Kirsten Simms, Laila Edwards return for Wisconsin women's hockey
The duo of first-team All-Americans missed Wisconsin women's hockey's last series with lower-body injuries, but return against No. 3 Minnesota
Down a pair of All-Americans last weekend, Wisconsin women’s hockey had its depth tested against the Minnesota State Mavericks. Although the Wisconsin Badgers passed that test with flying colors, another pair of key contributors went down with separate injuries. No. 1 Wisconsin was facing the prospect of being without four of its top ten scorers in its upcoming series against No. 3 Minnesota, but the Badgers got some good news as puck drop approached on Friday.
A Thursday-night Instagram post by Kirsten Simms foreshadowed the good news to come early Friday evening. Roughly 24 hours before the televised Border Battle, the back-to-back first-team All-American teased her return to the ice, writing, “get on your feet Labahn.” Simms returned to practice on Tuesday.
Simms, who led the nation in goals two seasons ago, had the early makings of a banner senior campaign interrupted when a collision in the Ice Breaker Tournament championship caused the Michigan native to exit the game. At the time, Badgers head coach Mark Johnson lamented the injury circumstances, saying, “Simms is probably playing the best that she’s play for us over her time here.”
The 2024 WCHA Player of the Year returns to the ice among Wisconsin’s top three scorers and is top three on her team in assists despite missing all of two games and the vast majority of a third. Before she was injured in the matchup with the Union Garnet Chargers, Simms had recorded a point in all seven games for the Badgers and logged multi-point performances five times.
Laila Edwards returns after five-game absence
She did not preempt the news on social media the night prior, but Laila Edwards also makes her return to the Wisconsin women’s hockey lineup tonight. Three weeks ago, the do-it-all forward/defender suffered an MCL injury in the second period of a photo-finish matchup with Minnesota Duluth, sidelining her ever since.
Edwards resumed skating in practice with the Badgers on Tuesday. During that time, she participated in position-group drills alongside Wisconsin’s defenders. A season ago, the first-team All-American led the country in goals while playing on the wing. With an eye on making the Olympic roster for Team USA, Edwards has played most of her senior season for UW on the blue line.
Simms and Edwards returning together puts two premier scoring threats back on Johnson’s top power play unit. On the left wing, Edwards has an Alexander Ovechkin-esque shot from the left faceoff circle, one-timing pucks past opposing goaltenders. That shot, plus what Johnson touts as Simms’ elite ability to “come downhill with the puck on the outside” on the right, gives a power play unit that already leads the country in goals even more firepower.
Adéla Šapovalivová and Laney Potter, who suffered injuries last weekend, did not appear in the lineup on Friday. Šapovalivová has a hand/wrist injury. The top-line center is fifth nationally among rookies in points and third in goals. Potter sustained a lower-body injury. The junior defender and Šapovalivová both play prominent roles on Wisconsin’s special teams units.
This story was updated to reflect the absence of Šapovalivová and Potter.
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