Every four years, one program reminds the women's college hockey world that historically it's been synonymous with the Winter Olympic Games -- the University of Minnesota Duluth.

No program in the history of women's Division I NCAA hockey has had more Winter Olympians than UMD.  The Bulldogs as a program have sent 44 current or former players to skate on women's hockey biggest stage, including four who will make their debut this weekend --  current players junior defenseman Ida Karlsson and senior forward Thea Johansson, and former Bulldog goaltender Tindra Holm, all with Sweden, as well as defenseman Nina Jobst-Smith with Germany. 

In fact, a total of eight current and former players will suit up for four different teams, including Emma Soderberg (Sweden), Lara Stalder (Switzerland) and Katerina Mrázová (Czechia) -- and that doesn't even include former players on coaching staffs, like four-time gold medalist Caroline Ouellette (assistant coach, Canada), Saara Kivenmäki (formerly Tuominen)(assistant coach, Finland), Jennifer Harss (strength coach, Germany), and Satu Kiipeli (team leader, Finland).

The Familiar Olympic Sized Hole

There is a trade-off that UMD knows all too well for harboring all that Olympic talent, however -- every four years, UMD loses players to either national team centralizations or Olympic roster commitments. This season, after five currently rostered players challenged for Olympic spots in their national team programs, Karlsson and Johansson joined a long list of former Bulldogs who have left Duluth for Olympic duty in the midst of a season or sat out the Olympic year in order to represent their countries of origin on the world's biggest stage.

As a program, UMD has never had fewer than eight current or former players skating in the Olympics since the 2002 Olympics.  The Bulldogs had a program-high of 16 in 2006 and a whopping 15 in 2010.  The 2026 Winter Olympics have once again followed that UMD script, with eight current and former players currently on the ground in Milano Cortina, set to compete for their respective countries.

It doesn't hurt that the Bulldogs have a two-time Olympian as a coach and player as their top bench boss -- Laura Schuler was a 1998 Winter Olympic Silver Medalist with Canada, and then earned another Olympic Silver Medal as a head coach for Canada in 2018.

The 2026 Winter Olympians

Karlsson and Johansson had been called up to national duty for all of 2025, but the Olympic nod will be a first for both Bulldogs and Holm. Karlsson, a native of Avesta, Sweden, has blossomed at UMD. Currently in her third season, she leads all UMD defenseman with eight points and has tied her career-best for goals in a season with three so far. Karlsson has a one game-winning goal, a power play goal and a shorthanded goal to pair with 34 blocks through 26 games. Karlsson is nearing 30 career points as a Bulldog at 28 (7g, 21a).

Johansson is tied as the top-scoring Bulldog this season with 21 points on a team-high 15 goals. The Ljungby, Sweden product has a +8, tied for best among all Bulldogs and has over 115 career points over her collegiate career so far, with 66 of her points goals.

Holm has played her way on the Olympic team after joining the Bulldogs last season with success. In nine games last season, the native of Skellefteå, Sweden posted a 1.33 goals against average and a .932 saves percentage. Holm went 7-1-1 as a Bulldog starter with four shutouts. Currently, Holm is in net for MoDo Hockey of the SDHL where she has a 1.90 GAA and .931 saves percentage in 21 games.

Soderberg returns as Sweden's starter after an outstanding 2022 Olympic debut. The Jarved, Sweden native not only was one of the best goaltenders in the NCAA over her career, but emerged as arguably the best netminder in the world. As UMD's backstopper in 2022-23, she set 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, she was also a top-3 finalist for National Goalie of the Year, 

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 also has the second highest saves percentage ever in career NCAA Tournament games (.965), the fourth lowest GAA (1.34) and sixth most saves (220). 

Soderberg's mark on the UMD record book stretches past career and single-season shutouts -- the 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.

The four current and former Bulldogs on the Swedish Olympic Team ties a program record of UMD players on a single Swedish Olympic Team roster. The Bulldog program has long had ties to the Swedish Olympic Team -- a program-high 14 UMD players has suited up for Sweden in the Olympics, including multiple players who have skated multiple times. Four players -- All-American Kim Martin, All-American forwards Maria Rooth and Erika Holst and All-WCHA forward Pernillia Winberg were four-time Olympians for Sweden.

Larocque is currently a captain for the Ottawa Charge of the PWHL, and the native of Ste. Anne, Manitoba owns one of the most storied careers in program history. Still UMD's all-time scoring defenseman with 105 points over 127 games, Larocque's 56 career assists is also a Bulldog record from the blueline.  The offensive defenseman recorded 26 points as a rookie in 2007-08, including 22 assists, and was a big part of UMD's 2008 NCAA title 4-0 shutout win over the University of Wisconsin at the DECC. The Bulldogs were also 2008 WCHA Tournament and Regular Season champions, and Larocque was named an 2007-08 All-WCHA Third Team selection, as well as a 2007-08 All-WCHA Rookie Team member. 

Larocque rolled up 2009 All-American First Team honors – the first defenseman in UMD history to earn a first team nod –  after her 37 points (and UMD single season defenseman mark for 33 assists). A 2008-09 All-WCHA First Team selection, Larocque helped UMD back to its third-straight NCAA Frozen Four after she was named to the 2009 WCHA All-Tournament Team. 

But Larocque's most impressive season of her career earned her no accolades – in fact the then junior in 2009-10 only skated in 19 games for the Bulldogs and wasn't eligible for any postseason awards. The reason? Larocque was centralized with the Canadian Olympic Team into December, and after the defenseman was the last player cut from the team, Larocque rejoined the Bulldogs mid season, forfeiting a redshirt that would have allowed her another full season of collegiate eligibility. The result was better than any individual award Larcoque could have won – UMD made its fourth-straight Frozen Four and won its second NCAA title in two years, defeating Cornell University in triple-overtime at Ridder Arena on March 21, 2010.

The following season Larocque earned 2011 First Team All-American status, and was the first defenseman in UMD history to be named the 2011 WCHA Defensive Player of the Year. Not only was Larocque named the league's best defenseman, she was named the 2011 WCHA Student Athlete of the Year, as well as an All-WCHA First Team selection.

The former UMD captain has made the Canada's Olympic Team – four times as of Friday –  including two Olympic gold medals in 2014 and 2002 and a silver in 2018. Larocque has been a part of 11 Canadian IIHF World Championship teams, including three gold medals (2012, 2021 and 2022), and was drafted No. 2 overall in the first-ever PWHL draft by Toronto in 2023.

Stalder, who famously converted from defense to center prior to her sophomore season, was a member of the University of Minnesota Duluth Women's Hockey 25th Anniversary Team. 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 four-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.

Mrázová – now a two-time Olympian – skated for the Bulldogs from 2013-2018 and was a All-WCHA Third team selection in the 2017-18. Over her UMD career, the product of Prague, Czech Republic skated in 64 games and scored 17 goals and had 25 assists for 42 points. 

A 2022 Olympian who skated in five games and netted a goal, Mrázová was drafted eighth in the first-ever PWHL Draft by the Ottawa Charge. In 47 career games in the PWHL, Mrázová  has 27 points, including 10 goals. The forward has skated for Czechia in the IIHF World Championships eight times, and is a two-time bronze medalist (2022 and 2023).

Jobst-Smith is currently a defenseman for the PWHL's Vancouver Goldeneyes and in her rookie season, drafted 19th overall by her hometown team last June. Jobst-Smith becomes the third UMD player to make a German Olympic squad, joining her current assistant coach and Bulldog national champion goaltender Jennifer Harss and Michaela Lanzl.

A native of North Vancouver, British Columbia, Jobst-Smith skated in 37 games for UMD last season, recording three goals and 15 assists for 18 points. Jobst-Smith was named a 2024-25 All-WCHA Second Team selection, and graduated with the seventh most assists by a blueliner (55) in a career, as well as third in all-time games played 172). Jobst-Smith helped Germany qualify for the 2026 Winter Olympics in early February of 2025 in Bremerhaven, Germany.


Jobst-Smith and Germany will face off against her former Bulldog teammates and Sweden Thursday at 5:10 a.m. CST -- the first women's hockey game of the 2026 Olympic Winter Games.


To see complete schedule of women's hockey in the Olympics, click here.