May 2, 2023

The Two-Minute Minor - An Edition of the Penalty Box Post - Tuesday, May 2, 2023

May 2, 2023

The Two-Minute Minor
An edition of the Penalty Box Post
Tuesday, May 2nd

PPC Board of Directors meeting – tonight (May 2) at 7 p.m.

The Power Play Club Board of Directors is meeting this evening (Tuesday, May 2) at 7:00 p.m. This will be an online meeting held over Zoom. GWH head coach Brad Frost will be in attendance to recap the past season and discuss his priorities for 2023-2024. Board meetings are open to all enrolled club members; 2022-2023 membership applies during the off-season, and you can still attend by contacting club vice president Dave Malerich at dmalerich@yahoo.com.

Heise wins Big Ten Medal of Honor, named Athlete of the Year;
GWH honored as U. of M. Women's Team of the Year

We send our congratulations to Gopher Women's Hockey fifth-year forward Taylor Heise, who earned two major honors during last night's Golden Goldys ceremony, the annual U. of M. Athletics Department internal event recognizing outstanding performances throughout the year.

Heise was joined by Gopher Football's John Michael Schmitz as the 2023 Big Ten Medal of Honor recipients. The Big Ten Medal of Honor is awarded annually to a top female and male student-athlete at each conference institution, with this year's honor marking the 109th anniversary of the award. The conference's most exclusive award was the first of its kind in intercollegiate athletics to recognize academic and athletic excellence.

Additionally, Heise earned the Golden Goldy award as the Women's Athlete of the Year after earlier honors as First Team All-American, First Team All-USCHO, WCHA Forward of the Year, All-WCHA First Team, WCHA All-Tournament Team and finalist for WCHA Player of the Year. Heise ranked first in the nation with 30 goals, second with 67 points and third with 37 assists.

We further congratulate the entire Gopher Women's Hockey team on earning the Golden Goldy award as Women's Team of the Year after winning their 8th WCHA Tournament Championship and appearing in the 2023 NCAA Frozen Four!!

We provide one final shoutout to all the U. of M. student-athletes and teams earning Golden Goldy awards at last night's ceremony. Congratulations, all!!

Copyright © 2023 Power Play Club, All rights reserved.

Follow the Power Play Club on Facebook at www.facebook.com/PowerPlayClubMN or on Twitter at twitter.com/powerplayclub.

Follow the Gopher women's hockey team and all Univ. of Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletics at www.gophersports.com. You can also find the Gopher women's hockey team on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GopherWomensHockey and on Twitter at twitter.com/GopherWHockey.

Power Play Club

April 20, 2023

The Penalty Box Post - Thursday, April 20, 2023

Power Play Club

April 20, 2023

The Penalty Box Post
Thursday, April 20th

PPC Board of Directors meeting – May 2 at 7:00 p.m.

The next meeting of the Power Play Club Board of Directors is scheduled for Tuesday, May 2, at 7:00 p.m. This will be an online meeting held over Zoom. GWH head coach Brad Frost will be in attendance to recap the past season and discuss his priorities for 2023-2024. Board meetings are open to all enrolled club members, and 2022-2023 membership will apply during the off-season; if you wish to attend, please contact club vice president Dave Malerich at dmalerich@yahoo.com.

Team USA wins World Championship over hosts Canada
Czechs claim bronze over Swiss; Finland tops Sweden for 5th place

Hilary Knight recorded a hat trick, scoring the game-winning goal and a critical insurance tally, giving Team USA a 6-3 victory over Canada to claim gold at the 2023 IIHF Women's World Championship (USA Hockey recap here). Knight's three goals extended her World Championship career scoring record past the century mark to 101 points. Amanda Kessel assisted on two of Knight's goals and Taylor Heise recorded an assist on the game-winner. The Americans battled back from three one-goal deficits, with Abbey Murphy lighting the lamp for Team USA's first goal of the night. Goaltender Aerin Frankel preserved the victory with a 24-save performance. Brianne Jenner tallied two goals and an assist for the Canadians and Ann-Renee Desbiens made 16 saves.

The victory marks Team USA's first major tournament gold medal in four years (2019 Women's Worlds), breaking Canada's three-tournament winning streak (2021 & 2022 Worlds, 2022 Winter Olympics).

Czechia claimed its second-straight World Championship bronze medal, defeating Switzerland 3-2. The Czechs and Swiss both won their quarterfinal matchups – over Finland and Japan, respectively – but fell in the semifinals.

Finland defeated Sweden 3-1 in the 5th place game to move back into Group A for the 2024 Women's World Championship. After losing in the quarterfinals, both teams rebounded with Placement Round (consolation bracket) victories – over Germany & Japan, respectively – to advance to the tournament's final day.

Gophers at the World Championship

Taylor Heise finished as the highest-scoring Golden Gopher representative at the tournament, tied for 3rd overall with 12 points on a goal and 11 assists. She also posted a +9 plus-minus rating and was named as one of Team USA's top three players for the tournament.
Finland's Nelli Laitinen finished third in scoring among all defenders, tallying 10 points on 3 goals and 7 assists, with a +8 rating.
Amanda Kessel got hot during the playoff round, recording 6 points in Team USA's final three games and being named the American player of the game in their semifinal win over Czechia. She finished with 9 points on 5 goals and 4 assists, with a +7 rating.
Abbey Murphy lit the lamp three times in the playoff round, tallying 8 points for Team USA in total on 5 goals & 3 assists and posting a +8 rating.
While Josefin Bouveng only lit the lamp once, it was critical as the lone goal in Team Sweden's 1-0 shutout victory over Japan in the placement round.
Lee Stecklein was solid on the blueline for the Americans, posting a +6 rating while dishing out an assist.
Kelly Pannek finished with an assist for Team USA.
Incoming Gopher Emma Kreisz did not score for Hungary.

Gopher alumna Megan Bozek announces Team USA retirement

2012 & 2013 NCAA champion Megan Bozek announced her retirement from the U.S. Women's National Hockey team yesterday. She finishes her Team USA career as a two-time Olympic Silver Medalist (2014, 2022) and four-time Women's World Championship Gold Medalist (2013, 2016, 2017 & 2019), recording 58 points on 17 goals and 41 assists in 111 games wearing the Red, White & Blue. In the Gopher Women's Hockey record book, Bozek still holds the lead in all three career defensive scoring categories, tallying 146 points on 47 goals and 99 assists; she was also a Top-3 Finalist for the 2013 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award.

Journalist Nicole Haase caught up with Bozek for a career retrospective and discussion of her future. The article includes comments from Gopher head coach Brad Frost and Minnesota & national squad teammate Lee Stecklein.

Congratulations and thank you, Megan, on your wonderful career!! Best wishes on your next adventure!!

Utica, NY, to host 2024 IIHF Women's World Championship

The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) and USA Hockey jointly announced this past Sunday that Utica, New York, will be the host city for the 2024 Women's World Championship (IIHF announcement here, USA Hockey announcement here). The 31-game schedule is tentatively planned for April 4-14 and will be played at the adjacent Adirondack Bank Center and Utica University Nexus Center.

The 2024 event will be the fifth time the United States has hosted the tournament, having last done so in 2017 in Plymouth, Michigan. The World Championship was last played in the state of New York in 1994 in Lake Placid.

As noted in the USA Hockey release, the historic Adirondack Bank Center (opened in 1960) is home of the Utica Comets, the AHL affiliate of the New Jersey Devils, and is designated as a National Historic Civic Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers. The Utica University Nexus Center, which opened last year, is home of the Utica University women’s ice hockey team.

Copyright © 2023 Power Play Club, All rights reserved.

Follow the Power Play Club online at www.powerplayclub.org, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/PowerPlayClubMN, or on Twitter at twitter.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 Twitter at twitter.com/GopherWHockey.

Power Play Club

April 12, 2023

The Two-Minute Minor - An edition of the Penalty Box Post - Wednesday, April 12, 2023

Power Play Club

April 12, 2023

The Two-Minute Minor
An edition of the Penalty Box Post
Wednesday, April 12th

2023 IIHF Women's World Championship – Brampton, Ontario

Canada takes Group A with shootout win over Team USA;
Finland, Sweden advance to Thursday's quarterfinals

In the final preliminary round game for both teams, Canada defeated the United States 4-3 in a shootout to finish atop Group A with 11 standings points, while the Americans came in second in the group with 10 points.

Hannah Bilka put Team USA up 1-0 in the first period, but Sarah Fillier knotted the score for Canada, Marie-Philip Poulin lit the lamp on a 5-on-3 power play, and Laura Stacey hit an empty netter to put the hosts up 3-1 with 2:27 to go. The Americans battled back, as Hilary Knight hit an empty-netter with 39 seconds left and Amanda Kessel did as well with 3.4 seconds on the clock, with Taylor Heise assisting on both, pulling the score even at 3-3. After a scoreless 5-minute overtime which included penalty calls on both teams, the game went to a shootout. Knight and Canada's Brianne Jenner each scored in the first round, but neither team could find the back of the net in the next 7 rounds. Finally in round 9, Knight lost control of the puck on her third attempt, but Jamie-Lee Rattray scored for Canada for the victory. Ann-Renee Desbiens made 26 saves for Canada; Aerin Frankel stopped 33 shots for the U.S.

Prior to that contest, both teams were 3-0 with wins over Czechia, Switzerland, and Japan. Box scores for all contests are available here, and game recaps are avaiable here.

Czechia took 3rd place in Group A behind a 5-2 victory over Switzerland in the preliminary round finale last night. The Swiss finished 4th thanks to a win over the Japanese, putting them fifth.

In Group B, Finland finished in the top spot, going undefeated against Germany, Sweden, Hungary, and France, outscoring their opponents by a combined 26-3. The Germans took second in the group with wins over the Swedes, Hungarians and French. Sweden also advanced by topping Hungary, 6-2, and defeating France yesterday, 8-2. Hungary was knocked out of the tournament after their 2-1 loss to the Germans yesterday, while the French went winless in their four Group B contests, relegating them back to Division I in 2024.

Quarterfinal matchups tomorrow (Thursday, April 13)

(3) Czechia vs. (6) Finland – 10:00 a.m. ET / 9:00 a.m. CT
(2) United States vs. (7) Germany – 1:30 p.m. ET / 12:30 p.m. CT
(1) Canada vs. (8) Sweden – 5:00 p.m. ET / 4:00 p.m. CT
(4) Switzerland vs. (5) Japan – 8:30 p.m. ET / 7:30 p.m. CT

The USA-Germany and Canada-Sweden games will be broadcast live on NHL Network.

Gophers at the World Championship

Now a Gopher alumna, Taylor Heise's hot hand has continued in her second Women's World Championship with the U.S. Women's National Team; she currently sits atop the overall scoring table for players from Group A teams, having posted 8 points on a goal & 7 assists, and is the plus-minus leader from all teams with a +9.
Finland's Nelli Laitinen is tied for second in scoring among all defenders, having tallied 6 points on 2 goals and 4 assists, with a +6 rating.
Abbey Murphy has contributed 5 points for Team USA, with 2 goals & 3 assists, plus a +4 rating.
Including her game-tying goal against Canada, Amanda Kessel has 3 points on 2 goals and an assist, with a +3 rating.
Kelly Pannek has an assist and is a +1 for Team USA.
While she has yet to score, Lee Stecklein has been a critical blueliner for the Americans and has a +4 rating.
Josefin Bouveng has yet to score for Sweden, and incoming Gopher Emma Kreisz did not score for Hungary.

Power Play Club

April 12, 2023

The Penalty Box Post - Sunday, April 2, 2023

Power Play Club

April 12, 2023

The Penalty Box Post
Sunday, April 2nd

Note: This was sent out to the email list of PPC members on April 2nd, but was posted to our website on April 12th due to webmaster unavailability.

Heise, Zumwinkle, Laitenen named to 2022-23 All-USCHO Teams

We send congratulations to 2022-2023 Gopher Women's Hockey players Taylor Heise, Grace Zumwinkle, and Nelli Laitinen, who were named to All-USCHO Teams by U.S. College Hockey Online this past Friday.

Heise earned the second recognition of her collegiate career as a member of the All-USCHO First Team. Zumwinkle was honored for a second time as a Second Team forward. Laitinen was named to the Rookie Team.

USCHO also named their top award winners for the 2022-2023 season. Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award winner Sophie Jaques from Ohio State was additionally honored as USCHO Player of the Year, Penn State's Tessa Janecke and Wisconsin's Caroline Harvey were named Co-Rookies of the Year, and St. Cloud State's Brian Idalski earned the honor as Coach of the Year.

2023 IIHF Women's World Championship
Wednesday, April 5 through Sunday, April 16
CAA Centre, Brampton, Ontario, Canada

8 Gophers – including 5 for Team USA – participating in the tournament

Eight (8) representatives of the Minnesota Women's Hockey program are headed to the upcoming 2023 International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) Women's World Championship, being held at the CAA Centre in Brampton, Ontario, Canada starting this Wednesday, April 5, and continuing through Sunday, April 16. The tournament returns to its regular April timing for the first time since 2019 after being cancelled in 2020 and held in August in 2021 & 2022.

Taylor Heise, Amanda Kessel, Abbey Murphy, Kelly Pannek, and Lee Stecklein were named to Team USA's roster yesterday following completion of last week's USA Hockey's camp in Blaine. They will be joined in Brampton by Finland's Nelli Laitinen, Hungary's Emma Kreisz, and Sweden's Josefin Bouveng.

Tournament preview – The host Canadians enter the tournament as two-time defending champions after having claimed gold in 2021 & 2022, along with winning the 2022 Olympic gold medal in between. The Americans look to get back on top after last winning the 2019 tournament. They are joined by Switzerland, Czechia, and Japan in Group A. Under the current tournament format, all five teams automatically qualify for the elimination round.

While still #3 in the world rankings, Finland finds themselves in Group B this year after a sixth-place result at the 2022 tournament. They are joined by Sweden, Hungary, Germany, and newly-promoted France. The top three teams in the group after the preliminary round will advance to elimination round, while the last-place team will be relegated to Division 1 Group A for 2024.

Finland will play in the tournament's opening game on Wednesday, April 5, at 11 a.m. ET / 10 a.m. CT against France, the U.S. will take on Japan in their first game that afternoon at 3 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. CT, and Canada will open its title defense at 7 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. CT against Switzerland. Sweden and Hungary will play their first games on Thursday, April 6; the Swedes will take on Germany in the first game of the day, while the Hungarians will face the French in the evening matchup. The full schedule of games can be found here, and all U.S. and Canada games will be broadcast live on NHL Network south of the border.

Pre-tournament exibitions –

Japan 4, Hungary 3, shootout (Friday)– Emma Kreisz recorded an assist on a power-play goal by veteran Fanni Gasparics to put Hungary up 3-2 in their game against Japan on Friday, but Ayaka Hitosato scored with 1:43 remaining in regulation to knot the score at 3-3. After a scoreless overtime, Kohane Sato netted the winning shootout goal for the Japanese victory.
Switzerland 2, Germany 0 (Friday) – Alina Marty & Sinja Leemann scored for the Swiss, and Andrea Brändli stopped all 16 shots she faced for the shutout. Germany's Sandra Abstreiter made 29 saves.
Canada 3, Finland 1 (last night) – Brianne Jenner recorded the game's opening goal plus an assist, and Emily Clark & Marie-Philip Poulin also scored for the Canadians. Emilia Vesa lit the lamp for Finland.
Three more games are scheduled for today (Sunday, 4/2) as Sweden faces Switzerland, France takes on Japan, and Germany plays Hungary.

Heise, Potomak recognized by the IIHF – Gopher Women's Hockey alumnae Taylor Heise and Sarah Potomak were recognized by the IIHF in pre-tournament coverage, being named as two of the Top 10 Stickhandlers in Women's Hockey. Congratulations, Taylor & Sarah!!

PPC Board of Directors meeting – April 12 at 7:00 p.m.

The first meeting of the Power Play Club Board of Directors in preparation for the 2023-2024 Gopher Women's Hockey season is scheduled for Wednesday, April 12, at 7:00 p.m. This will be an online meeting held over Zoom. Board meetings are open to all enrolled club members, and 2022-2023 membership will apply during the off-season; if you wish to attend, please contact club president Bill Johnson at president@powerplayclub.org.

Power Play Club

March 22, 2023

The Penalty Box Post - Wednesday, March 22, 2023

Power Play Club

March 22, 2023

The Penalty Box Post
Wednesday, March 22nd

8 Gophers invited to U.S. National Team evaluation camp
World Championship roster to be named following camp's conclusion

Eight (8) representatives of the Minnesota Women's Hockey program were named among 46 players invited to the U.S. Women's National Team evaluation camp, being held next week – March 27 to 31 – at the NSC Super Rink in Blaine. Taylor Heise, Abbey Murphy, Gracie Ostertag, and Grace Zumwinkle from the 2022-2023 Gopher squad will join alumnae Hannah Brandt, Amanda Kessel, Kelly Pannek, and Lee Stecklein at the camp.

On Saturday, April 1, USA Hockey will announce the 23-player Team USA roster for the upcoming 2023 IIHF Women's World Championship, being held April 5 through 16 at the CAA Centre in Brampton, Ontario. The team will practice one more time in Blaine on the 1st before heading to Brampton, and will open their World Championship schedule against Japan at 3 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. CT on the 5th. Both teams will also face Canada, Czechia, and Switzerland in preliminary round play before advancing to the elimination round, which starts April 13th.

Bouveng, Laitinen, Kreisz named to preliminary WWC rosters

Expectations are high that 2022-2023 Gopher freshmen Josefin Bouveng & Nelli Laitinen and incoming 2023-2024 freshman Emma Kreisz will also be Women's World Championship participants, as all three have been named to preliminary rosters for their respective national teams.

Bouveng has been named to the 24-player preliminary roster for Team Sweden, which needs to make one cut before the World Championship begins. The Swedes will play a pre-tournament exhibition game against Switzerland on Sunday, April 2, at McAlpine Ford Arena in Aurora, Ontario.

Laitinen was named to Team Finland's 24-player preliminary roster yesterday. She was also the subject of a feature article by journalist Lucas Aykroyd, posted on the tournament's website earlier this month. The Finns are scheduled to play an exhibition against Team Canada on Saturday, April 1, before the tournament begins.

Kreisz was named to the preliminary Hungarian National Team roster on Monday, though the lineup will need to be trimmed from its current 29 players to 23 over the next two weeks. After traveling to Ontario, Team Hungary will play exhibition games against Japan on March 31 and Germany on April 2.

We send congratulations and wishes of good luck to all our Gopher representatives!!

NCAA Championship: Wisconsin 1, Ohio State 0

The Wisconsin Badgers claimed their 7th national championship in program history, defeating the Ohio State Buckeyes 1-0 in the title game this past Sunday.

Ohio State was shut out for the first time all season as Wisconsin netminder Cami Kronish stopped all 31 shots she faced. Meanwhile, Kirsten Simms scored with 6:32 to go in the first period to put the Badgers ahead, and they held on for the victory. Amanda Thiele made 21 saves for the Buckeyes.

Wisconsin became the lowest-ranked team to win the national title and the first to win four games in the tournament.

All-Tournament Team

F - Jesse Compher, Wisconsin
F - Kirsten Simms, Wisconsin
F - Laila Edwards, Wisconsin
D - Caroline Harvey, Wisconsin
D - Sophie Jaques, Ohio State
G - Cami Kronish, Wisconsin
Most Outstanding Player – Kronish

Jaques named 2023 Patty Kazmaier Award winner

Ohio State graduate player Sophie Jaques claimed the 2023 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, becoming the first Buckeye and just the second defender to earn the honor. She finished the season leading all blue-liners in the NCAA in points (48), goals (24), power-play goals (9) and points per game (1.17).

PPC Board of Director updates

Board election recap / results – We thank those who attended the PPC All-Member Meeting on February 28. The primary item of business was the annual election of officers and directors to he club's board.

President Bill Johnson, vice president Dave Malerich, directors-at-large Matt Floding and J Lindsay, and parent representative Mike Zumwinkle were all re-elected to new two-year terms.
Upon completing her term as a director-at-large, Paula Biever was elected to fill the open position of secretary for the second year of its term (expiring in 2024).
Two open director-at-large positions were filled. We welcome past club officers Bob Milligan and Linda Kenny back to the board. Bob will serve a two-year term and Linda will serve a special one-year term.

This brings the Board of Directors back to a full complement of 12 members; treasurer Todd King and directors-at-large John Conner, David Lord, and Susan "Rennie" McPherson are entering the second year of their respective two-year terms.

April meeting date TBD – The Board of Directors will be meeting in April to begin its off-season work and planning for 2023-2024. However, the meeting date is still to be determined; we will share it as soon as it is set.

Power Play Club

March 21, 2023

The Two-Minute Minor - An Edition of the Penalty Box Post - Saturday, March 18, 2023

Power Play Club

March 21, 2023

The Two-Minute Minor
An edition of the Penalty Box Post
Saturday, March 18th

Goals for a Goal – Gophers finish with 177 goals in 2022-23

We send one more round of thanks to everyone who pledged to the Goals for a Goal campaign for the 2022-2023 Gopher Women's Hockey season, supporting future Ridder Arena improvements. With 2 goals in their NCAA semifinal, the Gophers lit the lamp a total of 177 times over their 39 games, 33 of which came on the power play! If you made a pledge, please watch your email inbox for an invoice from the Golden Gopher Fund at the U. of M. indicating your final amount and how to remit your donation.

Gophers fall to Wisconsin in overtime in NCAA semifinal

NCAA Championship – #1 Ohio State vs. Wisconsin
Sunday, March 19, at 3:00 p.m. CT
AMSOIL Arena, Duluth
Game televised on ESPNU

The Gopher and Badger Women Hockey teams exchanged leads in regulation of their NCAA semifinal matchup; Taylor Heise put Minnesota up just 3:23 into the contest but Wisconsin's Laila Edwards & Sophie Shirley lit the lamp just 53 seconds apart in the third period to go ahead 2-1. However, skating with an extra-attacker, a shot from Madeline Wethington found the back of the net with 1:11 remaining in regulation, sending the game to overtime tied 2-2.

While both teams had opportunities in the extra period, Caroline Harvey scored for the Badgers at the 16:47 mark to defeat the Gophers and bring Minnesota's season to a close.

Skylar Vetter made 35 saves for the Gophers. Cami Kronish stopped 37 shots for the Badgers.

Minnesota-Wisconsin game recaps...

U. of M. recap - Minnesota Falls to Wisconsin in Frozen Four Semifinals
Eli Swanson, The Rink Live – Harvey's OT heroics lead Badgers past Gophers and into Frozen Four title game
Nicole Haase, USCHO.com – Women’s Division I College Hockey: Badgers upset Gophers to advance to title game
Jess Myers, The Rink Live – Heartbreak, Taylor's version, as Heise's college career ends on her 23rd birthday

Ohio State defeats Northeastern, 3-0 – The Buckeyes blitzed the Huskies, holding a 53-15 shots on goal advantage for the game, with Sloane Matthews, Makenna Webster and Hadley Hartmetz lighting the lamp for OSU. Amanda Thiele stopped all 15 shots, while Northeastern's Gwyneth Philips made 50 saves.

Championship Preview – Ohio State went 3-1-0 against Wisconsin in the regular season, winning 2-1 (OT) and 5-0 in Columbus in January and splitting the rematch in Madison in February, 6-5 (OT) Badgers and 3-1 Buckeyes. Emma Maltais tallied 8 points on 4 goals & 4 assists for OSU against Wisconsin, while a quartet of Buckeyes each had 5 points: Jenn Gardiner (3g, 2a), Paetyn Levis (3g, 2a), Sophie Jaques (1g, 4a), and Makenna Webster (5a). Britta Curl was the top Badger scorer against the Buckeyes, with 2 goals & 2 assists, while Jesse Compher (2g, 1a), Vivian Jungels (1g, 2a), and Casey O'Brien (1g, 2a) each added 3 points. Between the pipes for Wisconsin, Cami Kronish posted a 1-2-0 record with a 3.22 goals-against average and .910 save percentage, while Jane Gervais stopped 34 of 39 shots (.872 SV%) in her lone appearance. Raygan Kirk won the first of the four contests for the Buckeyes, stopping 27 of 28 shots (.964 SV%), and Amanda Thiele went 2-1-0 in the other three games with a 2.31 GAA and .915 SV%.

Patty Kazmaier Award reminder – The Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award will be presented later this morning (Saturday, March 18), with Top-3 Finalists Sophie Jaques (Ohio State), Alina Mueller (Northeastern), and Danielle Serdachny (Colgate). The presentation will take place in the AMSOIL Arena Ticket Lobby in Duluth, beginning promptly at 11:30 a.m. CT with doors opening at 11:00 a.m. CT. Fans are invited to attend free of charge, and the ceremony will also be televised live on NHL Network. We'll share the announcement of the winner on our Facebook and Twitter accounts once the presentation is made.

Thank you to our graduating Gophers – Abigail Boreen, Taylor Heise, Crystalyn Hengler, Olivia King, Savannah Norcross, Lizi Norton, Emily Oden, Gracie Ostertag, Makayla Pahl, Catie Skaja, and Grace Zumwinkle – for proudly representing the Maroon & Gold over the past several seasons!!

We send thanks to the entire GWH team on another great campaign, and we look forward to seeing you again in the fall!!

Power Play Club

March 21, 2023

The Two-Minute Minor - An Edition of the Penalty Box Post -Thursday, March 16, 2023

Power Play Club

March 21, 2023

The Two-Minute Minor
An edition of the Penalty Box Post
Thursday, March 16th

Clarifications on tomorrow's semifinal pregame events

'Sota Social in Canal Park – Join us at Green Mill in Canal Park (340 S. Lake Ave.) for the official pregame hangout before the Gophers' semifinal game tomorrow! The restaurant will be decked out for the Maroon & Gold with gold poms, Gopher flags, and more! The U. of M. Pep Band and Goldy Gopher will also make an appearance. While the event officially begins at 3:30 p.m., we are encouraging fans to arrive by 2:30 p.m. for festivities before heading to the arena!

Red Carpet Arrival – Cheer on the Gophers as they arrive at AMSOIL Arena before their matchup against the Wisconsin Badgers! The team is set to arrive at 3:45 p.m. and we are inviting the Maroon & Gold fanbase to join us, the Pep Band and Goldy along the carpets to welcome the players & coaches into the arena! If you are attending the first semifinal game, you may exit and reenter but you must have your ticket scanned out when you're leaving in order for it to be rescanned on your way back in.

We'll see you in Duluth tomorrow!!

Taylor Heise, Grace Zumwinkle named 2022-2023 All-Americans

We send our congratulations on a fantastic season to Gopher Women's Hockey fifth-year forwards Taylor Heise & Grace Zumwinkle, who were named to the 2022-2023 Women's Division I CCM/AHCA All-American Teams earlier today by the American Hockey Coaches Association!!

Heise repeats as a First Team All-American after earning that honor last season as well. She leads the Gophers in scoring this season with 65 points on 29 goals and 36 assists, plus a +37 plus-minus rating.

Zumwinkle earned her second Second Team All-American award, also being honored in 2021. She has 61 points this year with 25 goals and also 36 assists, and a +35 plus-minus rating.

We send both of them and the rest of their Gopher teammates best wishes entering tomorrow's national semifinal!!

Frozen Four links of interest...

Jess Meyers, The Rink Live – Gophers notebook: Only snow could mess with the Minnesota faithful's arrival in Duluth
Nicole Haase, USCHO.com – Why each Frozen Four team will win – or lose – the title
KFAN 100.3FM / iHeart Radio – Paul Allen interview with GWH coach Brad Frost (recorded on March 16th)

Power Play Club

March 14, 2023

The Penalty Box Post - Tuesday, March 14, 2023

Power Play Club

March 14, 2023

The Penalty Box Post
Tuesday, March 14th

Team send-off tomorrow (Wednesday, March 15)

Send-off Event – Join us to help send off the Gopher Women's Hockey team to Duluth, Minnesota for the 2023 Frozen Four! Stop by the Athlete's Village Atrium at 3 p.m. tomorrow, Wednesday, March 15 to support the Gophers!

Semifinal pregame events – Friday, March 17

'Sota Social in Canal Park – Join Gopher Athletics at Green Mill in Canal Park (340 S. Lake Ave.) on Friday starting at 3:30 p.m. for the official pregame hangout before the Gophers' semifinal game! The restaurant will be decked out for the Maroon & Gold with gold poms, Gopher flags, and more! The U. of M. Pep Band and Goldy Gopher will also make an appearance. Note: Unofficial gathering starts at 2:30 p.m.)

Red Carpet Arrival – Cheer on the Gophers as they arrive at AMSOIL Arena before their matchup against the Wisconsin Badgers! The Gophers are set to arrive at 3:45 p.m. and we are inviting the Maroon & Gold fanbase to join us, the Pep Band and Goldy along the carpets to welcome the team into the arena! Fans attending the afternoon game will be allowed to leave and reenter. You will just need to make sure you stop and have your ticket scanned out when you're leaving and then you'll be able to have it rescanned on your way back in.

More details about all the events can be found on the NCAA Frozen Four Central page on GopherSports.com.

Weather alert later this week...

While we hope many of you will be making the trip to Duluth for this weekend's Frozen Four, the National Weather Service offices in both the Twin Cities and Duluth are predicting a winter storm for the eastern half of Minnesota and northern Wisconsin, with a good chance of 6+ inches of snow in the Twin Ports area Thursday into Friday. We encourage you to use your best judgment, plan accordingly, and stay safe.

2023 NCAA Frozen Four – AMSOIL Arena, Duluth

Semifinals – Friday, March 17
#1 Ohio State (32-5-2) vs. #5 Northeastern (34-2-1) – 2:30 pm CDT
#2 Minnesota (30-5-3) vs. Wisconsin (27-10-2) – 6:00 pm CDT

Championship – Sunday, March 19 at 3:00 pm CDT

AMSOIL Arena in Duluth is prepared to host the NCAA Frozen Four for the first time since 2012. While Minnesota returns to the semifinals after a three-year hiatus, Wisconsin and Ohio State enter as the last two national champions, while Northeastern joins OSU in making their third-consective Frozen Four appearance. The Gophers will square off against the Badgers in their sixth head-to-head meeting of the season, playing in the second semifinal on Friday, March 17 at 6:00 p.m. The top-seeded Buckeyes will face the #5-seed Huskies in the opener at 2:30 p.m. The winners will advance to Sunday's title game at 3:00 p.m.

Ticket information – Again, tickets can be purchased online through Ticketmaster.

Video streaming of both semifinal games will be free of charge on ESPN+:

The National Championship Game will be broadcast live on ESPNU and also streamed free on ESPN+.

Audio coverage with play-by-play man Dan Hamann for the Gophers' semifinal against the Badgers can be found here.

How they got here...

Gophers shut out Minnesota Duluth at Ridder

Madeline Wethington scored unassisted on a second-period end-to-end rush and added a later assist, Abbey Murphy extended her goal-scoring streak to 9-straight games, Catie Skaja lit the lamp on a breakaway, and Skylar Vetter earned her 7th shutout of the season with 30 saves as the Golden Gopher Women's Hockey defeated Minnesota Duluth 3-0 in Saturday's quarterfinal contest as Ridder Arena. Grace Zumwinkle and Emily Oden also recorded assists in the contest. UMD netminder Emma Soderberg stopped 27 shots.

Wisconsin had to play a First Round contest but had no issue as they outshot Long Island University 59-7, getting two goals & two assists from Jesse Compher and a goal & 4 assists from Britta Curl en route to a 9-1 victory. The Badgers held #3-seed Colgate to just 15 shots on goal in their quarterfinal matchup; goals by Nicole LaMantia, Casey O'Brien (PP), Vivian Jungels and Laila Edwards earned them a 4-2 win and their Frozen Four ticket.

Ohio State earned the top seed for the NCAA Tournament. Hosting a Quinnipiac team that had played a triple-overtime contest in the First Round, the Buckeyes found themselves trailing 1-0 after 20 minutes on a Bobcats power-play goal by Kendall Cooper. But OSU rattled off the next four goals as Gabby Rosenthal (PP), Lauren Bernard, Emma Peschel and Sophie Jaques (PP) lit the lamp. Quinnipiac scored with an extra attacker, but Jaques added an empty-netter for a 5-2 victory. Amanda Thiele earned the win with 21 saves.

Northeastern entered the NCAA Tournament as both the regular-season and conference tournament champions from Hockey East but the only representative from that league in the Big Dance. Earning the #5-seed, they went on the road to face #4-seed Yale in the quarterfinals. Lily Shannon opened the scoring for the Huskies in the second period and Chloe Aurard & Alina Mueller extended the lead to 3-0 with under 11 minutes to play. Anna Bargman got the Bulldogs on the board with 4:38 to go, but Maureen Murphy hit a short-handed empty-netter for a 4-1 win to advance. Gwyneth Philips stopped 38 of 39 shots for the victory.

Frozen Four Semifinal Matchups

Minnesota vs. Wisconsin – The Gophers look to repeat their victory over the Badgers in the WCHA Semifinals 1½ weeks ago. The two teams traded goals through the first two periods, but Abbey Murphy lit the lamp on a third-period power play and Catie Skaja hit an empty net for a 4-2 Minnesota victory. Prior to that game, however, Wisconsin was 2-0-2 in the four regular-season meetings between the two squads. In Madison in November, the teams played to a 3-3 tie with the Gophers earning the extra point with the shootout win, but the Badgers won the rematch 4-1. Last month at Ridder Arena, Wisconsin took the bonus point for a shootout win after a 2-2 tie, and they again won the rematch in a wild 7-5 game.

Taylor Heise and Grace Zumwinkle each have 7 points against Wisconsin this season; Heise has 4 goals & 3 assists, while Zumwinkle recorded 2 goals & 5 assists. Skaja's three-point performance in the WCHA semifinal increased her season total against the Badgers to 6 on two goals & four assists, while Murphy improved to 3 goals & 2 assists. Jesse Compher & Casey O'Brien each have 6 points for Wisconsin in the head-to-head meetings; Compher recorded 3 goals & 3 assists, while O'Brien posted 2 goals & 4 assists. Lacey Eden dished out 5 assists for the Badgers, while Kirsten Simms (3g, 1a) & Laila Edwards (2g, 2a) each tallied 4 points. Gopher goaltender Skylar Vetter improved to a .902 save percentage with a 3.29 goals-against average, but Cami Kronish still sports a .925 SV% and 2.76 GAA for Wisconsin.

Ohio State vs. Northeastern – While 2023 will be the third-consecutive year in which the Buckeyes and Huskies both reached the NCAA Semifinals, the two squads did not play each other in 2021 nor 2022. In fact, the last meeting between the two programs was way back in October 2007.

That said, this semifinal has the notable storyline of featuring Patty Kazmaier Award Top-3 Finalists as OSU's Sophie Jaques and Northeastern's Alina Mueller will meet head-to-head. Jaques has a sizeable lead nationally in scoring by a defender this season, currently sitting at 48 points on 24 goals & 24 assists; for her career, she has 156 points (61g, 95a). Mueller recently became the Huskies' all-time career scoring leader with 254 points (98g, 156a), surpassing Kendall Coyne; sixty (60) of those points have come this season on 27 goals & 33 assists.

Additionally, Buckeyes forward Jenn Gardiner (21g, 35a, 56pts) and Huskies forward Maureen Murphy (20g, 35a, 55pts) & goaltender Gwyneth Philips (34-2-1, 10 SO, 0.81 GAA, .961 SV%) were Kazmaier Award Top-10 Finalists this season.

Frost named finalist for Coach of the Year

We send our congratulations to Gopher Women's Hockey head coach Brad Frost, who was named a finalist for the 2022-2023 Division I Women's Coach of the Year by the American Hockey Coaches Association yesterday. Frost is a two-time Coach of the Year honoree, having won in 2013 and 2014, and qualified as a finalist this year by reaching the NCAA semifinals. As noted in the press release, the award will be presented on April 26 at the AHCA Convention.

Zumwinkle reaches another career milestone

We also congratulate GWH fifth-year forward Grace Zumwinkle on recording her 100th career assist this past weekend in the NCAA Quarterfinal victory over UMD. Already with 109 career goals, Zumwinkle is now the fifth player in Minnesota program history to reach triple digits in both scoring categories.

Power Play Club

March 12, 2023

The Two-Minute Minor - An Edition of the Penalty Box Post - Sunday, March 12, 2023

Power Play Club

March 12, 2023

The Two-Minute Minor
An edition of the Penalty Box Post
Sunday, March 12th

PPC communications this week

As with past years and all the events surrounding the NCAA Frozen Four, we will likely be sending additional email messages this week as warranted, including our regular Penalty Box Post. We will also be sharing information via the PPC Facebook and Twitter feeds.

We encourage fans to also watch the GWH team's Facebook and Twitter accounts for any breaking announcements.

Goals for a Goal – Gophers up to 175 (and still counting)

With 3 goals in the NCAA Quarterfinal, the Gopher Women's Hockey team has lit the lamp 175 times this season, 33 of which have come on the power play!! Thanks to everyone who has pledged to the Goals for a Goal campaign to convert each of those goals into donations for Ridder Arena improvements. If you have not yet made a pledge, we encourage you to do so online (preferred), or download the pledge form, print it, and mail it in to the Golden Gopher Fund at the listed address.

Gophers shut out UMD to advance to Frozen Four!!

Madeline Wethington scored unassisted on a second-period end-to-end rush, Abbey Murphy netted another highlight reel goal early in the third period, Catie Skaja lit the lamp on a breakaway, and Skylar Vetter stopped all 30 shots sent her way to give the Golden Gopher Women's Hockey team a 3-0 NCAA Quarterfinal victory over Minnesota Duluth and punch the team's ticket to the Frozen Four. Wethington led all scorers with two points, assisting on Skaja's goal.

The NCAA Frozen Four returns to AMSOIL Arena in Duluth for the first time since 2012, and Minnesota returns to the semifinals after a three-year hiatus. The Gophers will square off against Wisconsin in their sixth head-to-head meeting of the season, playing in the second semifinal on Friday, March 17 at 6:00 p.m. Top-seeded Ohio State will face #5 Northeastern University in the opener at 2:30 p.m. The winners will advance to Sunday's title game at 3:00 p.m.

Ticket information – Tickets can be purchased online through Ticketmaster. An all-session package includes a ticket to both March 17 semifinal games and the March 19 championship game. Packages are $35 for adults and $25 for youth (ages 3-17) and seniors (ages 62+). Single-session tickets are also available, for $20 for adults and $15 for youth and seniors.

Media coverage – Both semifinals will have video streaming on the ESPN+ subscription service and the National Championship Game will be broadcast live on ESPNU. You can also find the Gophers' regular audio coverage with play-by-play man Dan Hamann on the GopherSports.com women's hockey schedule page; please note that direct links have not yet been created, but will become available on game day.

Watch for semifinal previews in our regular Penalty Box Post later this week!

Power Play Club

March 10, 2023

The Two-Minute Minor - An Edition of the Penalty Box Post - Friday, March 10, 2023

Power Play Club

March 10, 2023

The Two-Minute Minor
An edition of the Penalty Box Post
Friday, March 10th

NCAA Quarterfinals – Minnesota Duluth at #2 Minnesota
Saturday, March 11 at 2:00 p.m. CT – Ridder Arena

The 2nd-seeded Gopher Women's Hockey team (29-5-3) will face the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs (26-9-3) in an NCAA Women's Hockey Tournament Quarterfinal / Regional Final at Ridder Arena tomorrow – Saturday, March 11 – at 2:00 p.m. CT. UMD advanced in the tournament after defeating Clarkson, 2-0, in their First Round matchup last night at Ridder, setting up a rematch of last year's quarterfinal meeting and the fifth head-to-head contest this season.

Taylor Stewart lit the lamp twice for the Bulldogs, burying a rebound in the first period and scoring on the tail end of a third-period power play. Emma Soderberg stopped all 16 shots she faced for the shutout. Clarkson's Michelle Pasiechnyk made 25 saves.

Other First Round results...

Wisconsin 9, Long Island 1 – Outshooting the NEWHA champion Sharks by a whopping 59-7, the Badgers got two goals & two assists from Jesse Compher, a goal and 4 assists from Britta Curl, and points from 10 players in total. Sarah Rourke scored and Tindra Holm made 50 saves for LIU.

Quinnipiac 3, Penn State 2, triple OT – Madison Chantler scored for the Bobcats at the 9:37 mark of the third overtime period to advance. The teams traded leads in regulation; Shay Maloney scored for Quinnipiac in the first period, Kiara Zanon and Olivia Wallin (PP) put the Nittany Lions ahead in the second stanza, but Kate Reilly knotted things up for the Bobcats with 6:44 left in the third. Logan Angers earned the win with a 50-save performance; Josie Bothun took the loss despite stopping 55 shots.

Other Quarterfinal Saturday matchups...

University of Wisconsin (26-10-2) at #3-seed Colgate University (32-5-2)
Puck drop at 3 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. CT

#5-seed Northeastern University (33-2-1) at #4-seed Yale University (28-3-1)
Puck drop at 3 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. CT

Quinnipiac University (30-9-0) at #1-seed Ohio State University (31-5-2)
Puck drop at 5 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. CT

The full interactive bracket can be found here.

Ohio State's Jaques, Northeastern's Mueller,
Colgate's Serdachny named Kazmaier Award Top-3 Finalists

Ohio State graduate defender Sophie Jaques, Northeastern graduate forward Alina Mueller, and Colgate senior forward Danielle Serdachny were named the top-three finalists for the 2023 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award by the USA Hockey Foundation on Wednesday.

Jaques, the WCHA Player of the Year, leads NCAA defenders with 46 points, 22 goals, and eight power-play goals (the last of which is second among all players); this is the second-straight year in which Jaques was named a Top-3 Finalist. Mueller, the Hockey East Player of the Year, has 58 points (4th in the NCAA) on 26 goals (t-3rd) and 32 assists (t-7th); she is tied for the national lead with 9 game-winning goals and ranks fifth in the NCAA in points per game with 1.61. Serdachny, the ECAC Player of the Year, is also the NCAA scoring leader with 70 points and 1.79 points-per-game, coming on 25 goals (t-4th) and a national high 45 assists; she also has six game-winning goals (t-3rd).

As we previously reported, the presentation of the 2023 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award will take place Saturday, March 18, in the AMSOIL Arena Ticket Lobby in Duluth. The ceremony will begin promptly at 11:30 a.m. CT, with doors opening at 11:00 a.m. CT. Fans are invited to attend free of charge, and the ceremony will also be televised live on NHL Network.