The Two-Minute Minor
An edition of the Penalty Box Post
Friday, March 5th
Five Gophers named to 2020-2021 All-WCHA teams;
15 Minnesota players earn All-Academic team honors
The Western Collegiate Hockey Association named its All-WCHA teams and its All-Academic Team for the 2020-2021 season on Wednesday. We congratulate the Gopher Women's Hockey players named to the teams:
First Team – senior Grace Zumwinkle
Second Team – senior Emily Brown
Third Team – sophomore Madeline Wethington
All-Rookie Team – freshmen Abbey Murphy & Josey Dunne
WCHA All-Academic Team – Abigail Boreen, Emily Brown, Taylor Heise, Crystalyn Hengler, Olivia King, Olivia Knowles, Emily Oden, Gracie Ostertag, Makayla Pahl, Amy Potomak, Sydney Shearen, Catie Skaja, Taylor Wente, Madeline Wethington, and Grace Zumwinkle
To qualify for the WCHA All-Academic Team, student-athletes must have completed one year of eligibility at their present institution, prior to the current academic year and have a GPA of at least 3.0 for the previous two semesters or three quarters.
The WCHA also announced its end-of-season individual award winners yesterday, with the overall Player of the Year expected to be named later today.
Offensive Player of the Year & Scoring Champion: Daryl Watts, Wisconsin
Defensive Player of the Year: Ashton Bell, Minnesota Duluth
Goaltender of the Year & Goaltending Champion: Emma Söderberg, Minnesota Duluth
Rookie of the Year: Jamie Nelson, Minnesota State
Student-Athlete of the Year: Mak Langei, Bemidji State
Coach of the Year: Mark Johnson, Wisconsin
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Zumwinkle earns WCHA monthly award for February
Prior to being named to the All-WCHA First Team in recognition of her performance over the entire regular season, Gopher Women's Hockey senior Grace Zumwinkle was honored as the WCHA Forward of the Month for February. During the month, Zumwinkle led the league with 11 points, seven goals – including a hat trick on Feb. 19 against Bemidji State, 28 shots on goal, and a +9 rating in six games. She netted at least one goal in five of those six contests. We send our additional congratulations on this award!!
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2021 IIHF Women's World Championship pushed back to May
The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) and Hockey Canada announced yesterday (Thursday, March 4) that the 2021 Women's World Championship is now scheduled for May 6-16, roughly a month later than its original dates. The tournament will be played in Halifax and Truro, Nova Scotia, the locations that had been selected to host the 2020 tournament before it was cancelled.
Some logistical hurdles have already been overcome, as the national associations for the 10 qualifying teams committed to their participation and held virtual meetings with the IIHF to evaluate the capabilities to travel. That said, final approvals from Canadian federal and provincial authorities still have to be provided, including exemptions to the federal quarantine act.
The announcement from the IIHF indicates it anticipates a limited number of fans may be able to attend games. In a separate letter, Hockey Canada and the Scotiabank Centre indicated that people whom are already ticket holders would be contacted again directly once the specifics of spectator capacities become available.
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PWHPA regional teams take to the ice in Chicago for second showcase
Team adidas and Team Women's Sports Foundation, the respective squads from the Minnesota & New Hampshire regional training hubs of the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association, head to Chicago for another showcase weekend and two-game series, following the initial showcase of the 2021 Secret® Dream Gap Tour last weekend in the New York-New Jersey area.
Gopher alumna Gigi Marvin recorded a goal and an assist for Team WSF in last Saturday's contest at Protec Ponds Ice Center in Somerset, NJ, but Kelly Pannek dished out an assist as part of a four-goal, third-period rally by Team adidas to win 5-2. Amanda Kessel tallied her own goal and assist for the New Hampshire team as they won Sunday's game at Madison Square Garden, 4-3.
The action this upcoming weekend begins on Saturday, with the same two teams meeting at United Center at 2 p.m. CT The game will be televised live on NBC Sports Network, featuring an all-female broadcast crew. The second contest of the showcase will be played on Sunday at 10:30 a.m. CT at Fifth Third Arena, with live video streaming available at cbcsports.ca
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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.