US Olympian, PWHL Detroit forward Curl-Salemme to miss season after announcing she is pregnant

U.S. Olympian and PWHL Detroit forward Britta Curl-Salemme will miss the women’s pro hockey season after announcing her pregnancy on Monday.

Curl-Salemme revealed the news by posting a picture on her Instagram account featuring her and husband, Andrew, seated next to an open oven with a bun on the top rack and the caption, “Womb.”

PWHL Detroit general manager Manon Rheaume congratulated Curl-Salemme in a post on the expansion team’s X account.

“We’ll certainly miss Britta in the lineup when we hit the ice for our inaugural season, but we’re so happy for her and Andrew, who are embarking on an exciting new chapter of their own,” Rheaume wrote . “While she takes this time to focus on her growing family, Britta will have the full support of our team.”

It’s the first child for the couple who were married in 2024 and were athletes at the University of Wisconsin, where Andrew was a wrestler.

Curl-Salemme is the second member of the U.S. team that won gold at the Milan Cortina Games in February to announce her pregnancy. She joins Kendall Coyne Schofield, the Minnesota Frost captain, who announced she is expecting her second child last week.

Curl-Salemme spent her first two PWHL seasons with Minnesota, where she won the 2025 Walter Cup championship in her rookie year. In June, she signed a three-year contract with Detroit in the league’s expansion process.

The 26-year-old from Bismark, North Dakota, finished third in the league last season with 29 points, including a single-season record of 18 assists.

Curl-Salemme had a goal and five assists in her Olympic debut in February, and has won two gold medals and two silvers representing the U.S. in world championship play. Though she attended the U.S. team's pre-tournament camp in Michigan last week, Curl-Salemme was left off the roster set to compete at the world championship tournament opening in Denmark on Friday.

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