Monthly Archives: March 2021

Post #38 — 3/27/21 — D-I Season Notes, Recruiting News, D-III Season, Sifters

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In This Post…

  • Recruiting Rule of The Day
  • 20-21 NCAA Season Notes
  • Recruiting: Spring Information Thaw
  • D-III Wrap-Up
  • Sifters

Recruiting Rule of The Day…

13.02.14.1 Recruited Prospective Student-Athlete is defined by the NCAA as…

Actions by staff members or athletics representatives that cause a prospective student-athlete to become a recruited prospective student-athlete at that institution are: (Revised: 1/10/90, 1/11/94 effective 8/1/94, 1/10/05 effective 8/1/05, 12/13/05, 4/26/17 effective 8/1/17, 4/25/18)

(a) Providing the prospective student-athlete with an official visit;
(b) Having an arranged, in-person, off-campus encounter with the prospective student-athlete or the prospective student- athlete’s family members; or
(c) Issuing a National Letter of Intent or the institution’s written offer of athletically related financial aid to the prospective student-athlete. Issuing a written offer of athletically related financial aid to a prospective student-athlete to attend a summer session prior to full-time enrollment does not cause the prospective student-athlete to become recruited.

20-21 NCAA Season Notes

With the NCAA season now complete, we imagine just about anyone who had anything to do with the 20-21 season is getting some much needed time off. COVID presented challenges unimaginable. There was no what-to-do-in-the-case-of-a-pandemic playbook to draw from. But now there is, and there are so many people to thank who made this season possible. So, a few thank you’s and some notes as we head into the Spring and await what the 21-22 season will bring.

  • To the Conference Commissioners… Jennifer Flowers-WCHA, Rob DeGregorio-College Hockey America and the New England Hockey Alliance (NEWHA), Steve Hagwell-ECAC, and Steve Metcalf-Hockey East. There aren’t enough THANK YOUs to go around. Without their collective determination, leadership, guidance, patience, and cooperation, we doubt a hockey season would have been in the cards.
  • To the Players… You are the ones who had to play the games and a feel level of safety doing so, otherwise you wouldn’t have played the games. You had to change how you lived your lives in order to keep your seasons safe as well as your teammates, coaches, and staff safe. The pressure you were all under to accomplish that, no one will ever fully know.
  • To the Coaches, school administrators & support staff… One can only imagine the stress level you all were under in this type of season. Hockey is a game that changes at a moments notice, and so was the case this year with how you had to manage everything about how this hockey season had to go in order for it to happen at all. To say this year was a grind, would be an understatement. To every coaches credit, you made it to the end and allowed for the ultimate to happen – the crowning of a national champion.
  • 11 of 41 D-I teams did not have a season in 20-21.
  • Of those teams who played a conference schedule, Robert Morris and Northeastern played the most games this year with 25. The least was played by Vermont with 11.
  • No two teams played more games vs. one another than Clarkson and Colgate. They played 10 games against one another.
  • 31 Hockey East games were broadcast on television this year on NESN the New England Sports Network.
  • ESPN and its family of networks broadcast the Frozen Four on ESPNU for the first time and will continue to for years to come after signing and multi-year contract with the NCAA.
  • Northeastern Junior forward Alina Mueller, (yes, junior), led the nation in scoring with 12 goals, 26 assists for 38 points in 25 games played.
  • Northeastern goaltender Aerin Frankel led the nation in goaltending statistics with a 0.81 GAA and a .965 SV %.
  • As of March 25 there were total of 79 women’s ice hockey players in the NCAA Transfer Portal, 35 joined since March 1.

Recruiting: Spring Information Thaw?

One vitally important aspect of the recruiting process largely missing since the pandemic hit as compared to most years, has been a lack of communication and information from college coaches back to recruits, their families, and club/high school coaches. This lapse in communication has been a major source of angst and confusion for players of the 2021 and 2022 recruiting classes who are trying to figure out what their academic and hockey future holds. But, as the saying goes ‘times heals all wounds’… and there could be some healing soon.

With the D-I season now over, college coaches will soon become better equipped to have these all important recruiting conversations with the ’21 and ’22 classes. But why the lapse in the first place? College coaches didn’t have all the info they needed to give recruits the direction they wanted. The NCAA muddied the recruiting process by granting everyone an extra year of eligibility in the Fall. That meant college coaches were put in the not so envious position of dealing with their graduating seniors and figuring out if their were going to return for a 5th year next fall. This added the opportunity for more transfer situations to occur than normal.

So, 2021 and 2022 recruits got stuck in the middle having had conversations with coaches last summer and then getting put on hold as COVID delayed everything, etc. In the coming weeks, college coaches will have a much b etter idea of what their rosters will look like. Why? It’s transfer season and things are really starting to heat up.

Transfer decisions usually happen at the end of the hockey season around now. College coaches generally don’t plan for transfers when forecasting future recruiting classes but that is something they’ve had to take into account this year with COVID. Transfering is not a quick or easy process. A player has to find a program, be academically eligible, and go through the admissions process at the institution as well as figure out finances. All that takes time… and now is when all of these decisions are happening.

To players and parents – hang tight. The information you are seeking is coming soon. As stated above, there are 79 women’s ice hockey players in the transfer portal, 35 joined since March 1. There are surely more to come. You can bet college coaches are scouring the portal to see who is making themselves available. All of this action will help coaches get a handle on how they’re going to manage their rosters and help shape the type of conversations they need to have with recruits.

D-III Wrap-Up

While the D-I season is over, some D-III teams are still playing. It’s been an odd season at D-III with the NCAA cancelling the NCAA National Championship due to lack of participation. Some conferences decided to allow their member teams to play games but not have a structured conference schedule. 21 of 65 D-III teams have not played a game this year. The CCC, MAC, NEHC, NESCAC, and NEWHL did not have conference schedules or playoffs. The MIAC, NCHA, UCHC, and WIAC, played conference schedules to the best of their abilities. The NCHA held it’s conference tournament with Adrian beating St. Scholastica 3-0 and 3-2 to take the best two-out-of-three. The UCHC’s top 8 teams will meet in their conference tournament which will run April 1-6, 2021. UW-River Falls beat UW Eau Claire 2-1 in game 3 for the WIAC conference championship held March 17-19. River Falls took game one 3-2, Eau Claire came back to win game two 3-0 to force a third and deciding game.

Sifters

COVID Update out of Ontario…

  • Teams registered with the OWHA will not be allowed to travel to the USA for tournaments in 21-22
  • Tournaments held in Ontario have not been sanctioned or given the green light just yet
  • No player movement from one team to another will be allowed until Sept. 1, 2021
  • Team tryouts are slated to begin Sept. 1

More Awards…

  • Northeastern head coach Dave Flint was named CCM/AHCA National D-I Coach of the Year. You can read the release HERE.
  • Penn State’s Kiara Zanon has won the AHCA Rookie of the Year Award chosen by D-I assistant coaching staffs. Each staff gets one vote. Runner up was Colgate goaltender Kayle Osborne.
  • Speaking of Penn State, the Nittany Lions will host the 2022 women’s Frozen Four next year.
  • The CCM/AHCA All-American Awards have been announced with two teams of six:

FIRST TEAM
G – Aerin Frankel, SR, Northeastern
D – Grace Bowlby, SR, Wisconsin
D – Skylar Fontaine, SR, Northeastern
F – Alina Mueller, JR, Northeastern
F – Danielle Serdachny, SO, Colgate
F – Daryl Watts, SR, Wisconsin

SECOND TEAM
G – Emma Soderberg, JR, Minnesota Duluth
D – Cayla Barnes, JR, Boston College
D – Ashton Bell, SR, Minnesota Duluth
F – Chloe Aurard, JR, Northeastern
F – Kiara Zanon, FR, Penn State
F – Grace Zumwinkle, SR, Minnesota

  • The Patty Kaz Award… will be unveiled at 2pm this afternoon on the NHL network during an hour-long special. Check your local cable and satellite provider for channel listings. The finalists are Northeastern goaltender Aerin Frankel, Wisconsin forward Daryl Watts, and Minnesota forward Grace Zumwinkle. You can get more info HERE.

The MN Girls State High School Tournament… is currently underway. The quarter-finals in class AA begin today at the Xcel Energy Center home of the MN Wild. The Class A quarter-finals wrapped up yesterday. You can get the Class A & AA tournament bracket HERE with scores and schedules.

COVID Bounces Men’s Teams from NCAA Tourney… Luckily this did not happen in the women’s NCAA tourney, but on the men’s side both Michigan and Notre Dame had to leave the tournament before playing a game due to positive tier I COVID cases. Tier I cases are those that involve people with the closest contact to players such as the players themselves, coaches, support and medcial staffs. Obviously a huge blow to both teams. Under tournament rules, BC and MN-Duluth automatically advance to the regional finals.

Until Next Time… Have a great weekend everyone!

Post #37 — 3/23/21 — Wisconsin Wins 6th NCAA Title 2-1 in OT vs Northeastern

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In This Post…

  • Recruiting Rule of The Day
  • Wisconsin Wins 6th NCAA Title

Recruiting Rule of The Day…

12.1.2 Amateur Status

An individual loses amateur status and thus shall not be eligible for intercollegiate competition in a particular sport if the individual: (Revised: 4/25/02 effective 8/1/02, 4/23/03 effective 8/1/03, 4/29/10 effective 8/1/10)
(a) Uses his or her athletics skill (directly or indirectly) for pay in any form in that sport;
(b) Accepts a promise of pay even if such pay is to be received following completion of intercollegiate athletics participation;
(c) Signs a contract or commitment of any kind to play professional athletics, regardless of its legal enforceability or any consideration received, except as permitted in Bylaw 12.2.5.1;
(d) Receives, directly or indirectly, a salary, reimbursement of expenses or any other form of financial assistance from a professional sports organization based on athletics skill or participation, except as permitted by NCAA rules and regulations;
(e) Competes on any professional athletics team per Bylaw 12.02.12, even if no pay or remuneration for expenses was received, except as permitted in Bylaw 12.2.3.2.1;
(f) After initial full-time collegiate enrollment, enters into a professional draft (see Bylaw 12.2.4); or (g) Enters into an agreement with an agent.

Wisconsin Wins 6th NCAA Title

3:16 into overtime, Wisconsin Senior forward Daryl Watts intentionally shot the puck from behind Northeastern’s net banking the puck off a Northeastern defender and into the net giving the Badgers its 6th NCAA national title. You can watch the OT winner below.

Here is Watts’ postgame interview where she mentions intentionally trying to bank the puck off NU’s Frankel.

The game itself was a fantastic showing for women’s hockey in general, not just at the NCAA D-I level. And the game looked great on television. This one had everything: two highly skilled and great skating teams, officials that let both teams play, a fast furious pace, great goaltending on both sides, and of course – high drama as a national championship was won in overtime.

Wisconsin struck first after a scoreless 1st period. Skating hard to the net, McKenna Webster banged home a rebound off NU goaltender Frankel’s left pad from a Casey O’Brien shot at the 11:00 mark of the second period.

That lead was short lived as Northeastern’s Chloe Aurard tied the score at 1-1 just :39 seconds later as Aurard rifled a snap-shot past Blair’s glove hand high in the right top corner.

Game video highlights are below courtesy of NCAA.com

Wisconsin Postgame Press Conference |Northeastern Postgame Press Conference

Anyone could say you hate to see a team lose a national title game this way, it was an unconventional goal. But you do have to marvel at the level of thinking displayed by Watts to do what she did and in the moment she did it in. That’s Gretzky/Lemieux type stuff. Practice, sure… but in OT of the national championship game?

NCAA Tourney Notes:

  • Hats off to the NCAA staff and all the teams who were in Erie. We didn’t hear of any positive cases and no games had to be cancelled. Congrats to everyone on ensuring safety and health for all.
  • Kudos to ESPN for not only broadcasting the Frozen Four (and for years to come!), but having A.J. Mleczko and Clay Matvick in the booth. It doesn’t get any more professional that those two.
  • For anyone who knows or has followed Wisconsin head coach Mark Johnson over the years, you know how much of an even keel guy he is. The look of pure elation on his face as the Wisconsin staff embraced on the bench after the winning goal was priceless… perhaps there was a little bit of relief as well with everything this year of COVID has brought and at the same time, knowing now the season is now over too?
  • This game could have just as easily have been won by Northeastern. They took some punches but weathered each blow and returned some of those punches too. True to form, Frankel was outstanding. She ends the year with ridiculous numbers… .965 save % and 0.85 goals against average in 23 games played. Northeastern had a marvelous season going 22-2-1.

Thoughts on the season, a youth/minor hockey update, and what the Spring and Summer could bring for NCAA coaches… all in tomorrow’s post.

Until Next Time… Have a great weekend everyone!

Post #36 — 3/19/21 — NCAA Championship Set, Recruiting, and Sifters

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In This Post…

  • Recruiting Rule of The Day
  • NCAA Championship Set
  • Recruiting: Spring Information Thaw Coming?
  • Sifters

Recruiting Rule of The Day…


12.2.2.2.1 Before Enrollment. In sports other than men’s ice hockey and skiing, prior to initial full-time enrollment in a collegiate institution, an individual may participate in practice sessions conducted by a professional team, provided he or she does not receive more than actual and necessary expenses to participate.

Actual and necessary expenses are considered items needed for the athlete to participate in her sport. Meals, lodging, apparel-equipment-supplies, coaching and instruction, transportation to/from home/living quarters to practice-games-events, health/medical insurance, facility usage, entry event fees, any other reasonable expenses.

NCAA Championship Set, #2 Wisconsin to face #1 Northeastern

The #2 seed Wisconsin Badgers will take on #1 seed Northeastern Huskies for the National Collegiate Championship Saturday March 20th at 7:30pm EST. The game will be broadcast live on ESPNU. Check you local cable/satellite provider for channel listings.

In the first semi-final of the day… Northeastern beat MN-Duluth 3-2 in OT sending the Huskies to its first-ever national championship game in program history. Down 2-0 heading into the third period, the Huskies erased a two-goal deficit to force overtime. Then, with just over 30-seconds remaining in overtime, Husky senior Defensemen Skylar Fontaine picked off a Duluth breakout pass to the middle of the ice at her own blueline, deeked oncoming Duluth defender Maggie Flaherty with a nifty forhand-backhand 1-on-1 move and beat UMD goaltender Soderberg high to the glove side with a shot from between the left-side faceoff dot and the inside circle hashmarks.

UMD would scored twice in the first period, the first coming at the 10:03 mark from Monnon McMahon, her 1st of the year. Taylor Anderson potted the second just a little more than five minutes later. UMD had the better part of the play in the first, but the tables turned in the second. Northeastern got their legs and took over from there out shooting UMD 43-15 from the 2nd period on. The Huskies started the 3rd period on a 5-on-3 powerplay which they scored on the 5-on-4 portion. Maureen Murphy was left alone on the backdoor and scored at the :47 second mark provided the spark NU needed. Less than five minutes later, NU’s Veronika Pettey was in puck pursuit mode forechecking UMD’s Flaherty in UMD’s defensive zone. Pettey picked off a reverse breakout pass in the corner, fed linemate Andrea Renner at the left side faceoff dot who let go a missile on net causing a rebound that Katy Knoll was to bang home and tie the game at 2.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS | N’Eastern Postgame Video | Duluth Postgame Recap

In the nightcap… Wisconsin held off Ohio State 4-2 to advance to its 9th national title game and 3rd in the last four years. The Badgers and Buckeyes played for the 6th time vs. one another this season, so there weren’t any secrets on what each team should have expected. Wisconsin opened the scoring at the 1:19 mark of the first period as Casey O’Brien chased down a loose puck in the OSU end to try and feed a streaking McKenna Webster where the actually bounced off an OSU defender past Ohio netminder Andrea Braendli for the 1-0 early lead.

The Badger line of Schneider, O’Brien, and Webster would click for two more goals in the 2nd period giving Wisconsin a 3-0 lead at the midway point of the game. Schneider finished off a great feed from O’Brien on the back door into a virtually open net to make it 2-0. The Badgers third goal came off a perfectly executed 3-on-2 zone entry play. Schneider forced a turnover at the Badger defensive zone blueline that was picked up by O’Brien. O’Brien, carrying the puck up ice made a great puck-protection play to maintain possession vs. an OSU defender heading into the OSU zone. O’Brien found Webster charging through the middle of the ice. Schneider bolted for the back post area and Webster held the puck just long enough for OSU’s goalie to commit to her and when she did, Webster slid the puck to her left where Schneider had an empty net and made it 3-0. OSU would get on the board to make it 3-1 when Gabby Rosenthal netted her 5th of the year with six minutes to go in the 2nd period. That seem to inject OSU with some life as they really picked up their play. In the 3rd, OSU made it 3-2 on Sara Sakkinen’s 2nd of the year. OSU had some chances to tie it up, but could never get the equalizer. Wisconsin’s Daryl Watts scored an empty-netter with 14 seconds remaining to seal it for the Badgers. OSU outshot Wisconsin 39-23.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS | Wisconsin Postgame | Ohio State Postgame Video

Recruiting: Spring Information Thaw Coming?

The recruiting cycle for the next few years, which was upended by COVID and made more complicated thanks to the NCAA extra year of eligibility, could be coming a bit clearer soon. It’s been difficult to get the kind of information players and parents need from college programs to make decisions. With Spring on the way and the hockey season nearly over, that type info might be more readily available. In a new section coming to our website – Recruiting & Resources, we’ll tackle the topic of how the Spring and early summer recruiting may play out. Stay Tuned!

Sifters

Patty Kaz Watch… The Patty Kamzaier Award’s top 3 finalists have been named. They are: Northeastern goaltender Aerin Frankel, Wisconsin forward Daryl Watts, and Minnesota forward Grace Zumwinkle. You can read the official announcement HERE. The winner will be announced on the NHL network on March 27. More to come on that soon.

Goaltender of the year Award… The Women’s Hockey Commissioners Association has named Northeastern senior goaltender Aerin Frankel the inaugural Goaltender of the Year Award winner for the 20-21 season. You can read the official announcement HERE and watch N’Eastern’s video HERE.

Coach of the Year Honors… CCM and the American Hockey Coaches Association have announced the six nominees for Coach of the Year. To be nominated, coaches my be named Coach of the Year in their respective conference or make it to the Frozen Four. The winner will be announced later today – March 19. They are:

NameSchool
Maura CrowellMinnesota-Duluth
Greg FargoColgate
Dave FlintNortheastern
Mark JohnsonWisconsin
Jeff KampersalPenn State
Nadine MuzerallOhio State

Until Next Time… Have a great weekend everyone!

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.

Post #35 — 3/18/21 — NCAA Frozen Four

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In This Post…

  • NCAA Frozen Four Games

NCAA Frozen Four Games

The Frozen Four has arrived. We’re down to 4 teams left in the NCAA National Collegiate Women’s Ice Hockey Championships.

March 18, 2021

#5 MN-Duluth vs. #1 Northeastern | 2pm EST | ESPN3 Stream – Link

#3 Ohio State vs. #2 Wisconsin | 7pm EST | ESPNU Broadcast… check local cable/satellite listings in your area

Two great games on tap… full recap tomorrow.

Enjoy!

Until Next Time… Have a great weekend everyone!

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.

Post #34 — 3/15/21 — NCAA Preview – Day 2

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In This Post…

  • Recruiting Rule of The Day
  • NCAA Preview

Recruiting Rule of The Day…

Question: During the temporary COVID-19 dead period, may a coach of a prospective student-athlete or an individual associated with a prospective student-athlete have in-person contact with an institution’s coach?

Answer: No. The temporary COVID-19 recruiting dead period was established by the NCAA Division I Council Coordination Committee as one way the Division I membership may be able to avoid the unnecessary health and safety risks associated with travel and in-person interactions between coaches and student-athletes and other individuals they may encounter during these activities.

NCAA Preview…

Game one of the 2021 NCAA National Collegiate Women’s Ice Hockey Championships is in the books with #1 seed Northeastern a 5-1 winner over #8 seed Robert Morris University. Tonight, it’s the 5/4 matchup at 7pm EST. between MN-Duluth of the WCHA and Colgate of the ECAC. The other half of the bracket plays tomorrow at 2pm & 7pm. Below is a preview of both games.

#7 Providence vs. #2 Wisconsin | Tuesday March 16, 2pm EST | Link to Live Stream on NCAA.com

  • Wisconsin comes in as the #2 ranked team in both polls with a record of 14-3-1, and 6-1-1 in it’s last eight games. Wisco only played two games prior to January when they split with Ohio State Nov. 27 & 28. Offensively they are led upfront by former Patty Kaz. winner Daryl Watts who in 18 games has 17G’s and 16A’s good for 33 pts. Additionally are two seniors, Brette Pettet and Grace Bowlby with 19 and 17 pts. a piece respectively. Bowlby has 0 goals and 17 assists. Rounding out the production is Junior forward Sophie Shirley 2nd in team scoring with 23 pts. and and mid-year freshman transfer Lacey Eden who has contributed 8 goals and 7 assts. good for 15 pts. In net backstopping this group is Kennedy Blair with a 1.70 goals against ave. and a .937 save percentage. Ironically she transferred from Mercyhurst to Wisco and will feel right at home in familiar territory.
  • Providence is making its first NCAA appearance since 2005 when it lost a 6-1 decision to Minnesota and the first appearance under head coach Matt Kelly. It’s been a tale of two season for Providence. The Friars went 7-2-1 in its first ten games while mustering a 5-5-0 record in its last ten. Offensively the Friars are led by Juniors, Sarah Hjalmarsson with 5 goals and 12 assists and Caroline Peterson right behind her with 8 goals and 7 assists. Freshman D Brooke Becker has been impressive this season leading the D corps in scoring with 14 pts. with 3G’s and 11A’s. Freshman D Claire Tyo has also been a bright spot for the Friars chipping in 3G’s and 8A’s for 11 pts. In net it’s been the Sara Abstreiter show playing in all of the Friars’ twenty games having a .927 SV % and a 2.05 GAA.
  • Providence Preview | Wisconsin Video Preview

#6 Boston College vs. #3 Ohio State | Tuesday March 16, 7pm EST | Link to Live Stream on NCAA.com

  • Ohio State comes into the NCAA tourney having just lost the WCHA Championship 3-2 in OT to Wisconsin which it had won a year earlier against the same Badgers. Then COVID hit and everything was put on hold. You could say OSU has a bit of unfinished business to tend to perhaps? OSU finished the year at 12-6-0 and had wins vs. every team it faced at least once. OSU has 8 wins vs. nationally ranked teams with 4 vs. teams in the tourney. The offense is by committee but is led by Seniors Emma Maltais and Tatum Skaggs with 15 and 17 pts. a piece. Sophomore Jennifer Gardiner is tied for the team lead in goals with 8. Junior goaltender Andrea Braendli has seen the lion’s share of the net-minding duties posting a .918 SV % and a 1.99 GAA in sixteen games played.
  • Boston College lost to UCONN in its Hockey East quarter-final game 5-1 but had a body of work the NCAA selection committee agreed was worthy of getting into the tourney. BC went 14-5-0 overall with key wins vs. Northeastern (NU’s only blemish) back in Nov. and Providence in overtime back in the middle of Feb. Junior forwards Savanna Norcross and Kelly Browne pace the Eagles with 20 pts. a piece. Sophomore forward Hannah Bilka and D Hadley Harmetz are right behind them with 15 and 14 pts. each. All three goalies have seen time this year with Abigail Levy having a 6-3-0 record, a .945 SV % and 1.64 GAA.
  • Ohio State Preview | Boston College Preview

Until Next Time… Have a great weekend everyone!

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.

Post #33 — 3/12/21 — Wknd Wrap-Up, NCAA Polls, NCAA Preview, Sifters

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In This Post…

  • Recruiting Rule of The Day
  • WKND Wrap-Up
  • NCAA Polls
  • NCAA Preview
  • Sifters

Recruiting Rule of The Day…

Question: During the temporary COVID-19 recruiting dead period, may a prospective student-athlete reach out to a student-athlete, on his/her own accord, to meet and tour campus?

Answer: During the temporary COVID-19 recruiting dead period, institutions may not be involved in securing or arranging a prospective student-athlete’s visit to campus. However, this does not preclude a prospective student-athlete from reaching out to a student-athlete, on his/her own accord, to meet and tour campus. As previously noted, the temporary COVID-19 recruiting dead period was established by the NCAA Division I Council as one way the Division I membership may be able to avoid the unnecessary health and safety risks associated with travel and in-person interactions between coaches and student-athletes and other individuals they may encounter during these activities.

Weekend Wrap-Up…

All four conference tournaments concluded by the end of last Sunday. Here’s a run-down on how each of the conference tournaments finished up.

Hockey East Notes…

  • Northeastern won its fourth straight Hockey East playoff championship defeating Providence 6-2 in the Championship game. Northeastern’s path included a 7-0 win over UNH in the quarter-finals and a tightly contested 2-1 semi-final win over UCONN.
  • Providence made its first trip to the Hockey East championship game under head coach Matt Kelly but it wasn’t easy. The needed a pair of one-goal wins, 4-3 over #6 seed Boston University and it took overtime to get by #5 seed Maine 1-0 in the semis.
  • Is parity here to stay? Two teams, #7 seed UCONN and #5 seed Maine had to win on the road. UCONN won their quarter-final games as they “upset” #2 seed Boston College 5-1. Maine beat Vermont 3-1 in Burlington and took Providence to OT at Providence. This was UCONN’s 5th trip to the semis in seven years and the second time in as many years it ended BC’s Hockey East championship run.

ECAC Notes…

  • Colgate won its first ever ECAC playoff championship coming from behind to beat St. Lawrence 3-2. Colgate beat Quinnipiac 2-1 in the semis to get to the championship game.
  • St. Lawrence had one of the more interesting paths to get to the ECAC finals. Having only started its season in January, SLU’s schedule included playing North Country arch-rival Clarkson three straight games to to end the regular season. SLU won each game 4-3 in OT, 2-1, and 5-1. This ultimately set up game #4 vs. the Golden Knights in the ECAC semi-finals. That’s 4 games in eight days. SLU came out on top again–its fourth straight win 4-3 on OT. However, there was a bit of controversy on the OT goal. Clarkson challenged the OT winner saying the puck hit something as it was flipped into the air, a flag or the scoreboard perhaps. You can’t tell on video what exactly happened. Nonetheless, SLU advanced to ECAC Championship game.

College Hockey America Notes…

  • Robert Morris University beat Syracuse to win the Peters Cup 1-0 and earned a date with #1 ranked Northeastern in the first round of the NCAA’s. RMU’s path to the CHA championship included a first-round 4-0 over RIT, a 3-2 OT thriller vs. arch-rival Mercyhurst where it had to come from behind down 2-1 heading into the 3rd period. In the final, it was a 1st period Gillian Thompson goal and sold goaltending my Raygan Kirk to seal the win.
  • Syracuse got by Lindenwood with a 6-0 first round win setting up a semi-final clash with #7 nationally ranked Penn State. The Orange beat Penn State to get to the finals 3-2 but it wasn’t easy. Syracuse built a 3-0 lead heading into the 3rd period where Penn State, playing for it collective postseason lives, scored twice cutting Syracuse’s lead to one, with under nine-minutes to play.
  • Syracuse had been on a roll toward the end of the season going 9-0-0 before losing to RMU in the finals.

Western Collegiate Hockey Association Notes…

  • The WCHA was the only conference championship that needed overtime. Tournament #1 seed Wisconsin beat #3 seed Ohio State 3-2 in OT on a Lacey Eden goal, second of the game, less than a minute into overtime. OSU tied the game at two on a Sophie Jacques goal in the 3rd period at about the halfway point.
  • Wisconsin got to the finals by beating #4 seed Minnesota in its semi-final 5-3. It was the 5th time this season Wisconsin and MN had met. Wisconsin had built leads of 2-0 and 4-3 before putting the game away late in the third period at 19:45 with a tally from Brita Curl.
  • #3 seed Ohio State squared off against #2 seed MN-Duluth in its semi-final and routed the Bulldogs 7-2. A five-goal second period for OSU sealed its date with Wisconsin for the WCHA title.

NEWHA Commissioner’s Cup Notes…

  • Last week the New England Women’s Hockey Alliance held a special end of the year event for Long Island Univ. and Sacred Heart, the only two programs to play a consistent schedule of games this season. It was a best two-out-of-three series event with LIU winning the series 2-0.

NCAA Polls…

Weekly polls are out as of March 8th.

USCHO.com Top 10
#1 Northeastern
#2 Wisconsin
#3 Ohio State
#4 Colgate
#5 Minnesota
#6 MN-Duluth
#7 Boston College
#8 Penn State
#9 Providence
#10 Robert Morris
USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Top 10
#1 Northeastern
#2 Wisconsin
#3 Ohio State
#4 Colgate
#5 Minnesota
#6 MN Duluth
#7 Boston College
#8 Penn State
#9 Providence
#10 Robert Morris

NCAA Preview…

The dust has settled and the field of 8 is set, but no amount of Head & Shoulders will cure the head-scratching that has gone on since the pairings came out. We’ll save the ‘Why did this team get left out and this team get in’ post for another time, as it probably requires some length to put into context. For now, here is a preview of the first two games and a bit about how the matchups look. We’ll look at the second pair of games in our post tomorrow.

#8 Robert Morris vs. #1 Northeastern | Monday March 15, 2pm EST | Link to Live Stream on NCAA.com

  • Northeastern comes in as the #1 ranked team in both polls with a record of 20-1-1, its lone loss coming way back on Dec. 13th. NU is led by Senior netminder Arien Frankl who boasts a goals against ave. of just .70 and a ridiculous save percentage of .969%. In front of her is an experienced D corps lead by Patty Kaz Top 10 finalist Skylar Fontaine, as well as Brooke Hobson. Both combining for 40 pts. from the back-end. Up front you have two world class players in Alina Mueller and Chloe Aurard. All told, NU has 8 players in double-digit point territory and with Frankl in net, NU is tough to beat.
  • Robert Morris University has been to the NCAA’s before and they know the drill, win your conference tournament or go home. They had a strong second half of the year going 7-2 in their last nine game. Overall, the Colonials finished the season 16-7-1 playing a total of 24 games – more than any other team in the country. They led by Sophomore goaltender Raygan Kirk who has some impressive stats herself — a 1.68 GAA and a .945 SV % while winning eight of the thirteen games she played, including the CHA championship game. To NU’s 8 players with double-digit points, RMU has eleven – four are seniors led by Lexi Templeman 29 points.
  • Northeastern Video Preview

#5 MN-Duluth vs. #4 Colgate | Monday March 15, 7pm EST | Link to Live Stream on NCAA.com

  • MN-Duluth is in the tournament as the #5 seed after having played just seventeen games this year, fewest of any tournament team. They finished the year with an overall record of 11-6-0, good for a .647 winning % and one win each over Ohio State and Wisconsin. Seven of their seventeen games were against ranked teams–Minnesota twice, Ohio State for three, and Wisconsin for two. They are led from the net out in Swedish star Junior Emma Soderberg who has played in 94.5% of the time this year good for a 1.60 GAA and a .941 save %. Offensively Senior Anna Klein and Junior Gabbie Hughes lead the way with 21 pts. a piece. On the blueline, Senior Ashton Bell leads an experienced group of D.
  • Colgate the tourney’s #4 seed, has played on the big stage before making it to the national championship game in 2017-2018 losing to Clarkson 2-1 in OT. Colgate is ‘battle tested’ having played fifteen of its twenty-two games vs. ranked opponents at some point this year. Ten of those vs. Clarkson alone and 5 vs. Quinnipiac. Freshman Kayle Osborne leads the way for the Raiders in net with a 1.74 GAA and .925 SV %. Colgate’s offense is led by a talented group of soph’s in Danielle Serdachny and Sammi Smigliani. Freshman Kalty Kaltounkova is second in team scoring with six goals and twelve assists for eighteen points behind Serdachny’s twenty-one points.
  • Duluth Video Preview

Sifters…

NCAA Tourney to Have Limited Number of Fans… It was announced earlier this week the the NCAA tournament will allow fans up to 15% capacity for all seven games taking in account local and state restrictions. You can find the story HERE and tickets can be purchased online HERE. Erie Insurance Arena has roughly 6,700 seats for hockey which would put attendance at about a max. of 1,000 fans per game.

Awards… With the NCAA tournament coming up, that means it’s awards season. New this year is a national goaltender of the year award (yet to be named) from the women’s hockey commissioners association. The top 10 finalists have been named. Hockey East and the WCHA lead the way with three nominees each. Six of the ten will be in the NCAA tournament. You can see the full list HERE.

Also announced are the top 10 finalists for the Patty Kaz. award. Click HERE for the list of Top 10 finalists. Northeastern leads the pack with three nominees, Clarkson and Wisconsin each have two. The WCHA as a conference leads the way with four nominees total. A group of three finalists will be named March 18th with the winner announced March 27th.

USA Hockey and Hockey Canada Announce Worlds Camp Rosters… For now anyway, the IIHF Senior Women’s World Championships is a go and both the U.S. and Canada have named their respective training camp rosters in preparation of team selection.

Canada… Hockey Canada named 35 players to attend their training camp in Halifax, Nova Scotia that ran from March 1-7. You can find the camp roster HERE. Princeton Junior forward Sarah Fillier was the only player on the camp roster who currently plays in the NCAA. USA Hockey has invited 46 players to its evaluation training camp in Blaine, MN March 24-30. You can view the camp roster HERE. The World Championships are slated to take place in Halifax, Nova Scotia May 6-16.

Until Next Time… Have a great weekend everyone!

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.

Post #32 — 3/8/21 — The Road To Erie – NCAA Tournament Bracket Set

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In This Post…

  • Recruiting Rule of The Day
  • NCAA Field of 8 Announced

Recruiting Rule of The Day…

Question: At the conclusion of the temporary COVID-19 recruiting dead period, will recruiting
calendars remain the same?

Answer: Institutions must follow each sport’s recruiting calendar and recruiting periods. The
Council is committed to providing clarity regarding permissible recruiting activities beginning
June 1 (e.g., camps and clinics) as soon as possible, and not later than its April 14-15 meeting.
The extension of the temporary COVID-19 dead period reflects the ongoing uncertainty
surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic and concerns regarding in-person interaction among
prospective student-athletes, institutional staff and student-athletes. The extension also provides
the membership and prospective student-athletes clarity about recruiting activities for, in many
cases, the remainder of the 2021 spring academic term. [Updated to reflect the current timeline
for Council action on the temporary COVID-19 recruiting dead period.]

NCAA Tournament Field of 8 Announced…

The NCAA Tournament field is set and 8 teams will compete for the Women’s Ice Hockey National Collegiate Championship. The NCAA made the announcement Sunday evening at 9pm est. via a streaming broadcast on NCAA.com – you can watch the video of the announcement HERE and bracket HERE.

Absent as part of the broadcast was any rationale as to why the selection committee went with certain teams over others. Two teams that are certainly disappointed to not make the field are Minnesota and Penn State. The Gophers end it’s 13-year run of consecutive NCAA tournament appearances. Penn State meanwhile, was nationally ranked for much of the season in both polls-as high as 7th, went 16-3-2 on the year.

More to come this week with conference tournament recaps, NCAA quarter-final matchups, and how this field of 8 came to be.

Until Next Time… Have a great weekend everyone!

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.

Post #31 — 3/3/21 — Conference Tourney Time, Weekly Poll, Scores, sifters

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Recruiting Rule of the day… NCAA Bylaw 13.1.1.1

Off-campus recruiting contacts shall not be made with an individual (or his or her family members) before August 1 at the beginning of his or her junior year in high school.

In This Post…

  • Conference Tourney Time
  • NCAA Weekly Polls
  • Sifters

Conference Tourney Time…

Hockey East – And Then There Were Two… The #1 seed and nations #1 ranked team the Northeastern Huskies will meet #3 seed and the nations #9 ranked team Providence College for the 2021 Hockey East Championship. This tournament began last week with an 9 vs. 8 ‘Opening Round’ game, then four quarter-final games last Sunday, and two Semi-Final games last night. Here are the scores, highlights, and postgame reaction.

#9 vs. #8 Opening Round Game
#9 Holy Cross 0 @ #8 New Hampshire 3 | Box / Video Highlights / Postgame
#6 vs. #3 Quarter-Final Game #1
#6 Boston University 3 @ #3 Providence 4 | Box / Video Highlights & Postgame
# 5 vs. #4 Quarter-Final Game #2
#5 Maine 3 @ #4 Vermont 1 | Box / Video Highlights / Postgame
#7 vs. #2 Quarter-Final Game #3
#7 UCONN 5 @ #2 Boston College 1 | Box / Video Highlights / Postgame
#1 vs. #8 Quarter-Final Game #4
#8 UNH 0 @ #1 Northeastern 7 | BOX / Video Highlights / Postgame
March 3, 2021 Hockey East Championship Semi-Finals
#7 UCONN 1 @ #1 Northeastern 2 | Box / Video Highlights / Postgame
#5 Maine 0 @ #3 Providence 1 OT | Box / Video Highlights & Postgame
March 6, 2021 Hockey East Championship Game
Providence vs. Northeastern| 7:00pm | NESN-TV

ECAC Quartet Set… Only four teams competed in the ECAC this season with all 6 Ivies and Union / RPI cancelling their seasons. It took until the last regular season weekend of the year do determine tournament seedings. Colgate, the nations #6th ranked team, is the #1 seed and will host #4 seed and the nations #10th ranked team Quinnipiac. #2 seed St. Lawrence will host #3 seed Clarkson. SLU had a late start to its season but managed to climb into 2nd place after three straight wins over Clarkson last week. The highest remaining seed will host the Championship game. You can read more on the tournament HERE. The tournament schedule and streaming info is below.

March 5, 2021 – ECAC Hockey Women’s Championship Semi-Finals
#4 Quinnipiac @ #1 (6) Colgate | 5:00PM | ESPN + Stream
#3 Clarkson @ St. Lawrence | 5:00pm | ESPN + Stream
March 7, 2021 – ECAC Hockey Women’s Championship Game
#4 Quinnipiac / #1 Colgate winner VS. #3 Clarkson / #2 St. Lawrence Winner | ESPN + Stream

NEWHA To Host Commissioner’s Cup End of Year Event… The 6-Team New England Women’s Hockey Alliance was not able to have a season. Two teams however, Sacred Heart and second year program Long Island University, were able to play a schedule of non-conference games and a few vs. one another. The NEWHA announced it would host a end of year event for both teams, a 3-game series to win what the NEWHA is calling The Commissioners Cup. You can read the official NEWHA announcement HERE. LIU won the series 2 games to 0 over Sacred Heart.

2021 New England Women’s Hockey Alliance Commissioner’s Cup
Game 1 – Long Island Univ. 3 @ Scared Heart 2 – OT | Box / NO Video Highlights / Postgame
Game 2 – Sacred Heart 2 @ Long Island Univ. 5 | Box / NO Video Highlights / Postgame

College Hockey America Quarter-Final Field Ready To Go… All six teams make the Championship tournament hosted this year by Mercyhurst University at Erie Insurance Arena. The top two seeds, #1 Penn State and #2 Mercyhurst will get first-round byes. Teams will get 60 tickets and a total of 120 fans per game is being allowed. You can read the official tournament announcement HERE. Erie Insurance Arena is also the site of the Women’s Frozen Four March 18-20. The full tournament schedule is below.

March 4, 2021 College Hockey America Tournament First Round
#6 RIT 0 @ #3 Robert Morris 2 | 2:00pm | Box / Video Highlights & Postgame–Scroll down page for video
#5 Lindenwood @ #4 Syracuse | 7:30pm | Box / NO Video Highlights / Postgame
March 5, 2021 College Hockey America Tournament Semi-Final Round
#1 Penn State vs. Syracuse | 2:00pm | Stream Info
#2 Mercyhurst vs. Robert Morris | 7:30pm | Stream Info
March 6, 2021 College Hockey America Tournament Championship Game
Winner Semi-FInal #1 vs. Winner Semi-Final #2| 6:00pm | Stream Info

Top Four In WCHA Set for Final Faceoff… Minnesota’s Ridder Arena will play host to the WCHA’s postseason tournament. This year, only four teams make the field–#1 seed Wisconsin, #2 Minnesota-Duluth #3 Ohio State, and #4 Minnesota. That is a pretty loaded field given Wisco is nationally ranked at #2, Ohio St. #3, Minnesota #4, and Duluth at #5. Schedule and streaming info is below. You can read the WCHA official tournament announcement HERE.

March 6, 2021 WCHA Final Faceoff Semi-Final
Game #1 – #1 Wisconsin vs. #4 Minnesota | 1:07pm CST| Stream Info
Game #2 – MN- Duluth vs. Ohio St. | 5:07pm CST | Stream Info
March 7, 2021 WCHA Final Faceoff Championship Game
Game 3 – Game #1 winner vs. Game #2 Winner| 2:07pm CST | Stream Info

NCAA Weekly Polls…

Weekly polls are out as of March 1.

USCHO.com Top 10 Poll
#1 Northeastern
#2 Wisconsin
#3 Ohio State
#4 Minnesota
#5 MN-Duluth
#6 Colgate
#7 Penn State
#8 Boston College
#9 Providence
#10 Quinnipiac
USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Top 10
#1 Wisconsin
#2 Northeastern
#3 Ohio State
#4 Minnesota
#5 MN-Duluth
#6 Colgate
#7 Penn State
#8 Boston College
#9 Providence
#10 Clarkson

Sifters…

USA Hockey Nationals Is A Go… For now anyway. Earlier this week USA Hockey announced it was moving forward with its youth National Championships. You can read their official announcement HERE. The Tier I U14, U16, and U19 Girls Divisions will take place in West Chester, PA. The Tier II tournament will take place in Denver, CO. Dates for both tournaments are April 28 – May 3, 2021.

Canada on the other hand has a national championship at the Midget (U18AAA) age level in the late Spring called the ESSO Cup. That tournament has been cancelled.

The NHLCA Announces Female Coaches Spotlight… The National Hockey League Coaches Association started a female development program last year as the pandemic began. 50 female coaches from across North America took part. Aimed at improving skills development, leadership strategies, communication tactics, and career advancement opportunities, members of the program where available, were paired with their local NHL team to enhance the connection to the local community. You can read the full list of coaches in the program HERE, several of which are coaching at the NCAA.

MN HS Update… High School hockey in Minnesota is in its final month of the regular season. It looks like most teams have played around 12-14 games with some as few as 9-10. The state tournament is one of the great girls high school events around. Minnesota is divided into 8 sections, section winners move on to the state tournament at the Excel Energy Center where the NHL’s MN Wild play. Section tournaments are slated to run from March 15-21 and the State Tournament April 1-3.

Monthly NCAA Zoom Meeting Update… This past Tuesday the NCAA D-I and D-III coaching body along along with conference commissioners and members of the NCAA took part in it’s monthly zoom call. Here is a rundown of what was discussed:

  • D-III National Tournament Cancellation… The D-III National Championship was cancelled due to low numbers of programs participating due to COVID
  • D-I Tourney Selection… The D-I National Tournament Selection Committee has been hard at work watching as many games this year as they are able. The ‘eye test’ will play a more prominent role than ‘the math’ this year due to the lack of inter-conference competition
  • D-I Selection Show Stream… Sunday March 7 at 9PM EST. the NCAA will announce the field of 8 for the National Collegiate Women’s Ice Hockey Championship. The selection show will be streamed by the NCAA live and for free. You can find a link to the NCAA’s D-I women’s hockey page HERE where streaming information should be provided.
  • NCAA Quarter-Final games on ESPN?… Our NCAA partners said ESPN is working on making arrangements to stream all four NCAA quarter-final games on ESPN3. Nothing is final yet. All NCAA tournament games will be streamed on NCAA.org. Last week we learned ESPN entered into a multi-year contract to televise the NCAA Women’s Frozen Four. The first Semi-Final will be streamed live on ESPN3 and the second semi-final and national championship game will be televised on ESPNU.
  • Bracket Integrity… One advantage to every game of the national tournament being held at one location vs. just the Frozen Four, is you can have bracket integrity and a true seeded bracket where #1 plays #8, #2 vs. #7, etc. In prior years, the NCAA would have to take into account geography and travel restrictions which didn’t always allow for a true seeded bracket schedule.
  • A Return to Recruiting… Our NCAA partners on the Zoom call discussed how the NCAA’s D-I Council might handle a return to recruiting come June 1. It is thought the NCAA will 1) not have sport-specific recruiting rules, 2) more than likely allow camps and clinics as part of a first wave of allowable activity for college coaches, and 3) Off-campus recruiting and campus visits could come later in the summer or even latter.

Until Next Time… Have a great weekend everyone!

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.