This week, Kelly Pannek ‘14 visited BSM during students’ lunches. Pannek recently won a gold medal as a forward on the USA’s women’s hockey team at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics. She was set up in the middle of the lunch room, making it easy for students to ask her questions about her experience at the Olympics.
As viewers watch the Olympic Games from home, they are shut out from what happens behind the scenes. “A lot of the Olympic structures are very temporary. So one of the arenas we played in was a permanent arena that they built for the Olympics and then to use after, but the other arena we played in was almost a shipping warehouse, so it’s not traditionally a hockey rink. That happens fairly frequently, that venues aren’t actually permanent structures. They’re using random spaces and making it into an Olympic venue,” Pannek said.
She also participated in the 2018 PyeongChang and 2022 Beijing Olympics, but she believed this year’s experience was extra special. “I think our team was just playing really well going into it, [and] it kind of felt like we had this mix of some young, fresh talent that had come in over the last few years, mixing in with some veteran experience. And so that felt really special just being able to do that with each other and have our sport and our team be celebrated throughout the Olympics,” Pannek said.
At the Olympics, Pannek also had the opportunity to represent Minnesota. Five players on the women’s team were from the state, making it the most represented state on the team. “On our team, there’s always been a lot of Minnesotans, which is part of…being the state of hockey, and it is really nice just having those people… [that] I’ve grown up playing with. I think we all take a lot of pride in representing the U.S. but also Minnesota as the state of hockey and carrying on the legacy that so many other women have carried on on this team before us,” Pannek said.
Pannek also plays in the Professional Women’s Hockey League for the Minnesota Frost, but training for and playing in the Olympics versus the professional season are very different. “[In the professional season], you get to go through the ups and downs of the season. And so you’re trying to also prepare for the long term. [In the Olympics], you’re there for two and a half weeks and a maximum of seven games, and you’re trying to build for each game to be peaking in that last one, so it’s just a lot more like short term.” Pannek said.
Many BSM students were excited to visit Pannek and learn about her experience at the Olympics. “I think it was really cool having Kelly come because she’s such a big role model. And a lot of the [girls] hockey players look up to her, and it’s cool to be able to hold her medals and see how much she’s accomplished,” junior and BSM girls’ hockey captain Katie Zakrajsheck said.