A 1994 graduate of the Little League Baseball® World Series, a 2004 enshrinee of the Little League® Hall of Excellence, a six-time IIHF World Champion medalist, and a two-time Olympic medalist, Krissy Wendell-Pohl will be adding yet another accomplishment to her long list of accolades as she has officially been announced as one of seven inductees into the Hockey Hall of Fame Class of 2024.
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While today she serves as an amateur scout for the Pittsburgh Penguins, and much of her career has been spent shining on the ice, Mrs. Wendell-Pohl’s time in the spotlight first came in 1994 as she made history, becoming the first girl to start at catcher in a Little League Baseball World Series game when she made it to Williamsport with her Brooklyn Park (Minn.) American Little League team.
After her Little League days, Mrs. Wendell-Pohl made a name for herself in women’s ice hockey, collecting the Minnesota Ms. Hockey award in 2000; and the 2005 Patty Kazmier Award, as the best female collegiate hockey player. In 2002, Mrs. Wendell-Pohl won an women’s ice hockey Olympic Silver Medal with Team USA; and in 2006, she served as the Captain for the U.S. team that the Bronze Medal in the women’s ice hockey competition. Between these two Olympic performances she helped the U.S. Women’s National team to its first-ever Gold Medal in the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Championships where she led the tournament in points and was named the Most Valuable Player. She retired as a player in 2006.
With the selection, Mrs. Wendell-Pohl will join Natalie Darwitz, Pavel Datsyuk, Jeremy Roenick, Shea Weber, Colin Campbell, and David Poile in the Class of 2024, with the recipients officially receiving their awards in Toronto on November 11. This year also marks the first time since 2010 that two women will be part of the same Hockey Hall of Fame class, a fitting mark as Little League pays tribute to 50 years of girls in its program as part of its Girls with Game 50 Celebration.
To learn more about Little League’s notable alumni, visit LittleLeague.org/Alumni. If you know of a notable Little League graduate that is not listed on our website, please fill out our Little League Alumni Submission Form.