Minnesota’s PWHL team, which won the league’s inaugural championship May 29 only to see General Manager and Minnesota hockey icon forced out a week later, on Monday night got back to the team-building business of the draft.
With a raucous crowd cheering on every mention of Minnesota’s Walter Cup triumph, the team selected defenseman Claire Thompson with the third overall pick during the draft at Roy Wilkins Auditorium. Making the pick was coach Ken Klee, who took over the GM role for the draft. It was a rift between Klee and Darwitz that led to Darwitz being forced out, league sources told the Star Tribune.
Thompson, 26, was on the reserve list for New York’s PWHL team this season while she attended medical school. She’s putting those aspirations on hold for now.
“It was a really difficult decision,” she said. “I love medical school, and it’s been a longtime dream of mine to become a doctor. But my sights have been set on continuing to play professional hockey during this period of my life. My goal had been to be able to do both, but obviously that wasn’t possible this past year.”
Thompson, a Toronto native, played four years at Princeton, collecting 31 goals and 56 assists. She had two goals and 11 assists in seven games for Canada’s 2022 Olympic gold medalists.
“We fit a lot of player types that we were looking for,” Klee said, adding that the staff felt Thompson was the best player available after New York selected Princeton center Sarah Fillier first and Ottawa took Colgate forward Danielle Serdachny second.
In the second round, Minnesota selected Wisconsin center Britta Curl. The Bismarck, N.D., native helped the Badgers win the 2023 NCAA championship and finish runner-up this year. She had 41 goals and 63 assists over the past two seasons and is known as a strong two-way player.
“I think of this as my home team, being from North Dakota,” Curl said. “This league suits my style really well. I’m a physical player and can play a 200-foot game.”
