Gophers leading scorer Nicole Schammel signed with the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL) Minnesota Whitecaps, the league announced Friday.
“Being a part of the Whitecaps organization is a huge honor and I could not be more excited to join the team and the NWHL,” said Schammel in a statement. “The visibility for women’s hockey has increased over the last few years. The opportunities available for women’s hockey players have improved and I hope to see these continue to grow.”
Schammel led Minnesota last season with a career-high 47 points (16G-31A) and scored the game-winning goal against Cornell in the 2019 Frozen Four semifinals. The Red Wing, MN native spent much of 2018-19 prospering on a line with Grace Zumwinkle and Taylor Wente. Their success gave the Gophers two top lines and forced other teams to choose between stopping the Sarah Potomak-Kelly Pannek-Amy Potomak line or them.
In three seasons at Minnesota, Schammel finished with 39 goals and 91 career points. (She led Minnesota State with 22 points in 2014-15 before transferring.) This season saw the 5'5" left winger named one of 10 finalists for the Patty Kazmaier Award.
“Nicole is coming off a great year with the Gophers, and we are excited to have her be a part of our offense this coming season,” said Whitecaps co-head coach Ronda Engelhardt. “Nicole has a way to make plays happen and be in the right place at the right time.”
Schammel was drafted in December by Buffalo but ended up signing with Minnesota instead. Doing so allows her to do something she's wanted following graduation.
"Obviously going into college, the NWHL wasn't a league yet. Just knowing that there's the opportunity to play after college is really exciting," she told the author after being drafted.
By signing with Minnesota, Schammel changes one thing from last year's team amid a number of international players boycotting.
Despite winning the Isobel Cup in its first NWHL season, the Whitecaps did not feature anyone who had just graduated college. Several, such as Minnesota alums Sydney Baldwin and Caitlin Reilly, already decided to continue their careers overseas in Europe. Being an independent team also created a backlog of players who previously played for the team.
Of Minnesota's graduating seniors, several already made their post-graduate intentions clear. Taylor Williamson and Jackie Pieper are both coaching Minnesota HS Girls teams.
Olympian Kelly Pannek, meanwhile, is one of the 200-plus players who announced plans to boycott North American league hockey next season along with 2018-19 Whitecaps Hannah Brandt, Kendall Coyne Schofield and Lee Stecklein. (Schammel, for the record, did not.) With Schammel choosing to play for the Whitecaps, only Illinois native Sophie Skarzynski remains unclear among the graduated Gopher regulars.
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