‘We did our homework on her’: PWHL Minnesota coach Ken Klee defends controversial Britta Curl pick

Among the 42 players taken in the 2024 PWHL Draft on Monday night, one name that was called rubbed many people the wrong way.

In the second round of the draft, host Minnesota took University of Wisconsin forward Britta Curl with the ninth overall pick.

Now, there is no question Curl is a sensational hockey player. The Badger captain scored a career-best 62 points in 41 games this past season. She has also been a member of the U.S. Women’s National Team, playing in three of the last four IIHF Women’s World Championships. With her talent, she is more than capable of making an immediate impact in the PWHL.

However, Curl has become a controversial figure off the ice due to her activity on social media. The Bismarck, North Dakota native has shown support for anti-LGBTQ+ messaging, as well as liking posts online that feature bigoted commentary, as well as COVID-19 conspiracy theories. Curl’s X account shows that she has liked posts that also attack inclusive language toward transgender individuals.

During his media availability following the draft, head coach and acting general manager Ken Klee defended taking the 24-year-old.

“We were just trying to pick the best players available,” Klee said. “We did our homework on her. She’s obviously a great player. We talked to coaches who said that she’s a great kid, a great competitor, great in the locker room. I talked to her teammates on [Team] USA and some other areas, they said ‘she’s a great teammate, coach, you’d love to have her.’ For me, that’s what we were looking at doing, and I’m really happy that we did.”

CBC’s Karissa Donkin asked Klee whether he had spoken with local LGBTQ+ community members prior to the draft. Klee was noticeably caught off guard by the question.

“That’s tough to answer for me…I spoke with a lot of different people. At the end of the day, I was told [Curl’s] a great teammate, a great person, she’s obviously a great player. For me, we have people in that community, and obviously, Mira making that selection for us, that speaks volumes for us.”

There was just one problem with Klee’s remark. While assistant coach Mira Jalosuo, who is married to another woman, was on the stage when the pick was made, she was not the one who made the announcement. That was Melvin Carter, the mayor of St. Paul.

The choice of adding Curl to the team’s protected list adds to what has been a tumultuous week for Minnesota, to say the least. Just eight days after the team won the first-ever Walter Cup, Michael Russo and Hailey Salvian of The Athletic broke the news that Natalie Darwitz was out as general manager. Reports came out later citing a rift between Darwitz and Klee, with players such as captain Kendall Coyne Schofield taking the side of the head coach, driving Darwitz out of a job.

Per Ian Kennedy of The Hockey News, Minnesota staff had said the current regime had abandoned the draft plan that Darwitz and the rest of the hockey operations had been working on for the past year. It is unknown if Curl was part of the team’s original plans.

When Klee first took to the stage to be part of the announcement that Minnesota was taking defender Claire Thompson with the third overall pick, a smattering of boos were heard at the Roy Wilkins Auditorium, an occurrence that happened a couple of times throughout the event.

“I certainly didn’t want anything else to be a distraction,” Klee explained. “I didn’t want anything to take away from those players’ experiences. It’s unfortunate, a little bit, in the beginning. Then again, it’s okay, people are entitled to their opinion.”

Anonymous players have come forward defending Darwitz, while team staff has told Daily Faceoff that they are shocked and embarrassed by the events, with some even considering changing occupations.

The PWHL says it is actively searching for a permanent replacement as general manager.

Minnesota, and the rest of the teams have a short break before free agency opens up on June 21.

Check out DFO’s PWHL Draft grades