Amanda Kessel

Amanda Kessel (born August 28, 1991) is an American professional ice hockey player. She has been a member of the United States women's national ice hockey team and played four seasons for the Minnesota Golden Gophers women's ice hockey program (2010–11 through 2012–13, and 2015–16). She has played professionally in the National Women's Hockey League and Professional Women's Hockey Players Association.

Amanda Kessel
Amanda Kessel playing for Team USA in 2017
Born (1991-08-28) August 28, 1991
Madison, Wisconsin, USA
Height 5 ft 6 in (168 cm)
Weight 130 lb (59 kg; 9 st 4 lb)
Position Forward
Shoots Right
PWHPA team
Former teams		 New Hampshire
Minnesota Golden Gophers
Metropolitan Riveters
National team  United States
Playing career 2010–present
Medal record
Olympic Games
2018 PyeongchangTeam
2014 SochiTeam
World Championships
2013 Canada
2017 United States
2019 Finland
2012 United States

Playing career

Prior to high school, she participated for the Madison Capitols Bantam boys team in 2005–06 and helped the team to state and regional championships. Kessel attended Shattuck St. Mary's in Minnesota. The 2007 edition of the team captured the U-19 national championship, while Kessel marked 102 points in 56 games. In her junior year, Kessel registered 44 goals and 56 assists for 100 points (1.29 goals per game and 1.65 assist per game). She accomplished the 100-point mark in just 34 games and won her second consecutive U-19 national championship. She tallied 122 points (67 goals (1.46 goals per game) and 55 assists (1.20 assists per game) in just 46 games) in her final season. She was the team leader by 61 points.

NCAA
  • October 1, 2010: In her first game as a Golden Gopher, Amanda Kessel registered four points (two goals, two assists). The following day, Kessel scored the game-winning goal as the Gophers won by a 3–0 score. The game against Clarkson marked the first time in school history that the Gophers opened a season against a ranked opponent.[1]
  • On December 10, Amanda Kessel assisted on a career-high four goals in a conference victory over visiting Ohio State. The Gophers enjoyed a 6–0 win.[2]
  • November 18, 2010: Kessel registered five points (including four goals[3]) as the Golden Gophers defeated the New Hampshire Wildcats by an 11–0 tally. This was the worst loss in the 35-year history of the Wildcats program.[4]
  • November 19: Kessel earned her second hat trick of the series as the Gophers defeated New Hampshire by a 6–1 tally.[5]
  • September 10, 2014, the Golden Gophers announced that Kessel would sit out the 2014–15 season as a result of lingering concussion symptoms she had sustained while playing for Team USA.[6]
  • July 21, 2015: the Golden Gophers announced that Kessel would not be playing hockey for the 2015–16 season due to health reasons. Because she had previously taken a redshirt year on two prior occasions, she will no longer be eligible to play college hockey.[7]
  • February 3, 2016: The Golden Gophers announced that Kessel returned to the team. Despite earlier prognoses, she continued working to gain clearance from doctors to play hockey and succeeded late in the 2015–2016 season in time for the February 5–6 series against North Dakota.[8]

Team USA

As a member of the U.S. Women's National Team, Kessel has won a medal at all the international tournaments she has participated in:[9]

Prior to being named to the U.S. Women's National Team, Kessel was a member of both the United States Under-22 Team and Under-18 Team. Kessel played for the United States Under-18 in 2009, and was named the World Under 18 tournament's most valuable forward. She scored six goals and 13 assists for 19 points to lead Team USA to a gold medal. In the 2008 Under 18 World Championships, she played in five games with Team USA and tallied 11 points, ranking third among all players in scoring. Kessel was named to the US team that participated in the 2010 Four Nations Cup. She did not play due to injury.[10]

Professional

Kessel was never drafted by a National Women's Hockey League team; league rules stipulate that a college player must be entering her senior year to be drafted, and Kessel's junior season was completed in 2013, before the league existed. Instead, she signed as a free agent with the New York Riveters on May 1, 2016.[11] Her contract of $26,000 was the largest NWHL contract to date.[11] Kessel was named one of the two captains for the 2nd NWHL All-Star Game. Scoring a hat trick in the All-Star Game, the first to do so in NWHL All-Star history, she would also be recognized as the game's Most Valuable Player.[12] After taking a season off from the NWHL due to national team commitments, she returned to the NWHL with the renamed Metropolitan Riveters for the 2018–19 season.[13]

Following the 2018–19 season, Kessel was one of many players to join the boycott on North American women's hockey leagues and join the new players' union, the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association (PWHPA), in order to push for better support of women's hockey. She was named a team captain at the January 2020 Toronto showcase.[14]

Awards
  • WCHA Co-Offensive Player of the Week (Week of October 12, 2011)[15]
  • WCHA Co-Offensive Player of the Week (Week of November 21, 2011)[16]
  • WCHA Offensive Player of the Week (Week of February 8, 2012)[17]
  • 2013 Patty Kazmaier Award (Collegiate National Player of the Year)[18]
  • 2014 Olympic Silver Medalist[19]
  • 2018 Olympic Gold Medalist[20]

Personal life

Kessel is the sister of Arizona Coyotes player Phil Kessel and Blake Kessel, a player for HC Košice.[21]

Her father Phil Kessel Sr. was drafted by the Washington Redskins, and stayed on the injured reserve for one year.[22]

In 2019, Kessel paired with Eric Radford for the fifth season of CBC's Battle of the Blades, where hockey players pair with figure skaters to compete for their chosen charity. However, she and Radford were the first couple eliminated.

References
  1. USCHO Staff Report (October 1, 2010). "Kessel posts 4 points as Minnesota blanks Clarkson". USCHO. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  2. "Amanda Kessel bio". Gopher Sports. Archived from the original on June 27, 2018. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  3. "Gophers Win 11–0 Against New Hampshire – University of Minnesota Official Athletic Site". Gophersports.com. Archived from the original on June 26, 2018. Retrieved December 4, 2013.
  4. "University of New Hampshire Official Athletics Website:Gilligan Records 27 Saves In Two Periods; Women's Hockey Loses 11–0 At No. 2 Minnesota". UNHWildcats.com. November 18, 2011. Archived from the original on March 3, 2014. Retrieved December 4, 2013.
  5. "Kessel Gets Second Hat Trick of the Weekend, Gophers Sweep New Hampshire – University of Minnesota Official Athletic Site". Gophersports.com. November 19, 2011. Archived from the original on May 24, 2012. Retrieved December 4, 2013.
  6. "U.S. hockey player out for college season with concussion". USA Today. September 10, 2014. Retrieved September 10, 2014.
  7. Schlossman, Brad Elliott (July 21, 2015). "Gopher star Kessel won't play senior season". Grand Forks Herald. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved July 21, 2015.
  8. Leahy, Sean (February 3, 2016). "Amanda Kessel, concussion-free, set to return to Minnesota lineup". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved February 3, 2016.
  9. "Team USA – Amanda Kessel". USA Hockey. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  10. "The Official Website of Hockey Canada". Canadianhockey.ca. Retrieved December 4, 2013.
  11. https://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/amanda-kessel-signs-one-year-deal-with-nhwl-s-new-york-riveters-194022119.html
  12. "NWHL Stars Shine Bright in Pittsburgh". NWHL. February 13, 2017. Archived from the original on February 15, 2017. Retrieved February 14, 2017.
  13. "Team USA Olympic Gold Medalist Amanda Kessel Returns to the Riveters". OurSportsCentral.com. June 4, 2018.
  14. "Secret Showcase headlines busy weekend for PWHPA". SB Nation. January 10, 2020.
  15. "WCHA Press Releases". WCHA.com. October 12, 2011. Retrieved December 4, 2013.
  16. http://www.wcha.com/women/pres1112/201111/nov23wpw.pdf
  17. http://www.wcha.com/women/pres1112/201202/feb8wpw.pdf
  18. Matthew Semisch, NCAA.com (March 23, 2013). "Minnesota's Kessel wins Kazmaier Award". NCAA.com. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved December 4, 2013.
  19. "Team USA Amanda Kessel". USA Hockey. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  20. Rosen, Karen (February 22, 2018). "Golden Goal! Team USA Wins First Women's Ice Hockey Olympic Gold Medal in 20 Years". teamusa.org. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  21. DUHATSCHEK, Eric (February 19, 2014). "Kessel siblings aim to bring home double Olympic hockey gold". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved April 24, 2017.
  22. Fitzgerald, Gary (April 25, 2012). "Great Redskins Drafts: A Look At 1981". redskins.com. Redskins. Archived from the original on December 5, 2017. Retrieved April 4, 2017.
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