Ten Minnesota high school players are part of the 23-member roster this year.
“It just was like a dream thinking about it – going to a different country and playing with the USA jersey on with the best people is just like a dream come true opportunity,” said Josie St. Martin, the youngest member of the team.
She described feeling devastated when she learned they would no longer be traveling overseas to compete.
“To get better, for the majority of the girls, is to play at the highest level you can,” she said. “When you get this opportunity and then it gets taken away from you, it’s really hard to get better at like this sport, especially for women because we don’t have as many of the opportunities.”
The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) announced it was canceling six tournaments scheduled for January due to the spread of the omicron variant.
“I’ve just been working super hard and my focus has just been to make this team and everything that I’ve been doing is to get better so I can hopefully get the opportunity to play and then put on the USA jersey,” said Minnetonka forward Ava Lindsay. “It’s really hard hearing that there was not even going to be a reschedule, just straight cancellation.”
The decision came about two weeks before the athletes were set to compete.
“It was just really devastating and disappointing because I was really looking forward to it and I had really started nailing down all of my quarantine,”…
