Schaus, Stack, Carpenter Named to US Women's Olympic Team

Three current and former members of the Boston College women's hockey team - Molly Schaus, Kelli Stack, and Alex Carpenter - were officially named to the United States women's national hockey team for the Olympic games during a ceremony at today's NHL Winter Classic.

While the announcement came as no surprise - the roster had been largely set through a series of pre-tournament exhibition games - it's still a tremendous moment for the three Eagles. BC has the most representatives of any Hockey East program on the US team, and all three are likely to be a big factor in the Americans' quest for their first gold in women's hockey since 1998.

Kelli Stack and Alex Carpenter have teamed up to form 2/3rds of a dominant first line with Wisconsin alum Hilary Knight that has consistently lit up Canada in a series of exhibitions this winter. Molly Schaus has split time in net with another Wisconsin alum, Jessie Vetter, and has a good chance of being the starter when the puck drops in Sochi next month.

Stack and Schaus graduated from BC in 2011 after taking the 2009-10 year off to participate in the last Winter Olympics in Vancouver, coming home with silver medals. This will be Alex Carpenter's first Olympic games. When she returns to BC in 2013-2014, it will be her junior season.

The men's Olympic hockey team will be announced at the conclusion of the Winter Classic on NBC. The most likely BC hopefuls for the men's Olympic team are probably Corey Schneider and (maybe) Brooks Orpik, but I would say both are bubble players at best. Jimmy Howard of the Detroit Red Wings seems to have punched his ticket as the US's third goalie behind Ryan Miller and Jonathan Quick.

USA Women's Hockey Olympic Schedule, per usahockey.com.