Seattle Kraken center Freddy Gaudreau’s deke at the blue line was so sublime, Utah Mammoth defenseman Nate Schmidt was left spinning like a top. While Schmidt lay chest down on the ice, Gaudreau completed a beautiful breakaway goal.
No, you didn’t oversleep. It’s not October, and the NHL season hasn’t started. But the play happened just as described in Minnesota’s summer “Da Beauty League.”
That’s Gaudreau in the above image, about to go forehand-backhand and park the puck high inside the left post. Oh, and those are Schmidt’s legs flailing like the Wicked Witch of the East. Nate isn’t wicked, though; he’s a nice guy who’s always smiling.
Kraken, Torrent Players Return To Place Where Ice Never Melts
For a decade, college and pro players with Minnesota connections have gathered during the offseason at a rink in Edina, a southwest Minneapolis suburb. They play pickup games in front of enthusiastic fans – it is the State of Hockey, after all – with ticket proceeds benefiting charities.
Gaudreau, a former Minnesota Wild, was just one of the players from the Kraken organization. Defenseman Ryan Lindgren (college: U. of Minnesota), forward Ben Meyers (also a Golden Gopher), and Coachella Valley Firebird Lleyton Roed (college: Bemidji St.) also took part.
Three years ago, organizers created a pair of women’s teams, too. The PWHL Seattle Torrent were represented by goalie Hanna Murphy and defenders Anna Wilgren (college: Minnesota St.) and Emily Zumwinkle (college: U. of Minnesota).
That’s Zumwinkle at right in the above image, one of 22 PWHL players who suited up for weekly games.
Local news reports indicate the stands at Braemar Arena in Edina are routinely filled. Not just for the chance to see two or three games on Wednesday evenings, but because it’s a great chance to get an autograph or a selfie. So it’s not for lack of interest that this year’s games were the swan song for Da Beauty League. (So named because a term of affection in hockey culture is to call someone “a beauty.”)
The folks in charge say significant others and children of the players, who have to live without them during long stretches of the hockey season, have been insisting on more family time when it’s possible.
Images in this story came from Da Beauty League social media.
Earlier Seattle:
— Hockey Reporter’s Notebook; Goalie Prospects Thin, More
