Last call for Brunch with the Coaches on January 4
We provide one final reminder that ticket orders for the Power Play Club's annual Brunch with the Coaches must be received by Saturday, December 28. The event will be held in the 3M Arena at Mariucci Club Room on Saturday, January 4 at 8:45 a.m., before the second day of the East-West Showcase. We will be joined by and hear from Bemidji State University assistant coach and Beavers alumna Emma Sobieck, plus GWH head coach Brad Frost.
Tickets for the brunch are $30 per person. If you still would like to register, please download the form here and mail it with your payment to the address listed; checks should be made payable to the Power Play Club.
Team USA claims Six Nations Tournament championship
Murphy leads tourney with 9 points, two Player of the Game awards
The U.S. Women's Collegiate Select Team won the championship game of the Euro Hockey Tour's Six Nations Tournament, defeating Canada's National Development Team on Sunday, 5-3.
The American squad claimed the top position in the tournament's Group A with a 4-0 win over host Finland last Wednesday and a 6-2 victory over Switzerland on Thursday. Canada finished atop Group B after holding on to defeat Sweden 2-1 on Wednesday and blanking Czechia, 3-0. The Finns advanced to the semifinals with a 4-0 victory over the Swiss, while the Swedes advanced by defeating the Czechs, 3-0. Team USA shut out Sweden, 5-0, to advance to the title contest, while Canada knocked off Finland, 3-0.
Sweden upset Finland 2-1 in the Bronze Medal Game, while the Czechs claimed 5th Place with a sweep of their two-game series against Switzerland, 2-0 & 3-0.
Gophers at the Six Nations Tournament – We once again send congratulations to all eight Minnesota Women's Hockey representatives playing with their respective national teams, including Americans Peyton Hemp, Abbey Murphy, Ella Huber & Sydney Morrow (pictured at right after winning the championship), Finland's Nelli Laitinen & Krista Parkkonen, and Czechia's Natálie Mlýnková & future Gopher Tereza Plosová.
Murphy found the scoresheet with at least 2 points in each contest, finishing with 5 goals & 4 assists. Her fifth goal of the week was the game-winner in the championship contest, coming with only 4:34 remaining in regulation and just 80 seconds after Canada had tied the score 3-3. Murphy was named Player of the Game in both Team USA's opener against Finland and the finale.
Morrow tallied two points, both coming in the championship game; she assisted on the title-winning goal after scoring her own goal (assisted by Murphy) earlier in the contest. Huber lit the lamp 3 times at the tournament, once in each of Team USA's first three games. Meanwhile, Plosová dished out a pair of assists for Czechia, once in each of the 5th-6th Place games against the Swiss. Hemp, Laitinen, Mlýnková, and Parkkonen did not score.
Kreisz fuels Hungary to 2nd-place finish at 4 Nations event
Not to be overlooked, we send a special shout-out to Gopher sophomore forward Emma Kreisz, who was selected to play on Hungary's Women's National Team for a separate 4 Nations tournament hosted by Denmark last week, with Japan and France also participating. Kreisz netted two critical goals to lead them to a second-place performance at the event.
The Francs, Hungarians, and Japanese all earned regulation victories over the Danes, turning attention to the games between those three squads. France got two goals from Chloé Aurard against Japan, her first in the 3rd period to tie the score at 2-2 and her second to win the game 3-2 in overtime. Kreisz's first goal of the week came against the Francs as she lit the lamp in the second period to knot the score, 2-2; however, after regulation and overtime finished with no additional goals, France took the subsequent shootout (2-0 in 4 rounds) for a 3-2 victory. Battling for the second spot in the standings, bonus hockey was again needed as Hungary and Japan were tied 1-1 at the end of regulation; Kreisz then converted a power play which carried over from the third period, scoring 55 seconds into overtime for a 2-1 victory.
Other international action last week & looking ahead...
Norway, Germany split two-game series – Playing a pair of friendly contests in Füssen, the Norwegian and German Women's National Teams split the series. Norway won 3-2 in a shootout on Thursday as Andrea Dalen netted the game-tying goal in the 3rd period and scored the winning shootout goal. Germany responded with a 4-2 victory Friday as Emily Nix lit the lamp twice.
Slovakia, Netherlands, Poland advance in qualifying for 2026 Winter Olympics – Playing in separate "second round" qualifying tournaments for the 2026 Winter Olympics Games (after first round tournaments were cancelled), the women's national teams from Slovakia, Netherlands, and Poland each finished atop the standings after round-robin play, sending them to the final qualifying tournaments.
Final Olympic qualification in February – Those three teams winning this past week will be among 12 nations competing for the final three spots in the 2026 Olympics in Milano & Cortina, Italy. The three final qualification tournaments with four teams apiece will be played this coming February 6-9, 2025.
"Group G" – China, France, Japan (host) & Poland
"Group H" – Denmark, Netherlands, Norway & Sweden (host)
"Group I" – Austria, Germany (host), Hungary & Slovakia
More details are available on the IIHF website.
Sitting on top of the world rankings following the 2024 Women's World Championship, the United States, Canada, Finland, Czechia, and Switzerland have automatically qualified to the 2026 Olympic Winter Games. Russia will also qualify if it is reinstated for IIHF-sanctioned tournaments, and Italy will participate as the host nation.
Rivalry Series & Euro Hockey Tour in February – While the Olympic qualifying is occurring, those top-five teams will also be in action. Teams USA & Canada will play the fourth and fifth games of the 2024-2025 Rivalry Series, in (respectively) Halifax, Nova Scotia on February 6 & Summerside, Price Edward Island on February 8; Canada leads this year's series two games to one. Meanwhile, Czechia will host Finland and Switzerland in the next round of the Euro Hockey Tour that same week (February 3-9), though the game site(s) and exact schedule are still to be announced.
Around the WCHA...
Mavericks conclude 2024 with sweep of Beavers – Wrapping up the last WCHA action of the calendar year, Minnesota State opened their home series against Bemidji State with a hat trick from Madison Mashuga and a 12-save shutout performance from Hailey Hansen in a 5-0 victory. BSU got its own hat trick from freshman Morgan Smith in the rematch, but they never led as Jamie Nelson & Claire Vekich each lit the lamp twice and Mackenzie Bourgerie netted the game-winning goal in a 5-3 MSU win.
Happy Holidays!!
The Penalty Box Post will be back after Christmas to preview the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Museum Women's Faceoff Classic between Minnesota and Bemidji State on January 1st!
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