Graduated from the Little League Baseball Club in 1994® World Series, 2004 Little League Hall of Fame® Hall of Famer, six-time IIHF World Championship medalist and two-time Olympic medalist Chrissy Wendell-Paul has been officially announced as one of seven inductees into the Hockey Hall of Fame’s Class of 2024, adding another accomplishment to her lengthy list of honors.
Wendell Paul is currently an amateur scout for the Pittsburgh Penguins and has spent the majority of her career on the ice, but she first came into the spotlight in 1994 when she traveled to Williamsport with the Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, American Little League team and made history as the first female player to start as catcher in a Little League Baseball World Series game.
After her Little League days, Mrs. Wendell-Paul made a name for herself in women's ice hockey, winning the title of Miss Minnesota Hockey in 2000 and the Patty Kazmier Award as the best female collegiate hockey player in 2005. In 2002, Mrs. Wendell-Paul led the U.S. team to an Olympic silver medal in women's ice hockey and in 2006, she captained the U.S. team to a bronze medal in women's ice hockey competition. In between these two Olympic Games, she led the U.S. Women's National Team to its first ever gold medal at the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Championship, where she was the tournament's leading scorer and was named Most Valuable Player. She retired from playing in 2006.
With this selection, Mrs. Wendell Paul joins Natalie Darwitz, Pavel Datsyuk, Jeremy Roenick, Shea Weber, Colin Campbell and David Poile as the 2024 recipients, who will be formally honored in Toronto on November 11. This year also marks the first time since 2010 that two women will be inducted into the same Hockey Hall of Fame, and it is a fitting year for Little League to honour the 50-year history of girls in the program as part of its Girls with the Game 50 celebration.
To learn more about notable Little League alumni, visit LittleLeague.org/Alumni. If you know of a notable Little League alumnus not listed on our website, please fill out our Little League Alumni Submission Form.
