With the Olympics under two weeks away, we figure we better do our best to get you ready for the biggest events of this olympiad in Sochi.
First, we’ll look at the women’s hockey tournament, which pits the United States against the world’s best with the stars and stripes looking to come out with the gold for the first time since the inaugural women’s hockey tournament in Nagano in 1998.
The two current Minnesota Gophers that have taken the year off to focus on that task are reigning NCAA player of the year and soon-to-be senior Amanda Kessel, and will-be sophomore defenseman Lee Stecklein, both of whom won a national title with the Gophers last season.
Kessel had hip surgery during the offseason, but according to USA women’s hockey head coach Katey Stone, has fully recovered and is “doing great”, adding “she’s an extremely gifted player…wonderful to have her back in the lineup.”
Kessel and Stecklein are in Boston training with the rest of the women’s national team, and we had a chance to catch up with Lee last week. Gopher fans will be happy to hear she’s in good spirits just nine days ahead of the opening ceremonies in Sochi.
The full chat can be found below.
