Wendell-Pohl's 'electric' skill paved way to Hall of Fame, Granato says

For four years, Cammi Granato played on a line alongside Krissy Wendell-Pohl -- and Natalie Darwitz -- including during the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics. It’s just one of the reasons why Granato was happy to welcome her former teammate to the Hockey Hall of Fame. Granato, a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame Selection Committee, was enshrined in 2010 as one of the first two women to enter the Hall. In a special testimonial for NHL.com, Granato reflects on what made Wendell-Pohl so special.

From the moment Krissy Wendell-Pohl got to the program, there was an immediate impact.

When she and Natalie Darwitz joined the national team at a young age, they were coming into a group of veteran players who had just won gold at the 1998 Nagano Olympics. It couldn’t have been easy for them to jump right in, but with their level of talent, they stepped in with ease.

The three of us were put on a line right away and we immediately clicked. It was so much fun, because we could read off each other so well and we were similar in how we saw the game. The best times of my career were those years that I played on a line with them.

Krissy is such a dynamic player, with elite offensive skill and who possessed the puck more than anyone else. When she got it on her stick, she was electric. She would go right into traffic with the puck. That was unique because most players coming into the zone go to open space. But Krissy would go right at the defender -- it didn’t matter if it was one, two or three opposing players, she’d just dangle around them like the puck was glued to her stick.

Our team called her "Krissy Toe Drag" because her toe-drag was her patented move.

For Krissy, the skill was innate. It was in her being. She played that way every game. She was a magician with the puck.

When I think about Krissy now, the first thing I see is her smile behind her mask because she loved the game and always had fun. She didn’t let things bring her down. She was a great teammate and had an energy about her that put people at ease.

When Krissy retired at 24 years old, she could have played longer but she knew where her heart was and wanted to start a family with her husband Johnny. She was dominant when she walked into the program and she was dominant when she retired.