“[Wendell] is a good friend of mine and I’m excited that she’ll be able to come back and play in the Frozen Four,” said freshman Julie Chu, one of Wendell’s U.S. national teammates. “I hate to see her injured and I hate to see her missing games. I’m excited I’ll get to play against her because we want them to have all their best players when we’re going to face them.”

Wendell and Chu had plenty of time to socialize during a players reception at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center yesterday, followed by a Championship Banquet. The Banquet was both a celebration of women’s hockey and an opportunity for players to roast one of their teammates. Among the highlights of the evening was when Dartmouth’s Amy Catlin was asked to list reasons why she was less spacy then her sister, Harvard senior Tracy Catlin. Her most convincing claim was that the Harvard team itself nicknames her “Spacy Tracy.”

Yesterday’s event was full of fun—a fundamental element of the weekend. While today’s games will be much more stressful, they will also provide many of the athletes their first chance to experience the thrill of playing in front of 5,000 people.

“The thing about Minnesota fans is they’re true hockey fans,” Stone said. “They understand the game. They understand the effort and the sacrifice these kids put in to be good. Win or lose, we’re going to go out there and enjoy this weekend.”

Though the Crimson will enjoy the weekend regardless of the result, it will be far more enjoyable if it ends with an NCAA championship.

—Staff writer David R. De Remer can be reached at remer@fas.harvard.edu.