Minnesota Whitecaps: For the love of the game

Five former U.S. Olympians will be skating at Burich Ice Arena Friday when the Minnesota Whitecaps women’s hockey team faces off against the Strathmore Rockies — a team with top Division I college graduates and Canadian National Team players.

Julie Chu, Tricia Dunn-Luoma, Jenny Potter, Angela Ruggiero and Caitlin Cahow and their Whitecaps teammates will showcase their talent in the Western Women’s Hockey League showdown.

The league consists of teams from Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Saskatchewan and Minnesota.

The Whitecaps’ mission is to provide a competitive atmosphere for female elite hockey players to continue improving their skill level, while allowing their love of the sport to flourish. To embrace the youth in our community as team members and reach out to youth and high school players as mentors and role-models.

Among other players on the team is goaltender Megan Van Beusekom, a Loretto native that currently serves as goaltending coach for the University of Minnesota and lives in Cokato.

Van Beusekom played four years at Princeton University and has been a player in several U.S. National camps and festivals. She is one of two originals from the inaugural team.

"I grew up playing with the boys in Delano before I started with the Minnesota Thoroughbreds (traveling high school girls' team). I played at Princeton for four years and afterward I found myself asking what's next," she said.

What was next was the Whitecaps, who formed in 2004 - the first year after Van Beusekom graduated from Princeton where she was named first-team All-Ivy distinction as a senior. She is currently in her fifth year with the Whitecaps.

"It's the best hockey outside of college and sometimes it's better. If you get two of the better teams in the league like Calgary, us and even Strathmore, it gets pretty intense," she said.

The Whitecaps have featured some of the top Division I players from the area in recent years including former Eagan and Gophers star Natalie Darwitz. The team has five former Olympians this year.

"There are a lot of players that competed on national teams, so it's very good hockey. It's women like me that want to keep playing. It's for the love of the game," Van Beusekom said.

Tickets go on sale at the arena one hour prior to game time. The puck drops at 8:30 p.m Friday.

Other games in the Strathmore series take place at 5:45 p.m. Saturday at Mound’s Thaler Ice Arena and at 11:30 a.m. Sunday at Maple Grove West Arena.

Eric Kraushar is the sports editor at the Hutchinson Leader. He can be reached at sports@hutchinsonleader.com.