In an earlier post we reported women’s hockey will be back playing games Jan. 1. That has now changed and New Hampshire will travel to Worcester to take on Holy Cross at the Hart Center Rink. Puck drop is scheduled for 5pm. The game will be streamed live and can be viewed for FREE. All NCAA conference streaming information can be found below at the bottom of the post.
New Hampshire vs. Holy Cross Preview…
These two teams met just before Christmas on December 23rd with New Hampshire exploding for a four-goal second period enroute to a 6-2 victory. It’s been a short break for both squads as they were last two NCAA teams to play before the holiday break. Looking ahead, Holy Cross has a quick turnaround as they head up to Burlington, VT for a New Year’s series with Vermont Jan. 1 & 2. New Hampshire has the weekend off and return to action Jan. 8-9 vs. Northeastern in Boston.
Hockey East Cancels Games… Due to COVID testing date conflicts with the Boston University Women’s and Men’s teams returning to campus from the holiday break, each of their respective home-and-home series for this coming weekend have been cancelled. The women were set play New Hampshire and the Men vs. Northeastern.
Games Played Thus Far… In a quick scan of how the conference standings were matching up I began to notice how few games some teams have played. Of note, Wisconsin, Mercyhurst, Quinnipiac, Sacred Heart, Vermont, and Northeastern have only played 2 games thus far. In contrast, New Hampshire has played the most with 9 followed by Providence, Boston College, and MSU-Mankato with 8 and Holy Cross & UCONN with 7. If memory serves, 10 games played will be the magic number for NCAA tournament consideration this year. Normally, that number of games is 20.
Streaming Info
-Streams for games in the ECAC can be found HERE. Subscriptions will be necessary to watch games in the ECAC.
-Streams in the WCHA can be found HERE for homes games at Bemidji, MSU-Mankato, MN-Duluth, and St. Cloud. Streams for home games at Minnesota, Ohio St., and Wisconsin can be found HERE. Subscriptions will be necessary to watch games in the WCHA.
Streams in Hockey East this year can be found HERE and all streams FREE of charge for the 20-21 season.
-Streams for CHA games with the exception of Penn St. home games can be found HERE. Penn St. home game are streamed on the Big Ten Network + and can be found HERE.
By The Numbers-Where This Years D-I Players Are From…
Yale Helping NWHL…
Sifters…
By The Numbers-Where This Years D-I Players Are From…
32 U.S. states, 16 countries, and 10 Canadian provinces. That is where the 773 rostered players on NCAA D-I teams from the 2020-2021 season hail from. Here is a breakdown by U.S. state below.
Here is how each US state, the Canadian provinces, and each country match up.
Here are the top 10 producing locations around the globe:
LOCATION
NUMBER of PLYRS
Minnesota
172
Ontario
135
Massachusetts
72
New York
52
Michigan
35
Illinois
26
British Columbia
25
Wisconsin
22
Quebec
20
Connecticut
19
Keep in mind there are 10 teams not playing this year and those rosters are not accounted forin the above numbers. 10 teams X 24 (ave. roster size) = 240 players missing. That said, the top 3–Minnesota, Ontario, and Massachusetts have long been major producers of D-I talent. The question of ‘who has the best talent?’ would be a fun comparison by location. You could rank each location by total points produced and number of goalie wins, GAA, and SV %. Might take some time, would be interesting to see.
Yale School of Public Health Helping NWHL…
The NWHL has partnered with Yale Pathology Labs to provide Yale’s emergency FDA approved COVID SalivaDirect PCR and RNA viral tests to NWHL players and staff for the upcoming NWHL bubble season. The SalivaDirect tests for the NWHL will be the first provided to a professional women’s sports league. The NWHL will be hosting its entire regular season and Isobel Cup playoffs in Lake Placid, NY for two weeks between January 23 – February 5, 2021. You can read more on the NWHL’s partnership with Yale HERE.
Sifters…
3 NEWHA Teams Opt-out of Return to Play… On Dec 16th. the New England Women’s Hockey Alliance announced only 2 teams, Sacred Heart and Long Island University, would be continuing to schedule games this season. NEWHA will not have a regular season schedule or championship playoff competition for 20-21. NEWHA had announced on Dec. 9 that 5 NEWHA members would play a condensed schedule beginning in January. However, as discussions continued, St. Anselm, Franklin Pierce, and St. Michael’s College announced they would not continue their season due to COVID. Post University announced it was cancelling its season back in October. Schedules for Sacred Heart and LIU can be found online. You can read more about the announcement HERE.
D-III NCHA Plans to Move Forward… The Northern Collegiate Hockey Conference is planning to have a season starting sometime in January. The announcement was made Dec. 23 just before the holiday. You can read it HERE.
NBCSN to Televise NWHL Playoffs… For the first time in the USA and for the NWHL, each game of the Isobel Cup semi-finals and championship game will be televised live on NBCSN and streamed on the NBC Sports app. Click HERE for game times and future schedules.
Give The Pipeline a Follow… Give the Bulldog Pipeline a follow! You can find us on Twitter and Instagram. Just click the link below!
How The Top 10 fared… There were no games involving Top 10 teams this week.
COVID Postponements… With only 1 game on the schedule this week, Holy Cross @ New Hampshire, there were no COVID cancellations or postponements.
Late Scheduling… We posted earlier about how late into December games were being scheduled and as far as we can tell, all due to COVID. Holy Cross travelled to play New Hampshire Dec. 23rd and there were 7 other games scheduled from Dec. 17-20. In a normal year, games are usually done by the first or second week into December with the odd game here and there around the 18/19/20 of the month. I wonder if some of the results we saw could be attributed to playing so late into the month?Arriving to campus in August and playing as late as some did makes for a long semester away from home and family. The holiday break is usually around 10-12 days or so. Bemidji last played on the 18th and is back in action on Jan. 1. New Hampshire and Holy Cross who played on the 23rd will also be in action on Jan. 1, now that is a quick turnaround.
USA Hockey Magazine/USA Today D-I Women’s Hockey Poll was the only poll to come out after last weekend’s games. Not a lot of movement with Providence being the only ranked team to play. They split with Maine winning game one 4-0 but losing game two 2-1. With the loss, Providence drops two spots to #9, idle Clarkson and Boston College moves up to #7 and #8 respectively. The full poll is below;
Sifters…
Recruiting Page Coming Soon… A few posts ago we announced a new page coming soon to the Bulldog Pipeline – a recruiting resource page. Think of this as your one-stop-shop for NCAA recruiting rules, documents and all sorts of resources to help you stay informed about how the D-I women’s hockey recruiting process works. Progress is coming along and it should be up and running shortly.
NCAA Hockey COVID Related News… NCAA Men’s hockey lost another team as the University of Alaska-Fairbanks announced Dec. 11 they would opt-out of there season due to COVID related health concerns. You can read the story HERE.
NCAA D-III St. Norbert College announced Dec. 21 its women’s and men’s hockey team won’t be competing this season due to COVID. The announcement was made HERE.
The United Collegiate Hockey Conference of NCAA D-III announced it will begin competition for its member teams on Feb 19, 2021 as long as its safe to do so. No word was given on a schedule. William-Smith announced it would opt-out back in November and will not be participating. You can read the UCHC’s announcement HERE.
Social Media Internship… The American Hockey Coaches Association is looking for a social media intern and has officially posted for the position. The AHCA is looking for someone to help build their social media online presence through sites like Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, etc. Interested candidates can read about the position below and download the file. The internship runs from Jan-May, 2021.ahca-social-media-postDownload
Give The Pipeline a Follow… And speaking of social media, the Bulldog Pipeline is on Twitter and Instagram. Be sure to give us a follow – just click the link below!
How The Top 10 fared… Providence was the only team to play games this weekend as Northeastern games vs. Holy Cross were cancelled. The #7 Friars split with Maine winning game one 4-0 and losing game two 2-1. Everyone else was idle and will be until after the holiday.
COVID Postponements… COVID protocol caused the postponement of the Ohio St. @ Wisconsin series. The Northeastern/Holy Cross has been cancelled, exactly why is not yet known. Neither the Hockey East Conference or Northeastern/Holy Cross websites are saying exactly why… yet.
Firsts… Vermont saw their first game-action of the 20-21 season this past weekend. They hosted UNH in a Saturday/Sunday series at Gutterson Fieldhouse. It was also the debut of a revamped Gutterson Fieldhouse complete with new scoreboard. You can read more about the upgrades HERE.
Recruiting during COVID has been quite the challenge for college coaches, namely being able to evaluate players in person. The in-person ‘eye test’ has long been the gold standard for coaches to get a sense of how a player, well… plays. Evaluating by video however, has become much more prevalent over the years thanks to the internet and savvy parents and coaches with their iPhones & tablets. And in a year when NO off-campus recruiting has been allowed for D-I coaches – watching video is all we’ve had to go by.
I’ll be honest… watching video has been downright tough to watch if not impossible at times. Rarely is there broadcast quality video angle used where coaches can actually see whos doing what out there. It’s been a struggle just to see the jersey numbers of who’s playing. LiveBarn is like looking through a fishbowl. But let’s be honest, most high school and club teams that are playing games don’t have a videographer or a crew to set up a legit streaming broadcast. So it is what it is – for now. But there are some things a player, parent, or coach can do to make the video more palatable for college coaches to watch so we can get something out of it.
Improve The Camera Angle… quite a bit of video we get from players is shown from an ‘off-center’ type of angle. Mom or Dad is perched in a corner somewhere or behind the glass at ice level videotaping the game from a full length-of-the-rink view. Not ideal for trying to evaluate the play. Try to position yourself as close to center ice as possible and as high up so the video is not being shot through the glass. But not too high otherwise it will be tough to see jersey numbers.
Do follow the puck… if you drew the short straw for your team as the camera person and want to do a good job on the video part – don’t watch the game. Follow the puck so it’s in the middle of your screen at all times. This ensures you’ll get an equal amount of space in the shot relative to where the puck is. Coaches will see more of who’s involved that way.
Use a tripod… A tripod will help stabilize your camera and allow you to follow the play better. It can feel like we’re on a ride at Disney otherwise. They make some great phone and tablet tripods that don’t cost an arm and a leg.
UNTUCK YOUR JERSEYS!!!… Can’t say this enough – players – don’t tuck your jersey in you pants. Coaches can’t see your number and thus don’t know who you are.
Jersey and number color are important… Watching a game where teams have similar jersey and number colors don’t work. I recall watching a game in September where a team had black jersey base color and dark purple colored numbers. Couldn’t see a thing and after a while of straining my eyes, didn’t watch.
Players, send video of you WITHOUT the puck… A lot of video we get are clips of the player carrying the puck or just her shots on net. 98% of the game is played without the puck and while true we want to know what a player does with the puck, we do want to see how she plays without it and in all three zones. This is how we get a idea of what her positioning and overall ‘hockey IQ’ is like. So–DO send video clips or periods of play where we can see her in 1)Breakout situations, 2) Def. zone play, 3) Faceoffs in all 3 zones, 4) Offensive Zone entries, 5) For-checking situations, and 6) special teams–penalty killing and powerplay
Use some video editing software… One of the things that is hard to sometimes pick up on is – who am I supposed to be watching? Oftentimes the video clips we get is of a shift or multiple shifts in a row and we don’t even know who we need to watch… Players, #1, in your email please let us know what number you’re wearing and what color jersey your team is. We love the shadow circles some editing programs allow you to place in the video to highlight yourselves – those are great. iMovie evan has a tool where you can zoom in on video too help improve the camera angle even after it’s been shot. It’s called the ‘Ken Burns’… google it and you find out how to use it.
Sifters…
D-III vs. D-I… As we reported in a previous post, D-III Adrian college was looking to schedule games vs. D-I opponents. It has happened on the men’s side a bit this year already. Well, Adrian has been able to schedule 2 D-I games vs. Mercyhurst and Robert Morris on Jan. 2nd and 4th. You can read the story HERE.
Social Media Internship… The American Hockey Coaches Association is looking for a social media intern and has officially posted for the position. The AHCA is looking for someone to help build their social media online presence through sites like Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, etc. Interested candidates can read about the position below and download the file. The internship runs from Jan-May, 2021.ahca-social-media-postDownload
It’s a light schedule of games until Dec. 23rd, just 10 games. There is 1 weekend series postponed due to COVID: Ohio State @ Wisconsin. Here is the schedule as of 12/18/20 at 6:45am. Thursday had one contest–Bemidji and MSU-Mankato. The complete slate of games is below.
National Polls for the week of Dec 14…
What the Top 10 are up to…
The Polls… The USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Top 10 polls came out Monday. Both polls have some flip-flopping with Northeastern dropping a spot to #3 in the USCHO poll and #4 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll. Providence moves up to #7 and Clarkson drops a spot to #8. Boston University has dropped out of both polls. Mercyhurst debuts in at #10 in the USCHO poll while Quinnipiac claims #10 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll.
Where Is The Top 10 This Week… Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ohio State, Colgate, MN-Duluth, Clarkson, Boston College, as well as Mercyhurst/Quinnipiac are all idle until play picks up after Christmas. The only two Top 10 teams to skate before the holiday break are Northeastern who takes on Holy Cross and Providence will host Maine. Ohio St. and consensus #1 Wisconsin were supposed to play in Madison, both games are postponed due to COVID.
This time of year is always interesting to play games. Mid-December usually means exam time and this year shouldn’t be much different. While COVID has presented challenges with online classes, students are still facing end-of-semester work loads. Players’ attention is more divided than ever with so much going on. The challenge of staying focussed as a player becomes that much harder. End of semester fatigue is real and so is the stress that comes with it. These players will be ready for a much deserved break when games are done and they can go home.
Vermont is set to play its first games of the year vs. New Hampshire at home. Vermont was set to start earlier in November but its athletic administration decided to postpone things until now. With the exception of Sacred Heart, the five remaining teams in the NEWHA are still waiting to commence play which will take place after the holidays.
New Hampshire will host Holy Cross for one game on December 23rd. This usually is not the norm to play this late into December. Most teams finish up early after the first weekend or around mid-month due to exams or institutional rules. Never have we seen a game played so late in the month. Of course, this hasn’t been your normal year.
Streaming for each conference is listed below at the bottom of the page. All Hockey East games are streamed for FREE. ECAC, CHA, and WCHA are all paid subscription based services that require a fee to watch. We haven’t found a NEWHA streaming service for the conference yet. Please refer to each teams website for stream details.
Streaming Info
-Streams for games in the ECAC can be found HERE. Subscriptions will be necessary to watch games in the ECAC.
-Streams in the WCHA can be found HERE for homes games at Bemidji, MSU-Mankato, MN-Duluth, and St. Cloud. Streams for home games at Minnesota, Ohio St., and Wisconsin can be found HERE. Subscriptions will be necessary to watch games in the WCHA.
Streams in Hockey East this year can be found HERE and all streams FREE of charge for the 20-21 season.
-Streams for CHA games with the exception of Penn St. home games can be found HERE. Penn St. home game are streamed on the Big Ten Network + and can be found HERE.
How The Top 10 fared… Teams in the top 10 went 4-3-0 this weekend. #9 Boston Univ. dropped its lone game of the weekend to UCONN while #2 Northeastern and #9 Boston College split their home-and-home series, Northeastern winning game one and BC winning game two. #3 Minnesota swept MSU-Mankato, #1 Wisconsin, #4 Ohio St., #5 Colgate, #6 MN-Duluth, #7 Clarkson and #8 Providence were all idle.
COVID Postponements… COVID protocol caused the postponements of just two series, Minnesota/Ohio State and MN-Duluth/Wisconsin
Firsts… Mercyhurst, Merrimack, Quinnipiac and Sacred Heart all saw their first game-action of the 20-21 season.
Two coaching milestones were reached this past weekend. Mercyhurst head coach Mike Sisti notched career victories # 499 & 500 in a sweep of RIT. He is only the 2nd DI coach in NCAA women’s hockey history to amass 500 wins. Mark Johnson in #1 in D-I.
Cassie Turner, Head Coach of Quinnipiac University got her 100th victory in a sweep of Sacred Heart.
Understanding The Process-Coaches Want You, To Want Them!
In our fourth and final segment of ‘Understanding The Process’ we want to explain why it’s so important for coaches to select student-athletes who REALLY want to be a part of their school and hockey program.
When you consider all that a student-athletes goes through… a rigorous class day, a demanding hockey schedule with practices, video, travel/road trips, off-ice workouts, extra-curricular activities, time with friends etc., it takes a motivated individual to do it all at a high level and ENJOY what they do day-in-and-day-out. Because let’s be honest, if something isn’t enjoyable or you’re wishing you’d be elsewhere, there’s a little something that gets missed from the experience. Enjoyment should be a part of your college experience. That is why coaching staffs really like it recruits (who they are serious about) aren’t afraid to tell them their school is #1 on their list and they want to be there!
Players who attack life and the challenges they face head-on with enthusiasm, energy and a passion for the pursuit of excellence are the type of people coaches seek to be a part of their program. Often times in the recruiting process coaches get a player where they can just tell the player doesn’t seem to have that excitement for your school or your program, but wind up committing and coming anyway. These are the types of players where it’s like pulling teeth to get them to do anything and when they do what’s asked, it’s a half-assed effort. It’s a whole lot easier to ‘do what is being asked’ when you want to be there in the first place. We have news for you, every program in the country can be a tough place for someone who isn’t motivated to be there.
So, for you coaches who are advising your players, give them some help when it comes to communicating with a particular coaching staff… if they really like a school and feel it would be a tremendous experience on and off the ice, like it’s just the right fit all the way around… tell them TO TELL THE COACHING STAFF! Coaches love to hear when a player really wants to be at their school. If a coach has two equal players in terms of hockey ability but one is absolutely adamant about wanting to be at your school, who do you think the coach is going to want to take?
By having players who want to be at their school and a part of their program, coaches get to bypass the ‘pulling teeth process’ and have players who are motivated to immerse themselves in their program and have a truly enjoyable experience because the player wants to be there in the first place.
The NCAA schedule has 19 games between Thursday and Monday. There are 2 weekend series postponed due to COVID: Minnesota@OSU & Duluth@Wisconsin. Here is the schedule as of 12/10/20 at 10:20pm. Thursday’s slate of games are complete as you can see below. Video highlights, postgame reaction, and box scores from the weekend will be posted Tuesday next week.
National Polls for the week of Dec 7…
What the Top 10 are up to…
The Polls… The USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Top 10 polls are identical after last week’s games.
Minimal Movement… Providence moves up a spot to #8, BU loses 2 spots and is now at #10, and Boston College moves up one spot to #9. Your top 4 teams did not play–Wisconsin, Northeastern, Minnesota, and Ohio State. OSU had the week off while UW, MN, and NU had COVID postponements.
Where Is The Top 10 This Week… #1 Wisconsin and #6 MN-Duluth were to play in Madison–that has been postponed due to COVID. #2 Northeastern gets its first game action of the year in a home-and-home with #9 Boston College while #3 Minnesota’s series with #4 Ohio State is also postponed due to COVID. Minne was able to schedule a series with MSU-Mankato instead. #5 Colgate and #7 Clarkson and #8 Providence are all off this weekend. #10Boston University plays a single game at UCONN on Friday.
Series Previews & Streaming Info
Streaming for each conference is listed below. All Hockey East games are streamed for FREE. ECAC, CHA, and WCHA are all paid subscription based services that require a fee to watch. We haven’t found a NEWHA streaming service for the conference yet. Please refer to each teams website for stream details.
-International Games… Last week we mentioned the Swiss and German women’s national teams will meet for 3-games December 15-19 in Fussen, Germany pitting Yale alum and 2014 Swiss Olympian Phoebe Staenz against current Yale defensemen Tabea Botthof of Germany. Additionally we have learned Yale Sophomore Elle Hartje will play for the Slovak National Team in an event with Austria. We’re waiting to confirm the Austrian roster as Yale incoming Freshman ’20 Anja Trummer and Defensemen MeiLan Haberl have both played for the Austrian National Team.
Streaming Info…
-Streams for games in the ECAC can be found HERE. Subscriptions will be necessary to watch games in the ECAC.
-Streams in the WCHA can be found HERE for homes games at Bemidji, MSU-Mankato, MN-Duluth, and St. Cloud. Streams for home games at Minnesota, Ohio St., and Wisconsin can be found HERE. Subscriptions will be necessary to watch games in the WCHA.
Streams in Hockey East this year can be found HERE and all streams FREE of charge for the 20-21 season.
-Streams for CHA games with the exception of Penn St. home games can be found HERE. Penn St. home game are streamed on the Big Ten Network + and can be found HERE.
19 games dot the NCAA schedule this week beginning Thursday, the most this season. Will all 19 be played? We shall see. It’s a relatively light week for our players at Yale with exams approaching, Reading days began Monday and the exam period is from Dec. 11-18. Due to Ivy/Yale rules, we’ll let those enrolled focus on finishing the semester strong and catch back up with everyone after exams are over on the 19th.
Some D-I men’s program are scheduling DIII teams to help fill their out schedule. Bowling Green and Lake Superior State have both played Adrian College, and this weekend MSU-Mankato will play MSOE–Milwaukee School of Engineering. Minnesota played Hamline last year in an exhibition game winning 9-0 and outshooting Hamline 47-13. You had one of the best in DI play one of the best in DIII. One has to wonder how much DI teams are going to get out of playing these type of games, COVID and all. Adrian College Head Coach Shawn Skelly did tell me this morning he is actively seeking DI teams to schedule if he can get them. We’ll keep an eye on this.
The last DI conference to make a season scheduling announcement–the New England Women’s Hockey Alliance–has announced it will play a modified season schedule beginning in January. You can read the official press release HERE. Schedules will be released by each NEWHA league member soon.
