PPC Board of Directors Meeting – Tuesday, April 1 at 7 p.m.
The first Power Play Club Board of Directors meeting of the 2025 off-season is scheduled for this coming Tuesday, April 1. Meeting topics are to be decided but are likely to include a review of the past year and how we can improve going forward. The meeting will be held online via Zoom and is open to all club members who were enrolled for the 2024-2025 season; please contact PPC president Bill Johnson (billjohnson013@gmail.com) or vice president Dave Malerich (dmalerich@yahoo.com) if you wish to attend.
Volunteers requested to fill BOD openings...
Additionally, we are looking for volunteers to fill several open directorships on the club's board. Meetings are held monthly during the off-season (though usually skipping either July or August) for 60 to 90 minutes apiece, plus potential additional in-season meetings as deemed necessary. Our standard term length is two years, starting April 1. If you have any interest or want more information, please contact Bill Johnson or Dave Malerich.
To our GWH parents – One of our director positions is designated for a parent representative, and it is currently in need of being filled. Again, please contact Bill or Dave if you are interested and/or have questions.
Abbey Murphy named Second Team CCM/AHCA All-American
After a 65-point season in 2024-2025 on 33 goals and 32 assists, Gopher Women's Hockey redshirt senior Abbey Murphy was named a Second Team CCM/AHCA All-American, as announced by the American Hockey Coaches Association last Saturday.
At the time of the announcement, Murphy led NCAA Division I players in both game-winning goals (7) and shots (242). She was in the top-ten nationally in multiple other statistics, including her points, goals, and assist totals, goals per game (.79), power play goals (8), and points per game (1.55). Murphy finished the year with 103 career goals, good for 6th place all-time in Gopher Women's Hockey history.
Congratulations on this great honor, Abbey!!
Primerano, Bouveng named to national team rosters for upcoming 2025 IIHF Women's World Championship
Two more members of the 2024-2025 Gopher Women's Hockey team are headed to the 2025 IIHF Women's World Championship in Czechia in two weeks after being named to the rosters of their respective national teams!
Defender Chloe Primerano was named to Canada's roster last Friday, where she'll be the youngest member of the team and making her Women's World Championship debut. Previously, she played as a member of Canada's National Under-18 Team in two IIHF U-18 Women's World Championships, setting defensive scoring records in 2024 and captaining the team to a gold medal this past January. Primerano made her debut with Canada's senior team in the Rivalry Series last November.
Forward Josefin Bouveng was announced as a member of Sweden's National Team yesterday, marking her fourth time participating in a Women's World Championship. Over her previous three World Championships, she has a composite 5 goals and 2 assists; she also tallied a goal at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games, and a combined 3 goals & 3 assists in two Olympic qualifying tournaments.
Primerano and Bouveng are the sixth and seventh Gopher representatives named to World Championship rosters after current teammate Abbey Murphy and alumnae Taylor Heise, Kelly Pannek, Lee Stecklein, and Grace Zumwinkle were selected on March 5 to play on the U.S. National Team. We currently await roster announcements from host Czechia, Finland, and Hungary.
The 2025 Women's World Championship will be played in the city of Ceske Budejovice, Czechia, starting April 9. Preliminary round play runs through the 15th, with quarterfinals on April 17, semifinals on the 19th, and medal games on Sunday, April 20. We'll provide a preview before the action begins.
Wisconsin claims NCAA title; O'Brien wins Patty Kazmaier Award
A wild end to regulation and bonus hockey led to Wisconsin winning their 8th NCAA championship with a 4-3 overtime victory over Ohio State at Ridder Arena on Sunday.
Joy Dunne got the Buckeyes on the board first when she skated through several Badgers and lit the lamp short-handed 8:22 into the contest. That lead lasted a mere 12 seconds as Laila Edwards responded for Wisconsin with a power-play goal, but Sloane Matthews put Ohio State back ahead just over 6 minutes later, and Emma Peschel made it 3-1 Buckeyes only 10 seconds into the second period.
The Badgers reduced the lead back to one later in the middle frame when Caroline Harvey found the back of the net at the 5:27 mark, though the game remained 3-2 through the second intermission and most of the third period. However, Ohio State was whistled for too many players with 1:50 remaining in regulation, which then led to a 6-on-4 attack as Wisconsin pulled Ava McNaughton for an extra attacker for the final minute. Shortly after the ensuing faceoff, chaos ensued in a scramble in the Buckeye crease and, upon a challenge by UW coach Mark Johnson, the Badgers were awarded a penalty shot with 18.9 seconds to go when it was determined an OSU skater had covered the puck with her hand. Kirsten Simms converted the shot to knot the score and send the game to overtime (full sequence replay). Simms then sealed the victory for Wisconsin and set off the celebration when she netted the rebound of a shot from Lacey Eden 2:49 into the extra period (full overtime replay).
McNaughton earned the win with a 20-save performance. Amanda Thiele stopped 31 shots for Ohio State.
All-Tournament Team
Goaltender – Ava McNaughton (Wisconsin)
Defender – Caroline Harvey (Wisconsin)
Defender – Emma Peschel (Ohio State)
Forward – Joy Dunne (Ohio State)
Forward – Laila Edwards (Wisconsin)
Forward – Kirsten Simms (Wisconsin)
Most Outstanding Player – Simms
Wisconsin's O'Brien wins 2025 Kazmaier Award – Badgers fifth-year forward Casey O'Brien was named the winner of the 2025 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award on Saturday as part of the Frozen Four weekend festivities. O'Brien posted an NCAA-leading and Badger record 88-point season on 26 goals and 62 assists, becoming the sixth player from the University of Wisconsin to win the award. She also became the Badgers' all-time scoring leader, passing Hilary Knight and finishing with 274 points on 97 goals and 177 assists.
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