Swedish standout Elin Holmlöv, an integral piece of the Bulldogs dominance late in the first decade, has been selected the fifth member of the University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey program's 25th Anniversary Team.
A forward from Knivsta, Sweden who had her collegiate career interrupted by Swedish Olympic duty in 2010, Holmlöv remains the program's eighth all-time leading scorer after recording 67 goals and 103 assists for 170 points in just 127 games – a 1.33 points per game average over her career. Holmlöv – who still sits eighth all-time for assists (103) – was a two-time All-WCHA Team selection as a Second Team honoree in 2008-09, and garnered a Third Team nod in 2010-11. Named the 2008 WCHA Tournament Most Outstanding Player after leading UMD to the WCHA Tournament title with three goal, one assist effort for four points in two games, Holmlöv played in nine NCAA postseason games over her career in four different NCAA Tournaments, including five NCAA Frozen Four contests. A key member of the 2008 NCAA title team, Holmlöv was part of three-straight NCAA Frozen Four squads, including two NCAA title game appearances (2007, 2008).
After centralizing with the Swedish Olympic Team over the 2009-10 NCAA title run of the Bulldogs, Holmlöv helped guide Sweden to a fourth place finish in the 2010 Olympics. Holmlöv recorded four seasons with 40 or more points at UMD (2008, 2009, 2011), and back-to-back seasons where the forward turned in more than 50 points – 51 points in 2009 and 52 in 2011.
Holmlöv played for the Swedish national team from 2006-15, and earned two bronze medals on the international stage in World Championship play – in 2006 and 2007.
About the 25th Anniversary Team
The 25th Anniversary Team was selected by longtime local media members and local hockey historians. Each member of the selection committee privately selected a total of 25 players, which included a starting six players that will represent the six best players so far in Bulldog history. The only requirements for the other 19 players selected by committee members was that at least three of them were positionally defenseman and at least two goaltenders.
A list of greatness, the 25th Anniversary Team will span the more than two decades of players that have skated for one of the most successful NCAA Division I women's hockey programs in all of women's college hockey. UMD women's hockey will unveil one player every Thursday in no particular order over the regular season, and then the last week of the regular season, will announce its 25th Anniversary starting lineup.
25th Anniversary Players Announced to Date:
Noémie Marin (2003-07)
Noémie Marin, a forward from Acton Vale, Quebec still ranks ninth in career scoring at UMD with a 168 points in just 126 games and sits sixth all-time with 91 goals -- the same place she ranked when she graduated in 2007. Twice named a Top-10 Patty Kazmaier Finalist in both 2006-07 and 2005-06, Marin was also a USCHO Third Team All-American in 2007. Marin was a three-time All-Western Collegiate Hockey Association selection, including twice an All-WCHA Second Team honoree (2005-06, 2004-05) and earned a All-WCHA First Team nod in 2006-07. Named a WCHA Scholar Athlete in the first two seasons of the award (2005-06 and 2006-07, Marin was a three-time WCHA All-Academic member (2006-07, 2005-06, 2004-05).
A two-time captain that recorded four hat-tricks over her playing career, including three over the 2004-05 season, Marin had a career NCAA Tournament scoring total of six points -- two goals and four assists in just five NCAA postseason appearances. In fact, Marin was was pivotal during the Bulldogs 2007 NCAA National Runner-Up finish, which started with Marin dishing the game-winning assist against Mercyhurst in the NCAA quarterfinal clash in Erie, Penn., an assist 11:16 in overtime that pushed UMD past the Lakers 3-2. Two days later, Marin was a part of an instant classic NCAA Frozen Four semifinal, a double overtime 4-3 thriller of a Bulldog win in which Marin had the secondary assist on the game-winning tally against Boston College in Lake Placid, NY. Marin was a critical part of UMD's return to the NCAA Frozen Four and national dominance -- while the 2007 NCAA Frozen Four was the only appearance the former captain was a part of, it paved the way for four-straight NCAA Frozen Four appearances for the program (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010) -- which included two of the Bulldogs NCAA title runs.
Sidney Morin (2013-17)
Sidney Morin, a product of Minnetonka, Minn., finished her senior campaign in 2016-17 ranked seventh among all defensemen in the NCAA and second in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association with 24 points on eight goals and 16 assists in 37 games. Named the WCHA's 2016-17 Defensive Player of the Year, Morin also garnered Second Team All-WCHA honors after registering a career-high in points and power play goals, with a league-leading four from the backline. In four seasons with UMD, Morin finished her career ranked the 7th highest scoring blueliner in history with 70 points, and owned nine goals -- the fifth-most by a defenseman -- and 51 assists that ranked her sixth all-time. When she graduated in 2017, Morin had the UMD record for consecutive games played (147), and sat sixth in total games played over a career (147).
Morin was also named to the 2017 WCHA All-Tournament Team, and was part of the 2016-17 squad that brought a triumphant return for the Bulldogs into the NCAA Tournament, as well as an NCAA Regional host for the first time since 2009-10. An alternate captain, Morin was named a USCHO Third Team All-American in 2017. Morin was also a 2016-17 WCHA Scholar Athlete, as well as a 2016-17 WCHA All-Academic Team member.
Months after graduating from UMD, Morin became a member of the 2018 Olympic hockey team that won gold in dramatic fashion in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
Haley Irwin (2007-09, 2010-12)
A native of nearby Thunder Bay, Ontario, Haley Irwin burst on to the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center ice as a freshman, compiling 60 points (23g, 37a) – the fourth most by a rookie in program history – en route to helping the Bulldogs win the 2008 NCAA title on home ice. Over her career, Irwin amassed 206 career points in just 134 games, including 79 goals and 125 – marks that still stand in the UMD record books today. Irwin graduated as the fifth all-time scorer in program history, and still ranks the sixth, and left with the third most assists and fourth most goals. With five hat tricks over her career, including three in nine games over the 2010-11 season, Irwin was a four-time All-Western Collegiate Hockey Association Team selection, the 2007-08 WCHA Scoring Champion, and was named the 2007-08 WCHA Rookie of the Year. Irwin earned an All-WCHA First Team honor in 2007-08, a All-WCHA Second Team member in 2010-11, and twice an All-WCHA Third Team selection in both 2008-09 and 2011-12. Irwin was also named to the 2008 WCHA All-Tournament Team after scoring three goals and adding two assists in two games – including the overtime game-winner against the University of Wisconsin in the WCHA to clinch the 2008 WCHA Tournament title.
A 2011 Patty Kazamier Top-10 finalist, Irwin spent a year centralized with the Canadian Olympic Team in the middle of her college career, and earned an Olympic gold medal with Canada where the then junior at UMD scored four goals and added an assist for five points in five games. In all, Irwin was a three-time Olympian with Canada, earning back-to-back gold medals in 2010 and 2014 and a silver medal in 2018. In addition to her three Olympic medals, Irwin earned five IIHF World Championship medals, including a gold in 2012 and four silvers (2009. 2011, 2013, 2017).
Hanne Sikiö (1999-2003)
Sikiö was a Bulldog from 1999-2003, and was an integral part of the program's historic NCAA title run of three-straight championships in 2001, 2002 and 2003. The Lempäälä, Finland native had eight points, including five goals in six NCAA Frozen Four games -- two of which came in UMD's 2003 title tilt thriller against Harvard in the sold out Duluth Entertainment Convention Center. The two championship game tallies undoubtedly helped secure a 2003 NCAA Frozen Four All-Tournament selection for Sikiö.
With 220 career points in 123 games, Sikiö still ranks as the program's fourth all-time scorer. Sikiö also ranks third all-time for goals (100), and fifth for assists (120), while her 34 goal season in 2000-01 ranks as the fifth most goals in a single season in program history. An Olympian who helped Finland to a fourth place finish in 2002, Sikiö was a two-time All-WCHA Second Team selection in 1999-00 and 2000-01, as well as a 2001 WCHA All-Academic Team member.
Sikiö also played in three IIHF Women's World Championship tournaments, helping Finland capture bronze in both 1999 and 2003.
