Britta Curl

American ice hockey player
Ice hockey player
Britta Curl
Born (2000-03-20) March 20, 2000 (age 24)
Bismarck, North Dakota
Height 5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
Weight 170 lb (77 kg; 12 st 2 lb)
Position Forward
Shoots Left
PWHL team PWHL Minnesota
National team  United States
Playing career 2018–present

Britta Curl (born March 20, 2000) is an American ice hockey player for PWHL Minnesota of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) and a member of the United States women's national ice hockey team. She played college ice hockey at Wisconsin where she won three national championships.

Playing career

College

Curl began her collegiate career for the Wisconsin Badgers during the 2018–19 season. She recorded her first career goal on October 5, 2018, in a game against Mercyhurst.[1] She was named the WCHA Rookie of the Week for the week ending October 30, 2018, after she recorded a goal and an assist to tie for the WCHA rookie scoring lead during the weekend.[2] On February 9, 2019, she tied a her career-high with three points in a game against Minnesota State.[3] She was subsequently named WCHA Player of the Week for the week ending February 12, 2019.[4] During a weekend series against St. Cloud State, she recorded two multi-goal games. Her four goals tied for the WCHA and NCAA lead in scoring. She became the seventh Badger freshman to score 20 or more goals in her rookie season. She was subsequently named the WCHA Rookie of the Week for the week ending March 5, 2019.[5] During her freshman season, she recorded 22 goals and 11 assists and helped the Badgers win the National Collegiate Women's Ice Hockey Championship. Her 22 goals were tied for the fifth-most in program history by a freshman. She became the eighth Badger to score 20 goals her freshman year and the first player to do so since Annie Pankowski in 2015.[6]

During the 2019–20 season she recorded 16 goals and nine assists in 36 games in a season that was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[6] On November 12, 2020, she was named an alternate captain for the 2020–21 season.[7] During her junior season, she recorded seven goals and ten assists in 21 games and helped the Badgers repeat as national champions.[8]

During the 2022–23 season, she served as captain and recorded 19 goals and 23 assists in 41 games, and helped Wisconsin win the national championship. She ranked second on the team in points with 43, led the team in goals with 19, and tied for the team lead in game-winning and power-play goals with four each. During the 2023–24 season, she again served as captain and appeared in all 41 games for the Badgers. She posted a career-high 62 points on 22 goals and 40 assists. She set a school record for consecutive games with a goal scored as she recorded 11 goals in ten consecutive games from September 29 to November 3.[6]

She finished her collegiate career with 86 goals and 93 assists in 181 games played, and helped Wisconsin to reach four national finals and win three national championships in five seasons. She's Wisconsin's all-time leader in games played, and ranks seventh in program history in goals, 14th in assists, and ninth in points with 179.[9]

Professional

On June 10, 2024, Curl was drafted in the second round, ninth overall, by PWHL Minnesota in the 2024 PWHL draft.[10][11] She signed a two-year contract with the team on June 21, 2024.[12][13]

International play

Curl represented the United States at the 2018 IIHF World Women's U18 Championships, where she recorded four goals and four assists and won a gold medal.[14]

On March 30, 2021, she was named to the roster for the United States at the 2021 IIHF Women's World Championship.[15][16]

Personal life

Curl was born to Bill and Gretchen Curl. She has two brothers, Byrne and Cullen, and one sister, Brenna.[6] She is engaged to former Wisconsin Badgers wrestler Andrew Salemme.[17] She attended St. Mary's Central High School, a private Catholic school in Bismarck, North Dakota.[18]

Social media controversy

Curl has garnered controversy for her social media activity,[19] which included reposting promotional material from The Daily Wire for What Is a Woman?, a film that questions the intellectual rationale for societal recognition of gender identity and has been described by some as anti-trans[20][21][22][23] or transphobic[24][25][26]; liking a post supporting Kyle Rittenhouse, who shot three men during unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin in 2020[27]; and liking a post from conservative commentator Candace Owens[28] calling Target "perverted" for the sale of "tuck-friendly" women's swimwear[29] as part of its 2023 Pride lineup[30]. Curl posted in support of fellow hockey player Jocelyne Lamoureux after Lamoureux was criticized by freelance journalist Nicole Haase. Lamoureux praised USA Powerlifting for appealing a ruling requiring it to permit the participation of a transgender woman in its women's categories, saying "I'm a three-time hockey Olympian & I attended high school in Minnesota as well as competed for the University of Minnesota for one season in the NCAA. I stand with @USAPowerlifting in their efforts to keep competition fair for girls & women in sports. Title IX was created to provide opportunities for women and girls and this is a pivotal moment in protecting those opportunities & the fairness of their competitions." Haase posted the quote on X with the caption "Absolutely abhorrent transphobic behavior and public statement from Jocelyne Lamoureux. @PWHPA needs to remove her from their board immediately[.]" Curl reposted it with the caption "Females protecting female players on the female players association board? Thank you @LamoureuxTwins 👏👏".[31][32] When her selection by Minnesota in the 2024 PWHL draft led to backlash from some fans because of her political views, she posted an apology video to X and Instagram, stating in part "I specifically recognize my that social media activity has resulted in hurt being felt across communities in including LGBTQ+ and BIPOC individuals. I just want to apologize and take ownership of that." The team released a statement about inclusivity on the same day, but did not directly reference Curl.[33][34]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2018–19 University of Wisconsin WCHA 41 22 11 33 16 — — — — —
2019–20 University of Wisconsin WCHA 36 16 9 25 20 — — — — —
2020–21 University of Wisconsin WCHA 21 7 10 17 18 — — — — —
2022–23 University of Wisconsin WCHA 42 19 23 42 22 — — — — —
2023–24 University of Wisconsin WCHA 41 22 40 62 27 — — — — —
NCAA totals 181 86 93 179 103 — — — — —

International

Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2018 United States U18 1st place, gold medalist(s) 5 4 4 8 2
2021 United States WC 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 3 1 0 1 2
2023 United States WC 1st place, gold medalist(s) 2 0 0 0 2
2024 United States WC 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 7 0 3 3 4
Junior totals 5 4 4 8 2
Senior totals 12 1 3 4 8

References

  1. ^ "Roque Hat Trick Leads Wisconsin Past Mercyhurst, 6-1". wcha.com. October 5, 2018. Archived from the original on August 25, 2021. Retrieved August 25, 2021.
  2. ^ "OSU's Dahlquist, UMN's Brown, MSU's Levy And UW's Curl Named WCHA Players Of The Week, Powered By GoodWood Hockey". wcha.com. October 30, 2018. Archived from the original on August 25, 2021. Retrieved August 25, 2021.
  3. ^ Milewski, Todd D. (February 13, 2019). "WCHA honors Wisconsin Badgers' Britta Curl, Sophie Shirley after sweep of Minnesota State". Wisconsin State Journal. Archived from the original on August 25, 2021. Retrieved August 25, 2021.
  4. ^ "UW's Curl And Shirley, OSU's Boyle And SCSU's Alder Named WCHA Players Of The Week, Powered By GoodWood Hockey". wcha.com. February 12, 2019. Archived from the original on August 25, 2021. Retrieved August 25, 2021.
  5. ^ "UW's Pankowski And Curl, UMD's Flaherty And OSU's Braendli Named WCHA Players Of The Week, Powered By GoodWood Hockey". wcha.com. March 5, 2019. Archived from the original on August 25, 2021. Retrieved August 25, 2021.
  6. ^ a b c d "Britta Curl Bio". uwbadgers.com. Archived from the original on August 25, 2021. Retrieved August 25, 2021.
  7. ^ Milewski, Todd D. (November 12, 2020). "Badgers women's hockey team names co-captains for 2020-21 season". Wisconsin State Journal. Archived from the original on August 25, 2021. Retrieved August 25, 2021.
  8. ^ "Super Six: Badgers claim sixth National Title". uwbadgers.com. March 20, 2021. Archived from the original on August 25, 2021. Retrieved August 25, 2021.
  9. ^ "Pair of Badgers selected in 2024 PWHL Draft". uwbadgers.com. June 10, 2024. Archived from the original on June 11, 2024. Retrieved June 11, 2024.
  10. ^ Kennedy, Ian (June 10, 2024). "PWHL Minnesota Picks Britta Curl 9th Overall". The Hockey News. Archived from the original on June 11, 2024. Retrieved June 11, 2024.
  11. ^ Stewart, Mark (June 10, 2024). "Wisconsin's Britta Curl selected by her "home team" in second round of PWHL draft". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Archived from the original on June 11, 2024. Retrieved June 11, 2024.
  12. ^ Kennedy, Ian (June 21, 2024). "Minnesota Signs Britta Curl and Klara Hymlarova To Two-Year Deals". The Hockey News. Retrieved June 21, 2024.
  13. ^ "PWHL Minnesota Signs Draft Picks Britta Curl and Klára Hymlárová". thepwhl.com. June 21, 2024. Retrieved June 21, 2024.
  14. ^ "U.S. Takes Gold at 2018 IIHF U18 Women's World Championship". teamusa.usahockey.com. January 13, 2018. Archived from the original on August 25, 2021. Retrieved August 25, 2021.
  15. ^ "Seven Badgers named to U.S. roster for upcoming IIHF World Championships". uwbadgers.com. March 30, 2021. Archived from the original on August 25, 2021. Retrieved August 25, 2021.
  16. ^ Selvig, Dave (July 22, 2021). "Curl named to US women's world championship team". The Bismarck Tribune. Archived from the original on August 25, 2021. Retrieved August 25, 2021.
  17. ^ Baggot, Andy (February 19, 2024). "Baggot: Jack of All Trades". uwbadgers.com. Archived from the original on March 25, 2024. Retrieved February 19, 2024.
  18. ^ "St. Mary's grad Britta Curl to compete on United States women's hockey team at Winter Olympics in Beijing". ndhsaa.com. February 6, 2022. Archived from the original on June 11, 2024. Retrieved June 11, 2024.
  19. ^ "New York selects Princeton, Canadian national team forward Sarah Fillier with 1st pick in PWHL draft". AP News. June 10, 2024. Archived from the original on June 11, 2024. Retrieved June 11, 2024.
  20. ^ Ingram, David (26 July 2023). "3 people say they were tricked into appearing in an anti-trans film". NBC News. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
  21. ^ Tebaldi, Catherine; Baran, Dominika (2023). "Of tradwives and TradCaths: The anti-genderism register in global nationalist movements". Gender and Language. 17 (1): 1–13. doi:10.1558/genl.25635. S2CID 258735598.
  22. ^ Tolentino, Daysia; Ingram, David (June 2, 2023). "Elon Musk's response to anti-trans video sparked day of chaos at Twitter". NBC News. Retrieved June 3, 2023.
  23. ^ Billson, Chantelle (June 3, 2023). "Elon Musk's Twitter descends into chaos after row over What Is a Woman? film". PinkNews. Retrieved June 12, 2023.
  24. ^ Abdellatif, Amal (2 January 2023). "Beyond the genitalia: What is a hu-WO-man?". Organization: 135050842211455. doi:10.1177/13505084221145532. ISSN 1350-5084. S2CID 255732369.
  25. ^ Woodward, Alex (June 5, 2023). "'Elon Musk promotes transphobic content as hate speech surges on his far-right platform". The Independent. Retrieved June 11, 2023.
  26. ^ Robinson, Nathan J. (15 June 2022). ""What Is A Woman?" Is a Feature-Length Exploration of Conservative Ignorance and Prejudice". Current Affairs. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
  27. ^ "Jury finds Rittenhouse not guilty in Kenosha shootings". AP News. 2021-11-20. Retrieved 2024-06-22.
  28. ^ Colley, Mark (June 11, 2024). "A controversial pick. A missing GM. Boos at the podium. How draft night went wrong for PWHL Minnesota". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on June 11, 2024. Retrieved June 11, 2024.
  29. ^ Owens, Candace [@RealCandaceO] (May 23, 2023). "Target has been an openly perverted company for a long time. Many million times worse than Bud Light and worthy of being boycott out of existence. @Target #boycott" (Tweet). Retrieved June 22, 2024 – via Twitter. Archived at https://archive.ph/8pxyj.
  30. ^ Cavale, Siddharth (May 24, 2023). "Target removing some LGBTQ merchandise following customer backlash". Reuters. Archived from the original on June 10, 2023. Retrieved June 22, 2024.
  31. ^ Kennedy, Ian (July 1, 2023). "Excluding Trans Women From Women's Hockey: Examining The Roots". The Hockey News. Archived from the original on June 6, 2024. Retrieved June 5, 2024.
  32. ^ Curl, Britta [@brittacurl] (June 23, 2023). "Females protecting female players on the female players association board? Thank you @LamoureuxTwins 👏👏" (Tweet). Retrieved June 13, 2024 – via Twitter. Archived at https://archive.ph/DEx2D.
  33. ^ Kennedy, Ian (June 14, 2024). "Britta Curl Apologizes To PWHL Fans And Community". The Hockey News. Retrieved June 14, 2024.
  34. ^ Curl, Britta [@brittybrittybangbang_] (June 14, 2024). "Dear PWHL fans…". Retrieved June 14, 2024 – via Instagram.

External links

  • Biographical information and career statistics from Eliteprospects.com
  • Britta Curl on X Edit this at Wikidata