In the final weekend before the start of the college season, an All-Star team of WCHA Players will face the 2005-06 U.S. Women’s National Team in a two-game series to lead off the Hilton Family Skate to 2006 Tour. The pre-Olympic tour begins Friday Sept. 30 at the XCel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn. and continues Oct. 1 at the DECC in Duluth, Minn. Both games begin at 7 p.m. CT, and the first game will be televised on CSTV.
Mark Johnson, the 1980 Olympic gold medalist and Wisconsin head coach, will lead the WCHA All-Stars. He will be assisted by by Minnesota state assistant Ruthann Kragh and St. Cloud assistant Jeff Giesen. The team was selected by the all-star team coaching staff with input from all eight league coaches.
Twenty players representing all eight teams have been selected for the all-star team. Four players from Wisconsin and three players from both Minnesota and Minnesota Duluth make up the team along with two players each from Bemidji State, Minnesota State, North Dakota and Ohio State.
The U.S. Women’s National Team roster includes eight players with WCHA ties. Minnesota Duluth’s Jenny Potter, a two-time Olympian, and is joined by Minnesota State’s Shari Vogt, who is making her first apperance on the U.S. National Team while Minnesota’s Krissy Wendell, Natalie Darwitz, and Courtney Kennedy were members of the 2002 U.S. Olympic team. Minnesota’s Kelly Stephens and Winny Brodt and Wisconsin’s Molly Engstrom round out the WCHA’s representatives.
The Hilton Family Skate to 2006 Tour includes 11 games in 10 cities as the U.S. Women’s National Team prepares for the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Torino, Italy. During the Tour,the team will face collegiate all-star teams from the ECACHL and Hockey East.
Tickets to the opening game of the Hilton Family Skate to 2006 Tour on Friday, Sept. 30 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul are available through ticketmaster by calling 612/989-5151, visiting www.ticketmaster.com and at the Xcel Energy Center box office. For group rates, call 651/312-3486. For Saturday’s game in Duluth, tickets are available at the DECC box office, www.ticketmaster.com, ticketmaster charge-by-phone, 612/989-5151, or at any local Younkers store. Prices are $10 for adults and $5 for youth at the Xcel Center and $13 for adults and $11 for youth at the DECC.
2005 WCHA All-Star Team Roster
Emily Brookshaw, So., G, Bemidji State
Riitta Schaublin, Jr., G, Minnesota Duluth
Ashely Albrecht, Sr., D, Minnesota
Chelsey Brodt, Sr., D, Minnesota
Rachel Drazan, So., D, Minnesota Duluth
Amber Bowman, Jr., D, Ohio State
Kelly Stewart, Sr., D, St. Cloud State
Bobbi Jo Slusar, Jr., D, Wisconsin
Tara Hiscock, So., F, Bemidji State
Bobbi Ross, So., F, Minnesota
Jessica Koizumi, So., F, Minnesota Duluth
Kristina Bunker, So., F, Minnesota State
Amanda Stohr, So., F, Minnesota State
Cami Wooster, So., F, North Dakota
Cara Wooster, So., F, North Dakota
Jana Harrigan, Sr., F, Ohio State
Ashley Stewart, Sr., F, St. Cloud State
Sara Bauer, Jr., F, Wisconsin
Sharon Cole, Sr., F, Wisconsin
