The 2024 Hockey Hall of Fame class is filled with the pride of the red, white and blue, marking the first time four Americans are being inducted in the same class.
The group – which includes Natalie Darwitz, Krissy Wendell–Pohl and Jeremy Roenick in the player category, and David Poile in the builder category — will be formally enshrined tonight in Toronto at the Hockey Hall of Fame (NHL Network, 8 p.m. ET; preview show at 7 p.m. ET).
“It’s been really welcomed, and we couldn’t be happier for those being enshrined,” said Ron DeGregorio, former USA Hockey president and one of the most influential and impactful leaders in the organization’s history.
“Their enshrinement reflects the work of so many across our country, including all the volunteers in grassroots hockey who play such an important role, and also showcases the continued evolution of the sport in our country.”
DeGregorio, who served on the Hockey Hall of Fame board of directors for 10 years in Toronto, said it’s wonderful to see Darwitz and Wendell — two women, two Americans, two Minnesotans — get inducted together and be rewarded for everything they have brought to the sport.
Darwitz, the youngest player ever selected to the U.S. Women’s National Team at age 15, is a three-time Olympic medalist, winning silver medals in 2002 and 2010 and bronze in 2006. She also won gold three times in the IIHF Women’s World Championship, along with five silver medals at the event. She led the World Championship in goals in 2004 and points in 2008.
“She was a player that complemented everyone else’s ability as well as her own,” DeGregorio said. “She scored, she was a very dynamic player.”
Darwitz was a three-time All-American and Patty Kazmaier Award finalist at the University of Minnesota, where she won back-to-back NCAA championships in 2004 and 2005. She also earned the Bob Allen Women’s Player of the Year Award in the 2004-05 season.
Skating alongside her during a lot of those achievements, especially with the Gophers, was Wendell-Pohl, who played on the Minnesota team that won back-to-back titles.
Wendell-Pohl’s scoring abilities helped her become the first Minnesota player and WCHA member to win the Patty Kazmaier Award, doing so in 2005. On top of her collegiate achievements, she also played in the Olympic Winter Games in 2002 and 2006.
“She won an MVP award when we won the gold medal in the Women’s World Championship,” DeGregorio said. “These (Darwitz and Wendell) are two of the best players that have ever played the sport.
“I’m glad they’ve been rewarded.”
Poile, a 1971 graduate of Northeastern University in Boston, left his mark on hockey as a general manager. Following the 2017-18 season, he became the longest-tenured general manager in NHL history, spending 21 seasons with the Nashville Predators and 15 seasons with the Washington Capitals.
Poile retired as GM of the Predators on June 30, 2023, as the NHL leader with 3,075 games and 1,533 wins as a GM. A four-time finalist for the NHL General Manager of the Year Award, Polie won the honor in 2017.
From 1968-73, DeGregorio and Poile played together on the Braintree Hawks, a senior amateur hockey team in Massachusetts. DeGregorio said Poile was a very smart hockey player, but he was an even better general manager.
Poile was an important piece to improving USA Hockey in international competition, according to DeGregorio.
Poile helped with player and staff selections for the U.S. Men’s National and Olympic Ice Hockey Teams, serving as the general manager of the 2014 Men’s Olympic Ice Hockey Team and associate GM for the 2010 Olympic team that won silver.
“He had a way about him that really allowed him to really move up in the NHL in many positions,” DeGregorio said. “But he was always someone that was positive. Low key, but very, very commanding in what he said and how he said it.”
Boston native Jeremy Roenick is a nine-time NHL All-Star and two-time Olympian (1998, 2002) who tallied 23 goals and 25 assists for Team USA in international competition.
Roenick is the second-highest American-born scorer in NHL history with 513 goals and 703 assists in 1,363 career games spread across five teams. He also reached the Stanley Cup Playoffs in each of his first 12 seasons, scoring 122 points across 154 playoff games.
Roenick is someone that should have been in the Hall of Fame earlier, DeGregorio said.
“It took a long time, but I’m happy he finally got over the barrier and is being appropriately honored,” DeGregorio said. “He was a fierce competitor and difference maker and also positively impacted the game with his infectious personality.”
Overall, DeGregorio said it’s great that these four Americans are going into the Hall in 2024 and are getting recognized for their talents.
He is confident that it will affect the future of hockey.
“People will look up and say, ‘Well, Americans can play hockey. Americans can be among the best in the world, and they have been,’” DeGregorio said. “This recognition just fortifies that concept.”
Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.
