University of Minnesota Athletics
Vote For Gophers For NCAA Hockey Skills Challenge
2/4/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Hockey
Three University of Minnesota men's and women's hockey players are among the candidates for the NCAA Skills Challenge at the Men's Frozen Four in Detroit, Mich.
Women's players Kelli Blankenship and Brittany Francis and men's player Tony Lucia are among the 78 individuals in the preliminary pool of potential participants. The final 32 selections will be determined through a selection process that includes fan voting. Fans may vote for their selections at www.ncaa.com/frozenfour through Feb. 15.
Last season, Minnesota was represented by men's player Justin Bostrom and women's player Melanie Gagnon. Former Gopher women's players Bobbi Ross and Maggie Souba have participated in previous years.
The event takes place on the Friday between the semifinals and championship game of the Frozen Four at Ford Field. 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.
Blankenship, a forward from Lusby, Md., has seven goals and nine assists for 16 points for the Gophers this season. Her 16 points match a career high. She has 58 career points in 139 games played during her career at Minnesota. Blankenship also became the only player to record a hat trick against the U.S. Olympic Team during their Qwest Tour this winter when she scored three goals in the Gophers' 8-5 loss.
Francis, a forward from Thunder Bay, Ont., ranks third on the Gophers in scoring with eight goals and 17 assists for 25 points. Her 17 assists rank 10th in the WCHA. She has more career points than any current Minnesota player with 117 points in 141 career games. Francis is the reigning WCHA Offensive Player of the Week after a four-point effort in Minnesota's 4-2 win over Minnesota State on Saturday.
Lucia, a forward from Plymouth, Minn., ranks second on the Gopher men's team in scoring with seven goals and 13 assists for 20 points. His 20 points this season are already a career-best total. For his career, Lucia has 30 goals and 44 assists for 74 points in 149 career games. He was the WCHA Offensive Player of the Week earlier this season after scoring five points and two shorthanded goals in a weekend sweep of Alaska Anchorage.
The Frozen Four Skills Challenge begins at 8 p.m. Eastern time on April 9 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.
