U.S. Olympian Amanda Kessel will not play for the Minnesota Golden Gophers this season due to concussion symptoms that came as a result of injuries she sustained with the U.S. women's national team.
According to a statement from the university, the forward has been working with doctors at the Carrick Brain Center in Atlanta, and they collectively agreed that she needed to continue her recovery plan.
"I've had an unforgettable experience at the University of Minnesota thus far, so I'm disappointed that I won't be able to return to the team this year," Kessel said in a statement released by the Gophers. "It's obviously a difficult decision and one that I've taken time to come to terms with. As someone who has played through a lot of injuries, it wasn't until suffering a concussion that I fully understood the importance of being 100 percent healthy when I'm on the ice. Unfortunately, that isn't the case right now.
"My No. 1 priority is my health, and I hope that I'll be able to return to the ice in the future. I want to thank my coaches, teammates and everyone at the university for their support."
Wednesday's statement did not specify when or how Kessel began having the concussion symptoms.
Kessel, the younger sister of Toronto Maple Leafs forward Phil Kessel, was cleared to play in the 2014 Winter Olympics after undergoing hip surgery last year before the national team's fall/winter lead-up to the Games. She had three goals and three assists in five games in Sochi, where the Americans fell to Canada 3-2 in overtime in the gold-medal game.
In the previous year, she scored the game-winning goal to help the United States edge Canada 3-2 for the 2013 IIHF World Championship title.
"We obviously wish we could have Amanda with us this year, but her health is everyone's top priority," Minnesota women's hockey coach Brad Frost said in the statement. "She has come to the difficult conclusion to focus solely on her treatment at this time. We understand and support her decision and hope she fully recovers. She will always have a place in our locker room, and we will continue to support her."
Kessel, 23, scored 97 goals in 114 games at Minnesota en route to helping the Gophers win back-to-back NCAA titles in 2012 and 2013. She won the 2013 Patty Kazmaier Award as the nation's top female collegiate player.