University of Minnesota Athletics
Bostrom, Gagnon Selected to NCAA Skills Challenge
3/12/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Hockey
A pair of Minnesota hockey players will have a chance to showcase their skills among the nation’s best at the fourth annual NCAA Skills Challenge at the Frozen Four in Washington, D.C. on April 10.
Forward Justin Bostrom will represent the Gophers’ men’s team, while defenseman Melanie Gagnon will represent the women’s team. Both will be teammates on the 16-member west roster that includes six male skaters, six female skaters, two male goaltenders and two women’s goaltenders.
Gagnon replaces teammate Gigi Marvin, who was originally selected to the event, but will be unable to participate. It is the third straight year Minnesota has been represented at the skills challenge after Bobbi Ross participated last year and Maggie Souba was in the 2007 event. Bostrom is the first Gopher men’s player to be chosen, but will be replaced if the Gophers reach the Frozen Four.
The event takes place on the Friday between the semifinals and championship game of the Frozen Four at the Verizon Center. The players must have exhausted their collegiate eligibility and were selected by representatives from the American Hockey Coaches Association, the NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Committee and NCAA national office staff. The competitions will include puck control relay, fastest skater, hardest shot, rapid fire shooting, accuracy shooting and penalty shot. Each competitor will receive a complete set of equipment and a full uniform from Bauer Hockey.
Bostrom, a Vadnais Heights, Minn. native, has played in 145 career games entering this weekend’s Western Collegiate Hockey Association playoff series. He has 20 goals and 18 assists for 30 career points, including five goals and four assists for nine points this season. Bostrom was named to the all-tournament team at this year’s Dodge Holiday Classic. An assistant captain and three-time academic all-WCHA selection, he is one of the team’s top skaters, hardest workers and best penalty killers.
Gagnon, a St. Adolphe, Manitoba native, was this season’s WCHA Defensive Player of the Year and a first-team all-WCHA selection. She has played in 146 career games with 14 goals and 65 assists for 79 points, which ranks fourth in school history among defensemen. This season, Gagnon is the team’s highest-scoring defenseman with four goals and 23 assists for 27 points. A co-captain and academic all-WCHA honoree, Gagnon was named to the all-tournament team at last week’s WCHA tournament.
The Frozen Four Skills Challenge begins at 8 p.m. Eastern time on April 10 and is preceded by the presentation of the Hobey Baker Memorial Award at 7 p.m. and the Hockey Humanitarian Award at 6:30 p.m.
