Ronda Curtin Engelhardt (born November 2, 1980, in Roseville, Minnesota) is an American ice hockey player and coach. She currently serves as an amateur scout for the Nashville Predators. She was previously head coach of the Minnesota Whitecaps, leading the team to an Isobel Cup victory in 2019. During her playing career with the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers ice hockey team, she was a finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Award, and was selected to the Western Collegiate Hockey Association women's team of the decade in the 2000s.
| Ronda Curtin Engelhardt | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Curtin in 2022 | |||
| Born |
November 2, 1980 Roseville, Minnesota | ||
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (178 cm) | ||
| Weight | 145 lb (66 kg; 10 st 5 lb) | ||
| Position | Forward | ||
| WCHA team | Minnesota Golden Gophers | ||
| Playing career | 1999–2003 | ||
Career
editPrior to playing for Minnesota, Curtin was a member of the United States Select Team roster that competed at the 1999 Christmas Cup tournament in Fussen, Germany, on December 27–30, 1999.[1] Some of her teammates included future Olympians Julie Chu, Natalie Darwitz, Jenny Schmidgall and Krissy Wendell.
Curtin played both defense and forward as the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers won the 2001–02 Western Collegiate Hockey Association regular-season title for the second consecutive season. Curtin's season included 45 points (11 goals, 34 assists) in 34 games, making her the first defender in WCHA history to lead the conference in regular-season scoring. She led the WCHA in assists (34) and power-play points (21). During the season, Curtin garnered WCHA Player of the Week honors three times and became the first women's ice hockey player in Minnesota to win the award three times in a single season. For her efforts, she was named the 2002 WCHA Player of the Year, the WCHA Defensive Player of the year, a WCHA First Team selection and the WCHA Tournament Most Valuable Player. For the 2002–03 season, she was named team captain.
After finishing her college playing career, she joined the University of St. Thomas hockey staff as an assistant coach for four seasons and earned her Master's degree.[2][3] She later coached the girls' team at Breck School.
In 2018, she was hired as a co-coach of the professional Minnesota Whitecaps in the National Women's Hockey League for their inaugural 2018–19 season in the league.[4] She was a co-head coach for her first two seasons, leading the Whitecaps to an Isobel Cup win in 2019 and two Isobel Cup finals losses in 2021 and 2023. Following the 2023 season, she left the Whitecaps[5] and joined the Nashville Predators as an amateur scout.[6]
Personal
editIn addition to her athletic achievements, she also participates in various community service projects. Her younger sister, Renee, was a forward at Minnesota.[7] She married professional hockey player Brett Engelhardt and has three children.[8]
Career stats
edit| Season | Goals | Assists | Points | Power Play Goals | Short Handed Goals |
| 1999–2000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2000–01 | 34 | 12 | 17 | 29 | 0 |
| 2001–02 | 38 | 13 | 34 | 47 | 1 |
| 2002–03 | 38 | 9 | 28 | 37 | 0 |
| Career | 110 | 34 | 79 | 113 | 1 |
Awards and honors
editHigh school
edit- 1995–96 First Team All-State.
- 1996–97 First Team All-State.
- 1997–98 First Team All-State.
- 1998–99 First Team All-State.
- No. 2 on the Top Career Scorers listing with 470 pts (behind her younger sister Renee's 544 points)
- All State-Tournament pick four times.
- 1997 Player of the Year
- 1999 Ms. Hockey Award
Golden Gopher awards
edit- 2002 GWH Award
- 2002 Most Valuable Player Award
- 2002, 2003 Highest GPA Award
- 2003 Team Captain
- 2002 Kathleen C. and Robert B. Ridder Scholarship
- 2002, 2003 First Team All-Americans[11]
- 2002 Patty Kazmaier Finalists
- 2002, 2003 First-Team All-WCHA
- 2002, 2003 WCHA Defensive Player of the Year
- 2002 WCHA Player of the Year[12]
- 2002 WCHA All-Tournament Team
- 2001, 2002, 2003 WCHA All-Academic Team & Academic All-Big Ten
- WCHA Player of the Week: 2001–02 season, (Dec. 17, Feb. 11, March 4)
- WCHA Rookie of the Week: 1999–2000 season (Oct. 18, Nov. 15, Feb. 15)[13]
- WCHA Team of the Decade (2000s)[14]
References
edit- ^ "1999 U.S. Women's Select Team". Archived from the original on 2011-05-25. Retrieved 2010-02-23.
- ^ "Robin Curtin Elite Prospects". EliteProspects.com. Archived from the original on July 12, 2018. Retrieved July 12, 2018.
- ^ "Alumni Spotlight: Ronda Curtin". GopherSports.com. October 5, 2017. Archived from the original on July 12, 2018. Retrieved July 12, 2018.
- ^ "Whitecaps pick former Gophers star Ronda (Curtin) Engelhardt as co-coach with Jack Brodt". Star Tribune. July 12, 2018. Archived from the original on July 12, 2018. Retrieved July 12, 2018.
- ^ "Minnesota Whitecaps head coach Ronda Engelhardt and team part ways". Star Tribune. March 30, 2023. Archived from the original on April 18, 2023. Retrieved June 29, 2024.
- ^ "Women in Hockey: Ronda Engelhardt". NHL.com. December 4, 2023. Archived from the original on January 13, 2024. Retrieved June 29, 2024.
- ^ "Ivy League Sports". Archived from the original on 2010-01-03. Retrieved 2010-02-23.
- ^ "WHERE ARE THEY NOW? RONDA (CURTIN) ENGELHARDT". StateOfHockey.com. April 5, 2016.[permanent dead link]
- ^ http://mobile.uscho.com/stats/player.php?pid=279&gender=w[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Ronda Curtin". Archived from the original on 2010-02-05. Retrieved 2010-02-23.
- ^ http://web1.ncaa.org/web_files/stats/w_icehockey_rb/2009/2008%20Awards.pdf [bare URL PDF]
- ^ http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/wcha/sports/w-hockey/auto_pdf/wchaw-2010Ybk-49-56.pdf Archived 2012-11-12 at the Wayback Machine [bare URL PDF]
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-04-14. Retrieved 2010-02-23.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ http://www.wcha.com/about/wcha-about.html[permanent dead link]
External links
edit- Biographical information and career statistics from Eliteprospects.com