Power Play Club

11/09/2026

Day 4 of the 2026 IIHF Women's World Championship included a pair of ten-goal victories, badly lopsided shot totals, and the tournament's first hat trick.

United States 11, Austria 1 -- Caroline 'KK' Harvey tallied a hat trick plus an assist and posted a +6 plus-minus rating, Joy Dunne added a goal & 3 helpers, Tessa Janecke recorded two goals and an assist, and Hilary Knight lit the lamp twice as the Americans outshot the Austrians 66-5. Annika Fazokas found the back of the net late for Austria, the first goal yielded by Team USA.

Canada 10, Denmark 0 -- Nine different Canadians lit the lamp as they outshot the Danes 74-6. Emma Maltais netted two goals, Laura Stacey added a goal & two assists, and Jessie Eldridge and Sarah Fillier each recorded a goal & an assist.

Gopher Women's Hockey representatives today...
🇺🇸 Taylor Fox - 2A
🇨🇦 Chloe Primerano - 2A
🇺🇸 Abbey Murphy - 1A
🇺🇸 Kelly Pannek - 1A

11/09/2026

Home-and-home with the Huskies this week! 🐾

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11/08/2026

Day 3 action is complete at the 2026 IIHF Women's World Championship. Here's our recap of the four games...

United States 5, Germany 0 -- Casey O'Brien opened the scoring and added a later assist to lead the Americans. Gopher Women's Hockey alumna Abbey Murphy netted the fourth goal for Team USA, while Kelly Pannek & Taylor Fox each earned an assist in the contest. Gwyneth Philips stopped at 13 shots she faced. German netminder Sandra Abstreiter made 33 saves.

Canada 9, Japan 0 -- Already up 4-0 at the second intermission, Canada added five more goals in the third -- including three in the final 2 minutes -- to put away Japan. Current Gopher Chloe Primerano opened the scoring. Daryl Watts, Erin Ambrose & Kendall Cooper each tallied a goal & an assist, and Ève Gascon made 14 saves. Rika Kawaguchi stopped 50 shots for Japan.

Sweden 4, Finland 1 -- Hilda Svensson tallied a goal and an assist and Ebba Svennson-Träff stopped 28 of 29 shots as the Swedes took a 3-0 third-period lead en route to the victory, their first over their Scandinavian rivals at the World Championship since 2007. Petra Nieminen scored and Sanni Ahola made 28 saves for the Finns.

Switzerland 2, Czechia 1, OT -- The Swiss used a 33-save performance from Saskia Maurer to pull off a mini upset. Ivana Wey put the Swiss up 1-0 in the first period, but the Czechs knotted the score as Linda Vocetková lit the lamp in the second stanza. The score remain tied through the rest of regulation, thanks to Maurer, and Alina Müller -- already having an assist on Wey's goal -- scored 1:49 into overtime for the victory.

11/08/2026

While no Gopher Women's Hockey players (current or alumnae) were in action today, there were still two games played at the 2026 IIHF Women's Worlds, with one result having big implications...

Denmark 3, Japan 2, shootout (2-1 in 5 rounds) -- In come-from-behind fashion, the Danes earned a win on home ice, knocked off the Asian champions in the process, and drastically increased their likelihood of staying in the Top Division for 2027. Umeka Odaira lit the lamp twice for Japan in the first period, but Nakita Bergmann cut Denmark's deficit in half just 47 seconds into the 2nd stanza and Teresa Christensen knotted the score with just 2:56 remaining in regulation. Following a scoreless rest of the 3rd period and overtime, Nicoline Jensen put the Danes up 1-0 after the first round of the shootout, only for Odaira to tie it up for Japan in the second round; however, Denmark prevailed when Frederikke Foss lit the lamp in round 5. Danish goalie Emma-Sofie Nordstrom earned the win with 30 saves through overtime; Japan's Miyuu Masuhara stopped 12 shots through 65 minutes.

Germany 2, Austria 0 -- Former UMD Bulldog Nina Jobst-Smith tallied both goals for the Germans, the second being an empty-netter, and veteran netminder Sandra Abstreiter posted a 14-save clean sheet. Austrian goalie Selma Luggin stopped 48 shots.

11/06/2026

Day 1 of the 2026 IIHF Women's World Championship (Gopher recap at the bottom)...

United States 7, Switzerland 0 -- The Americans got two goals apiece from Hannah Bilka & Laila Edwards, a goal & an assist from Casey O'Brien, and 3 helpers from KK Harvey, outshooting the Swiss 38-8 in the process. Andrea Brändli made 31 saves for Switzerland.

Canada 5, Sweden 1 -- Despite their top performance in European play, the Swedes were not a match for the Canadians. Jessie Eldridge led the way with 2 goals and an assist, Kendall Cooper tallied a goal & an assist, and Ann-Renée Desbiens made 13 saves. Hanna Thuvik netted the lone goal for Sweden and Ebba Svensson-Träff stopped 36 shots.

Czechia 4, Austria 1 -- The upstart Austrians took an early lead as Anna Meixner scored 7:03 into the contest, but the Czechs took over from there. After Klára Hymlárová knotted the score later in the first period, Gopher alum Natálie Mlýnková netted the game-winning goal and assisted on the first of two insurance tallies from Kateřina Mrázová. Shots on goal were CZE 46, AST 12.

Finland 4, Denmark 1 -- The Finns outshot the Danes 59-6, getting goals from Elisa Holopainen, sisters Emma & Sofia Nuutinen, and veteran Petra Nieminen. Denmark got their first-ever Top Division goal from Nikita Bergmann and a 55-save performance from Emma-Sofie Nordstrom.

Here's how your Gopher Women's Hockey representatives fared on the opening day (our thanks to the U. for compiling this)...

🇨🇿 Natálie Mlýnková: 1G, 1A
🇺🇸 Taylor Fox: 2A
🇺🇸 Abbey Murphy: 1A
🇺🇸 Kelly Pannek: 1A
🇨🇦 Chloe Primerano: 1A
🇫🇮 Julia Schalin: 1A

Saturday's schedule features Germany vs. Austria and Japan vs. Denmark. Both games are at 12 p.m. CST in North America.

11/05/2026

We reiterate our wishes of good luck to our 11 Gophers participating in the Women's World Championship one final time on the eve of the tournament!!

Best of luck to all our Gophers representing their countries at the 2026 IIHF Women’s World Championship! 🌎🏒

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11/05/2026

Congratulations to Minnesota Women's Hockey junior netminder Hannah Clark on earning career victory #50 this past weekend against UMD!!

Clarky picked up career win No. 50 over the weekend! 👏🏆

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11/02/2026

Congratulations, Sloane, on a second-straight WCHA Defender of the Week award!!

Back-to-back weekly honors for Sloane Hartmetz! 👏🏆

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11/01/2026

Catching up on some huge international news from Friday (Oct. 30)...

The international Court of Arbitration for Sport has ordered the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) to readmit Russian national teams for all "2027" tournaments, starting with the Men's World Junior (U20) Championship which begins December 26 in Alberta and the Women's U18 Championship beginning January 8 in Czechia.

The ruling overturns the ban imposed after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

We take no position on the decision but share this only as a matter of interest. We also note that the IIHF and multiple national ice hockey federations have all expressed their concern with the ruling.

The Crease Clashes with the Court: What the CAS Ruling on Russia Means for International Hockey If you thought the drama on the ice was intense, wait until you see the legal and political penalty box. In a decision that has sent shockwaves through the hockey world, the Court of Arbitration for Sport...

11/01/2026

We send congratulations and good luck to Gopher Women's Hockey junior forward Julia Schalin and alumna defender Nelli Laitinen on being named to the Finland National Team roster for the upcoming 2026 IIHF Women's World Championship!!

Suomen joukkue ensi viikolla alkaviin Naisten MM-kisoihin on nimetty.🦁✨

Naisleijonat matkustavat Tanskan Herningiin ensi viikon keskiviikkona, ja kisat alkavat perjantaina 6.11.