John’s Journal: Broken Wrist Can’t Stop Roseau’s Hovda

Jasmine Hovda is a rare hockey player. The Roseau sophomore center’s game includes a combination of skill, strength, speed … and a cast on a broken left wrist.

Imagine that, handling a hockey stick – which requires strong, quick wrists and nuance in moving the puck – with one of those wrists absolutely immobilized.

“I'm not super sure how she's able to handle the puck quite so well with a broken wrist,” coach Amanda Giles said after the Rams lost to Hill-Murray 8-2 in Thursday’s Class AA state quarterfinals at Xcel Energy Center. “It's extremely impressive and shows the character of her as a player.”

Jasmine was injured late in the final game of the regular season when she blocked a shot in a 7-4 win over Alexandria. When she was diagnosed with a broken wrist, she was informed that she would have to be out for a month or more.

"I told them that wasn't an option," Hovda told Brad Elliott Schlossman of the Grand Forks Herald earlier this week.

She held a stick in her hand as the cast was created.

“Right after I got it on, I was like, ‘Oh man, I need to go test this out,’ ” she told Schlossman. “I went to the rink right away and brought some clippers. I shot around. I cut off some pieces here and there and I made it work.”

And then she went on an impressive postseason tear that helped carry the Rams to state.

Three days after getting the cast, she had three goals and two assists in a 9-1 Section 8 playoff win over Sartell/Sauk Rapids Rice. Then she had a goal and an assist in a 3-2 semifinal victory over Brainerd. And in the big one, the section championship game against top-seeded Moorhead, Jasmine scored twice in the third period to make it a 4-4 game and got her second assist of the day when Karina Christianson scored the game-winner.

“Jasmine comes from a very athletic set of parents,” Giles said Thursday. “So I don't think there was any doubt in either of their minds that she was going to keep playing when she broke her wrist.”

Jasmine had a goal and assist in Thursday’s game, giving her 24 goals and a team-leading 60 points this season. She also -- remarkably, considering her broken wrist -- won 14 of 22 faceoffs.

Teammate Ella Ketring said of Hovda, “I think it just shows how much she actually loves the sport and how much she puts into it. It’s also very inspiring because she has a broken wrist and she's not giving up. It motivates our team to keep pushing through the pain. No matter what's going on, we just keep pushing through.”

Roseau is playing at state for the first time since 2020 and the seventh time in history. The Rams will meet Rosemount in the consolation bracket Friday at TRIA Rink in St. Paul.

--Read the Grand Forks Herald story on Jasmine here: https://www.grandforksherald.com/sports/prep/jasmine-hovda-leads-roseau-to-state-broken-wrist-and-all

--MSHSL senior content creator John Millea has been the leading voice of Minnesota high school activities for decades. Follow him on Twitter @MSHSLjohn and listen to "Preps Today with John Millea” wherever you get podcasts. Contact John at [email protected]