“Minnesota Making Major Gains In Recruiting”
As far as topping off this class, I believe we are still waiting for a Canadian defender to make her choice. I’m wondering if there might be something brewing with another forward.
Adrianna Milani will accelerate her schooling and come in next year.
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Adrianna Milani will accelerate her schooling and come in next year.
Big step up. Almost certainly would be too good for the OWHL by the time this season finishes. Also if she's accelerating to play in the WCHA she's not lacking for confidence.
At 5'4" Milani is undersized by the standards of the conference, and if the schedule is the same as this year's she won't turn 18 until the day of the Frozen Four semifinal. But she believes she is ready, and the coaching staff believes she is ready, and I'm excited to see her in a Gopher uniform.
The Girls Elite League NIT Tournament starts tomorrow (actually a few exhibition games tonight). As usual, Winny and her staff has assembled an impressive group of teams.
Four teams with future Gophers:
- Shattuck Prep (Sloane Hartmetz)
- Lovell Academy 16u Prep (Annabelle Lovell, Sydney Stoughton)
- MN Elite Vegas (Katya Sander, Talla Hansen)
- MN Elite Green (Payton Rolli)
Sydney Stoughton is likely injured and probably won’t be playing. Annabelle Lovell is also listed on Lovell Academy’s 19u Prep roster. Probably unlikely she’ll play for both teams
Schedule for viewing 
recruits
Thursday (exhibitions)
- 6:00 Shattuck Prep vs. NAHA White @ Shattuck
- 7:50 MN Elite Vegas vs. OHA Edmonton @ Super Rink #1
Friday
- 10:20 Lovell Academy 19u Prep vs. Calgary Fire @ Super Rink #1*
- 10:50 MN Elite Vegas vs. NAHA White @ Super Rink #4
- 12:30 Shattuck Prep vs. Assabet Valley 19u @ Super Rink #4
- 1:40 Lovell Academy 16u Prep vs. Chicago Mission 16u @ Super Rink #3
- 2:10 MN Elite Green vs. Edge School @ Super Rink #4
- 8:20 Lovell Academy 19u Prep vs. Saskatoon Stars @ Super Rink #1*
Saturday
- 7:30 MN Elite Vegas vs. Assabet Valley 19u @ Super Rink #4
- 9:10 Shattuck Prep vs. BK Selects 19u @ Super Rink #4
- 10:20 Lovell Academy 16u Prep vs. Detroit Little Caesars 16u @ Super Rink #3
- Noon Lovell Academy 19u Prep vs. Team Wisconsin 19u @ Super Rink #1*
- 12:30 MN Elite Green vs. Mid-Fairfield Stars 19u @ Super Rink #4
- 5:30 Shattuck Prep vs. Detroit Little Caesars 19u @ Super Rink #4
- 6:40 Lovell Academy 16u Prep vs. Shattuck 16u @ Super Rink #3
- 7:10 MN Elite Vegas vs. BK Selects 19u @ Super Rink #4
- 8:50 MN Elite Green vs. Chicago Mission 19u @ Super Rink #4
Sunday
- 8:40 Lovell Academy 19u Prep vs. Red Deer Chiefs @ Super Rink #3*
- 9:10 MN Elite Green vs. Philadelphia Jr. Flyers 19u @ Super Rink #4
- 10:50 MN Elite Vegas vs. Detroit Little Caesars 19u @ Super Rink #4
- Noon Lovell Academy 16u Prep vs. BK Selects 16u @ Super Rink #1
- 2:10 Shattuck Prep vs. Connecticut Polar Bears 19u @ Super Rink #4
* I added Lovell Academy 19u Prep to the schedule as recruit Annabelle Lovell is on their roster as well as the 16u Prep roster. I’m guessing she only plays for the 16u team, but who knows 🤷🏼♂️
It is what it is, but it's sad seeing so few local kids filling out future rosters.
Today’s Etobicoke game is on YouTube
Been spending quite a bit of the last two days at the NIT tournament. All four of the Gopher’s staff were out yesterday. A couple were there today.
Class of ‘27 commit Sydney Stoughton (Lovell Academy 16u Prep) is out of action, as expected. On crutches with a knee brace she didn’t appear ready for an immediate return to action.
Shattuck forward Jane Daley, probably the top uncommitted North American ‘27 prospect, also seems injured. Feel bad for her this close to World U18 Tournament.
Another Etobicoke game on YouTube from this past weekend. This one turns out to be a bit of a bloodbath (winds up 14-2).
I forgot after being a little hockied out after the NIT tournament that the Minnesota District playoff game for the automatic berth at the USA Hockey national tournament was Tuesday night at the St. Louis Park rinks.
- 19u: MN Vegas 4, Shattuck Prep 2
- 16u: Shattuck 16u 4, MN Silver 2
- 14u: MN Lakers 1, MN Walleye 0
The 14u division game was actually on October 5th at the Plymouth Ice Center and was part of a four team single elimination tournament. The Nationals next Spring are March 24-29 in Amherst, New York. The losers will very likely be at Nationals anyway as Minnesota usually gets at-large spots.
The Canadian U18 Women’s National Championship kicks off on Sunday and runs through November 8th. Gopher commits involved are on Ontario Red (Adrianna Milani, Maddie McCullough and Rachel Piggott) and Atlantic (Megan Mossey). The Atlantic team represents Nova Scotia, Newfoundland & Labrador, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. You can follow the tournament HERE.
From “The Hockey News”: “U-18 Canadian Women’s National Championships: Players to Watch”
Gopher commits: Hartmetz, Sander ('26), Hansen, Lovell ('27)
Targets: Daley ('27)
Someone to watch: McCool, Manion ('28)
Hearing Ava Moe, a class of ‘29 forward worth keeping an eye on, is transferring from Eden Prairie to Edina. I’ve always assumed that Ava is the sister of Gopher freshman Mason Moe. Edina has a very good junior defender named Libby Moe, who has committed to Quinnipiac. Not sure if there is a relation there.
EDIT: Confirmed by a frequent GPL poster - Ava and Mason are siblings. Libby is not related.
…….and, instead it is Minnetonka.
FREE ARTICLE from “Neutral Zone” detailing October commitments.
Megan Mossey – Commits to Minnesota
Mossey played in the OWHL U22 AA league for the Etobicoke Dolphins. In 37 games she was able to record over a point per game with 39 points.
NZ Scouts say: “Her combination of shooting power, passing precision, and confidence with the puck made her a strong two-way presence from the back end.”
Hearing Ava Moe, a class of ‘29 forward worth keeping an eye on, is transferring from Eden Prairie to Edina. I’ve always assumed that Ava is the sister of Gopher freshman Mason Moe. Edina has a very good junior defender named Libby Moe, who has committed to Quinnipiac. Not sure if there is a relation there.
EDIT: Confirmed by a frequent GPL poster - Ava and Mason are siblings. Libby is not related.
…….and, instead it is Minnetonka.
Edina didn’t totally strike out in the “portal” picking up Apple Valley goalie Finley Engfer. One other high end transfer I stumbled across is Orono forward Maddy Kimbrel to Holy Family.
EDIT: An old friend of GPL is telling me that Woodbury’s Alaina Gnetz is moving to Centennial for her senior season. That qualifies as big news.
High school girl’s hockey started tonight. I have links for every recruit. No stats on the stats page for our two Lovell Academy commits. There were stats on their pages for last year, so I’m hoping they post some soon. I suppose the worst case scenario is they put up season stats at the end of the season.
2026
Mossey gets some bragging rights over Milani/McCullough/Piggott.
https://twitter.com/IanKennedyCK/status/1986982263087587448
Hearing Ava Moe, a class of ‘29 forward worth keeping an eye on, is transferring from Eden Prairie to Edina. I’ve always assumed that Ava is the sister of Gopher freshman Mason Moe. Edina has a very good junior defender named Libby Moe, who has committed to Quinnipiac. Not sure if there is a relation there.
EDIT: Confirmed by a frequent GPL poster - Ava and Mason are siblings. Libby is not related.
…….and, instead it is Minnetonka.
Edina didn’t totally strike out in the “portal” picking up Apple Valley goalie Finley Engfer. One other high end transfer I stumbled across is Orono forward Maddy Kimbrel to Holy Family.
EDIT: An old friend of GPL is telling me that Woodbury’s Alaina Gnetz is moving to Centennial for her senior season. That qualifies as big news.
So all of these family's move their permanent address?
Quebec beats Atlantic 3-1 in the championship game of the Canada U18 National Championships. Wisconsin recruit Rosalie Tremblay is named tournament MVP. Gopher recruit Maddie McCullough leads the tournament in scoring and is named most sportsmanlike player. Gopher recruit Megan Mossey is named top defender.
https://twitter.com/HockeyCanada/status/1987311274204512444?s=20
Hearing Ava Moe, a class of ‘29 forward worth keeping an eye on, is transferring from Eden Prairie to Edina. I’ve always assumed that Ava is the sister of Gopher freshman Mason Moe. Edina has a very good junior defender named Libby Moe, who has committed to Quinnipiac. Not sure if there is a relation there.
EDIT: Confirmed by a frequent GPL poster - Ava and Mason are siblings. Libby is not related.
…….and, instead it is Minnetonka.
Edina didn’t totally strike out in the “portal” picking up Apple Valley goalie Finley Engfer. One other high end transfer I stumbled across is Orono forward Maddy Kimbrel to Holy Family.
EDIT: An old friend of GPL is telling me that Woodbury’s Alaina Gnetz is moving to Centennial for her senior season. That qualifies as big news.
So all of these family's move their permanent address?
I highly doubt it.
Two down, four to go.
The first of three Etobicoke Jr. Dolphins forwards expected to sign.
https://twitter.com/GopherWHockey/status/1989004260093161880
And this likely finishes off the class of ‘26
https://twitter.com/GopherWHockey/status/1989736065553346824?s=20
The staff again publicly (on Instagram) announcing a recruiting stop. At least some of the staff will be in Boston this weekend for the NAHA Fall Classic.
Happy Thanksgiving! New commit for 2027, Jaycee Chatleain, forward from Hill-Murray.
2026
FREE ARTICLE from “Neutral Zone” with information on November commitments.
Jaycee Chatleain (Hill Murray High School, F, 2027) : Commits to Minnesota
Chatleain is playing another year with Hill-Murray School and already has over a point per game with 14 in 7 games.
NZ Scouts say: “Chatleain is a fast, skilled forward who combines skating strength, puck control, and vision to make an impact. Strong on her skates, she takes contact well and isn’t afraid to initiate it, especially on 50/50 pucks where she often gains the advantage.”
The Staff is again publicizing where they will be recruiting in an Instagram post. Someone will be in Kitchener (and also Waterloo), Ontario this weekend for the U.S./Canada Cup. Sorry, the only link to teams/rosters/results I can find is for the Detroit version of this same event that was held back in October.
The Staff is again publicizing where they will be recruiting in an Instagram post. Someone will be in Kitchener (and also Waterloo), Ontario this weekend for the U.S./Canada Cup. Sorry, the only link to teams/rosters/results I can find is for the Detroit version of this same event that was held back in October.
The posting where they will be recruiting is new, as of the past couple of years, right? I don't quite understand the logic behind it!
The Staff is again publicizing where they will be recruiting in an Instagram post. Someone will be in Kitchener (and also Waterloo), Ontario this weekend for the U.S./Canada Cup. Sorry, the only link to teams/rosters/results I can find is for the Detroit version of this same event that was held back in October.
The posting where they will be recruiting is new, as of the past couple of years, right? I don't quite understand the logic behind it!
You are correct about it being new. They’ve done about four posts now starting on Labor Day weekend. Never seen it before this year. Each instance has been a multi team showcase where most programs nationwide probably had representation. Logic?, maybe bored marketing staff? I thought it was kind of interesting since we hadn’t seen it previously.
Finally found some info on the U.S./Canada Cup thing going on this weekend. Hopefully this link works.
https://app.eventconnect.io/events/35921/registration-type/create?nav=hidden
One nice thing, looks like Adrianna Milani played. She had been missing for the last three weeks or so.
I’ll throw this on here as we have a commit on each team. #2 Holy Family takes down #1 Hill-Murray 3-2 in overtime in an early season battle.
All four of our Canadian recruits make the U18 roster.
https://twitter.com/HockeyCanada/status/1999180957711310936
Forward target Jane Daley of Shattuck chooses Ohio State.
Toronto area class of ‘27 defender Aurora Matt, who seemed to be a target, is heading to Cornell. Interesting to see where that class might head from here.
The IIHF Women’s U18 Championships starts January 10th (the U.S. team has a preliminary exhibition on Wednesday). Looks like all the U.S. games will again be on NHL Network. The tournament always brings up questions of who’s going where. I’ll do some stuff with the American team soon. Here’s recruiting information for the Canadians.
https://twitter.com/sydneyisawolf/status/2007104114229231805?s=20
The last couple years it looked like the US was a step behind Canada, even if the Americans did win a gold medal in 2024 after getting to avoid playing them in the medal round. Good to know that this year looks different.
“12 Players To Watch At The IIHF Women’s U-18 World Championship”
Adrianna Milani, Canada
With dynamic skills and explosive speed, Milani is one of Canada's brightest young players and is fast-tracking to the NCAA a year early to join Minnesota next year. Due to Canada's restrictive age rules for players on their U-18 national team, this will be Milani's first tournament with the team, and she'll immediately be thrust into a top line scoring role.
Megan Mossey, Canada
Like Milani, Mossey is entering her first World Championship tournament. She's coming off a spectacular U-18 national championships where she was named Best Defender. Good size, great shooter, can transport the puck. She's one of Canada's brightest future stars.
The U.S. plays Czechia this afternoon in their lone pre-tournament warm up. Game at 2:30, no TV.
Pre-tournament games schedule and results here:
U.S. over Czechia 4-2 in today’s pre-tournament game.
Emily Pohl (Woodbury, Minn.) tallied a goal and an assist as the U.S. Under-18 Women’s National Team topped Czechia, 4-2, in pre-tournament action on Wednesday at the RBC Centre.
“I am very impressed with our group and how they played resilliant throughout the entire game,” said Courtney Kennedy (Woburn, Mass.), head coach of the 2026 U.S. Under-18 Women’s National Team. “We learned a lot about what our style of play is and how hard this tournament is going to be.”
Despite outshooting Czechia, 11-4, the teams went into the first intermission tied at 0-0. Both teams had multiple power play opportunities, but defense was on full display through the first 20 minutes.
Just 2:48 into the middle frame Lindsay Stepnowski (South Glastonbury, Conn.) put home a power-play goal to open a 1-0 lead for the U.S. Pohl picked up the assist on the goal.
Minutes later Jane Daley (Medfield, Mass.) doubled Team USA’s lead to 2-0, capitalizing on another power play opportunity, putting home a puck around an outstretched Czech goaltender. Tina Scalese (West Boylston, Mass.) and Annabelle Lovell (Hingman, Mass.) recorded the assists on the play.
Cecilia Wielenberg (Downers Grove, Ill.) stopped a point-blank shot on a 2-on-1 opportunity with just 22 seconds left in the middle frame. On the ensuing offensive rush for the U.S., Pohl put away Team USA’s third of the game, going up 3-0 with 15 seconds left in the third.
Heading into the third, the U.S. led Czechia in shots by the tally of 25-9.
Czechia got one back six minutes into the third, sneaking a shot from just inside the blue line, past the goaltender to pull within 3-1. The Czechs then picked up their second of the period just four seconds under the five-minute mark to pull within 3-2.
Jillian McLaughlin (Oceanside, Calif.) iced the game with an empty net goal with 1:22 remaining to put Team USA up, 4-2.
The U.S. outshot Czechia 35-18 in the game. Emily Pohl was named Team USA’s Player of the Game.
Tournament play for the U.S. starts Saturday morning at 8:00 a.m. against Slovakia. All the U.S. games are on NHL Network.