PPC Board of Directors Meeting – Tuesday, July 8 at 7 p.m.
The next Power Play Club Board of Directors meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, July 8 at 7 p.m. The meeting will be held online via Zoom and is open to all club members who were enrolled for the 2024-2025 season; please contact PPC president Bill Johnson (billjohnson013@gmail.com) or vice president Dave Malerich (dmalerich@yahoo.com) if you wish to attend.
St. Thomas to host 2026 Kwik Trip WCHA Final Faceoff
The Western Collegiate Hockey Association announced Thursday that the University of St. Thomas will host the 2026 Kwik Trip WCHA Final Faceoff at the new Lee & Penny Anderson Arena the weekend of March 5 through 7, 2026 (with exact dates to be announced).
As previously announced, the new facility on the UST campus in St. Paul will open Friday, October 24. The league's tentative regular-season schedule has the Gophers getting their first look at the arena in December in their final series of calendar 2025.
The first three WCHA championship tournaments were held at neutral site locations (Bloomington, Rochester & Blaine). Since then, the U. of M. hosted the event at Ridder Arena on 17 occasions, Minnesota Duluth has hosted 3 times (including last year), North Dakota hosted it twice and Bemidji State once. This will be St. Thomas' first time as the host institution.
PWHL Expansion Draft – TONIGHT (June 9) at 7:30 p.m. CT
The PWHL Expansion Draft for the league's new teams in Vancouver and Seattle is scheduled for tonight – Monday, June 9 – at 7:30 p.m. Central Time. It will be streamed on thepwhl.com and on the league's YouTube page.
Both Vancouver and Seattle have reached their limit of 5 pre-draft signings during last week's exclusivity period, selecting players from all six existing teams. Tonight's draft will feature seven rounds (14 players) to enlarge the new squad rosters to 12 players apiece.
Gopher Women's Hockey alumnae Taylor Heise and Lee Stecklein were among the initial protectees named by the Minnesota Frost last Tuesday (June 3). Seven other Gopher alums are unprotected and eligible for selection tonight, including active players Abby Boreen (MTL), Hannah Brandt (BOS), Emily Brown (BOS), Kelly Pannek (MIN), and Grace Zumwinkle (MIN), and 2024 Entry Draft selections Amanda Kessel & Madeline Wethington. We will share updates on our social media accounts as they come through.
We also provide a reminder that recent GWH graduates Peyton Hemp, Ella Huber, and Natalie Mlynkova were named to the PWHL's 2025 Entry Draft eligibility list, with that event still to come on Tuesday, June 24 at 7:00 p.m. ET / 6:00 p.m. CT at Hard Rock Live inside the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Ottawa, Ontario.
First two dates, locations set for Fall 2025 Rivalry Series
The first two games of the Fall 2025 Rivalry Series between the women's national teams of Canada and the United States have been scheduled, with tickets now on sale.
The Americans will host the two contests, coming Thursday, November 6, at 7 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. CT at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, OH, and Saturday, November 8, at 6 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. CT at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, NY. Tickets for both games are now on sale and can be purchased via links on the USA Hockey's Rivalry Series page.
Two more games hosted by Hockey Canada are tentatively planned for December, but no details are available at this time. We will pass those along as they are announced.
Lidl Hockey Games (Euro Hockey Tour) in November – Meanwhile, the national teams from Czechia, Finland, Sweden and Switzerland will also be in action as the Swedes host the Lidl Hockey Games, part of the Euro Hockey Tour. Games will be played November 5, 7 & 8 at Catena Arena in the city of Ängelholm. Tickets are on sale here.
Announcement of 2026 Women's Worlds details postponed
As reported last week both on CBC.ca and by the Sports Business Journal, the IIHF's announcement of the location and exact dates of the 2026 Women's World Championship top division tournament has been postponed until the organization's semi-annual congress October 3-4.
IIHF Women’s Committee Chair Zsuzsanna Kolbenheyer said in April that “March to early April for the women’s championship is in the IIHF bylaws,” also indicating that the August 2022 tournament held in Denmark after that year's Olympic Winter Games was a one-off event. But scheduling concerns have been raised by the PWHL regarding holding a second major international tournament so soon after next February's 2026 Winter Olympics.
As always, we will pass along any updates as they become available.
“March On to Victory” fundraising campaign continues
The March On to Victory Spring fundraising campaign from the U. of M. Intercollegiate Athletics Department, supporting each of the 19 Gopher varsity athletics teams, the Spirit Squads, and the department-wide Golden Gopher Fund, has just over two weeks remaining. The campaign continues through Tuesday, June 24.
We thank everyone who has contributed to this campaign to-date. As of 8:15 p.m. last night (Sunday, June 8), over $3,700 had been raised to support the Gopher Women's Hockey program!!
Links:
All gifts made through June 30 count toward the Gopher Loyalty Program's member levels and their associated rewards for the 2025-2026 season. Rewards include Ridder Arena Club Room access at the $1,000 combined giving level. This includes donations made as part of the “March On to Victory” campaign and previous contributions made since Nov. 1, 2024, such as: 2024-2025 Power Play Club basic membership & locker sponsorships, Give to the Max Day 2024 giving, and '24-'25 Goals for a Goal donations.
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Follow the Gopher women's hockey team and all Univ. of Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletics atgophersports.com. You can also find the Gopher women's hockey team on Facebook atwww.facebook.com/GopherWomensHockey and on X atx.com/GopherWHockey.