Gophers center Ella Huber made one point above all else during a recent conversation at the Athletes Village on the University of Minnesota campus. Having entered her name into the PWHL draft that will be held on Tuesday night in Ottawa, she would be thrilled to be selected by any of the eight teams.

Until the league came along two years ago, Huber was all but resigned to the fact that her playing days were winding down. So, she considers it “a blessing” to be able to continue to play after college — wherever that might be.

But should her name be called by one of two teams in particular, that blessing would be twofold.

Gophers forward Ella Huber, left, celebrates with teammates after a goal by Abbey Murphy (center) in Minnesota’s 3-2 NCAA regional victory over Colgate on March 15, 2025, at Ridder Arena (Brad Rempel / Gophers Athletics)

For starters, being selected by the Frost would have Huber playing in her adopted hometown. She grew up in the Chicago suburb of Northfield, but her parents, John and Margie, relocated to Excelsior two years ago.

“My dad went to Minnetonka High School, so he always wanted to come back,” Huber said. “He’s been bugging our family to get out of Chicago for a while, so he finally pulled the plug.”

Huber is projected to be selected in the first two rounds. The Frost have the sixth pick in the first round and are believed to be eyeing a defenseman with their first pick. But that could change depending on how the first five picks fall.

Playing for the Frost would reunite Huber with former Gophers teammates Taylor Heise and Grace Zumwinkle. Former Gophers Lee Stecklein and Kelly Pannek also are on the team, and Huber has leaned on them all in her quest to learn all she can about playing in the PWHL.

“They love it, they love the opportunity to play,” Huber said. “It’s fast and it’s physical, as you would expect from watching. It’s exciting to hear from them because it gives me a better outlook for what it’s going to be like. Even lifestyle-wise, and everything else.”

Huber also has ties to Toronto, in a relationship with former Gophers winger Matthew Knies, who plays for the Maple Leafs. Huber, who said she has been dating Knies since her freshman year at the U, has made frequent trips to Toronto the past two years. As for the possibility of playing for the Toronto Sceptres, she said, “I would love it.”

Gophers captains Ella Huber, left, and Nelli Laitinen celebrate with the NCAA regional championship trophy after beating Colgate, 3-2, in the first round of the NCAA tournament at on March 15, 2025, at Ridder Arena. (Brad Rempel / Gophers Athletics)

“I love the city; it’s a great atmosphere,” Huber added. “And I love how the Sceptres are right in the city, unlike a lot of the teams.”

Knies is a restricted free agent, so the possibility exists that he could sign an offer sheet with another team this summer. But signing a long-term deal with the Maple Leafs is the likely outcome.

Should Huber and Knies end up playing in different cities, Huber said they’ll manage just fine.

“We’ve done it the last two years,” she said. “We can do it again.”

Huber will attend the draft in Ottawa, where she will be joined by her parents and Knies. She said she has taken part in Zoom calls with most of the original six teams in the league. Her ability to play both ends of the ice has her rated among the top forwards available.

“I think I’m a versatile player that can play in a lot of scenarios,” said Huber, listed at 5-foot-6 on the Gophers’ roster. “Taking that 200-foot game there from college can be really helpful. And just using my speed, as well. That will be one of my positives.”

Huber has been training on campus with current and former Gophers with an eye on improving her strength.

“The physicality definitely increases,” she said of the pro game, “but (her former teammates) mentioned as well that playing in the WCHA is a good jump. So, I think that will be beneficial as well.”

It wasn’t that long ago that Huber, who has earned her undergraduate degree, thought she would be using this summer to find a job, most likely in the medical field. Instead, an appealing employment opportunity awaits.

Tuesday night she’ll find out where she’ll be reporting for work.

Briefly

Gophers forward Natalie Mylnkova also is expected to be selected in the first two rounds. The Czechia native has excelled on the international stage, has good speed and a good scoring touch.

Gophers forward Peyton Hemp also has entered the draft, as have five players from St. Thomas: Lauren Stenslie, Madison Clough, Alli Pahl, Nicole Vallario and Calla Frank.

PWHL Draft

First-round order, and why, in Tuesday’s PWHL draft, which starts at 6 p.m. CDT in Ottawa. It will be streamed live on the league’s YouTube channel:

1. New York Sirens (most draft order points in “Gold Plan”)
2. Boston Fleet (non-playoff team)
3. Toronto Sceptres (lowest-ranked playoff semifinalist)
4. Montréal Victoire (highest-ranked playoff semifinalist)
5. Ottawa Charge (PWHL finalist)
6. Minnesota Frost (PWHL champion)
7. PWHL Vancouver*
8. PWHL Seattle*

* Expansion teams will alternate positions for next five rounds.

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By ERIC TUCKER

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Friday called for the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate the 2020 election won by Democrat Joe Biden, repeating his baseless claim that the contest was marred by widespread fraud.

“Biden was grossly incompetent, and the 2020 election was a total FRAUD!” Trump said in a social media post in which he also sought to favorably contrast his immigration enforcement approach with that of the former president. “The evidence is MASSIVE and OVERWHELMING. A Special Prosecutor must be appointed. This cannot be allowed to happen again in the United States of America! Let the work begin!”

Trump’s post, made as his Republican White House is consumed by a hugely substantial foreign policy decision on whether to get directly involved in the Israel-Iran war, is part of an amped-up effort by him to undermine the legitimacy of Biden’s presidency. Earlier this month, Trump directed his administration to investigate Biden’s actions as president, alleging aides masked his predecessor’s “cognitive decline.” Biden has dismissed the investigation as “a mere distraction.”

The post also revives a long-running grievance by Trump that the election was stolen even though courts around the country and a Trump attorney general from his first term found no evidence of fraud that could have affected the outcome. The Department of Homeland Security’s cybersecurity arm pronounced the election “the most secure in American history.”

It was unclear what Trump had in mind when he called for a special prosecutor, but in the event Attorney General Pam Bondi heeds his call, she may face pressure to appoint someone who has already been confirmed by the Senate. A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment Friday.

The Justice Department in recent years has appointed a succession of special counsels — sometimes, though not always, plucked from outside the agency — to lead investigations into politically sensitive matters, including into conduct by Biden and by Trump.

Last year, Trump’s personal lawyers launched an aggressive, and successful, challenge to the appointment of Jack Smith, the special counsel assigned to investigate his efforts to undo the 2020 presidential election and his retention of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida. A Trump-appointed judge agreed, ruling that then-Attorney General Merrick Garland had exceeded his bounds by appointing a prosecutor without Senate approval and confirmation, and dismissed the case.

That legal team included Todd Blanche, who is now deputy attorney general, as well as Emil Bove, who is Blanche’s top deputy but was recently nominated to serve as a judge on a federal appeals court.

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Minnesota added 6,600 jobs in May and the state’s labor force grew by 2,236 people, according to data released Friday from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development.

The state’s unemployment rate increased one-tenth of a percentage point to 3.3%, compared with 4.2% nationally. The labor force participation rate was flat at 68.2% from April, compared to 62.4% nationally. This measures the number of people working or actively seeking work as a percentage of the population. Minnesota has added people to labor force 10 out of the last 12 months, DEED said.

“May was another good month for Minnesota’s job market, with employment growth much stronger than the nation as a whole,” said DEED Commissioner Matt Varilek in a news release.

Over the month, six supersectors added jobs: Leisure & Hospitality, up 2,100 jobs; Education & Health Services, 3,800 jobs, and Trade, Transportation & Utilities, 2,500 jobs. Losing jobs were Mining & Logging, down 200 jobs; Construction, down 1,100, and the Other Services supersector, down 1,000 jobs.

Government employment was up 400 jobs over the month, but those gains were confined to state and local hiring. Overall, federal employers in Minnesota shed 400 jobs.

Of alternative measures of unemployment, the broadest, called the U-6, rose to 7% in May, from 6.8% in April and 5.4% a year ago, DEED said. This measure factors in people who have voluntarily left the labor force, such as stay-at-home parents, discouraged workers who have stopped seeking jobs, and part-time or otherwise marginally employed workers.

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By FABIOLA SÁNCHEZ and LUIS ALBERTO CRUZ

ACAPULCO, Mexico (AP) — Authorities in southern Mexico were still assessing damage and watching rising rivers Friday as rain from the remnants of Hurricane Erick doused the region.

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Torrential rains over steep coastal mountains and the landslides and flooding they could generate became the ongoing concern for officials after Erick dissipated following a landfall early Thursday on a sparsely populated stretch of coast.

The storm’s death toll remained at one Friday, a 1-year-old boy who drowned in a swollen river, President Claudia Sheinbaum said. She also said she planned to visit the affected region Friday.

Power had been restored to about half the 277,000 customers who lost it and soldiers, marines and National Guard were helping to remove debris and reopen roads in Guerrero and Oaxaca state where Erick passed.

Erick came ashore down southern Mexico’s Pacific coast in the morning as a Category 3 major hurricane, but it landed between the resort cities of Acapulco and Puerto Escondido. It dissipated Thursday night over the mountains in Michoacan state.

Authorities reported landslides, blocked highways, downed power lines and some flooding as coastal residents, above all in Acapulco, took the storm seriously with memories of the devastating Hurricane Otis in 2023 still fresh in their minds.

Erick once had Category 4 strength

Erick had strengthened to a Category 4 storm as it approached the coast but weakened before making landfall to a Category 3.

Having doubled in strength in less than a day, Erick churned through an ideal environment for quick intensification. Last year, there were 34 incidents of rapid intensification — when a storm gains at least 55 kph (35 mph) in 24 hours — which is about twice the average and causes problems with forecasting, according to the hurricane center.

One death reported

Authorities had warned the heavy rain would become the problem. On Friday, National Civil Defense Coordinator Laura Velázquez said a river in Juchitan, Oaxaca had spilled over its banks and some families had moved to shelter.

Forecasters had expected up to 40 centimeters (16 inches) of rain could fall across Oaxaca and Guerrero, with lesser totals in Chiapas, Michoacan, Colima and Jalisco states. The rainfall threatened flooding and mudslides, especially in areas with steep terrain.

Late Thursday, Guerrero state Civil Defense Director Roberto Arroyo said that a 1-year-old boy had died in San Marcos, an inland community southeast of Acapulco in the path of Erick. The child’s mother had tried to cross a swollen river while carrying the child, but he slipped from her arms and drowned.

Acapulco still scarred by Otis

Restaurants, shops and supermarkets gradually reopened in Acapulco, but schools were to remain closed across Guerrero on Friday as authorities continued to assess damage, clear debris and monitor rising rivers.

On Friday, the port was cloudy, but the rain had stopped.

Acapulco residents had braced for Erick’s arrival with more preparation and trepidation because of the memory of the devastation two years earlier.

The city of nearly 1 million was hit in October 2023 by Hurricane Otis, a Category 5 hurricane that rapidly intensified and caught many unprepared. At least 52 people died in Otis and the storm severely damaged almost all of the resort’s hotels.

“Many of us were frightened, but now it has passed,” Juan Carlos Castañeda, a 49-year-old security guard at an Acapulco condominium complex, said the previous night. He said the “tragedy of Otis marked all of us.”

Despite the rain, Castañeda decided to go out for a walk.

Cruz reported from Puerto Escondido, Mexico.

Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america