‘You wanted to be her’: Natalie Darwitz’s Road from an 18-year-old Olympian to IIHF Hall of Fame Inductee

Natalie Darwitz opened her Olympic career with Team USA as an 18-year-old. More than 20 years later, she's being inducted to the IIHF Hall of Fame, and is serving as the general manager of PWHL Minnesota.

Natalie Darwitz was only 18 when she stepped onto the ice at the E Center for her Olympic debut during the 2002 Salt Lake City Games. As she took each stride on home ice, Darwitz realized her hard work, determination, and sacrifices had finally paid off.

"At that time, the Olympics was the pinnacle of your career, right," Darwitz said.

 "That's the highest you can get to. There was no professional league; there was no major compensation. As an 18-year-old, I left school for two years in Minnesota to train with the US Olympic team. And so, for me, it was a combination of a lot of sacrifices and a lot of hard work, not only for me but also for my parents having their youngest kid leave home.

"I think the coolest moment for me was every time in warmups at the end, I find my family or friends, and they're often in the same section, and because it was in Salt Lake, a lot of people were able to attend,” Darwitz continued. 

“The first game we played, waving to them after I got off the ice for warmups was probably the moment that was [the] realization that we made it; the hard work paid off. A lot of people's sacrifice, a lot of people a part of me getting to this point—that's what made it worth it."

Darwitz's supporters looked on from the stands during her Olympic debut, and it took just over one period for Darwitz to bring them to their feet. Her first goal came minutes into the second frame of the United States' opening game of the preliminary round against Germany—Cammi Granato got the only assist on her historic marker.

"I don't even remember it was so long ago," Darwitz said, recalling the emotions felt after scoring her first Olympic goal. "I'm sure it was a combination of excitement, joy, relief, [and] honor.”

The goal would be the first of seven Darwitz notched during the tournament. Her second tally came minutes after her first, extending the United States lead to four over Germany. The United States would win their preliminary round opener 10-0 and their next two contests by a combined score of 17-1.

Darwitz’s seven goals in five games helped the United States earn a silver medal—her seven equalled eventual tournament MVP Hayley Wickenheiser for the lead in goals.

"I had a really good Olympics," Darwitz said. "And again, I was on a line with Krissy Wendell and Cammi Granato, so that's probably why."

Granato assisted on three of Darwitz's seven goals.

Darwitz leans toward Salt Lake as her favorite of the three Olympic games she participated in. The other two, Torino 2006 and Vancouver 2010, also resulted in medals for the United States—a bronze and a silver.

The current PWHL Minnesota general manager was recently announced as a member of the 2024 IIHF Hall of Fame Induction class, getting well-deserved recognition for her on-ice accomplishments.

"Obviously, [it's] always humbling when you get a call like that," Darwitz said. "We play a team sport, so it's kind of weird giving individual accolades. But humbling and honored are the two words that come to mind when I was chosen… it's a team sport, so I didn't do everything myself. I had great teammates and was super fortunate to have a good career.”

After Salt Lake City, Darwitz's path led her to play for three years at the University of Minnesota—just a 20-minute drive from her hometown of Eagan, MN. During her time as a Golden Gopher, Darwitz would become the women's all-time leading scorer at the University of Minnesota, scoring 246 points through 99 games—including a 114-point season to end her collegiate career in 2004-05.

"It was probably the first time in a couple of years I got to play with players my own age," Darwitz said. "The US [team] a couple of years prior, I'm alongside Cammi Granato as an 18-year-old, and she's in her 20s, or whatever it was, so it was really cool to go back and play hockey with my peers of the same age.

"As a Minnesota kid growing up and growing up here, you naturally bleed maroon and gold, which are the Golden Gophers colors,” she continued. “You watch the men's team on TV every Friday and Saturday night—I remember growing up, and every Friday night, we'd order pizza and watch the [Golden] Gophers game on TV, so it was just cool to have, you know, the Minnesota pride and play for your hometown college."

While playing with her peers, Darwitz and the Golden Gophers won back-to-back NCAA championships in 2004 and 2005. Darwitz found the dynamic of playing for months on end with her collegiate teammates different from the international squads she excelled with.

"It's different than the US Team," Darwitz said. "The World Championships, you come together for four weeks—the college season, you're together September through March— it has a real team feel. So those are tremendous memories that I have of those two years winning those national championships."

During their second national championship run, the Golden Gophers had a target on their back all season, and understandably so. Darwitz found that this element added to the euphoric feeling of winning the title in 2005.

"We had a target on our back all year,” Darwitz said. “We were number one all year. We always got everyone's best game against us, and to do a back-to-back championship in any sport is hard, and it’s challenging to deal with a target on your back. So I think I'm most proud of that.

"The teammates that we had on the [Golden] Gophers that year, we were just really close, and we understood that we needed to lock arms and be a team for us to win. Again, it takes on a new meaning when you're together from September on instead of two or three-week jobs and coming together here and there—It takes on a whole new meaning, so I'll say that's kind of the top of the list."

Even though her playing days are behind her, Darwitz still sees some familiar faces of former foes out on the ice as she manages PWHL Minnesota. And perhaps there is no one more recognizable than Marie-Philip Poulin.

"It means I'm old," Darwitz said when asked how it feels seeing athletes she played against still active. "No, I mean, Marie-Philip came up at the end of my career as a huge player that had a really bright future. The resume she has and what she's done is pretty spectacular.”

Amid the substantial number of hockey icons playing professionally, a new crop of athletes born and raised in Minnesota are emerging as premier talents in the PWHL. Darwitz, who has contributed substantially to the growth of women's hockey in Minnesota, is getting an up-close look at the future of the State of Hockey—and there's no need to look any further than the duo Taylor Heise and Grace Zumwinkle to see her impact.

"Minnesota is a hockey hotbed; we love our hockey, so for me to draft Taylor and Grace was an absolute no-brainer for a variety of reasons," Darwitz said. "Number one, they're tremendous hockey players. Number two, they're tremendous people. Number three, hometown kids are going to grow our market. It's going to grow our fan base, which is going to push the needle forward for women's hockey."

Growing up in Minnesota, Heise and another Minnesota product, Kelly Pannek, saw firsthand Darwitz's impact on the community. Heise, Minnesota's first overall pick in the inaugural PWHL draft, and Pannek, one of the team's three original signings, are familiar with their GM's legacy.

"In Minnesota if you grew up playing hockey, you watched her—you wanted to be her," Pannek said. "She accomplished so much in her playing career, and to think that there was so much that she didn't get a chance to accomplish because there wasn't a league for her to play in and how much more incredible her career would've been if she had the opportunity."

"As someone who's been my coach and now my GM, a ruler of the world in that sense hockey-wise, I'm very excited for her," Heise said of Darwitz’s IIHF Hall of Fame acknowledgement. “For her being such a humble person, where she's not gonna make a big deal out of it, I'm glad we were able to celebrate that with her and recognize the fact that it takes a lot of hard work and a lot of dedication to get where she did so we're really excited for her and she does a great job."

Hockey is a team sport—Darwitz knows this arguably better than anyone. Now, she manages her home state's PWHL team.

As for her legacy, people will remember Darwitz as a player who competed the right way, was an excellent player on and off the ice, and pushed women's hockey forward.

"I was so lucky and fortunate to have a 10-plus year career in hockey, starting at age 15 and then three Olympics," Darwitz said. "So it was great to be recognized for the impact and contributions I was able to have within a decade of playing, and hopefully, I was remembered as a good player who played the game the right way but also was a good person off the ice and pushed the needle forward for women's hockey, and paved the path for where it is today."