–present)
Head coaches	Laura Halldorson (1997–2007) Brad Frost (2007–present)
	1998–99 1999–2000 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2020–21
Conference affiliations	WCHA
Rivalries	Wisconsin
All-time leaders	Hannah Brandt (286 points, 170 assists) Nadine Muzerall (139 goals, 40 power play goals) Natalie Darwitz (2.48 points per game) Megan Bozek (146 points by a defense) Krissy Wendell (16 short handed goals) Kelley Stephens (242 penalty minutes) Noora Raty (114 wins, 43 shutouts) Amanda Leveille (1.18 goals against average)
National championships	2000 2004 2005 2012 2013 2015 2016
Women's Frozen Four appearances	2000 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2009 2010 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Olympians	Lyndsay Wall (2002, 2006) Courtney Kennedy (2002, 2006) Natalie Darwitz (2002, 2006, 2010) Krissy Wendell (2002, 2006) Kelly Stephens (2006) Gigi Marvin (2010, 2014, 2018) Noora Räty (2006, 2010, 2014, 2018) Mira Jalosuo (2014, 2018) Megan Bozek (2014) Amanda Kessel (2014, 2018) Anne Schleper (2014) Lee Stecklein (2014, 2018) Hannah Brandt (2018) Dani Cameranesi (2018) Kelly Pannek (2018)
Patty Kazmaier winners	Krissy Wendell (2005) Amanda Kessel (2013)