MINNEAPOLIS — Saturday is Senior Day for the University of Minnesota women’s hockey team, so earlier this week, Amanda Kessel joined the other four members of her graduating class for an on-ice photo at Ridder Arena, their home rink. Kessel smiled, though the whole thing felt a bit weird. Kessel arrived with the class of 2014, not 2016. This became her class by happenstance.
“They were freshmen when I was a junior here,” Kessel said. “I got a new class. But it’s a good class.”
Kessel, 24, is just finishing her eligibility after missing one season for the 2014 Olympics and then the next year and a half recovering from postconcussion symptoms.