(Clockwise from top left) Brianna Decker, Amanda Kessel, Alex Rigsby, Hilary Knight, Meghan Duggan and Monique Lamoureux-Morando pose for portraits at the Team USA Media Summit on Sept. 26, 2017 in Park City, Utah.
The 2017-18 U.S. Women’s National Ice Hockey Team is made up of 23 women. The team has some pretty impressive stats, including three players who have been named to the team an astounding 11 times and 12 Olympic silver medalists from 2014 – plus several players who hope to playing in their first Olympic Winter Games in February in PyeongChang, South Korea.
So, how well do you know this group off the ice? There’s the one who made it past the first round on the TV singing show “The Voice,” to the player who won a snowmobile at a hockey game. Read their little known facts below and see if you can guess who said what. Answers at the bottom.
1. I was a preschool dropout. I wanted to hang out with my little brother — who is a year and a half younger — and I didn’t want to go to preschool. So my parents were like, OK, if you don’t want to go.
2. When I was 7 years old my dad and I were entering the Xcel Energy Center in Minnesota where the Wild play. And he just happened to see some guys holding bags as we were going through the gates. He was like, hey, maybe they’re giving something away — we’ll walk in that way. So when we did, they said congratulations, you’re the millionth person to enter the Xcel Energy Center. I got to go out onto the ice during intermission and answer a couple questions and I won a snowmobile. So that was pretty cool. My sister was pretty mad, too, because we switched off nights going and that just happened to be my night. She didn’t talk to me for a while after that.
3. A lot of people don’t know that I actually auditioned for “The Voice.” I sang two songs: “Baby Girl” by Sugarland and “Wide Open Spaces” by the Dixie Chicks.
It was the summer right after the 2014 Sochi Olympics. I made it through the first round to the interview portion. I left with a piece of paper that said, ‘Congratulations, you made it as far as you can at this point. If you hear from us in July, you’re going to have to relocate to LA.’ I didn’t hear from them. It was probably a blessing in disguise because it would have been right at the same time as training camp.
It was a cool experience and very much outside my comfort zone, but I’m all about challenging myself in different ways. It was really fun. Maybe I’ll do it again.
4. In my free time I enjoy drawing. I’m not very good at it, but it helps pass the time and gets me calm. I did it when I was little and picked it back up. I like drawing cartoon characters. My most recent one was Tweety Bird.
5. When I was 5, I turned to my grandmother and told her I was going to the Olympics. After I told her that she pulled my mother aside and was like, Cynthia, girls don’t play hockey. My mom was like, get with the times – she’s playing hockey. And then 15 years later I was in my first Olympic Games. Ever since that moment she hopped on board and was one of my biggest fans.
6. My parents got a bunch of scratch-offs for me when I turned 21. And now I do it just for fun. I once won $100 on a $2 scratch-off. I play the lotto, too, but I only do the Powerball when it’s huge and everyone is doing it. So my chances are even worse.
7. Knock on wood, I can say I’ve never broken a bone. It’s weird because I was always a pretty active kid and fearless in what I would do.
8. I’m good at braiding other people’s hair, somehow that’s a skill of mine over the past year that I’ve become the team braider. So right now I have four people whose hair I have to do before the game. I have to add like five minutes into my pregame routine in order to braid everyone’s hair. But I don’t braid my own for games.
9. My middle name is Dora so that’s always a fun thing to tell people — because Dora, the explorer. It was my grandmother’s name.
10. One year my dad bought me a shirt that said sieve on it as a joke and it’s become a running joke in the family. A sieve is like a strainer in the kitchen, so if you’re a goalie and you’re called a strainer it’s because you’re full of holes and everyone is scoring on you.
11. When I’m stressed out I clean. I like to clean everything and organize. I organize my shoes in my closet. I basically do spring cleaning in the middle of winter if I get stressed out.
12. I write poetry. I have about 40-50 poems written. I want to write a poetry book some day. I feel like I am very passionate about things and I like to describe them in little ways. I just got into this routine of writing poems and I can write one within probably 5 minutes. It’s just a unique thing I started doing — four years ago, maybe.
13. I am deathly afraid of snakes.
14. I’m a huge Justin Bieber fan.
15. I’m not super serious before a game. I like to goof around and that’s how I feel best prepared.
16. I have just become a big wake surfer addict. I have a cottage, so I love doing anything on the water.
17. I like to snowboard. I think if I didn’t play hockey, I’d be a snowboarder. I started as a skier and then started snowboarding when I was 15.
18. I’m a huge Kid Rock fan.
19. I love music and playing the guitar and the piano.
20. I like to sing. I enjoy it. I used to sing in high school. I’m more of a shower singer. I like to sing country and hip-hop stuff.
21. My teammates know this but I don’t know if anybody else would, but I’m kind of a private person. I like to do my own thing. I like to have my own time to shut down. It’s something that I have to do everyday.
22. I wanted to be a baseball pitcher growing up. I miss that, so I think if I wasn’t playing hockey I’d like to play baseball.
23. I’m not going to have kids for a while, but I want a lot of kids — but not for like 10 years. I’ll be the next one getting married. My fiancé plays football for the Los Angeles Chargers.
Answers:
1. Alex Rigsby, goaltender; 2. Hannah Brandt, forward; 3. Meghan Duggan, captain and forward; 4. Dani Cameranesi, forward; 5. Hilary Knight, forward; 6. Brianna Decker, forward; 7. Kelly Pannek, forward; 8. Monique Lamoureux-Morando, defense; 9. Kali Flanagan, defense; 10. Lee Stecklein, defense; 11. Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson, forward; 12. Kacey Bellamy, defense; 13. Nicole Hensley, goalie; 14. Maddie Rooney, goalie; 15. Amanda Kessel, forward; 16. Emily Pfalzer, defense; 17. Annie Pankowski, forward; 18. Megan Keller, defense; 19. Gigi Marvin, forward; 20. Amanda Pelkey, forward; 21. Alex Carpenter, forward; 22. Megan Bozek, defense; 23. Kendall Coyne, forward
