The University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team will be well represented when the 2021 IIHF Women's World Championship drops the puck this Friday in Calgary, Alberta.  Seven current or former Bulldogs will represent five different countries -- current senior All-American defenseman Ashton Bell and former All-American defenseman Jocelyne Larocque will lace up for Team Canada, while current sophomore defenseman Nina Jobst-Smith will join former UMD goaltending great Jennifer Harss to defend the ice for Germany.  Rostered for Team USA but injured and unable to play is former Bulldog (and Olympic legend) Maddie Rooney, while former All-American Lara Stalder will hit the ice for Switzerland.  Offensive threat and former UMD forward Katerina Mrázová will represent the Czech Republic

UMD has players rostered on half of the teams competing, and most of them will be highly visible on the ice once the tournament begins.  Stalder was named one of the 10 Players to Watch by IIHF.com, noting that the Swiss star has produced a point per game or better at every IIHF competition she's participated in 2015.  Stalder helped Switzerland to an Olympic bronze in 2014.

Other notable Bulldog news coming ahead of the tournament include Canada having announced that Larocque will wear an "A" on her sweater as one of four captains.  This also marks the first IIHF World Championship competition for Bell and Jobst-Smith

Mrázová and the Czech Republic will drop the puck on the tournament tomorrow (Friday) at noon when they face Denmark at the WinSports Arena.  They will be followed by Bell, Larocque and Team Canada when they hit the ice against Finland, and the last opening day game will feature Stalder and Switzerland taking on the U.S. 

For the full schedule of games, click here.