PPC Board of Directors Meeting – Tuesday, July 7 at 7 p.m.
The next Power Play Club Board of Directors meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, July 7 at 7 p.m. Topics of the meeting will include the club's fundraising goals for 2026-2027 and its online presence. The meeting will be held online via Zoom and is open to all club members who were enrolled for the 2025-2026 season; please contact PPC president Bill Johnson (billjohnson013@gmail.com) or vice president Dave Malerich (dmalerich@yahoo.com) if you wish to attend.
Gracie Graham named Academic All-District honoree; 14 GWH players recognized as Academic All-Big Ten standouts
We congratulate and wish good luck to Gopher Women's Hockey defender Gracie Graham as she was named to the CSC Academic All-District Women's At-Large Team for NCAA Division I, announced yesterday by the College Sports Communicators!!
Meanwhile, Graham and 13 of her 2025-2026 GWH teammates – Josefin Bouveng, Hannah Clark, Kendra Distad, Allie Franco, Carly Humphrey, Sophia Johnson, Madison Kaiser, Emma Kreisz, Nelli Laitinen, Ava Lindsay, Sydney Morrow, Abbey Murphy, and Chloe Primerano – were further recognized as part of 161 University of Minnesota student-athletes named spring Academic All-Big Ten honorees last Wednesday!! We add more congratulations to all of them!
Additionally, we recognize the entire team's continued success in the classroom. They've posted a 3.58 cumulative GPA over their combined collegiate tenure, including a 3.55 GPA for the Spring 2026 semester. Keep up the excellent work, ladies!
GWH alumna Kelly Pannek named PWHL Forward of the Year,
joined by fellow Gopher Taylor Heise on All-PWHL First Team
Gopher Women's Hockey alumna Kelly Pannek was named the 2026 PWHL Forward of the Year as part of last night's PWHL Awards presented in Detroit, following her record-setting third season as alternate captain of the Minnesota Frost.
Pannek set new league single-season marks for both total points and goals in the regular season with 33 and 16 respectively, dishing out 17 assists as well (placing her in a tie for second). She also earned a share of the league lead with four game-winning goals, and her 27.6% shooting percentage led skaters having a minimum of 15 shots on goal. In five postseason games, she added another four points with a goal and 3 assists. Pannek was also a finalist for the PWHL's Billie Jean King MVP Award, but that title was claimed by Boston Fleet goaltender Aerin Frankel.
Fellow Gopher alumna & Minnesota Frost forward Taylor Heise joined Pannek and Frankel as a member of the 2026 All-PWHL First Team. Forward Brianne Jenner (Ottawa Charge) and defenders Megan Keller (Boston Fleet) & Sophie Jaques (Vancouver Goldeneyes) rounded out the First Team.
Pannek and Heise were two of the Frost's first three protected players in Phase 1 of the PWHL's 2026 Expansion Process, each signing a new Three-Year Standard Player Agreement to remain in Minnesota.
Gophers Lee Stecklein, Grace Zumwinkle re-sign with MN Frost while four other U. of M. alumnae among PWHL movers
Meanwhile, that same PWHL Expansion Process has kept women's hockey fans glued to league news as the four new teams in Detroit, Hamilton, San Jose & Las Vegas have each acquired their first 10 players. At the same time, the eight existing teams each protected six players on their rosters for the 2026-2027 season ahead of the opening of Phase 5 allowing trades between all the squads. Several Gopher Women's Hockey alums were among those making waves.
In addition to Pannek & Heise, the Minnesota Frost retained the other two Gophers who were on their roster in 2025-2026, re-signing and protecting defender Lee Stecklein and forward Grace Zumwinkle last Friday (June 12) in Phase 3 of the process. Stecklein signed a Two-Year Standard Player Agreement, while Zumwinkle followed with a Three-Year deal.
Moving into Phase 4, several Gophers were involved in moves to expansion teams. 2026 Walter Cup champion Natálie Mlýnková was the first GWH alumna to head elsewhere, departing the Montréal Victoire to sign a 1-Year Standard Player Agreement with PWHL San Jose this past Sunday. Forwards Abby Boreen and Peyton Hemp were the final two selections to fill out the rosters of the new teams; Boreen's contract was picked up by PWHL Las Vegas, marking her 4th team in four seasons after playing this past year in Vancouver, while Hemp's rights were acquired by PWHL Hamilton following her rookie year in Ottawa.
Meanwhile, forward Ella Huber was a member of PWHL Detroit... for all of about 24 hours before being sent back to the team she was with this past season. Huber signed a 1-Year Standard Player Agreement with Detroit on Monday, but was traded back to the Boston Fleet when Phase 5 of the expansion process opened yesterday in a deal which also included an exchange of picks in tonight's entry draft.
Six 2025-2026 Gophers await tonight's (June 17th) PWHL Entry Draft
While all the movement of existing PWHL players has been going on, a new class of players is looking to hear their names called at tonight's (Wednesday, June 17) PWHL Entry Draft being held at the Fox Theatre in Detroit. Among those are six members of the 2025-2026 Gopher Women's Hockey team: Josefin Bouveng, Allie Franco, Nelli Laitinen, Sydney Morrow, Abbey Murphy, and Jamie Nelson.
After much anticipation, the draft's full order of the selection was revealed on Monday as follows:
1. Vancouver Goldeneyes
2. Seattle Torrent
3. PWHL Detroit
4. PWHL San Jose
5. PWHL Las Vegas
6. PWHL Hamilton
7. New York Sirens
8. Toronto Sceptres
9. Minnesota Frost
10. Boston Fleet
11. Ottawa Charge
12. Montréal Victoire
Vancouver earned the top pick of the draft by finishing atop the league's Gold Plan standings for non-playoff teams. The order of other existing teams was determined by regular-season standings and playoff performance, while the order of expansion teams was determined by a random selection.
The draft begins at 5 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. CT, with complete coverage available worldwide on the PWHL's YouTube channel & thepwhl.com and also in Canada on TSN+. Additionally, first two rounds will be available in the U.S. on Scripps Sports platforms – including over-the-air television in select markets and nationally on Scripps FAST channel & Scripps Sports Network – and in Canada on TSN2. More details and live coverage are available on the PWHL Draft Central page.
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Follow the Power Play Club online at www.powerplayclub.org, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/PowerPlayClubMN, or on X at x.com/powerplayclub.
Follow the Gopher women's hockey team and all Univ. of Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletics at gophersports.com. You can also find the Gopher women's hockey team on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GopherWomensHockey and on X at x.com/GopherWHockey.