Former Team USA Olympian Krissy Wendell joins Wild for practice

ST. PAUL -- If not for the blonde ponytail coming out of her helmet and the hunter-orange practice jersey that didn't match any of her temporary teammates' sweaters, it might've been easy to mistake Krissy Wendell for a Wild roster mainstay Friday at Xcel Energy Center.

Before practice Friday, the former Golden Gophers and U.S. women's national team star leaned on her stick and talked old times with Minnesota assistant Darby Hendrickson, a friend of her husband and former NHLer John Pohl. When she got to the ice, Wendell and Zach Parise caught up briefly before coach Bruce Boudreau began barking out instructions. As Wild owner Craig Leipold and president Matt Majka watched rinkside, Wendell glided with apparent ease through a couple of skating drills before settling into the club's on-ice workout.
Not bad for her first formal practice in 10 years.

"She looked good out there," Parise said. "We made some good plays."
Kicking off the Wild's annual Girls Hockey Weekend presented by Schwan's, Wendell became the second woman ever to practice with the team. But the 36-year-old national champion/silver medalist/mother of three/youth coach/broadcast analyst is no stranger to "playing with the boys," she said.
While she was growing up in Brooklyn Park, there wasn't any other option.

"You knew every girl that played hockey when I grew up because there was so few of them," Wendell said. "Now, my daughters, they have friends in the city and the school and they have role models to look up to at the college and the national levels, so really, it's come in leaps and bounds. It's a testament to the support that they've had, especially here in the state of Minnesota."
According to Minnesota Hockey, more than 13,000 girls and women registered to play in Minnesota last season. The state led the nation with 147 women playing NCAA Division I hockey, and the current national team roster features six players from Minnesota -- more than any other state.
It's a different world for Wendell's daughters Emily, 9, Anna, 7, and Lucy, 5, all of whom play in the Woodbury Area Hockey Club organization. Wendell coaches Emily's team, and the entire roster showed up to surprise their coach Friday.
"That, I had no idea about," Wendell said. "Honestly, that's why you do it. You do it for the young kids and the exposure that it gives to women's hockey and the growth of the sport."

Wendell's playing career ended about a decade ago after she won national championships in 2004 and 2005, and earned silver at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games and bronze at the 2006 Turin Olympics.
But Friday was a first for one of Minnesota hockey's most recognizable names. She reached out to former teammate Natalie Darwitz, who became the first woman to skate with the Wild at last year's Girls Hockey Weekend.
Wild forward Charlie Coyle walked away impressed Friday.
"She's ... small in stature, but a lot of skill, knows the game," Coyle said. "She has pretty good hockey IQ. It's fun to play with them, and I think it's cool whenever they do that."
Today, Wendell balances her coaching duties -- Pohl and former Wild star and current FOX Sports North analyst Wes Walz, whose daughter Cheyne also plays on the team, are assistants -- with frequent appearances on the Wild's regional broadcast network. She'll be calling the St. Cloud State-Minnesota Duluth outdoor matchup Jan. 20 as part of Hockey Day Minnesota.

But what continues to inspire Wendell's passion for the game so long after retiring from play is her daughters and their teammates. That group danced and serenaded her as she left the ice Friday.
"It's always fun," Boudreau said. "It's good to talk a little bit of Olympic hockey, and she's a pretty good skater for a lady that's been retired for 11 years. We love those things, and I think it's great that women are playing at such a competitive level now that they can come out and practice with the guys in the NHL."
Said Pohl, who played parts of four NHL seasons with the Blues and Maple Leafs following his own standout career as a Gopher: "I think for Krissy, it wasn't probably a big deal ... but for our kids to be able to see that and for the other girls on the team to see, that was really cool."
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- Wild rolls in spite of injuries - Wendell practices with Minnesota - Watch: Women's national team players talk girls hockey