Hockey's Isobel cup comes home to Cloquet

Getting to play on the Minnesota Whitecaps team was a dream come true for 2009 Cloquet High School grad Sadie Lundquist, but winning the championship — and the Isobel Cup that comes with it — was the icing on the cake.

The Whitecaps beat the Buffalo Beauts 2-1 in overtime in the championship game March 17 in St. Paul in their first season in the league.

On Friday, Lundquist brought the Isobel Cup to Cloquet, ferrying the large silver trophy around in a golf cart for much of the afternoon as she played in the Young Life Golf Tournament with her mom and sisters as part of the fundraising event. Then, Saturday morning, she took the Cup to Northwoods Credit Union Arena, the same place (different name) that she played hockey growing up in Cloquet. There, Lundquist planned to meet with and skate with the next generation of female hockey players growing up in her hometown on her 28th birthday.

The Pine Knot News caught up with Lundquist at the Cloquet Country Club Friday, and asked her a few questions:

Q: What was it like playing for a professional women’s hockey team?

A It was awesome. Growing up, it always felt like college was the pinnacle. Obviously, I wanted to play in the Olympics, but it’s not going to happen for everyone. I figured college was really it for me. So to have the chance to even play for one year was pretty incredible. And then to know that moving forward, girls have an opportunity to dream about playing in a professional league is pretty cool. I wish I could have had that when I was a kid growing up.

Q: Was it different playing on a professional team versus college?

A It’s great, but the hardest thing is that the professional team takes the best few players from each [college] team. So yeah, there’s a lot more competition. But it was an awesome team. Everyone got along really well and saw the end goal. In college I was a starter and a power play person, and I knew that my role was gonna change because there are girls who are younger than me and they were the best on their team when they came from college.

Q: Are you hoping to play again next season? And what about your Crashed Ice career? (Editor’s note: Crashed Ice is a high-speed sport that combines elements of the luge with ice skating, as competitors race down an elaborate ice course featuring all kinds of jumps and curves against other skaters at the same time.)

A Right now, some of the girls are striking so they don’t know if there’s going to be a league next year. But I told myself I was probably gonna do one year and be done now that I’m older. The game got better for five years [after graduating from Bemidji State] and I didn’t. And, taking a year off from Crashed Ice is kind of nice. It was nice not having to worry about breaking my leg for a year so I don’t know if I want to go back to that.

Q: Is there anything you’d like to say to all your fans in Carlton County?

A If I had any (fans), I would just say thank you. I’m just so proud to be from Cloquet so it’s fun to come back and embrace the city.