Gophers forward Abbey Murphy discusses winning a gold medal, where her feistiness comes from

Abbey Murphy did not have any other hockey players in her family. So where did her interest in the game come from? A fun story on how she got introduced to the sport through a neighbor.

While Murphy did not have hockey in her family, she grew up in an athletic household. Her brother, Dominic, is a wrestler at St. Cloud State. Her brother, Patrick, played college football at Carthage College and her mother, Lynne, is a member of the St. Xavier University Hall of Fame for her softball talents.

She says her feistiness comes from her father, Ed, who was a Marine.

Murphy discusses winning a gold medal in April with Team USA at the IIHF World Championships, her Winter Olympics experience, when she decided she wanted to be a Gopher and a lot more on this episode of The Rink Live podcast with Jess Myers and Mick Hatten.

TIME STAMPS

:40 Going to the IIHF World Championships, winning the gold medal

1:30 Why playing for the national team changes all the time

2:10 What the rivalry between Team USA and Canada is like

3:15 What her experience was like at the 2022 Winter Olympics

4:15 What her relationship is like with former Gophers assistant coach and Team USA coach Joel Johnson

5:20 What it was like getting back onto the Gophers after a year playing for Team USA, the hardest part of playing college hockey again

6:45 How she started playing hockey in Illinois

8:15 Her mother is a St. Xavier Hall of Fame member as a softball player, brother Dominic is an All-American wrestler at St. Cloud State, brother Patrick played football at Carthage College. What it was like growing up in that house, where her toughness and mean streaks come from

11:15 Growing up as the Chicago Blackhawks were on the top of the NHL, Connor Bedard

12:20 How the recruiting process was not very rigorous

13:40 When she started thinking about playing college hockey

14:45 What it was like going from losing in the national semifinals to going to play for Team USA at the World Championships

16:00 What it's like being a teammate and linemate of Taylor Heise, a Patty Kazmaier winner

17:10 What it is like to being a teammate of Hillary Knight after looking up to her

18:10 Players she grew up admiring, knowing Kendall Coyne

19:15 How she plays a physical game despite being 5-foot-5, how she ends up in the penalty box so much

21:15 What she's working on to improve

22:40 What playing against St. Thomas at Xcel Energy Center means

23:40 How the hockey culture is different in Minnesota vs. Illinois, how her family watches pro hockey now

24:40 What she's majoring in in college, how she wishes she could play hockey for a living, her hopes for her career after playing

26:15 Working camps, coaching younger players

26:50 The difference in pizza in Minnesota vs. Chicago

28:20 Working with former Team USA star Natalie Darwitz on the Gophers

28:50 What her offseason is like

29:45 Where she keeps her national team medals