Former Olympian Krissy Wendell to practice with Wild
Photo credit: Minnesota Wild
(KMSP) - Former Gopher women's hockey player and U.S. Olympian Krissy Wendell will practice with the Minnesota Wild Friday as part of the annual Girls' Hockey Weekend.
The Brooklyn Park native will join them at the Xcel Friday and make the "Let's Play Hockey!" call before the game Saturday, according to the team website.
Wendell won the NCAA championships with Minnesota in 2003 and 2004, and she earned silver at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games and bronze at the 2006 Turin Olympics.
Now in its second year, the contest is dedicated to girls and women's hockey and features a youth starting lineup with various intermission activities. Proceeds from the Saturday event benefit the Minnesota Whitecaps, the first and only women's professional-level hockey team in the State of Hockey.
Wendell will be the second women's player to skate with the Wild. Her former Gophers teammate Natalie Darwitz did so last year at the inaugural Girls Hockey Weekend.