University of Minnesota Athletics
Gopher Women's Hockey Takes it Outside
1/18/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Hockey
The Gopher women's hockey team used their last day of winter break and held practice outside. It was the first time a Gopher women's hockey practice happened outside instead of in a rink. The team met at Ridder Arena at 10 a.m., bundled up and packed their gear.
They broke up into different vehicles and went to Van Cleve Park in Minneapolis. The rink and park are located east of Dinkytown in the Como Neighborhood on the corner of 15th Ave. and Como. The team, coaches and kids (coach Johnson brought along his daughter, Megan, and son, Jacob) arrived at Van Cleve around 10:15 and held about an hour practice outside. Minnesota will take it back inside on Tuesday, but for an hour, it was like they were learning to skate or playing pond hockey when they were young. It was a perfect day for skating outside. After an inch snowfall, the park services were already out there to blow off the snow and it was a balmy 20 degrees.
After a day of fun, the Gophers will resume their prepartion for their next opponent, Ohio State, Friday and Saturday in Columbus, Ohio. Semester classes also begin tomorrow. Take a look at the video and photo gallery of the event, located below.
