The gold medal game at the Sochi Olympics last year represented the pinnacle of women’s hockey: a captivating 3-2 overtime victory by Canada over the United States that drew almost five million viewers on NBC.
But Amanda Kessel, a leading scorer for the Americans in Sochi and the college player of the year in 2013, has not played since, ending her career at Minnesota at 23 because of lingering symptoms from a concussion sustained before the Olympics. Her teammate Josephine Pucci retired last summer at 24, cognizant of her concussion history.
A concussion kept Canada’s Haley Irwin out until the Olympic tournament’s semifinals.