Pankowski motivated for Team USA opportunity

Nov. 6, 2014

BY AJ Harrison
UW Athletic Communications

Three current players on the Wisconsin women's hockey team will represent their countries this week at the Four Nations Cup in Kamloops, British Columbia, as Blayre Turnbull and Emily Clark will suit up for Canada, and Annie Pankowski will play in her second tournament for Team USA.

Although the three Badgers will play in the same tournament, each one of them has taken a dramatically different path to play for their respective national teams.

After profiling Turnbull on Monday, and Clark on Tuesday, we look at Annie Pankowski's journey

ot many children growing up in Laguna Hills, California, play hockey. But Annie Pankowski was an exception, thanks to her family's East Coast Roots.

"My dad grew up as a huge Rangers fan, living in New Jersey," Pankowski said. "When he moved to California, my brother John began playing roller hockey. My sister Alison and I were always running around the rink causing mayhem. My mom forced me to wear a helmet and all the gear so I wouldn't hurt myself.

"One day a team was practicing with my color jersey on and I went over and joined in. I was not on the roster and had never played but the coach asked my mom if I could play. After playing roller hockey until I was 10, my boys team transitioned to ice and it just stuck."

Pankowski continued her hockey journey in Vermont, where she played at the North American Hockey Academy (NAHA) during her final three years of high school.

She dominated the Junior Women's Hockey League, recording 318 points and leading NAHA to two JWHL titles.

Annie Pankowski's 13 points this year lead all NCAA rookies

"Not only was I able to skate every day with some of the top players in North America, but I made friends that will last a lifetime," Pankowski said about her experience. "Not many kids get the opportunity to do what they love at such a high level. I learned how to be a teammate, a leader and even more about the game then I could have ever imagined. I grew as a hockey player and also as an individual.

"Every morning I was able to play the game I love and then stop at the gym on the way home. School was in the afternoon in a trailer in the backyard. It's a crazy world and most girls joke that it's not real life there and they are so right. We eat, sleep, breathe hockey. It doesn't get much better than that."

Pankowski also played on the U.S. Under-18 team, where she shined at the 2012 International Ice Hockey Federation World Under-18 Championships. In the five-game tournament, she tallied four goals and six assists to help the U.S. earn silver.

She signed her National Letter of Intent to attend Wisconsin in the fall of 2012 and planned on joining the Badgers during the 2013-14 season. However, an impressive performance at the USA Hockey Women's National Festival in July of 2013 helped Pankowski earn a spot on the U.S. National Team, which was preparing for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

After earning a spot on the national team, Pankowski decided to hold off on enrolling at Wisconsin until the following fall as she spent the 2014 autumn training with Team USA, which featured former Badger stars Brianna Decker, Meghan Duggan, Hilary Knight and Jessie Vetter.

Pankowski was the youngest player on the team and played for Team USA at last year's Four Nations Cup. She was cut in late December, just two short months before the Winter Olympics. She admits it was a tough experience, but that serves as motivation.

"Every time I'm out there with the jersey on, it's motivation to not have that feeling again," Pankowski said "It's kind of been a fire under my butt to get me going and get me working hard because I don't want to feel like that ever again."

This week's Four Nations Cup marks Pankowski's first international tournament since being cut from the national team last year, but the freshman has made the most of her time since being cut from the national team.

Last January, she returned to NAHA, where she played in 16 goals and racked up 32 points before coming to Wisconsin to work out and train for the 2014-15 season.

In her first season in Madison, Pankowski has two goals and 11 assists in only 11 games. She was named the WCHA Preseason Rookie of the Year, and was named the WCHA Rookie of the Week after tallying four assists in her second collegiate game.

"I think it's gone really well. I'm really happy with the outcome," Pankowski said. "I wish we could've had a different outcome at the Minnesota games, but it kind of just lights a fire under our team to get us going and get us ready for playoffs."

Pankowski isn't the only current Badger in the tournament, as she faced Wisconsin linemate Blayre Turnbull and fellow freshman Emily Clark Wednesday night as the duo is playing for Team Canada.

"Obviously it's going to be fun because I have played with both of them," Pankowski said, "So I know how both of them work, and I think it'll be fun to just kind of put the Badgers up there in the international spectrum."

In addition to playing with two of her current UW teammates, Pankowski is playing with Wisconsin legends Hilary Knight, Brianna Decker and Alex Rigsby, as the trio help the U.S. win the tournament back in 2012.

After the U.S. finished third at last year's tournament and second at the Olympics to Team Canada, Pankowski and the rest of the Badgers look to bring the team back to its winning ways.

"Individually I'm hoping to make an impact on the team," Pankowski said. "Last year I didn't really get the opportunity to do that, so this year I'm hoping that I get a little more thrown my way and I can kind of help the team out in that sense. As a team, I think it's going to be really important to come out and set the tone after what happened at the gold medal game at last year's Olympics."

University of Wisconsin Athletics

Pankowski motivated for Team USA opportunity

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