University of Minnesota Athletics
Five Minutes with Kate Schipper
10/26/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Hockey
MINNEAPOLIS -- Kate Schipper has taken on a leadership role with the Gophers in serving as an assistant captain for the team in her senior year. Schipper describes herself as a quiet leader, but her play on the ice speaks for itself; she is closing in on 100 career points and enters this week's series with 94 career points on 28 goals and 66 assists.
The Brooklyn Park, Minn., native talks leadership responsibilities, her best Gopher memories and milestones, handling pressure, future plans, and more.
Gopher Sports: What was it like being named assistant captain this year?
Kate Schipper: It's an honor being named assistant captain. I think it just shows from having your teammates vote for you that they see you as a leader and that they see the potential that you have not only to lead the team yourself, but to include the freshman, too. It was an honor hearing about it this summer. It ramps up the pressure a little bit, but that's okay because you should be able to handle it as a senior.
GS: How did that change your responsibilities?
KS: I think one thing is I can't be so worried about myself and my game and how I'm playing with the team, it's more how are you presenting yourself to everyone else, how is everyone looking at you, what are you doing. Also, leading the team and I'm not the most vocal person but making sure that you are saying stuff and encouraging people including the freshman and going out of your way to make sure that they know they're still doing well even though it might not show up right away.
GS: You're at 94 points, what would it mean to reach the milestone of 100 career points?
KS: It would mean a lot. Kelly Pannek just reached 100 points, and I didn't realize that I was even near it. Seeing the tweet the other day I thought that it was interesting. We'll see when it happens, or hopefully it does happen. It'd definitely be an honor that not many people have, so being able to say that you did is cool.
GS: How are you mentally dealing with struggling to put up points right now?
KS: I get a little stressed about it, but I get more stressed outside of the game. During the game I'm not really thinking about scoring a goal. I've never been the largest goal scorer. It definitely affects me, but more so off the ice, like wondering when am I going to get my first goal this season, am I going to score. I know eventually it will come and then hopefully the floodgates will open.
GS: How important is it to play focused at both ends of the ice?
KS: Our coach told us the other day in the locker room that playing defense is just as important as playing offense and some lines aren't expected to produce as much but every line is expected to defend in our zone, defend in the neutral zone, defend in the offensive zone and keep the puck out of our net just as much as we are scoring. It does get overlooked, but on our team it's still a big priority.
GS: Two years ago, you scored two goals against RIT in the NCAA quarterfinal game, does that rank as one of your top memories as a Gopher?
KS: Yeah, probably. I remember that game pretty well, I got a lot of playing time. It was a good NCAA game, especially getting to the Frozen Four after that.
GS: Having made it to the last three NCAA Championship games, does that add any pressure on the team?
KS: Being three-for-three doesn't add as much pressure as some people might think. We definitely focus on the things we can do day in and day out to get better and keep improving as a team and once March comes around, I think we'll definitely be ready for the playoffs.
GS: How much did losing in the championship game your freshman year drive you for the next season?
KS: I think losing as a freshman stung a little. The team the year before was undefeated and had just won back-to-back national titles. I think we all remembered it going into the next year, and we were pretty determined to come out on top the following year, and again the year after that.
GS: Who are some of your favorite line mates that you've been paired up with?
KS: Last year we moved the lines around a little bit, but Kelly [Pannek] and I stayed together the entire year, no matter who we were playing so I'll always remember playing with her. My sophomore year, I was playing with Brook Garzone and we gained a huge friendship out of playing together. It's fun looking back, and I'm still able to talk to her a lot.
GS: Can you talk about your entrepreneurial management major and your plans for the future?
KS: I'm an entrepreneurial major and a marketing major. I enjoy marketing a lot more than entrepreneurial management, but I doubled up because it was pretty easy just to take a couple additional classes for the second major. I was recently an intern for the Minnesota Twins, doing some game day stuff and now I am an intern for Gopher Sports Marketing, doing more game day stuff for the different Gopher sports that we have. I help when I can. When it gets towards January or March, I'll start worrying about it more. I don't think I've been as much involved in the job search as some people have been. Hopefully I can talk to some friends and colleagues and use the connections that I have and go from there.
Question: What do you like to do off the ice?
KS: I like to hang out with my roommates. I'm usually trying to catch up on homework. Outside of that, a lot of the girls on the team have hammocks so we like to set those up and be outside.
Question: It seems like Sydney Baldwin started that trend, how did it come about?
KS: Her and Taylor Williamson actually got the first two that I can think of. I think all of us wanted our own, so we went to REI and got some. I think we have at least six or seven on the team.
Schipper and the Gophers host St. Cloud State in a Thursday/Friday series at Ridder Arena this week. Puck drop both nights is set for 7:07 p.m. CT.
Listen to Schipper's complete interview hosted by the voice of Gopher women's hockey, Dan Hamann.
Schipper's favorite...
Favorite food: Jersey Mike's
Favorite musician: Ben Rector
Favorite color: Purple
Favorite movie: Last Song
Favorite TV show: Friends
Favorite sport besides hockey: Golf
Favorite practice drill: Chance
Favorite class you've taken at the U: Buyer Behavior
Favorite motivational quote: "Strength is happiness."
Favorite candy: Sour Patch Watermelons
Favorite animal: Small dog
Favorite book: Nicholas Sparks books
Favorite holiday: Christmas
Favorite Halloween costume you wore as a kid: Winnie the Pooh
Role model: Mom
Favorite thing to do in your spare time: Hammock
Favorite thing about the Twin Cities: Everything there is to do
First job you had: Gas station
Biggest fear: Death
Favorite super hero: Superman
Who would play you in a movie: Megan Fox
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