MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota women's hockey coach Brad Frost says Amanda Kessel won't return to the Gophers to pay her senior season because of concussion-related issues.

Frost tells the Star Tribune the Gophers had the feeling Kessel "was not going to be able to play for us unless things turned around. "

In September, Kessel announced she would sit out the season for Minnesota, which won the NCAA title in March. The university said Kessel had not fully recovered from a head injury she suffered playing for the U.S. women's national team.

Her final season with the Gophers was 2012-13. She won the Patty Kazmaier Award as the top player in women's hockey.

Kessel scored 97 goals in her college career. Frost says Kessel still plans to return to the university to finish her degree.

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