Gophers to face Bemidji State for Hockey Day Minnesota 2025
19th-annual outdoor event to be played at Valleyfair in Shakopee
The Minnesota Wild, in conjunction with Bally Sports North, Minnesota Hockey and the Shakopee Local Organizing Committee, announced January 25, 2025, as the date for the 19th Annual Hockey Day Minnesota (HDM), presented by UnitedHealthcare, with Valleyfair Amusement Park in Shakopee serving as the host site. Additionally, game matchups were also announced and include the Gopher Women's Hockey team taking on the Bemidji State University Beavers. The game will be televised on BSN, though the exact time of puck drop will be announced at a later date.
As noted in the press release from the U., Hockey Day Minnesota 2025 will mark the third outdoor game in GWH history. In the 2014 Hockey City Classic, Minnesota shut out Minnesota State 4-0 at Huntington Bank Stadium. Then, on Hockey Day Minnesota 2020, the Gophers tallied a 2-1 victory over Ohio State at Parade Stadium in downtown Minneapolis.
Five 2023-2024 Gophers receive additional academic recognition
Following up on our Penalty Box Post from two weeks ago, we send additional congratulations to five members of the 2023-2024 Gopher Women's Hockey team upon receiving more accolades for their academic performance.
Allie Franco, Peyton Hemp, Maggie Nicholson, Audrey Wethington and Madeline Wethington were named among 122 U. of M. student-athletes recognized as Big Ten Distinguished Scholars on Thursday, June 25. Both Audrey and Madeline Wethington were honored as two of 28 to post perfect 4.0 GPAs for the 2023-2024 academic year.
Distinguished Scholar Award recipients must have earned Academic All-Big Ten recognition in the previous academic year, must have been enrolled full time at the institution for the entire previous academic year (two semesters or three quarters) and earned a minimum GPA of 3.70 or better during the previous academic year, excluding any summer grades.
We also provide a reminder than Madeline Wethington has been selected as a CSC Academic All-America® finalist, with the First-, Second- and Third-Team honorees scheduled to be announced next Tuesday, July 16.
Current & alumni Gophers in summer league action at Braemar
A handful of current & incoming Gopher Women's Hockey players and U. of M. alumnae are participating in a pair of summer leagues.
Da Beauty League will feature women's hockey action for the first time this year, holding one women's game to go along with two men's games each Wednesday night starting tonight (July 10) through August 28, plus Monday, August 26, at Braemar Arena in Edina. Puck drop is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. For tonight's women's contest, Team Tradition Mortgage will include Gophers Ava Lindsay, Savannah Norcross, Kelly Pannek, Audrey Wethington, Madeline Wethington and Grace Zumwinkle, while Team Tradition Capital Bank features Abby Boreen, Emily Brown, Lee Stecklein, and Skylar Vetter. The teams will play two 23-minute halves of 4-on-4 action, with a unique overtime detailed here. Tickets are $15 for adults, with kids under 48" tall getting in free, and are available through tixr.com. The league has also indicated that games will be streamed free on YouTube.
The Summer Celly League is already underway, also playing games at Braemar Arena through the rest of July. The five-team league, comprised of current and incoming collegiate hockey players, includes Gophers Emma Conner, Kendra Distad, Allie Franco, Peyton Hemp, Ella Huber, Carly Humphrey, Maddie Kaiser, Elly Klepinger, Ava Lindsay, Maggie Nicholson, Lauren O'Hara, and Ayla Puppe. Contests are played as two 25-minute halves with the clock stopping at penalties and at the close of each half, and ties at the end of regulation will go directly to a single-player sudden-death shootout. The third night of games is tomorrow, July 11, starting at 5:10 p.m., with the rest of the schedule here. Admission is FREE, and games are also being streamed on the MNHockey.tv subscription service.
USA, Canada announce initial 2024-2025 Rivalry Series schedule
USA Hockey and Hockey Canada jointly announced yesterday their five-game schedule for the 2024-2025 Rivalry Series (USA Hockey link). The teams will play three contests in November, meeting in San Jose, CA, Salt Lake City, UT, and Boise, ID. Games 4 & 5 will be hosted by Canada in February in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Summerside, Prince Edward Island.
Ticket information for the November games can be found on USA Hockey's Rivalry Series page. Details for the tickets for February's games are not yet available but will be posted on Hockey Canada's tickets page soon.
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