Power Play Club

Power Play Club Board of Directors notes

At the April meeting of the Power Play Club's Board of Directors, secretary Paula Biever, treasurer Todd King, and directors-at-large Susan "Rennie" McPherson & Linda Kenny were re-elected to new two-year terms on the board by a unanimous vote. Club president Bill Johnson, vice-president Dave Malerich, directors-at-large J Lindsay & Bob Milligan, and parent representative Mike Zumwinkle each have one year remaining on their terms (expiring in 2025).

We graciously thank Matt Floding and Dave Lord for their time on the board as directors-at-large. Dave has decided to not seek re-election, and Matt tendered his resignation from the board with a year remaining on his term.

At this time, the board has two openings for directors-at-large. If you are interested in joining and/or have questions about the positions, please reach out to Bill Johnson at billjohnson013@gmail.com or Dave Malerich at dmalerich@yahoo.com. Thank you!!

Maggie Nicholson, Audrey Wethington to return for 2024-2025 season

Coach Brad Frost and the Gopher Women's Hockey program announced last week that Maggie Nicholson and Audrey Wethington will be returning for their respective fifth years on the team.

Nicholson has 20 career points over 95 games, ten of which – two goals & 8 assists – came last season.

Wethington has 55 points in 133 games over her previous four seasons, including 15 points on four goals & 11 assists in her senior year. She was also named a WCHA Scholar Athlete, WCHA All-Academic and a top-three finalist for WCHA Outstanding Student-Athlete in 2023-2024.

We send a warm welcome back to both Maggie and Audrey!!

2024 IIHF Women's World Championship – Utica, NY
Canada defeats U.S. for gold in OT, Finland takes bronze

Returning the favor from 2023, the Canada Women's National Hockey Team won the 2024 IIHF Women's World Championship gold medal on their opponent's and biggest rival's home ice, defeating Team USA 6-5 in overtime in Utica, New York. Neither team held more than a one-goal lead at any point in regulation, with Caroline Harvey & Laila Edwards each tallying a goal and an assist for the Americans and Marie-Philip Poulin lighting the lamp twice for the Canadians. But a penalty for too many players was called on the U.S. in overtime, and Danielle Serdachny scored on a rebound on the resulting power play 5:16 into the extra period. Aerin Frankel made 24 saves for Team USA, while Ann-Renee Desbiens stopped 19 shots for Canada. Gopher representatives Abbey Murphy and Taylor Heise each dished out an assist for the Americans.

Finland claimed the bronze medal with a 3-2 shootout victory over Czechia. The Finns and Czechs exchanged goals in regulation, with Michelle Karvinen & Viivi Vainikka lighting the lamp for Finland and Michaela Pejzlova & Denisa Krizova scoring for Czechia. Goaltender Klara Peslarova kept Czechia in the contest with 46 saves while Finland's Sanni Ahola stopped 29 shots. A shootout was required after the teams played a scoreless 10-minute overtime, tied 2-2. Karvinen put the Finns ahead with a first-round goal, but Klara Hymnlarova evened things for the Czechs in the second round. However, Petra Nieminen gave Finland a 2-1 shootout lead, scoring in the fourth round, and Ahola stopped the next two Czech shooters – including Krizova in the fifth round – to clinch their medals.

Prior to the final day, Team USA was undefeated – including getting a 1-0 preliminary round overtime victory over Canada on a goal by Kirsten Simms and a 26-save shutout by Frankel. Frankel recorded 3 other shutouts, including a 4-0 preliminary round victory over Switzerland (4-0), a 10-0 win over Japan in the quarterfinals, and a 5-0 semifinal win over Finland. Canada's only loss was the preliminary round contest against the U.S.; they defeated Sweden 5-1 in the quarterfinals and Czechia 4-0 in the semis. The Czechs were 3rd in Group A and defeated Germany 1-0 in the quarterfinals before their semifinal and bronze-medal game losses. Finland finished fourth in Group A and defeated the Swiss 3-1 in their quarterfinal. Switzerland was winless in Group A, but will remain in that group following a 3-2 victory in the placement game over Group B winner Germany. The Germans were undefeated in Group B play before their two playoff round losses. Sweden finished 7th with a 3-1 record in Group B preliminary round play. Japan needed a 3-0 victory over Denmark in the final game of preliminary round play to remain in the top division for the 2025 tournament. As a result of that Japanese win, Denmark & China, newly-promoted for 2024, will be sent back down to Division I-A for 2025.

Gophers at the World Championship:

We send congratulations to current Gopher Women's Hockey forward Abbey Murphy and alumnae Taylor Heise, Kelly Pannek, and Grace Zumwinkle on earning silver medals with Team USA, and to current Gopher Nelli Laitinen on earning a bronze medal with Finland.

Here are the player stats:

Abbey Murphy (USA) – 3 goals, 5 assists, 8 points
Taylor Heise (USA) – 2 goals, 5 assists, 7 points
Josefin Bouveng (SWE) – 4 goals, 1 assist, 5 points
Nelli Laitinen (FIN) – 1 goal, 3 assists, 4 points
Kelly Pannek (USA) – No scoring, +1 rating
Grace Zumwinkle (USA) – served as an alternate and did not play

We also send a wish of good luck to current Gopher forward Emma Kreisz, who is again in international competition with the Hungary Women's National Team. Team Hungary is playing in the 2024 IIHF Women's World Championship Division I-A tournament next week (April 21-27) in Austria, with hopes of promotion back to the top division for 2025. In pre-tournament exhibition action this past weekend, the Hungarians split two games against Austria, winning 1‑0 Friday but losing 2‑1 in OT on Saturday.

Additional IIHF Notes

As officially announced this past Sunday, the city of České Budějovice in Czechia – roughly 2½ hours south of Prague – will host 2025 Women's World Championship, running April 9-20. It is the first time the Czechs will host a Women's World Championship and the first IIHF tournament in their country since 2017 (Women's U18 World Championship).
Per reporting by The Hockey News Women's, the 2025 Women's Worlds Division I-A and I-B tournaments will be synced with the Top Division, to also align with breaks in professional league schedules. As noted above, the 2024 Division I-A tournament will be played next week in Austria, conflicting with the restarting PWHL schedule.

BSU alumna Amber Fryklund named new head coach of Beavers

Amber Fryklund was named the sixth head coach of the Bemidji State University Beavers women's hockey program on Tuesday, April 9, moving up from her previous role as associate head coach this past year plus three prior seasons, and 10 years in total on the coaching staff. The announcement came one day after Jim Scanlon announced his departure from the team.

Fryklund is a Bemidji State women's hockey alumna, having played for the Beavers from 2000 to 2003. She continues to hold the program records for points (122) and goals (59), and is second for assists (63), all accomplished in only three seasons. Prior to joining the Beavers' staff, she co-coached the Duluth Northern Stars for six years and was an assistant for the Proctor-Hermantown-Marshall Mirage high school girls team for two seasons. She took time away from the hockey bench to serve as an Assistant Professor of Human Performance, Sport and Health at BSU for three years before her return to the team in 2023-2024. She's also been named as an assistant coach of the 2025 U.S. Under-18 Women's National Team which will compete at the 2025 IIHF U-18 Women's World Championship in Vantaa, Finland next January.

Fryklund becomes the second WCHA alumna to be hired as the head coach at their alma mater this offseason, joining Minnesota State's Shari (Vogt) Dickerman.

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/X at twitter.com/GopherWHockey.