Overhead at Amsoil: Injury updates, why Gabby Krause retired

Minnesota Duluth coaches Scott Sandelin and Laura Schuler met with local reporters Wednesday at Amsoil Arena, as did Gabby Krause and Mary Kate O’Brien from the UMD women’s hockey team.

The UMD men are off this weekend while the women travel to Minnesota State for WCHA play.

I wasn’t there on Wednesday because of a scheduling conflict. Neither was Bruce Ciskie or Zach Schneider, but the rest of the local Duluth media held down the fort.

Here are the highlights:

• No surprise, but Scott Sandelin only had a vague update on the injury status of junior center Jack Smith and freshman wing Max Plante. Both are week-to-week. Plante has missed the last seven games, including the exhibition, with an upper body injury. Smith suffered an upper body injury last Friday against Stonehill.
  
  
• Sandelin offered his perspective about bye weeks. They are beneficial, but he also doesn’t like them. A part of the coach would rather see his team keep rolling after the sweep of Stonehill.
  
  “Sometimes it’s a good mental reset, too,” Sandelin said. “Our guys have been going. Just getting away, like today was just a day away from the rink.”
  
  
• UMD senior forward Gabby Krause medically retired from hockey so she can pursue a career in law enforcement. She is double majoring at UMD in criminology and psychology and hopes to be on a K9 unit someday.
  
  A herniated disk in her back has been causing neurological symptoms since her sophomore year and they returned when she got back to UMD in the fall.
  
  “Medically retiring isn’t something I always wanted to do, but I had to put my career and a good quality of life in front of anything,” said Krause, who on game days now helps communicate from the press box to the bench about replay challenges. “I wasn’t planning on going anywhere after college for hockey, so that decision was much easier to make because of that."
  
  
• Laura Schuler said the team held a simulated game on Friday to make sure the UMD's workloads are where they need to be. Last weekend was UMD’s second bye week already after the Syracuse series was postponed. The Bulldogs are off next weekend as well before hosting Minnesota.
  UPDATE: Check out this year's UMD women's hockey Halloween costumes.
  
  
• Schuler said the team will hold its annual Halloween practice at Amsoil Arena on Thursday before traveling to Mankato. She would not disclose the coaches’ costume theme for this year, saying it is “top secret.”
  
  
• Mary Kate O’Brien, a junior forward and alternate captain, had this to say about playing the Mavericks this week: “We can expect them to throw the kitchen sink at us. They always do. They are a very opportunistic team. We saw that. They gave the Gophers a run for their money.”

Watch Laura Schuler, Gabby Krause and Mary Kate O’Brien speak with reporters here.

Watch all of Scott Sandelin’s press conference here.