Minnesotans, '09 world champs round out roster

Minnesotans, '09 world champs round out roster The U.S. women's national hockey team was announced Monday at the National Sports Center in Blaine, which will be its home base until the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

Though the 23-player roster includes only six Olympic veterans, 19 were on the U.S. team that won the 2009 world championship. It includes five Minnesota natives -- forwards Jenny Potter (Edina), Natalie Darwitz (Eagan), Gigi Marvin (Warroad), Angie Keseley (St. Louis Park) and defenseman Rachael Drazan (Orono) -- and five members of the University of Wisconsin team that won the 2009 NCAA championship.

A pair of three-time Olympians, Potter and defenseman Angela Ruggiero, anchor a roster that will be cut to 21 when the Olympic team is finalized in December.

The team leaves Saturday for Vancouver for the Hockey Canada Cup, a test event that will be played at the Olympic venues. It will move into its locker room at the Schwan Super Rink on Sept. 14 and begin the Qwest Tour -- a 10-game, nine-city schedule of exhibition games -- on Sept. 25 against a WCHA all-star team at Xcel Energy Center. The Qwest Tour also includes games against North Dakota in Warroad (Oct. 10), against the Gophers at Ridder Arena (Jan. 12) and against Canada at Xcel (Dec. 30).

This fall, the national team will travel to Canada for three games against the defending Olympic champions, compete in the Four Nations Cup in Finland and scrimmage Minnesota boys' high school teams. The team will be introduced to Minnesotans on Thursday at the State Fair, where it will participate in the parade and meet the public from 3 to 5 p.m. at Carousel Park.

RACHEL BLOUNT

• Goalie Brianne McLaughlin, Sheffield Village, Ohio, Robert Morris University

• Goalie Jessie Vetter, Cottage Grove, Wis., Univ. of Wisconsin

• Defenseman Kacey Bellamy, Westfield, Mass., Univ. of New Hampshire

• Defenseman Caitlin Cahow, Branford, Conn., U.S. women's select team

• Defenseman Lisa Chesson, Plainfield, Ill., U.S. women's select team

• Defenseman Rachael Drazan, Orono, Minn., Gophers

• Defenseman Angela Ruggiero, Simi Valley, Calif., U.S. women's select team

• Defenseman Kerry Weiland, Palmer, Alaska, U.S. women's select team

• Forward Julie Chu, Fairfield, Conn.,

U.S. women's select team

• Forward Natalie Darwitz, Eagan,

• Forward Meghan Duggan, Danvers, Mass., Univ. of Wisconsin

• Forward Angie Keseley, St. Louis Park, Univ. of Wisconsin

• Forward Hilary Knight, Hanover, N.H., Univ. of Wisconsin

• Forward Jocelyne Lamoureux, Grand Forks, N.D., Gophers

• Forward Monique Lamoureux, Grand Forks, N.D., Gophers

• Forward Gigi Marvin, Warroad, Minn.,

Gophers

• Forward Jenny Potter, Edina, U.S. women's select team

• Forward Kelli Stack, Brooklyn Heights, Ohio, Boston College

• Forward Karen Thatcher, Blaine, Wash., U.S. women's select team

River, Wis., U.S. women's select team