Team USA has arrived in town.
With an official roster set and an air of national pride, the best women’s hockey players in the country arrived at Turning Stone Resort Casino late Monday afternoon.
They will be staying at the Tower hotel along with the other nine teams competing in the International Ice Hockey Federation’s Women’s World Championship, which will take place at the Adirondack Bank Center in Utica.
While some players drove in, others arrived by bus, all coming from Lake Placid where they recently played against Team Czechia and held the final round of tryouts to solidify the roster. The bus pulled up in front of the Tower at Turning Stone in the brilliant early spring sunshine, and players hopped off and began grabbing their luggage from underneath the vehicle.
Players were weary but excited, sporting Team USA sweats and carrying Team USA bags and water bottles. They chatted and joked with one another as they entered the hotel to check in and head up to their rooms.
“We’ve had a pretty intense week of tryouts, so making the team yesterday and then getting everyone here is super exciting,” said winger Britta Curl, #17.
This is Curl’s third year at the world championship. The University of Wisconsin student started skating at age 3 or 4; her father built an ice rink in their backyard every winter in her hometown of Bismarck, North Dakota.
Goalie Aerin Frankel, #31, plays for the newly formed Professional Women’s Hockey League, and also started skating around the age of 4. This is her fourth time appearing at the world championship.
“It’s an honor to represent our country, obviously, and to do it on home soil is just kind of an added bonus,” Frankel said. “I think for our group, it was really exciting. Having to do a week of tryouts, obviously, can be stressful, and there are a lot of emotions, but it’s really rewarding, obviously, at the end of the day when you get your name announced on the roster.”
Frankel is from Chappaqua, New York, so playing in the tournament in her home state is an even further bonus.
“We’re all super excited to be here, not only on home soil and in the U.S., but also for me being in the state that I grew up playing hockey in,” Frankel said. “And there’s so many youth hockey teams in New York state as well, so I think it’s just awesome for them that we’re playing so close. We’re hoping to get a lot of New Yorkers and a lot of Americans out to our games. And I know I’ll have a big cheering squad…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at "ice hockey" – Google News…