Gopher rookie Leon Bristedt is honored to be playing for his country

The World Junior Championships are taking place this week in Canada and for the 22^nd consecutive time and for all but one of the tournaments, Team USA is stocked full of Golden Gophers. But it’s the one non-USA player to whom this tournament might mean the most.

Freshman Leon Bristedt, who is suiting up for his home nation of Sweden this week says wearing his countries color is a huge deal

“It’s a dream come true,” the Stockholm native says. “This is something that you dream of as a kid in Sweden when you’re watching all those great players and they are playing in that tournament and it’s something that I want to do.”

Bristedt is experienced in international play. But this time around is a little different. Bristedt isn’t playing in the Swedish junior system, he’s having a phenomenal freshman campaign here in America. The coaches of team Swedish team have been keeping track of him, showing just how important they believe Bristedt is to Team Sweden.

“Our coach has been doing a lot of scouting and even gone to St. Cloud to see what the atmosphere is like.”

And to see what the style of play is like and how Leon has adjusted to it. Bristedt has been only been playing college hockey for a few months but has learned to change his style based on the American system. So switching back to the style he grew up playing will be a bit of a challenge.

“I’ve been over here for 6 months so going back to Swedish style is going to be a little different,” Bristedt admits. “In Sweden you never give up the puck. Not much chip in, chip out…we really take care of the puck. If we can’t enter the zone with possession then we turn away and go back home and try to regroup.”

His college coach, University of Minnesota men’s coach Don Lucia, is well aware of all that goes into the World Junior Championships and understands the honor of being a part of it. He coached Team USA last year, ironically, in Sweden.

“The best way I can liken it is, two weeks of Super Bowl. That’s how big it is up in Canada,” Lucia says. “Every game will be sold out. It will really be a great environment and a great place to test your level and ability.”

Which is exactly what Bristedt will be doing against his own Minnesota teammates. Fellow Gophers Ryan Collins (his current roommate) and Hudson Fasching will be across from Bristedt playing for Team USA this week. Always the consummate professional, Leon has taken the time leading up to the WJC to help his current teammates learn Swedish slang so they can properly trash talk to each other during the games.

“I’ve taught him some Swedish words that he can use to chirp us,” Bristedt beams quite proudly. “I can tell you I taught him to say ‘fatty’ and some other words I cannot repeat here.”

While he’ll be meeting more than a few new Swedish faces this week, there will be one teammate that needs no introduction, Adam Brodecki. The two have not only grown up playing together, they are from the same hometown and even born in the same hospital room just a month apart, according to Bristedt.

“We went to kindergarten together, went to the same school, played on the same hockey team and now we’re playing for the World Juniors together,” Bristedt smiles. “It’s so cool that I am going to play World Juniors with my best friend.”

Leon Bristedt has a lot more to accomplish in the next few years at the University of Minnesota and this experience will clearly have an impact on him and his play. While the World Junior Championship is a big deal in the United States, the NHL is always the ultimate goal. In other countries, it’s international play like the World Junior Championships. Bristedt has now taken the first step, with great honor and humility. A few more stand out years at the U of M and maybe he’ll reach his ultimate goal.

“The only hockey tournament that is bigger (than this) is the Olympic games.”

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University of Minnesota release:

MINNEAPOLIS – University of Minnesota women’s hockey head coach Brad Frost announced today that Amanda Kessel will not return to the Gophers’ lineup this season because of lingering concussion symptoms due to injuries sustained as a member of the U.S. Women’s National Team.

“I’ve had an unforgettable experience at the University of Minnesota thus far, so I’m disappointed that I won’t be able to return to the team this year,” Kessel said. “It’s obviously a difficult decision and one that I’ve taken time to come to terms with. As someone who has played through a lot of injuries, it wasn’t until suffering a concussion that I fully understood the importance of being 100% healthy when I’m on the ice. Unfortunately, that isn’t the case right now.

“My number one priority is my health, and I hope that I’ll be able to return to the ice in the future. I want to thank my coaches, teammates and everyone at the University for their support.”

Kessel has worked with doctors and specialists at the Carrick Brain Center in Atlanta, Ga., and has determined that dedicating all of her time to her recovery is in her best interest at this point.

“We obviously wish we could have Amanda with us this year, but her health is everyone’s top priority,” Frost said. “She has come to the difficult conclusion to focus solely on her treatment at this time. We understand and support her decision and hope she fully recovers. She will always have a place in our locker room, and we will continue to support her.”

Kessel missed the 2013-14 Gopher women’s hockey season while training with and competing for Team USA at the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia. Kessel and the U.S. brought home silver medals after falling to Canada in the gold-medal game.

In her first three seasons with the Gophers, Kessel amassed 97 goals and 134 assists. She ranks fourth among Gophers all-time with 231 career points. Kessel was named the 2013 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award winner and led Minnesota to its fifth national title and a perfect 41-0-0 season as a junior in 2012-13. She expected to return to the University for her senior year with the Gophers this season but has put her return to hockey on hold while seeking a full recovery.

The post Kessel to Miss 2014-15 Season appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

No. 14 Minnesota-Duluth and No. 19 Colorado College are the remaining WCHA teams in the top 20 while Minnesota State (39), Nebraska Omaha (28), Michigan Tech (16), St. Cloud State (12), Wisconsin (10) and, yes, Alaska-Anchorage (2) also received votes.

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