DULUTH — In the words of Minnesota Duluth coach Laura Schuler last Friday, sophomore defenseman Ida Karlsson of Sweden has been playing “tremendous hockey” for the Bulldogs this season.
That’s why the team missed her so much last Friday against Ohio State when Karlsson was a late scratch due to a flu bug going around Amsoil Arena. UMD got Karlsson back on Saturday, thankfully, as two more defensemen were scratched due to illness and another got knocked out of the game due to injury.
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According to Schuler, the attributes that make Karlsson so tremendous are her size and reach. Karlsson is really hard to get around and defends so well, the Bulldogs coach said.
“She really understands how to play a physical game, which helps us to really disrupt plays, turn pucks over and get puck possession,” Schuler said. “She’s been so important in that.”
The Bulldogs are using Karlsson in every situation this season, including power play, penalty kill and 3-on-3. Schuler said Karlsson is a key player for UMD in 3-on-3 overtime periods because of her ability to possess the puck and find open ice.
Karlsson has three goals and four assists through seven games this year after scoring one goal and tallying 12 assists in 39 games last year. She has a plus-10 rating this season after finishing at plus-11 as a freshman.
Karlsson credits her teammates for her development. They really push her, she said.
“We push each other out on the ice and in the gym everywhere,” Karlsson said. “I feel happy with where I’m at right now physically and mentally. I have a great team and a great group dynamic. It’s great.”
Schuler said she’d like to see Karlsson — who has 28 shots on goal through 23 games — shoot the puck more. Karlsson’s reads are getting better, and Schuler believes the blueliner from Sweden has become more comfortable on the smaller North American ice sheets.
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Karlsson said she is more comfortable and more at home on the smaller ice sheets, but it’s not just because she is used to playing on them now. The play of sophomore goaltender Eve Gascon — who ranks second in the WCHA with a 1.67 goals against average and .947 save percentage — has given her and the rest of the Bulldogs a big boost of confidence.
“You feel so safe out there,” Karlsson said of Gascon, who stopped 102 of 106 shots last weekend against Ohio State. “It’s back to the question about being comfortable out there. That helps so much. The funny thing is I talked to my mom after the game and she didn’t have anything to say about my game. She just kept complimenting Eve. I was like, ‘I don’t blame you.’”
Overheard at Amsoil
The Bulldogs will be without Karlsson again next month when UMD is at Bemidji State. Karlsson will be playing for Sweden Feb. 6-9 in Olympic qualifying. Sweden hosts one of three groups. Germany hosts another, meaning the Bulldogs will be without fifth-year senior Nina Jobst-Smith against the Beavers. The winners of the three groups advance to the 2026 Olympics.
Hanna Baskin has been ruled out for this week’s series at St. Thomas. Baskin was checked from behind into the wall last Saturday against the Buckeyes at Amsoil Arena. Everyone else is good to go, Schuler said, as the flu bug appears to be gone from Amsoil Arena.
The Bulldogs travel to the Tommies on a short week. Because of scheduling conflicts at the Tommies’ St. Thomas Ice Arena — home of St. Thomas Academy boys hockey — the series was moved to 7 p.m. Thursday and 1 p.m. Friday in Mendota Heights. Schuler said the team is excited about the short week, especially now that the flu is over.
“Sometimes it’s great to have that little short week where we just came off some games, so let’s just keep the momentum going,” said Schuler, whose team shut out the Tommies twice in October in Duluth. “This past weekend really brought our team even closer together. We had people in the lineup and people getting more minutes that typically didn’t have those minutes before. Wow, did they not only step up, but they stepped up and had the swagger.”
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