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Meet the Newcomers: Anne Cherkowski
7/23/2020 8:25:00 AM | Women's Hockey
Anne Cherkowski joins the Gophers as a freshman forward from Coldstream, B.C. and the Pursuit of Excellence Academy.
MINNEAPOLIS -- The Golden Gopher women's hockey team welcomes eight newcomers to the team for the 2020-21 season, including Anne Cherkowski, a right-handed freshman forward from Coldstream, B.C., and the Pursuit of Excellence Academy. Cherkowski shares her Hockey Canada experience, how she chose the University of Minnesota, her intended major, and more.
Gopher Sports: How did you first get into hockey?
Anne Cherkowski: My older brother played hockey, and I just always wanted to be like him growing up. I played along with them.
GS: What's your earliest hockey memory?
AC: Probably early morning practices, having to wake up at like 5:00 a.m. and drive to the rink fully dressed. That was a lot of fun. My brother and I were two years apart, so we never got to play together.
GS: When did you realize that playing college hockey was a realistic possibility for you?
AC: My dad and I put together a spring team in the summer before grade nine, and we went to Boston and played in a tournament there. After that schools started talking to me. I didn't realize that was going to happen, but after that I kind-of realized I could maybe go somewhere.
GS: What was your high school hockey experience like playing for Pursuit of Excellence?
AC: It was a really great experience. I was there for four years, and we won the championship two out of the four years and went to the finals the other two years, so we had a really strong team all years and really great coaching and development. It was really great.
GS: What has your experience representing Canada been like so far?
AC: I got to play two years in the Under-18 World Championships, and the first year we went to Japan and we won so that was a crazy experience. Then the next year, I was picked again and we went to Slovakia and we lost in the finals, but both were really great experiences.
GS: How did you choose the University of Minnesota?
AC: I looked at a bunch of schools, and everyone just kept telling I would know when I visited the right school. Then as soon as I got on campus here, I knew this was the one.
GS: Did you play any other sports when you were growing up?
AC: I played soccer all through growing up, and then I played basketball in high school.
GS: What was it about hockey that made that be the one that you wanted to focus on the most?
AC: I don't know. It's just my favorite of all of them for sure, and I liked the fast paced environment and everything. I just loved it.
GS: Do you have a hockey role model?
AC: For me, it's my brother. He's super hard-working. I've always just looked up to him. He plays Junior A hockey with the Chilliwack Chiefs.
GS: Do you know what you want to major in?
AC: I'm thinking Mechanical Engineering. I really like math and physics in high school, and that just seemed to be a lot of math and physics.
GS: What is one part of your game that you're really confident in and then also part of your game that you're looking forward to working on more this year?
AC: I'm confident in like my play-making ability and being able to see the ice and see passes to make and set up my teammates, and I'm excited to work on my overall speed and pace of the game.
GS: What's your proudest moment in your hockey career so far?
AC: It would definitely be winning World Championships in Japan. That was crazy to be a part of.
GS: What was it like for you being a senior this year during the pandemic?
AC: Everything moved online, and everything with our academy moved online as well. We had weekly skills meetings and workouts, so we still got to talk to our team so that was nice to be able to still have an impact on them. It was definitely different. We finished our hockey season, but usually we practice for another two months or so as well.
GS: What was the biggest challenge for you this spring?
AC: Probably just not being around people. We're usually around each other 12 hours every day, so instantly not seeing them anymore was a huge change.
GS: What positives did you find in the situation?
AC: I think just being able to focus on things I never really had time for before, like I actually got to read for the first time ever, just little things I didn't get a chance to do before.
GS: What are you most looking forward to about joining the Gophers and starting college?
AC: I think just getting to play on a new team in a new environment and meet a bunch of different girls from over there.
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Gopher Sports: How did you first get into hockey?
Anne Cherkowski: My older brother played hockey, and I just always wanted to be like him growing up. I played along with them.
GS: What's your earliest hockey memory?
AC: Probably early morning practices, having to wake up at like 5:00 a.m. and drive to the rink fully dressed. That was a lot of fun. My brother and I were two years apart, so we never got to play together.
GS: When did you realize that playing college hockey was a realistic possibility for you?
AC: My dad and I put together a spring team in the summer before grade nine, and we went to Boston and played in a tournament there. After that schools started talking to me. I didn't realize that was going to happen, but after that I kind-of realized I could maybe go somewhere.
GS: What was your high school hockey experience like playing for Pursuit of Excellence?
AC: It was a really great experience. I was there for four years, and we won the championship two out of the four years and went to the finals the other two years, so we had a really strong team all years and really great coaching and development. It was really great.
GS: What has your experience representing Canada been like so far?
AC: I got to play two years in the Under-18 World Championships, and the first year we went to Japan and we won so that was a crazy experience. Then the next year, I was picked again and we went to Slovakia and we lost in the finals, but both were really great experiences.
GS: How did you choose the University of Minnesota?
AC: I looked at a bunch of schools, and everyone just kept telling I would know when I visited the right school. Then as soon as I got on campus here, I knew this was the one.
GS: Did you play any other sports when you were growing up?
AC: I played soccer all through growing up, and then I played basketball in high school.
GS: What was it about hockey that made that be the one that you wanted to focus on the most?
AC: I don't know. It's just my favorite of all of them for sure, and I liked the fast paced environment and everything. I just loved it.
GS: Do you have a hockey role model?
AC: For me, it's my brother. He's super hard-working. I've always just looked up to him. He plays Junior A hockey with the Chilliwack Chiefs.
GS: Do you know what you want to major in?
AC: I'm thinking Mechanical Engineering. I really like math and physics in high school, and that just seemed to be a lot of math and physics.
GS: What is one part of your game that you're really confident in and then also part of your game that you're looking forward to working on more this year?
AC: I'm confident in like my play-making ability and being able to see the ice and see passes to make and set up my teammates, and I'm excited to work on my overall speed and pace of the game.
GS: What's your proudest moment in your hockey career so far?
AC: It would definitely be winning World Championships in Japan. That was crazy to be a part of.
GS: What was it like for you being a senior this year during the pandemic?
AC: Everything moved online, and everything with our academy moved online as well. We had weekly skills meetings and workouts, so we still got to talk to our team so that was nice to be able to still have an impact on them. It was definitely different. We finished our hockey season, but usually we practice for another two months or so as well.
GS: What was the biggest challenge for you this spring?
AC: Probably just not being around people. We're usually around each other 12 hours every day, so instantly not seeing them anymore was a huge change.
GS: What positives did you find in the situation?
AC: I think just being able to focus on things I never really had time for before, like I actually got to read for the first time ever, just little things I didn't get a chance to do before.
GS: What are you most looking forward to about joining the Gophers and starting college?
AC: I think just getting to play on a new team in a new environment and meet a bunch of different girls from over there.
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