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Minnesota Duluth senior goaltender Maddie Rooney blocks a shot during the second period of a 5-5 overtime tie against Wisconsin on Feb. 23, 2020 at Amsoil Arena. Rooney passed Kayla Black for career minutes by a Bulldogs goalie in the 14th minute of the period. (Steve Kuchera / News Tribune file)
Minnesota Duluth alumna and Olympic gold-medal winning goaltender Maddie Rooney is out for the upcoming IIHF women’s hockey world championships due to a lower-body injury suffered in training camp with Team USA, according to an ESPN report released Thursday, Aug. 11, 2021.
Emily Kaplan of ESPN reported that the lower-body injury will keep Rooney on the shelf for 4-6 weeks. The rescheduled tournament begins Aug. 20 and goes through Aug. 31. The event was originally planned to take place in Nova Scotia in May but was forced to be rescheduled after the province went into lockdown due to a surge of COVID-19 cases in Eastern Canada. The event is now taking place at the Canada Olympic Park in Calgary. Team USA has won the last four editions of the biennial tournament, with Rooney on the roster for victories in 2017 and 2019.
Kaplan’s report includes a quote from Rooney: “Bummed to miss out on this opportunity to compete and play with my teammates. It’s been so long since we’ve suited up as a team, everyone is eager and ready for the challenge. Despite wishing I was there, I’m really looking forward to watching some great women’s hockey coming up. I will be cheering loud for Team USA and be back and ready to go soon.”
The Andover, Minn., native graduated from UMD in 2020 as the program’s all-time career leader in saves with 3,449. She has also played more career games than any other UMD goalie (122) and minutes (7,277:49). Her 59 career wins are third most in team history.
Alex Cavallini and Nicole Hensley are the only other goaltenders on the US roster, which is currently quarantining ahead of the tournament.
Rooney is one of 27 players who has been invited to the USA Hockey Women’s National Team Residency Program to begin in October in Blaine, Minn., ahead of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China.
