PPC Board of Directors Meeting – Tuesday, June 4 at 7 p.m.
We provide a reminder that the next meeting of the Power Play Club Board of Directors is scheduled for Tuesday, June 4 at 7:00 p.m. CT and will be held online on Zoom. PPC board meetings are open to all enrolled club members; 2023-2024 registration will apply for all off-season meetings this summer. If you are interested in attending, please contact club president Bill Johnson at billjohnson013@gmail.com or vice president Dave Malerich at dmalerich@yahoo.com.
Gopher Women's Hockey announces 2024-2025 season schedule
The Gopher Women's Hockey announced its 2024-2025 season schedule yesterday (accompanying press release here) as the program prepares for its 28th season of Division I varsity competition.
Similar to last year, the front-half of the season will feature only 6 home games. Minnesota will begin the 2024-2025 campaign on the road against the Connecticut Huskies on September 27 & 28 before hosting Boston University for the home-opening series on October 4 & 6. The last of the non-conference games will occur at the start of the second-half of the season when Penn State, Brown, and Bemidji State come to Minneapolis for an east-west showcase at Ridder Arena. The schedule also features four home-and-home weekends, two against Minnesota State and two against St. Cloud State.
WCHA releases composite schedule of league games
Additionally, the Western Collegiate Hockey Association published its schedule of all 112 league games for the 2024-2025 season yesterday. Defending WCHA regular-season and NCAA champion Ohio State will get things started early with back-to-back in-conference series, first at home against Minnesota Duluth September 21-22 and then on the road at Bemidji State September 27-28.
GWH alums Kessel, Wethington declare for 2024 PWHL Draft
After taking a year off from competitive action, it has now been confirmed that Minnesota Women's Hockey alumna and 2013 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award winner Amanda Kessel has declared herself eligible for the 2024 Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) Draft. As noted in reporting by Ian Kennedy at The Hockey News, Kessel (age 32) scored five points in six games for Team Adidas on the PWHPA's Dream Gap Tour in 2022-2023, and recorded nine points in seven games with Team USA at the 2023 IIHF Women's World Championship. She spent this past year working for the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins in a front office role.
Meanwhile, recent Gopher alumna Madeline Wethington has also declared for the draft. She spoke about her upcoming plans with FOX 9's Dawn Mitchell on a recent episode of the Dawn Of Sports podcast. Once again, Wethington was a three-time All-WCHA selection, playing in a program-high 173 career games and becoming the 7th GWH defender to score 100 career points.
Shout-outs...
We send a shout-out to the 2023-2024 Gopher Women's Hockey team on having another great semester in the classroom, posting a 3.56 grade-point average for the Spring 2024 term!! Great job, ladies!!
PWHL Finals: Boston vs. Minnesota – Series tied 1-1 (best of 5)
We also send a shout-out to the seven Gopher alumnae on the active rosters of PWHL Boston and Minnesota – Hannah Brandt (BOS), Emily Brown (BOS), Taylor Heise (MIN), Gigi Marvin (BOS), Kelly Pannek (MIN), Lee Stecklein (MIN), and Grace Zumwinkle (MIN) – as they compete in the league's Walter Cup Finals.
Heise tallied two goals and an assist, but Brandt also lit the lamp, Brown dished out two helpers, and Marvin also recorded an assist as Boston took Game 1 by a 4-3 score. No Gophers earned any points in Game 2, but two goals from Sophie Jaques and a 20-save performance by Nicole Hensley gave Minnesota a 3-0 victory to knot the series at one game apiece.
Game 3 is tonight (Friday, 5/24) at 6 p.m. CT and Game 4 is Sunday (5/26) at 5 p.m. CT at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. Both games will be streamed on the PWHL's YouTube channel, and tomorrow's game will be televised in the Twin Cities area on Bally Sports North Extra. (Sunday's game will be on BSN or BSN Extra, but which one is TBA.)
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