Penguins hire Krissy Wendell-Pohl as scout

The former Gophers standout will primarily focus on players in Minnesota.

November 7, 2021 at 3:51AM
Krissy Wendell-Pohl practiced with the Minnesota Wild in 2017.
(Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

PITTSBURGH – Krissy Wendell-Pohl's illustrious career has a new chapter.

The Penguins have hired the two-time Olympian and NCAA champion as an amateur scout focusing primarily on the Minnesota area.

A standout at Park Center High School, the Brooklyn Park native co-captained the Gophers to back-to-back titles in 2004 and '05 — scoring a hat trick in the championship game vs. Harvard in 2005. She also received the Patty Kazmaier Award that year as the best player in women's college hockey.

Aside from multiple World Championship appearances, Wendell-Pohl, who is married to former NHLer Johnny Pohl, also represented the United States at two Olympics, winning silver in 2002 and bronze in 2006. In 2019, she was inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame.

The 40-year-old has also coached youth hockey and served as an assistant girls' coach at Cretin-Derham Hall.

Familiar face

Jason Zucker was traded from the Wild to the Penguins almost two years ago, but Saturday was the first time he faced off against his former team since the swap.

The winger was sent to Pittsburgh on Feb.11, 2020, in exchange for forward Alex Galchenyuk, defenseman Calen Addison and a first-round pick that the Wild used to draft defenseman Carson Lambos earlier this year.

"It's been a little bizarre," Zucker told reporters on Friday. "I feel like I've been here for 10 years now and still haven't played them. It's exciting. Still have a lot of good friends over there. I have a ton of respect for that organization and the way they treated me and the opportunity they gave me."

Injury update

Defenseman Alex Goligoski returned to the lineup against the Penguins after sitting out the previous three games with an upper-body injury.

Winger Jordan Greenway, who's on injured reserve with a lower-body injury, will skate soon, coach Dean Evason said. Greenway hasn't played since Oct.28 in Seattle.

On the mend

Forwards Mats Zuccarello and Rem Pitlick could rejoin the Wild soon.

Both players have been sidelined since testing positive for COVID-19 on Oct.27. The plan was for them to skate Saturday in St. Paul and again on Sunday before deciding whether they'd return for the game vs. the Islanders.

about the writer

about the writer

Sarah McLellan

Minnesota Wild and NHL

Sarah McLellan covers the Wild and NHL. Before joining the Star Tribune in November 2017, she spent five years covering the Coyotes for The Arizona Republic.

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