Gameday preview: Team USA vs. Canada
December 28, 2013 at 3:05AM
3 P.M. • XCEL ENERGY CENTER • NBC Sports network
Preview: The game marks the last time the superpowers of women's hockey play in the U.S. before the 2014 Sochi Olympics.
Local connections: The U.S. roster includes two current Gophers, forward Amanda Kessel and defenseman Lee Stecklein (Roseville), as well as three former Gophers: defensemen Gigi Marvin (Warroad), Anne Schleper (St. Cloud) and Megan Bozek. Twin sisters Jocelyne and Monique Lamoureux, both forwards, played a season for the Gophers before transferring to North Dakota during the last Olympic Games. Former Gophers goalie Robb Stauber, a native of Duluth, is the team's goaltending coach and scout. Canada's roster includes former Minnesota Duluth players Caroline Ouellette and Jocelyne Larocque.
Up next: The U.S. team will make its final two cuts and announce its 21-player Olympic roster on Wednesday in a live broadcast during the second intermission of the NHL Winter Classic on NBC.
RACHEL BLOUNT
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The “sticky” ball that coach Chris Finch so deplores showed up for the first game, after a preseason when offense happened smoothly. On defense, “resistance” was missing, the coach said.
