An NCAA champion twice over her four-year career, Emmanuelle Blais is the eighth selection to the University of Minnesota Duluth's Women's Hockey 25th Anniversary Team.


A product of Lasalle, Quebec, Blais recorded 145 career points – still the 13th most in Bulldog history – on 73 goals and 72 assists in 145 games. Those 73 career goals also amount to the 11th most in program history, and include a statline like no other – Blais is the only player at UMD ever to score a goal in three separate NCAA championship games (2010, 2008, 2007).


In fact, Blais was a timely NCAA postseason player, and racked up a total of five goals and six assists for 11 points in 10 NCAA Tournament/NCAA Frozen Four appearances – a 1.10 NCAA postseason average over her career. Blais, who helped lead the Bulldogs to the 2010 NCAA title with five points in three games, including three goals and an assist in the NCAA Frozen Four, secured a 2010 NCAA Frozen Four Most Outstanding Player nod in addition to a spot on the 2010 NCAA Frozen Four All-Tournament Team. Blais also helped UMD earn a home NCAA title in 2008 at the DECC and a NCAA runner-up finish in 2006.


Blais definitely saved her best hockey for last when the dynamic winger averaged 1.59 points per game over her sizzling senior campaign in 2009-10. That marked the fifth highest total in the country, all while netting an NCAA-high 32 goals and a personal season best of 65 points. A Top-10 Patty Kazamier Award Finalist, Blais also was named to the All-WCHA First Team and the 2010 WCHA Final Face-off tournament MVP after she recorded seven points in two games – three goals and four assists – in two games over the WCHA postseason tournament and helped lead the Bulldogs to the WCHA postseason title that spring.


A 2008 WCHA Scholar Athlete and three-time WCHA All-Academic Team member (2010, 2009, 2008), Blais had such a standout senior season and 2010 postseason that she was listed by Sports Illustrated as one of its "Faces In The Crowd" in its April 19, 2010 issue. 


Blais played in three MLP Nations Cup with Canada, helping Canada to two gold medal finishes in 2010 and 2008 and a silver medal in 2009. Most recently, Blais served as Canada's Strength and Conditioning Coach for the National Women's Program Summer Showcase this past summer.

 

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:

Emma Söderberg (2018-2023)
The Jarved, Sweden native not only was one of the best goaltenders in the NCAA over the previous three seasons, but emerged as arguably the best netminder in the world. As UMD's backstopper last season, the goaltender had a season for the Bulldog record books, setting both a UMD career record for shutouts (23) and a single-season record (12). A 2022-23 All-USCHO First Team All-American, and the Western Collegiate Hockey Association's Goaltender of the Year, WCHA Finalist for Player of the Year and a top-3 finalist for National Goalie of the Year, Soderberg was a also named the WCHA's Student-Athlete of the Year and was a All-WCHA First Team selection. 

 
In all, Soderberg was also a AHCA Second Team All-American in 2021, as well as the 2020-21 WCHA Goaltender of the Year, the WCHA Goaltending Champion and a All-WCHA First Team honoree. Soderberg – who missed 11 games due to Swedish Olympic duties over the 2021-22 season, effectively holding her out of awards that year – ended her career with the fifth-most NCAA Tournament career wins in program history (five). In 2022, she set the NCAA Tournament record for saves (146) while helping the Bulldogs earn NCAA runner-up status, and ended her career perfect in NCAA Tournament opening games with a 3-0, 0.00 GAA after not allowing a single goal in those skates. In fact, in five career NCAA Regional/Quarterfinal games, Soderberg allowed just four goals. 
 
Soderberg's mark on the UMD record book stretches past career and single-season shutouts, however, and the current PWHL Boston netminder left the Bulldogs with the third-highest save percentage in history (.934), fifth-lowest GAA (1.68), sixth most wins (54-26-2) and ended her final season (2022-23) with a 1.39 goals against average -- the third lowest in program history.

A 2022 Olympian with Team Sweden who had a brilliant Olympic debut, Soderberg was exceptional In the quarterfinals of the 2023 IIIHF Women's World Championship, stopping 51 of 54 shots to help Sweden push Canada to overtime for the first time ever in a head-to-head showdown. In all, Soderberg had a save percentage of .935 and posted 157 stops, and was named to the All-Star Team for her efforts.
 

Lara Stalder (2013-2017)
The native of Luzern, Switzerland, and arguably one of the best players ever to come out of the country, Stalder's offensive stock rose every year she skated for the Bulldogs. Named to the 2013-14 All-Western Collegiate Hockey Association Rookie Team, as well as an All-WCHA Third Team selection as a freshman defenseman, Stalder missed eight games with the Bulldogs in the winter of 2014 helping Switzerland to an Olympic bronze medal. 

 
Stalder crowned her career as a senior in 2016-17 with one of the best seasons in all of the NCAA, and was named the WCHA's Player of the Year and WCHA's Student-Athlete of the Year. The 2016-17 accolade list is long for Stalder, who along with also being selected to the All-WCHA First Team, earned First Team All-American honors to pair with her Patty Kazmaier Top-3 designation. Remarkably, Stalder ranked second in the NCAA in points per game her senior season, (1.66), fourth in assists and was tied for first with six-game winning goals. Stalder put up 56 points as a senior on an even 23 goals and 23 assists, and to this day remains No.12 all-time on UMD's career points list with 148 points with 54 career goals and 94 assists – which also still stands as the ninth most assists in program history.
 
A now three-time Olympian with Switzerland who has logged 17 points (9g, 8a) over 18 Olympic skates, Stalder helped lead the Bulldogs back into the NCAA Tournament in 2017 for the first time in six seasons. Stalder and Co. not only put the UMD back into the NCAA postseason – they brought an NCAA Tournament quarterfinal game to AMSOIL Arena for the first time in program history on March 11, 2017.

Elin Holmlöv (2006-2009, 2010-11)
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.   


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.