Overheard at Amsoil: UMD’s Henderson is everywhere this week

Minnesota Duluth women’s hockey coach Laura Schuler and junior defenseman Tova Henderson spoke with local reporters on Wednesday at Amsoil Arena ahead of the Bulldogs’ nonconference series against Vermont over the Thanksgiving weekend.

Puck drop is scheduled for 6:01 p.m. Friday and 3:01 p.m. Saturday at Amsoil Arena.
Here are the highlights:

“I’ve never seen myself on my own phone so much, and it is definitely overwhelming,” said Henderson when asked about the week she’s had following a three-goal weekend against Bemidji State.

Henderson was named WCHA Defenseman of the Week on Monday. She was named to Hockey Canada’s National Women’s Development Team on Tuesday and Wednesday was back up at the podium at Amsoil Arena.

And now the News Tribune is writing about her, again.

Henderson said she is grateful for all the honors and attention. It gives her a lot of confidence going into the series with the Catamounts, she said.

“But yeah, I’ve seen myself way too much on my phone this week,” she said.

Henderson wasn’t invited to Hockey Canada’s summer camp for the National Women’s Development Team and the series against the United States in 2024 after playing in the series in 2023.

She’s back with the team in December to play in the Women’s Euro Hockey Tour. It will be her first time with a Canadian national team overseas after playing for the U18 national team at the World Championship in 2022 in Madison.

“I didn’t make the summer camp, which I was pretty bummed about,” Henderson said. “It’s something you can only dwell on for 24 hours and then you have to go back to work. I’m really happy with how I played the first bit of the first semester. Clearly that helped me get back on that team and to get that spot.”

Schuler said she likes the expansion of development teams, to an extent. USA Hockey’s Collegiate Women’s Select Team and Hockey Canada’s National Women’s Development Team previously only competed against each other in a three-game August series. Now they will take part in the Women’s Euro Hockey Tour next month.

Schuler said the timing of this tournament is perfect because the college teams are all on holiday break, though it is an exam period for many players. Henderson, for example, has arranged to do all of her finals a week early.

“When they get taken out during the year, it’s tough on your program,” Schuler said. “And we have traditionally had a lot of players who are vying for national team spots. It’s tough for us in practices and then tough for them when they come back jet lagged and so forth.”

Getting games in during the month-long holiday break is a big positive, Schuler said. It will allow Henderson, freshman forward Caitlin Kraemer and sophomore goaltender Eve Gascon to remain sharp. And there is nothing like playing for your country overseas, added Schuler, who coached Canada in the 2018 Olympics and played for Canada in the 1998 Winter Games.

Vermont got rocked by the transfer portal in the offseason and Schuler attributed that in part to the team’s rough 3-11-2 start to the season. The Catamounts lost two of their top players — sophomore defenseman Krista Parkkonen and senior forward Natalie Mlynkova — to the Minnesota Golden Gophers.

Henderson compared Vermont’s special teams to Bemidji State’s, which was 0-for-3 on the power play against UMD a week ago and allowed UMD to score on the Bulldogs lone power play of the series. Henderson also added that the Catamounts use a forecheck not seen in the WCHA.

“Just looking at video, they can be dangerous, too,” Schuler said. “We’re making sure this week we’re doing what we need to do so that we’re ready come Friday night.”