Women’s College Hockey.org

In This Post…

• Coaching Carousel Update
• Recruiting News Du Jour
• Sifters

Coaching Carousel Continues

As of June 11 we reported 17 assistant D-I coaching positions needed to be filled. As is the case in most years, about 50% of those positions are taken up by current coaches at other programs and the other half, filled by coaches moving up from D-III ranks or elsewhere like club/HS coaches or the men’s side. Here is an update of positions filled and others still open. We give a D-III update on open positions as well.

Division I Head / Assistant Coach Openings

• Boston University – Hockey East – Has had 2 assistant positions to fill. They have hired St. Anselm Head Coach and former Terrier asst. coach Kirstin Matthews as she returns to BU as the Associate Head Coach. She was part of Durocher’s staff from 2005 to 2008. BU has yet to name its other assistant coach.
• Brown University – ECAC – Has hired Justin Simpson who was an assistant coach at RIT during the 2020-21 season and McKenna Newkirk. Newkirk was most recently an assistant coach and director with the North American Hockey Academy.
• University of Connecticut – Hockey East – 1 Assistant Coach – OPEN
• Dartmouth College – ECAC – Has hired Stephanie Moberg. Moberg was an assistant coach at Merrimack College from 2016-2021. Prior to Merrimack, Moberg was the Head Coach at Castleton State University for 2 seasons. Dartmouth still has 1 Assistant Coach position OPEN.
• Mercyhurst University – CHA – 1 Assistant Coach – OPEN
• Merrimack College – Hockey East – 1 Assistant Coach – OPEN
• University of Minnesota – WCHA – 1 Assistant Coach – OPEN
• University of Minnesota-Duluth – WHCA – 1 Assistant Coach – OPEN
• University of New Hampshire – Hockey East – Has hired Samantha Faber, a former alum of the program at UNH and assistant coach at Long Island University for the past two seasons.
• Princeton University – ECAC – 1 Assistant Coach – OPEN
• Providence College – Hockey East – 1 Assistant Coach – OPEN
• Quinnipiac University – ECAC – Has hired Brent Hill, former U19 Head Coach and Program Director at Selects Academy. Brent was also the former assistant coach at RPI and Merrimack College.
• Stonehill College – CHA – 2 Assistant Coaches – OPEN
• Syracuse University – CHA – 1 Assistant Coach – OPEN
• Union College – ECAC – 2 Assistant Coaches – OPEN
• Long Island University – NEWHA – 1 Assistant Coach – OPEN
• St. Anselm College – NEWHA – Head Coach – Has hired Jessica Kindret. Kindret was most recently an assistant coach at Robert Morris University.

Division III Head / Assistant Coach Openings

• Bowdoin College – NESCAC – 1 Assistant Coach – OPEN
• Colby College – NESCAC – 1 Assistant Coach – OPEN
• Trinity College – NESCAC – 1 Assistant Coach – OPEN

Recruiting News Du Jour

June 15th Call Date Come and Gone… Coaches are 1 week into being allowed to initiate regular contact with recruits in the ’23 class. It’s sort of like ‘Draft Day’ in the NFL… players wait by their phones to see who might call. It’s an exciting time. It can also bring disappointment and heartache to those who don’t get a call or a call from a school they would have liked.

If you or your daughter didn’t get a call – DON’T PANIC! This does not mean your dream school or playing D-I hockey is out of reach. There is a larger pool of ’23 uncommitted players available for coaches to call, and those calls take time to sort out and complete. Most programs have a priority list of recruits to contact in a very specific order based on potential offers, timelines, and commitment decisions. So you might be somewhere in the middle of a list a school has – and they just haven’t been able to get to you yet. Coaches are much busier this June than in years past–thank you COVID. It’s not like all coaches are sitting at their office desks June 15 making these calls. A lot of calls are made by assistant coaches who are on the road recruiting for their programs and working/recruiting at showcases/tournaments and camps or traveling to/from them. It’s difficult to watch some hockey or work a camp and keep a steady stream of calls going all day – in fact, it’s impossible.

Bottom line, coaches have a select group they want to call on June 15th. But they probably can’t talk to everyone they would like to. So be patient, and don’t just wait for the phone to ring. Now that NCAA rules allow, pick it up yourself and call a coach at the school you’re interested in. Send an email and ask where they see you fitting in. If they don’t pick up, keep trying, leave voicemails. Coaches will be honest and let you know where you stack-up. Do keep training! Nothing can take the place catching a coaches eye with your positive play!

Sifters

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USA Hockey… Has released its national development camp schedules. Links are below:

16/17 Camp Schedule – 2004 & 2005 Birth Years

15 Camp Schedule – 2006 Birth Year

U18 Select Camp Schedule – 2006, 2005, 2004 Birth Years

In Conference News… Hockey East has changed its conference tournament format beginning in the 2021-2022 season. The tournament will now feature for the first-time ever all teams and will be a single-elimination format. The tournament is scheduled to begin Wednesday February 23rd, 2022. You can the Hockey East official announcement HERE.

The ECAC has announced its 2021-2022 conference schedule for all 12 teams. You can find the press release and schedule HERE. The ECAC 21-22 regular season begins October 29th and is set to be completed Feb. 19, 2022.

In the CHA, obviously the big news is the departure of Robert Morris University due to RMU shutting the program down. The CHA has a two year window beginning this year, to find a replacement for RMU and maintain 6 members–which is the magic number needed to have an auto-bid the the NCAA tournament.

In the NEWHA… Congrats to Jen Kindret on being named the next bench boss at St. Anselm College.

Congratulations, Coach Kindret! Welcome to the @NEWHAonline! https://t.co/O8QMXwkqeH

— NEWHAonline (@NEWHAonline) June 23, 2021

Out west, the WCHA composite regular season schedule has been released and found HERE. Also, the WCHA postseason tournament will feature 8 teams again in 2022 with the addition of St. Thomas and take place Feb. 25-27 with the WCHA Frozen Faceoff at Ridder Arena the following weekend.

NAHL Makes First Female Coaching Hire… Kim Weiss has been hired as an Assistant Coach with the Maryland Black Bears of the North American Hockey League, a USA Hockey Sanctioned Tier II junior league for boys. You can read the official announcement HERE. Kim spent the previous 10 years with the Washington Pride Girls Hockey Association located in Washington, DC.

Stone Grabs USA Hockey Award… Harvard Head Coach Katie Stone has won the 2021 USA Hockey Distinguished Achievement Award which recognizes an American citizen for his or her contribution to hockey on and or off the ice. Stoney started her career with the Crimson back in the 1994-1995 season and has a collected 494 wins in 27 years behind the Harvard bench. You can read more on Stone’s award HERE.

Minnesota-Duluth’s Crowell Signs 4-Year Contract Extension… Crowell’s new contract keeps her behind the Bulldog bench until the 25-26 season. You can read the full release HERE. Details released by UMD indicate Crowell will begin her new contract earning $190,000 per year with $5,000 increases each year thereafter as well as increased bonuses for her and her staff.

Until Next Time… Have a great weekend everyone!

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