The Two-Minute Minor
An edition of the Penalty Box Post
Saturday, May 22nd
Ten Gopher representatives invited to Team USA evaluation camp
Four (4) members of the 2020-2021 Gopher Women's Hockey team and six (6) University of Minnesota alumnae were named among the 40 players invited to the 2021 U.S. Women's National Team Selection Camp, being held June 1-6 at the National Sports Center in Blaine.
Megan Bozek, Hannah Brandt, Dani Cameranesi, Taylor Heise, Amanda Kessel, Abbey Murphy, Kelly Pannek, Gracie Ostertag, Lee Stecklein, and Grace Zumwinkle comprise the Maroon & Gold's representation at the camp. As noted in both the release from USA Hockey and the follow-up from the U. of M., the camp will be utilized to assist in selecting the 28 players who will train together as part of a residency program in preparation for the 2022 Olympic Winter Games.
The University of Minnesota also has representation on the camp's staff. GWH associate head coach Joel Johnson is the interim head coach of the U.S. Women's National Team, while Cal Dietz serves as head strength and conditioning coach and Brent Proulx serves as the national team's equipment manager.
We send our congratulations to all ten Gopher players, and good luck as they vie for positions in the centralized pre-Olympic residency program.
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PWHPA Calgary showcase next week, with free video streaming
As noted in our May 9 issue of the Two-Minute Minor, the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association (PWHPA) is holding its first Canadian showcase starting Monday, May 24, in Calgary. The PWHPA published a subsequent release on May 13 listing the full game schedule for the event.
The showcase features a round-robin competition between Team Scotiabank (Calgary regional hub), Team Sonnet (Toronto) and Team Bauer (Montreal) through next Saturday, May 29, followed by the top two squads playing a championship game for the Canadian Secret® Cup on Sunday, May 30. Gopher Women's Hockey alumna Sarah Potomak (pictured) is expected to play with Team Scotiabank.
All seven games will have live video streaming available for free (per the PWHPA's Twitter account) courtesy of event partner Sportsnet at sportsnet.ca.
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Pannek leads scoring at St. Louis showcase, Team adidas wins U.S. Secret® Cup – GWH alumna Kelly Pannek (pictured) tallied an empty-net goal following two earlier assists, Dani Cameranesi netted a shorthanded goal, and Lee Stecklein dished out an assist to lead Team adidas from the Minnesota regional hub to a 3-1 victory over Team Women's Sports Foundation (New Hampshire hub) in the first game of the PWHPA's St. Louis showcase earlier this week. Amanda Kessel scored Team WSF's lone goal. (Image courtesy of the PWHPA)
No Gophers recorded a point in the St. Louis game 2 rematch, but Abby Roque, Kendall Coyne-Schofield, and Sydney Brodt lit the lamp in the third period to give Team adidas a 4-2 come-from-behind win over Team WSF. The two victories plus the bonus point for Cameranesi's shorthanded goal gave Team adidas a final advantage of 13 points to 2 in the Secret® Dream Gap Tour standings and the U.S. Secret® Cup championship. Pannek was third in scoring across all six SDGT games, recording 7 points on 2 goals and 5 assists, while Cameranesi was in a multi-way tie for with 6 points, dishing out 5 assists to go with her goal.
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