Grace Zumwinkle is your 2024 PWHL Rookie of the Year
PWHL MN forward also named to All-Star Second Team & Rookie Team
We send our congratulations to Gopher Women's Hockey alumna Grace Zumwinkle, who was named the PWHL's Rookie of the Year yesterday following a stand-out first season with PWHL Minnesota. Zumwinkle was also honored as a member of the league's Second All-Star Team and Rookie Team. (Image courtesy of the PWHL)
Zumwinkle tied for seventh league-wide in regular-season scoring, leading Minnesota with 19 points on 11 goals & 8 assists while also posting a +6 plus-minus rating and converting on all three of her shootout attempts. She added another goal during the PWHL playoffs.
Boreen, Kessel drafted by PWHL Montréal; Wethington to Ottawa
Coming off her partial season with league champions PWHL Minnesota while continuing her graduate studies at the U. of M., Gopher alumna Abigail Boreen will now head north of the border to Montréal, being selected 17th overall in the second round of Monday night's 2024 PWHL Draft.
Boreen tallied 4 goals & an assist in just 9 regular-season contests, and added another assist during the semifinal round against Toronto.
Recent GWH graduate Madeline Wethington had to wait until the seventh – and final – round of the draft to hear her name called. She was selected 38th overall by PWHL Ottawa, becoming the first Gopher associated with that organization.
Wethington completed her collegiate career by hitting the 100-point mark in her final game, becoming the 7th blueliner in program history to reach the milestone, recording 27 goals & 73 assists.
Three picks later, Montréal used their final selection to choose collegiate and international stand-out Amanda Kessel 41st overall, continuing her comeback bid after taking a year off from competitive action.
Kessel is second all-time in Gopher scoring with 248 points on 108 goals & 140 assists. Internationally, she has 59 career points (20g, 39a) over six IIHF World Championships with Team USA, and 15 points (6g, 9a) at three Olympic Winter Games.
Congratulations and good luck, Abby, Madeline, and Amanda!!
Darwitz, PWHL Minnesota part ways
News broke last Friday, June 7, that PWHL Minnesota and Natalie Darwitz had parted ways, ending her tenure as the team's general manager nine days after the squad won the inaugural Walter Cup Championship and just three days before the league's draft.
The Power Play Club takes no position on this development, but we wish Natalie all the best in her next opportunity. We also send our congratulations following her formal Class of 2024 induction into the International Ice Hockey Hall of Fame on May 26.
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