The Two-Minute Minor
An Edition of the Penalty Box Post
Sunday, September 18, 2022
PPC member registration & event reminders...
As we noted previously, 2022-2023 registration for the Power Play Club is open at all levels!!
A minimum donation of $50 is required for our basic membership tier, which includes up to two adults and any children at same address. Exclusive access to our three in-person Chalk Talk events is included. Online registration is preferred at z.umn.edu/PPC22; click the "Make A Gift" button on that page and follow the instructions. To register offline, download the form here and send it in to the listed address, with a check payable to the "University of Minnesota".
For a minimum $600 donation, you can become a Locker Sponsor for the season, our top membership tier. Your name would be posted on a nameplate next to a player's or coach's locker, with an opportunity to meet with your respective player(s) at our event in January. If you are interested, either as a renewing or new Locker Sponsor, please contact Susan "Rennie" McPherson at lockersponsorship@powerplayclub.org (before making a donation).
Board of Directors meeting, September 20 – Here's another reminder that the Power Play Club Board of Directors will be meeting this Tuesday, September 20, at 7:00 p.m. This is the last board meeting before puck drops to start the 2022-2023 season, and will occur in-person at Ridder Arena. As always, board meetings are open to all registered club members; both 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 members are welcomed to attend.
Postgame reception, Saturday, Sept. 24 – Following the exhibition opener against Manitoba this Saturday, September 24, the Power Play Club will be hosting a postgame reception with the team, our first in-person event after more than two seasons!! As with the game itself, we hope that many of you can stick around as the new Gophers for the 2022-2023 season are introduced (and possibly some of those added in 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 as well). Game time is set for 2:00 p.m.
Chalk Talk, Saturday, October 8 at 12:30 p.m. – The first of this season's Chalk Talks, in which a member of the Gopher coaching staff joins club members to discuss team strategy, review game film, and have a brief question & answer session, is scheduled for Saturday, October 8, prior to the second game of the series against Bemidji State. This is an exclusive event for registered Power Play Club members. We will have more details following this week's PPC board meeting.
Gopher Women's Hockey tops WCHA Preseason Coaches Poll; Heise named WCHA Preseason Player of the Year
In a very fractured vote of WCHA coaches, the Gopher Women's Hockey team placed atop the league's preseason poll, receiving 3 of the 8 first-place votes and 44 voting points. Minnesota was only one point ahead of Ohio State (43 pts), which also received 3 first-place votes, while Wisconsin was in third with 42 points and the other two 2 first-place selections. The poll continued with Minnesota Duluth fourth (31 pts), Minnesota State fifth (25 pts), then Bemidji State (16 pts), St. Cloud State (15 pts), and St. Thomas (8 pts).
Meanwhile, Taylor Heise was named the conference's Preseason Player of the Year after receiving 7 of the 8 votes (with OSU's Emma Maltais earning the other vote). Heise becomes the first Gopher to earn the award since Hannah Brandt prior to the 2015-2016 season. Additionally, she was named to the Preseason All-WCHA Team, joined by Gabbie Hughes (F-UMD), Maltais (F-OSU), Sophie Jaques (D-OSU), Ashton Bell (D-UMD), and Amanda Thiele (G-OSU). Minnesota's Grace Zumwinkle was among several other players earning votes in the team selection.
Wisconsin defender Caroline Harvey, already a veteran of the U.S. Women's National Team, was named as the WCHA Preseason Rookie of the Year, earning 6 votes. Badger teammate Kirsten Simms received the other two votes.
Minnesota ranked in top three in both national polls
The Gopher Women's Hockey team was also ranked in the top three in both national polls, published this past week, taking the #2 position with two first-place votes in the DCU/USCHO Division I poll published on Monday, Sept. 12, and the #3 spot in the USA TODAY / USA Hockey Magazine poll (click “Women's Poll” on the page).
Defending NCAA champion Ohio State received the top position in both rankings, with 17 of 20 first-place votes in the DCU/USCHO poll and 16 of 19 in the USA TODAY / USA Hockey Magazine poll. Wisconsin was third in the DCU/USCHO poll, garnering one first-place vote, and second in the USA TODAY / USA Hockey Magazine poll with 3 first-place votes. Northeastern took the #4 spot and Minnesota Duluth #5 in both polls.
GWH alumna update...
Engelhardt earns coaching contract extension with Whitecaps while being named as new staff member of NHL's Predators
Minnesota Women's Hockey alumna Ronda (Curtin) Engelhardt made news this past Wednesday with a pair of announcements.
Engelhardt was named to the staff of the NHL's Nashville Predators “as a North American Amateur Scout based out of Minnesota,” the first female scout in team history.
Within two hours of the Predators' news, the Minnesota Whitecaps announced that Engelhardt had been signed to a two-year head coaching contract extension. Engelhardt has served as co-head coach of the Whitecaps during the team's first four seasons in the Premier Hockey Federation (formerly the National Women's Hockey League). She will be transitioning into leading the team in a solo role. The 'Caps will also be hosting their home games at Richfield Ice Arena starting this coming season after previously playing at TRIA Rink in St. Paul.
Congratulations, Ronda, and best wishes of continued success!!
Copyright © 2022 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.