Knight leads the United States to GOLD

No matter who scored in Monday afternoon's OT thriller at the IIHF Women's World Championship, multiple Badgers were coming home with gold medals. It just so happened that USA forward Hilary Knight, who still has one season of eligibility remaining at Wisconsin found the back of the net.

The United States squad who captured the gold medal featured five current or former Badgers. Knight and Brianna Decker (who has two seasons of eligibility remaining) are the current Badgers. Recent grad and Patty Kazmaier Award winner Meghan Duggan, defenseman Molly Engstrom, and goaltender Jessie Vetter all starred in the past for the Badgers.

Knight was the most impressive player in the tournament, and led all scorers with 14 points in 5 games (5 goals, 9 assists). She also tied for the tournament lead in plus/minus at a plus 11. For her efforts, Knight was named to the all tournament team by a media panel.

Decker finished the tournament second in scoring with 11 points (4 goals, 7 assists) and Meghan Duggan ended up fifth with 7 points (4 goals, 3 assists). Engstrom recorded two points from the blue line and was a +9. Jessie Vetter continued her brilliance in goal with a .952 save percentage and 1.28 GAA and saved her best in the gold medal game when she stopped 51 of 53 shots.

Two other former Badgers aren't going home empty handed. Team Canada defensemen Meghan Mikkelson and Bobbi Jo Slusar, both former University of Wisconsin stars played big roles for Team Canada. Slusar finished the tournament with a couple of points and was a +4 and Mikkelson's 3 goals and +10 rating in the tournament earned her the honor of being named the tournament's best defenseman.

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A few odds & ends

• Just a reminder that the UW Athletic Department is holding a press conference today at 1pm regarding the Feb 6, 2010 Camp Randall games (Badger Men v. Michigan, Badger Women v. Bemidji). You'll be able to find the press conference here.


• Presumably in anticipation of the Camp Randall games, uwbadgers has posted a Frozen Tundra Classic highlight video. Good stuff.


• Meaghan Mikkelson is currently featured in hockeycanada's player profiles. Bobbie-Jo Slusar was previously featured.


• Here's a recent article about Andy Murray -- St. Lois Blues Head Coach and Badger Jordy Murray's dad. (Thanks to Capobianco for pointing it out.)


• Here's the WSJ announcement regarding Cody Strang's being named Wisconsin Boys Hockey Player of the Year.
  

Hockey Canada's National Women's Team January Camp

Hockey Canada is holding a training camp for the National Women's Team this week (Jan 25-30) in Red Deer, AB. Included on the camp roster are Badgers Carla MacLeod, Meaghan Mikkelson, and Bobbi Jo Slusar. The announcement notes that the training camp is one of the steps leading up to the 2009 IIHF World Women's Championship (Apr 4-12 in Hameenlinna, Finland).

Hockey Canada names rosters for October Camp and 4 Nations Cup

Hockey Canada has named rosters for their October Camp and the Four Nations Cup. Badger defensemen Carla MacLeod, Meaghan Mikkelson, and Bobbie Jo Slusar have made both teams. Looking at the rosters, the Four Nations team includes some younger players currently playing in the NCAA as well as some of the players from the October Camp roster.

The October Camp will take place October 9-13 in Moncton, NB and will consist of on-ice sessions and 4 games against local Midget AAA boys teams. It will be held in conjunction with the Atlantic Challenge Cup which runs October 10-13.

The Four Nations Cup will be held November 4-9 in Lake Placid, NY. Team Canada will also hold a short camp prior to the tournament.

Hockey Canada also indicates it will hold team camps in December and January, leading up to the 2009 IIHF World Women's Championships in Finland on April 4-12. The IIHF roster will be named in February.

Wednesday afternoon link-o-rama: Badger Women

• The Badger Women have been ranked 2nd (behind UMD) in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine preseason poll. In the WCHA coaches poll, the Badger Women tied for 2nd with Minnesota (again behind UMD). Badgers who recieved votes for post-season awards include Meghan Duggan and Erika Lawler for league MVP and Carolyne Prevost for league rookie of the year.


• The fine folks at BTD have done their own national poll. The Badgers placed 2nd behind Harvard, followed by Minnesota in 3rd and UMD in 4th.
  

• Mark Johnson addressed the media on Monday, and here's the transcript.

• Hockey Canada's September evaluation camp for the Women's National Team is over, but you can find game results here. Participating in the camp were Carla MacLeod, Meaghan Mikkelson, and Bobbie Jo Slusar. HC indicates that they'll name the 2008-09 roster "in the coming days".

Thursday Evening Odds & Ends

• Hockey Canada has announced its September Evaluation Camp roster and schedule. The camp will take place Sept 17-21 in Calgary, AB. In February, 22 players will be selected to play for Team Canada in the 2009 IIHF World Women's Championships. In the summer of 2009, up to 30 players will move to Calgary as part of centralization to train and work toward the 2010 Winter Olympics.
  

Badgers at the September camp include defensemen Carla MacLeod (2001-05, Calgary, AB), Meaghan Mikkelson (2003-07, St. Albert, AB), and Bobbie Jo Slusar (2003-07, Swift Current, SK).

• Caitlyn Cahow posted a blog entry yesterday with a brief blurb about the beginning of the Blaine Residency. Badgers currently at the residency include Molly Engstrom and Kerry Weiland. Jinelle Zaugg will join the residency later this year.

• USA Hockey has a nice article about recent Badger commit Alev Kelter. Sounds like a great pick-up for the Badgers!!

• The Ottawa Citizen has a nice article about Brian Elliott.

• Todd Milewski has a bit of information regarding the Badger Men's TV schedule.