An already small University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey 2009-10 roster will be even smaller this weekend when the No. 5 Bulldogs take on St. Cloud State, and for good reason. Senior forward and captain Saara Tuominen and rookie defensman Mariia Posa will be with Team Finland for the rest of the week.
But what is UMD's loss for the upcoming weekend against a WCHA foe is Team Finland's gain. Finland will join Team USA, Team Canada, and Team Sweden in Vierumaki, Finland starting Tuesday as play will open up in the 2009 Four Nations Cup. Tuominen and Posa will face Team USA on the opening day, with Canada and Sweden meeting in the other contest.
Tuominen and Posa aren't the only current Bulldogs who will be representing their respective countries, although they are the only current UMD players splitting duty with their national team and their Bulldog squad. Six currently rostered players are taking a redshirt year to centralize with their national teams ahead of the 2010 Winter Olympics, including: juniors Haley Irwin and Jocelyne Larocque with Canada, seniors Kim Martin and Elin Holmlov, and sophomores Pernilla Winberg and Jenni Asserholt with Sweden. They join a host of former Bulldogs playing in the four team tournament, including UMD greats Jenny Potter (Team USA), Caroline Ouellete (Team Canada) and Maria Rooth and Erika Holst (Team Sweden).
After Tuesday's games, Finland will face Canada on Wednesday, while the USA will face Sweden. Both games are set for 6:30 p.m. starts, Finnish time. Finland will then wrap up its preliminary rounds Friday with a skate against Tuominen's fellow classmates, Martin, Holmov and Co. with Sweden at 12:30 p.m., while the USA and Canada will meet later in the day at 6:30 p.m. Bronze and Gold medal games will be held the following day, Saturday, Nov. 7. A live video feed for all games is available on http://www.uscho.com/women/ .
Tuominen and Posa, who will return to Duluth next Sunday (Nov. 8), will miss the Bulldogs battle with the Huskies this weekend in St. Cloud, Minn. Game-time for Friday's contest is set for 7:07 p.m.
