Charlie Burggraf named coach of Minnesota's new pro women's hockey team

Charlie Burggraf, a former men's and women's hockey coach at Bethel, will be coaching Minnesota's new franchise in the newly formed PWHL.

September 15, 2023 at 11:06PM
Women’s pro hockey will be returning to Minnesota in January, when the newly formed PWHL gets started. (Renée Jones Schneider, Renée Jones Schneider/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Natalie Darwitz had no shortage of candidates to coach Minnesota's team in the new Professional Women's Hockey League. As she considered her choices, the general manager kept coming back to one name: Charlie Burggraf.

The league announced Friday that Burggraf accepted the job, bringing him back to hockey after a few years away. The Roseau native coached Darwitz when she was with the Gophers, helping lead the team to the 2005 NCAA championship during his two seasons as an assistant. Burggraf later was head coach at Bethel, leading the women's program from 2006-10 and the men's program from 2010-18.

All six PWHL teams announced their head coaches Friday. The league will hold its inaugural draft Monday in Toronto, where each team will add 15 players to its roster.

"Charlie is going to bring a wealth of leadership and knowledge to our organization,'' Darwitz said. "And he's going to impact it on the ice as well as off the ice. We're tremendously excited."

For the past few years, Burggraf said, he had been working out of state in a mentoring role. He considered getting back into coaching earlier, but he hadn't found the right situation until Darwitz called.

"Women's hockey has continued to improve, and the level of play [in the PWHL] is going to be pretty exciting," said Burggraf, who played at North Dakota. "It was a no-brainer."

about the writer

about the writer

Rachel Blount

Reporter/Columnist

Rachel Blount is a sports reporter for the Minnesota Star Tribune who covers a variety of topics, including the Olympics, Wild, college sports and horse racing. She has written extensively about Minnesota's Olympic athletes and has covered pro and college hockey since joining the staff in 1990.

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