Monthly Archives: December 2022

Post #80 – 12/16/22 – Polls & Scheds, Conf. Standings, Nat’l Stats, Sifters, ICYMI


The Women’s College Hockey Pipeline

Stay informed. Get educated. Become ‘HOCKEY-WISE’!

Your leading online resource for NCAA Women’s College Hockey


Latest From… The Women’s College Hockey Podcast – Episode #3B…

  • Episode #3A Part I – Is Now LIVE|The Recap


Click any of the links below to jump to that section. At the bottom of each section, click the ‘ (Back to Top) ‘ link to return to the top of the post.

Polls & Scheds

Conference Standings

National Stat Leaders

Sifters

ICYMI


Polls & Scheds

DCU/USCHO Division I Poll – December 12, 2022

(Link to USCHO.com Poll)

  1. Ohio State (13)
  2. Wisconsin (6)
  3. Yale (1)
  4. Quinnipiac
  5. Minnesota
  6. Colgate
  7. Northeastern
  8. Minnesota-Duluth
  9. Providence
  10. Cornell
  11. Clarkson
  12. Penn State
  13. Vermont
  14. Connecticut
  15. St. Cloud State

Others receiving votes: Princeton 16, Boston College 7, Maine 4

USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Women’s College Hockey Poll

(Link to USA/Today Poll)

December 13, 2022

  1. Ohio State University (9)
  2. University of Wisconsin (8)
  3. Quinnipiac University
  4. Yale University (1)
  5. University of Minnesota
  6. Colgate University
  7. Northeastern University
  8. Univ. of MN-Duluth
  9. Providence College
  10. Cornell University
  11. Clarkson University
  12. Penn State University
  13. University of Vermont
  14. University of Connecticut
  15. St. Cloud State University

Others receiving votes: Princeton University 12, Boston College 9, University of Maine 6, Long Island University 2, Minnesota State University 1.

DCU/USCHO Division III Women’s Poll – December 12, 2022

(Link to USCHO.com D-III Poll)

  1. Gustavus (13)
  2. UW-River Falls (7)
  3. Plattsburgh
  4. Adrian
  5. Amherst
  6. Colby
  7. Norwich
  8. Middlebury
  9. UW-Eau Claire
  10. Elmira
  11. Aurora
  12. Nazareth
  13. Hamilton
  14. Utica
  15. Oswego

Others receiving votes: Connecticut College 11, Augsburg 8, Williams 8, Cortland 7, Wesleyan 7, St. Norbert 6, Endicott 4, Bowdoin 2, Suffolk 2

D-I & D-III Weekly Schedules

As you will see, it’s an extremely light week of games. Most programs are done for the semester as exams are now the priority for players. There is one Top-15 match-up as #1 Ohio State travels to take on #10 Cornell in Ithaca, NY Saturday and Sunday.

D-I

Friday – 12/16

Saturday – 12/17

Sunday – 12/18

D-III

Wednesday – 12/13

Friday – 12/16

Saturday – 12/17

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D-I Conference Standings

D-I teams are more or less at the mid-way point of the year in terms of # of conference games played. Northeastern, Quinnipiac, Long Island Univ., Penn State, and Minnesota are atop their respective conferences as we head into the holiday break.

The 2nd half of the year is more of a full on sprint as teams jockey for playoff positioning. Rarely if ever does a team have a weekend off and just about every game in a conference game with plenty of meaning. It can be a grind, but it truly is the best part of the season.

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NCAA D-I National Stats

*From the Official NCAA Stats site as of 12-15-22. Top 54 players appear w/ ave of 1.00 pts per game.

In our last post, we had a section on Freshman production, and how hard it is to produce points on a consistent basis. This year seems to be proving no different. There are a total of just 6 Freshman in the top 54 of point producers thus far and only 1 in the top 25. See the full list of point producers this year with a minimum average of 1.00 points per game.

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Sifters

New NCAA Leadership… The NCAA has its new leader. Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker will take over as President of the NCAA in March of 2023. A former college basketball player at Harvard himself, Governor Baker has both public and private sector leadership experience. He comes in a time where the NCAA needs a rudder more than ever to help navigate through unchartered waters. You can read the full story HERE.

Worlds Coming Back to North America… The IIHF announced yesterday that the World Championships are headed to Brampton, Ontario Canada April 5-16, 2023. It’s the first time the Greater Toronto area has had the games since 2000.

World University Schedule & Roster Set… The World University Games schedule and roster is set. Team USA, lead by Brendon Knight will take on Japan Thursday Jan. 12 at 1pm. You can get the full Team USA roster and schedule HERE. Knight’s team will be comprised of NCAA D-I and D-III players who are currently playing college hockey this season and who have their undergrad degree and are enrolled in grad school.

Patty Kaz Watch… NCAA.com came out with their Patty Kaz Watch List of players to keep eyes on. Of the top 10, 5 comes from the WCHA, 3 from Hockey East, and 2 from the ECAC.

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ICYMI… Post #79

We’re starting a new section to our blog called… In Case You Missed It or ICYMI. If you didn’t get the chance to read out last post, now you can. Will will begin putting out previous Pipeline posts at the bottom of our current one. Check it out below.


The Women’s College Hockey Pipeline

Stay informed. Get educated. Become ‘HOCKEY-WISE’ !

Your leading online resource for NCAA Women’s College Hockey

Polls & Scheds

Freshman Production

NCAA Update

Sifters

ICYMI


Polls & Scheds

DCU/USCHO Division I Poll December 5, 2022

RankTeam(First Place Votes)RecordPointsLast Poll
1Ohio State(9)14-2-22861
2Wisconsin(7)13-2-12762
3Quinnipiac(4)16-1-02604
4Yale8-1-12243
5Colgate15-2-12206
6Minnesota12-3-22185
7Minnesota Duluth12-6-01828
8Northeastern18-2-11747
9Cornell7-3-211810
10Providence15-4-11179
11Clarkson16-5-111011
12Penn State13-8-18112
13Vermont11-7-14513
14St. Cloud State11-8-035NR
15Connecticut12-8-22214

Others receiving votes: Boston College 11, Princeton 10, Maine 6, Mercyhurst 5

USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Women’s College Hockey Poll

December 6, 2022

RankTeamPoints(First Place Votes)Last PollRecordWeeks in Poll
1Ohio State University265(5)114-2-213
2University of Wisconsin264(10)213-2-113
3Quinnipiac University251416-1-013
4University of Minnesota213512-3-113
5Yale University20738-1-113
6Colgate University203615-2-113
7Northeastern University174(1)718-2-113
8University of Minnesota Duluth169812-6-013
9Providence College116915-4-18
10Cornell University110107-3-213
11Clarkson University991116-5-113
12Penn State University821213-8-112
13University of Vermont481311-7-113
14St. Cloud State University29NR11-8-01
15University of Connecticut201412-8-28

Others receiving votes: Boston College 10, University of Maine 7, Mercyhurst University 4, Princeton University 3, Minnesota State University 2, St. Lawrence University 2, Long Island University 1, Union College 1.

DCU/USCHO Division III Women’s Poll – December 5, 2022

RankTeam(First Place Votes)RecordPointsLast Poll
1Gustavus(16)10-0-02961
2UW-River Falls(4)8-1-02802
3Adrian9-0-02415
4Plattsburgh9-2-02094
5Norwich7-1-01976
6Amherst5-1-019611
7Colby5-0-01738
8Elmira9-2-01667
9Middlebury4-3-01633
10UW-Eau Claire7-2-01259
11Nazareth9-1-011410
12Aurora9-1-16212
13Utica8-1-14014
14Oswego8-4-03715
15Endicott6-3-12113
15St. Norbert9-1-221NR

Others receiving votes: Hamilton 17, Connecticut College 13, Wesleyan 13, Cortland 11, Augsburg 2, Bowdoin 1, Hamline 1, Suffolk 1

Weekly D-I Schedule

Tuesday – 12/6

Wednesday – 12/7

Friday – 12/9

Saturday – 12/10

* No Games Sunday 12/11

Weekly D-III Schedule

Tuesday – 12/6

Wednesday – 12/7

Friday – 12/9

Saturday – 12/10

Sunday – 12/11

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NCAA Freshman Production

Being a point producer at the NCAA level is not easy. D-I or D-III, the level doesn’t matter. Scoring goals is even harder and getting points is more difficult than players usually think. How much production a freshman may produce is a common question many NCAA coaches ask their freshman before their first year begins.

Hey Sally, question for you… So, how many points do you think you’ll have this season?

Usually asked to spark some thinking about realistic expectations or goal setting, its always interesting to hear where a player sees themselves and what level of point production they may think they can achieve.

This is a topic I have always been curious about. So, I dove into the numbers. Special thanks to collegehockeystats.net.

To illustrate how difficult point production is, here is an example from the ’19-’20 season in D-I and D-III.

At D-I

During the 2019-202 season there were a total of 282 freshman on NCAA D-I rosters. Of those, there were 163 forwards, 86 defenders, and 33 goalies. Of the Forwards and Defenders, only 88 had 10 or more points the entire season. Said another way, 164 players or 65.8 % of the entire freshman class scored less than 10 points for the year. The highest point total by a freshman was 39. The highest number of goals scored was 19 and highest number of assists was 24.

Of 88 D-I Freshman with 10 points or more, the average number of goals scored was 7.2 — 65 players had 5 goals or more but only 24 players had 10 goals or more.

Of that group of 88, the average number of assists was 10.6 — 81 had 5 assists or more with 46 having 10 or more.

Of those 88, the average number of total points was 17.8

The ave. number of games played was 33.5.

To put further into context, we looked at the Freshman year production of Forwards and Defenders who were on the 2022 US & Canadian Olympic teams. You can see their numbers below. Granted we’re talking about Olympians, but from a pure point production standpoint, there were only 5 players – ON EACH TEAM – who had 40 or more points as freshman. And the distribution of point totals from each team are very similar.

22-OLY-FR-NCAA-Production-3Download

22-CAN-OLY-NCAA-ProductionDownload

At D-III

Of the top 53 D-III Freshman point producers, the average number of goals scored was 8.8.

Of the same top 53 Freshman point producers, the average number of assists was 10.9.

Of the same top 53 Freshman point producers, the average number of total points was 19.75.

The ave. number of games played was 25.3

In the future, we’ll do a deeper dive into the numbers and come up with breakdowns by league, division, and ultimately where freshman point producers are coming from prior to entering the NCAA.

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NCAA Update

It would appear the NCAA transformation committee is in a holding pattern relative to making any additional changes to recruiting rules within women’s ice hockey. The feedback has been that the NCAA needs to figure out what it wants for a governance and infractions structure first, before deciding on new recruiting rules – which does make sense.

So for now anyway, as D-I women’s hockey moves into the Spring/Summer months, we should expect the same rules to be in place for coaches and prospects as we have had previously.

  • D-I coaches can begin regular communication with recruits starting June 15 after the prospects grade 10 year
  • Verbal offers may be made by coaches to prospects beginning June 15 after a prospects grade 10 year
  • On or off campus in-person face-to-face contacts may not begin until August 1 after the prospects grade 10 year
  • Unofficial and Official visits may happen at any time beginning August 1st for prospects after their grade 10 year
  • D-I coaches are not allowed to evaluate prospects in-person off of their campus from the Monday prior to the American Hockey Coaches Association convention (April 24, 2023) until June 1
  • D-I coaches will have an unlimited number of prospect evaluations from June 1 until September 1, 2023. After September 1, D-I coaches are limited to 7 total recruiting opportunities (evaluations or face-to-face contacts with prospects), of which there may be no more than 3 face-to-face off-campus contacts.

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Sifters

The Hall Calls… One of the greatest female players to ever play, Finnish Forward Riikka Sallinen was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame last month. Sallinen played in over 1550 games scoring over 600 goals and amassing 1300 points. She retired from the game at the end of the 2018-2019 season after a career that started back during the ’88-’89. She played in 4 Olympic games and 8 IIHF World Championships. You can read more on her amazing career HERE.

US Names U18 Worlds Roster… USA Hockey announced its U18 roster that will compete in the IIHF U18 World Championships In Sweden January 8-15 in Östersund, Sweden. You can see Team USA’s Roster HERE and its schedule HERE. Minnesota leads the way in having 9 players named to the roster. Canada has not named its roster yet.

New Program Hood College Coaching Position… New NCAA Division III program at Hood College has officially posted its head coaching position, You can find it HERE.

Getting Serious… The International University Sports Federation (FISU) Games is coming to Lake Placid in January – and women’s hockey plans on being a big part. As the 2nd largest multi-sportitng event in the world, the U.S. Women’s hockey entry will be comprised of players who are college/university students at the NCAA D-III and D-I levels. Although the event falls during the NCAA hockey season, former Syracuse Associate Head Women’s Coach Brendon Knight, has been charged with putting together the strongest roster he can. You can learn more about the event HERE.

Until Next Time… Enjoy and Happy Reading!


-Streams for games in the ECAC can be found HERE. Subscriptions will be necessary to watch games.

-Streams in the WCHA can be found HERE. Subscriptions will be necessary to watch games.

-Streams in Hockey East this year can be found HERE. Hockey East once again is streaming all game live and for FREE.

-Streams for CHA games with the exception of Penn St. can be found HERE. Subscriptions will be necessary to watch games.

-Streams for NEWHA games can be found at each teams’ website. Subscriptions may be necessary to watch games.


NCAA Coaching Changes… Keep up with all the coaching changes across D-I and D-III HERE.

Recruiting Events/League Online Directory… Find all the recruiting events on WCH.org right HERE. Want to add your event? Click HERE to fill out our WCH.org event form.


Grant Kimball is founder and contributing writer at Women’s College Hockey.org and beginning his 4th season as an Assistant Coach with the Yale University women’s hockey program. Grant has developed an experienced perspective in the world of women’s ice hockey, having coached and recruited players from across the globe during his 25+ year amateur and NCAA coaching career. He has coached at 6 NCAA DIII and DI programs in the NCHA (D3), the CHA, WCHA, Hockey East, ECAC, and the Ivy League (DI). Beyond coaching, Grant served as a site representative for the 2019 NCAA quarterfinal of the D-I NCAA Tournament. He also currently serves as an Officer with the American Hockey Coaches Association as Vice President of Membership and sits on the AHCA’s Women’s Hockey Executive Committee.

Post #79 – 12/9/22 – Polls & Scheds, Freshman Production, NCAA Update, Sifters, ICYMI


The Women’s College Hockey Pipeline

Stay informed. Get educated. Become ‘HOCKEY-WISE’!

Your leading online resource for NCAA Women’s College Hockey


Latest From… The Women’s College Hockey Podcast – Episode #3B…

  • Episode #3A Part I – Is Now LIVE|The Recap


Click any of the links below to jump to that section. At the bottom of each section, click the ‘ (Back to Top) ‘ link to return to the top of the post.

Polls & Scheds

Freshman Production

NCAA Update

Sifters

ICYMI


Polls & Scheds

DCU/USCHO Division I Poll December 5, 2022

RankTeam(First Place Votes)RecordPointsLast Poll
1Ohio State(9)14-2-22861
2Wisconsin(7)13-2-12762
3Quinnipiac(4)16-1-02604
4Yale8-1-12243
5Colgate15-2-12206
6Minnesota12-3-22185
7Minnesota Duluth12-6-01828
8Northeastern18-2-11747
9Cornell7-3-211810
10Providence15-4-11179
11Clarkson16-5-111011
12Penn State13-8-18112
13Vermont11-7-14513
14St. Cloud State11-8-035NR
15Connecticut12-8-22214

Others receiving votes: Boston College 11, Princeton 10, Maine 6, Mercyhurst 5

USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Women’s College Hockey Poll

December 6, 2022

RankTeamPoints(First Place Votes)Last PollRecordWeeks in Poll
1Ohio State University265(5)114-2-213
2University of Wisconsin264(10)213-2-113
3Quinnipiac University251416-1-013
4University of Minnesota213512-3-113
5Yale University20738-1-113
6Colgate University203615-2-113
7Northeastern University174(1)718-2-113
8University of Minnesota Duluth169812-6-013
9Providence College116915-4-18
10Cornell University110107-3-213
11Clarkson University991116-5-113
12Penn State University821213-8-112
13University of Vermont481311-7-113
14St. Cloud State University29NR11-8-01
15University of Connecticut201412-8-28

Others receiving votes: Boston College 10, University of Maine 7, Mercyhurst University 4, Princeton University 3, Minnesota State University 2, St. Lawrence University 2, Long Island University 1, Union College 1.

DCU/USCHO Division III Women’s Poll – December 5, 2022

RankTeam(First Place Votes)RecordPointsLast Poll
1Gustavus(16)10-0-02961
2UW-River Falls(4)8-1-02802
3Adrian9-0-02415
4Plattsburgh9-2-02094
5Norwich7-1-01976
6Amherst5-1-019611
7Colby5-0-01738
8Elmira9-2-01667
9Middlebury4-3-01633
10UW-Eau Claire7-2-01259
11Nazareth9-1-011410
12Aurora9-1-16212
13Utica8-1-14014
14Oswego8-4-03715
15Endicott6-3-12113
15St. Norbert9-1-221NR

Others receiving votes: Hamilton 17, Connecticut College 13, Wesleyan 13, Cortland 11, Augsburg 2, Bowdoin 1, Hamline 1, Suffolk 1

Weekly D-I Schedule

Tuesday – 12/6

Wednesday – 12/7

Friday – 12/9

Saturday – 12/10

* No Games Sunday 12/11

Weekly D-III Schedule

Tuesday – 12/6

Wednesday – 12/7

Friday – 12/9

Saturday – 12/10

Sunday – 12/11

(back to top)

NCAA Freshman Production

Being a point producer at the NCAA level is not easy. D-I or D-III, the level doesn’t matter. Scoring goals is even harder and getting points is more difficult than players usually think. How much production a freshman may produce is a common question many NCAA coaches ask their freshman before their first year begins.

Hey Sally, question for you… So, how many points do you think you’ll have this season?

Usually asked to spark some thinking about realistic expectations or goal setting, its always interesting to hear where a player sees themselves and what level of point production they may think they can achieve.

This is a topic I have always been curious about. So, I dove into the numbers. Special thanks to collegehockeystats.net.

To illustrate how difficult point production is, here is an example from the ’19-’20 season in D-I and D-III.

At D-I

During the 2019-202 season there were a total of 282 freshman on NCAA D-I rosters. Of those, there were 163 forwards, 86 defenders, and 33 goalies. Of the Forwards and Defenders, only 88 had 10 or more points the entire season. Said another way, 164 players or 65.8 % of the entire freshman class scored less than 10 points for the year. The highest point total by a freshman was 39. The highest number of goals scored was 19 and highest number of assists was 24.

Of 88 D-I Freshman with 10 points or more, the average number of goals scored was 7.2 — 65 players had 5 goals or more but only 24 players had 10 goals or more.

Of that group of 88, the average number of assists was 10.6 — 81 had 5 assists or more with 46 having 10 or more.

Of those 88, the average number of total points was 17.8

The ave. number of games played was 33.5.

To put further into context, we looked at the Freshman year production of Forwards and Defenders who were on the 2022 US & Canadian Olympic teams. You can see their numbers below. Granted we’re talking about Olympians, but from a pure point production standpoint, there were only 5 players – ON EACH TEAM – who had 40 or more points as freshman. And the distribution of point totals from each team are very similar.

At D-III

Of the top 53 D-III Freshman point producers, the average number of goals scored was 8.8.

Of the same top 53 Freshman point producers, the average number of assists was 10.9.

Of the same top 53 Freshman point producers, the average number of total points was 19.75.

The ave. number of games played was 25.3

In the future, we’ll do a deeper dive into the numbers and come up with breakdowns by league, division, and ultimately where freshman point producers are coming from prior to entering the NCAA.

(back to top)

NCAA Update

It would appear the NCAA transformation committee is in a holding pattern relative to making any additional changes to recruiting rules within women’s ice hockey. The feedback has been that the NCAA needs to figure out what it wants for a governance and infractions structure first, before deciding on new recruiting rules – which does make sense.

So for now anyway, as D-I women’s hockey moves into the Spring/Summer months, we should expect the same rules to be in place for coaches and prospects as we have had previously.

  • D-I coaches can begin regular communication with recruits starting June 15 after the prospects grade 10 year
  • Verbal offers may be made by coaches to prospects beginning June 15 after a prospects grade 10 year
  • On or off campus in-person face-to-face contacts may not begin until August 1 after the prospects grade 10 year
  • Unofficial and Official visits may happen at any time beginning August 1st for prospects after their grade 10 year
  • D-I coaches are not allowed to evaluate prospects in-person off of their campus from the Monday prior to the American Hockey Coaches Association convention (April 24, 2023) until June 1
  • D-I coaches will have an unlimited number of prospect evaluations from June 1 until September 1, 2023. After September 1, D-I coaches are limited to 7 total recruiting opportunities (evaluations or face-to-face contacts with prospects), of which there may be no more than 3 face-to-face off-campus contacts.

(back to top)

Sifters

The Hall Calls… One of the greatest female players to ever play, Finnish Forward Riikka Sallinen was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame last month. Sallinen played in over 1550 games scoring over 600 goals and amassing 1300 points. She retired from the game at the end of the 2018-2019 season after a career that started back during the ’88-’89. She played in 4 Olympic games and 8 IIHF World Championships. You can read more on her amazing career HERE.

US Names U18 Worlds Roster… USA Hockey announced its U18 roster that will compete in the IIHF U18 World Championships In Sweden January 8-15 in Östersund, Sweden. You can see Team USA’s Roster HERE and its schedule HERE. Minnesota leads the way in having 9 players named to the roster. Canada has not named its roster yet.

New Program Hood College Coaching Position… New NCAA Division III program at Hood College has officially posted its head coaching position, You can find it HERE.

Getting Serious… The International University Sports Federation (FISU) Games is coming to Lake Placid in January – and women’s hockey plans on being a big part. As the 2nd largest multi-sportitng event in the world, the U.S. Women’s hockey entry will be comprised of players who are college/university students at the NCAA D-III and D-I levels. Although the event falls during the NCAA hockey season, former Syracuse Associate Head Women’s Coach Brendon Knight, has been charged with putting together the strongest roster he can. You can learn more about the event HERE.

(back to top)

ICYMI… Post #78

We’re starting a new section to our blog called… In Case You Missed It or ICYMI. If you didn’t get the chance to read out last post, now you can. Will will begin putting out previous Pipeline posts at the bottom of our current one. Check it out below.


The Women’s College Hockey Pipeline

Stay informed. Get educated. Become ‘HOCKEY-WISE’ !

Your leading online resource for NCAA Women’s College Hockey

Polls & WKND Sched

DCU/USCHO Division I Poll – November 7, 2022

RnkTeamRecordPointsLast Poll
1Minnesota (20)9-0-13001
2Ohio State10-1-12802
3Wisconsin10-2-02463
4Colgate11-1-02166
5Quinnipiac10-1-02074
6Yale4-0-01938
7Minnesota Duluth7-5-01905
8Northeastern10-1-11877
9Cornell5-1-01519
10Providence9-2-110912
11Clarkson10-3-18910
12Penn State8-5-18411
13Vermont7-4-17613
14Connecticut8-4-227NR
15Princeton1-3-01814
First place votes in parentheses ( )

Others receiving votes: St. Lawrence 14, Boston College 6, Mercyhurst 3, St. Cloud State 3, Harvard 1

USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine College Hockey Poll

(Week Nine Poll)

First-place votes in parentheses

RANKSCHOOLLAST WEEK’S RANKING2022-23 RECORDWEEKS IN TOP 15
1.University of Minnesota, 282 (18)19-1-19
2.Ohio State University, 263 (1)210-1-19
3.University of Wisconsin, 233310-2-09
4.Quinnipiac University, 207410-1-09
5.Colgate University, 203611-1-09
6.Yale University, 19184-0-09
7.Northeastern University, 180710-1-19
8.University of Minnesota Duluth, 16657-5-09
9.Cornell University, 14395-1-09
10.Providence College, 100129-2-14
11.Clarkson University, 901010-3-19
12.Penn State University, 75118-5-18
13.University of Vermont, 68147-4-19
14.University of Connecticut, 30NR9-1-14
15.Princeton University, 22131-3-09

Others Receiving Votes: St. Lawrence University, 14; Boston College, 7; St. Cloud State University, 3; Mercyhurst University, 2; University of Maine, 1.

Notes: The ECAC leads with seven teams in the ranking, while the WCHA has four, the HEA has three and the CHA has one… Team records are listed as W-L-T.

About the Poll: The 26th annual USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Women’s College Hockey Poll is conducted each week in conjunction with the American Hockey Coaches Association. The poll includes input from coaches and journalists representing each of the six NCAA Division I ice hockey conferences, as well as composite votes from officers of the AHCA and USA Hockey.

Division I WKND Schedule

Thursday November 10, 2022

St. Thomas vs. Lindenwood

St. Lawrence vs. Clarkson

Friday November 11, 2022

St. Thomas vs. Lindenwood (NC)

Boston College vs. Northeastern

Boston University vs. Vermont

Minnesota-Duluth vs. St. Cloud State

RIT vs. Union (NC)

Saint Anselm vs. Franklin Pierce

Stonehill vs. Sacred Heart

Merrimack vs. New Hampshire

Colgate vs. Harvard

Cornell vs. Dartmouth

Holy Cross vs. Maine

Syracuse vs. Princeton (NC)

Providence vs. Connecticut

Long Island vs. Saint Michael’s

Saturday November 12, 2022

Cornell vs. Harvard

Colgate vs. Dartmouth

Northeastern vs. Boston College

UNH vs. Merrimack

Holy Cross vs. Maine

Boston Univ. vs. Vermont

Connecticut vs. Providence

MN-Duluth vs. St. Cloud

Franklin Pierce vs. Saint Anselm

Stonehill vs. Sacred Heart

Long Island vs. Saint Michael’s

Clarkson vs. St. Lawrence (NC)

Syracuse vs. Princeton (NC)

RIT vs. Union (NC)

Sunday November 13, 2022

Brown vs. Penn State

Monday November 14, 2022

Brown vs. Penn State

Conference Standings as of 11/9/22

ECAC

RNKTeamPoints
1Yale12
2Quinnipiac12
3Cornell9
4Harvard7
5Clarkson6
6St. Lawrence6
7Colgate6
8Brown5
9Dartmouth4
10Union3.5
11Princeton3
12Rensselaer1.5

Hockey East

RNKTeamPoints
1Northeastern26
2Providence18
3Vermont18
4Connecticut15
5Boston College14
6Maine12
7Merrimack10
8Boston University8
9New Hampshire8
10Holy Cross3

NEWHA

RNKTeamPoints
1Saint Anselm18
2Stonehill16
3Long Island12
4Sacred Heart10
5Franklin Pierce6
6Saint Michael’s4
7Post4

CHA

RNKTeamPoints
1Syracuse12
2Penn State9
3Mercyhurst3
4Lindenwood0
4RIT0
*NCAA Tourney Auto-bid is retained until the end of 22-23. Robert Morris Univ. will re-join the CHA for the 23-24 season as its 6th member meeting the NCAA Tourney Auto-bid requirement.

WCHA

RNKTeamPoints
1Ohio State31
2Minnesota27
3Wisconsin21
4St. Cloud State16
5Minnesota State10
6Minnesota-Duluth9
7Bemidji State3
8St. Thomas0

DCU/USCHO Division III Poll November 7, 2022

RnkTeam(First Place Votes)RecordPointsLast Poll
1Middlebury(19)0-0-02991
2Gustavus(1)3-0-02742
3Plattsburgh2-0-02623
4Elmira3-0-02354
5Nazareth2-0-02066
6UW-River Falls1-1-01707
7Adrian4-0-016310
8UW-Eau Claire3-1-01615
9Norwich2-0-015111
10Colby0-0-01408
11Endicott3-1-0909
12Amherst0-0-07712
13Cortland2-0-06314
14Augsburg1-3-03213
15Aurora3-1-02215
15Hamilton0-0-022NR

Others receiving votes: Williams 11, St. Norbert 7, Hamline 6, Utica 4, Lake Forest 3, UW-Superior 2

D-III WKND Schedule

Friday November 11, 2022

SUNY-Potsdam vs. Plattsburgh

Oswego St. vs. SUNY-Morrisville

Nazareth vs. Wilkes

New England College vs. Plymouth St.

William Smith vs. Elmira

Nichols vs. Suffolk

Salem St. vs. UMASS-Boston

Norwich vs. Castleton

SUNY-Cortland vs. Buffalo St.

Concordia-Wisconsin vs. Trine

Neumann vs.. Stevenson

Utica vs. Kings

Hilbert vs. SUNY-Canton

So. Maine vs. Johnson & Wales

Anna Maria vs. Alvernia

Manhattanville vs. Lebanon Valley

Curry vs. Univ. of New England

Salve Regina vs. Worcester St.

Aurora vs. Finlandia

Chatham vs. Arcadia

Lawrence vs. St. Norbert

Wis. Eau-Claire vs. Northland

Saint Benedict vs. Concordia-Morehead (MN)

Endicott vs. Western New England

Augsburg vs. St. Catherine

Bethel vs. St. Olaf

Hamiline vs. St. Mary’s

Wisconsin Stevens-Point vs. River Falls

Saturday November 12, 2022

Stevenson vs. Nuemann

Concordia vs. Trine

Plattsburgh vs. SUNY-Potsdam

Hilbert vs. SUNY-Canton

Anna Maria vs. Alvernia

Manhattanville vs. Lebanon Valley

St. Catherine vs. Augsburg

UW River-Falls vs. Northland

New England College vs. Castleton

SUNY-Morrisville vs. Oswego St.

St. Olaf vs. Bethel

Utica vs. King’s (PA)

University of New England vs. Curry

SUNY-Cortland vs. Buffalo St.

Saint Mary’s vs. Hamline

Southern Maine vs. UMASS-Boston

Nazareth vs. Wilkes

Chatham vs. Arcadia

Norwich vs. Plymouth

St. Norbert vs. Lawrence

Salem State vs. Johnson & Wales

Aurora vs. Finlandia

Elmira vs. William Smith

Western New England vs. Endicott

Suffolk vs.. Nichols

Marian vs. Adrian

Gustavus vs. St. Scholastica

Concordia-Morehead vs. Saint Benedict

Wisconsin Eau-Claire vs. Wisconsin Superior

Sunday November 13, 2022

Rivier (NH) vs. Assumption

Marian vs. Adrian

Worcester St. vs. Salve Regina

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Attendance

Below you will find comprehensive D-I attendance figures for all teams, found on USCHO. It is in order of average attendance per game. You can download these numbers below and sort how you want. Interesting to see. As of today there will have been 40 Friday games with a start time of 5pm or earlier, most around the the 2pm time frame.

How can you build an interest or a fan base when games start at 2, 3, 4, or 5pm on a Friday?

Some takeaways:

  • Maine has had the most home dates thus far with 10
  • Wisconsin leads the way with an ave per game attendance at 2,223 and a 97.8% capacity figure. Next is Minnesota at 40.9%
  • Only 2 teams have averages per game over 1,000 and only one team (Wisco) is averaging more than 2k per game
  • As for a breakdown…
    • 1 team in the 2k’s
    • 1 team in the 1K’s
    • 1 team in the 800’s
    • 1 team in the 700’s
    • 2 teams in the 600’s
    • 4 teams in the 500’s
    • 6 teams in the 400’s
    • 8 teams in the 300’s
    • 8 teams in the 200’s
    • 8 teams in the 100’s
    • 2 teams below 100
      • Unfortunately – only 23.8% of D-I programs are drawing more than 500 fans per game.
  • Total attendance across D-I to date in the season is 94,590
  • Most Saturday games are play in the early to mid-afternoons. In fact, only 10 Saturday games to date out of 102 have had a start time of 6pm local time or later.

Women’s Division I Hockey Attendance: 2022-2023

RankTeamDatesTotal AttendanceAverage AttendanceCapacityCap. %
1Wisconsin613,3382,2232,27397.8
2Minnesota68,3491,3923,40040.9
3Minnesota Duluth43,4958746,75612.9
4Yale21,5867933,48622.7
5Colgate64,1056842,22230.8
6Princeton21,2376182,10029.5
7Mercyhurst63,5515921,30045.5
8Penn State84,6755845,78210.1
9Clarkson52,8225643,00018.8
10Ohio State63,1805301,20044.2
11Boston University62,9474913,68413.3
11New Hampshire62,9474916,5017.6
13St. Lawrence62,7294553,00015.2
14Quinnipiac52,2414483,08614.5
15Harvard41,7704423,09514.3
16Dartmouth28104054,5009
17Connecticut83,1743972,00019.8
18Northeastern62,3243874,7478.2
19RIT31,1263754,3008.7
20Vermont62,2073684,0079.2
21St. Thomas62,1693621,40025.8
22Cornell41,4123534,2678.3
23Bemidji State82,7373424,3737.8
24Boston College61,8833147,8844
25Union25852922,22513.1
26St. Cloud State61,6412745,1595.3
27Minnesota State61,4912484,8325.1
28Maine102,2732275,1244.4
28St. Anselm71,5892272,7008.4
30Brown36422142,4958.6
31Syracuse51,06521335060.9
32Sacred Heart51,059212
33Holy Cross71,3841981,40014.1
34St. Michael’s235918060029.9
35LIU3529176
36Merrimack71,2211742,5496.8
37Rensselaer61,0301725,2173.3
38Lindenwood2323162
39Providence81,2901613,0305.3
40Stonehill81,1351421,00014.2
41Franklin Pierce321973
42Post426466

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Problem Solving – More Officials

Officiating doesn’t have a numbers problem. It has a system problem and it is broken. The numbers have always been there – in fact they are right in front of our eyes. Hundreds of thousands of them. They’re called players. It’s who every person in charge of getting more officials into the game talks about… “hey, we want officials who have played the game”. Problem is, in the officiating world, the system of becoming one, winds up being one of choice rather than having the opportunity to begin with.

We have been told since mid-last year that officiating numbers across the US and Canada are dwindling and there are major problems. So much so, that a state like MN is contemplating a rule that forbids teams to schedule multiple games in a day. There’s just not enough officials to work the amount of games. Youth hockey has this problem and so too does NCAA men’s & women’s hockey. Leagues are losing numbers and quality people with experience.

So how do you increase the pool of officials without deteriorating the quality? Age old questions for sure.

You could pay officials more, right? But then, everyone would have to pay more.

The model of attracting new officials is old, outdated, and frankly, difficult. You offer learn-to-ref clinics, put up some posters in the local rink, take and pass a test, get certified, get scheduled to work games, etc. But in these post pandemic days – it’s hard. Who wants to get screamed at by some loose-cannon hockey parent for an hour + on a Saturday afternoon for $20-$40. No thanks. You ever try and ask someone to sign up for something? It’s hard, it takes work, follow up, phone calls, emails, texts, etc. and worst of all, you have no control over who signs up – totally out of your hands.

Now, I don’t know what the percentages would be, but I’d bet most hockey officials played the game at even a bare bones organized house league level. I mean they have to learn to skate somewhere right?

The model has always been – have people who are interested in officiating sign up. At the higher levels, it’s a bit more of a recruitment process. But basically, at the local levels, offer a certification program, charge a fee, take a test and bam – you’re an official. It’s a model based on filtering or bringing people in. It’s a choice for people to do or not.

Well, what if you flipped the model? Instead of filtering new officials in, what if you filtered officials out?

What if the system was… you’re a young child and you want to play organized hockey, awesome. Guess what, as part of a players trajectory from age level – to age level, you are going to be introduced to officiating at the appropriate age, (holy-smokes you’ll even learn the rules of the game–which when you’re starting out as a player is kind of important!). You’ll have a chance to become an official because it’s part of the program of becoming a registered player. It’s what you do.

On the elite side of things, imagine if every player, male and female who attended a player development program/camp for USA Hockey or Hockey Canada walked away with being certified to be an official? You have an elite pool of players at your finger tips who probably have the one skill necessary to be an elite official – skating.

A few things would happen… 1) You would grow the pool of officials exponentially from a younger age. And when the pool grows – the numbers of talented officials would grow too. 2) Instead of trying to rope new officials in – officials rope themselves in because they want to learn to play the game. 3) The culture around officiating would change drastically. If just about every registered player knew what officiating was like – AND ALSO KNEW THE RULES OF HOCKEY, the abuse would drop drastically. There’s no doubt coaches and players would respect one another more. 4) Financially, the coffers would grow. Sure there would be a cost to do something like this, but that can be off-set w/ increased participation registration fees. You always have thousands more players register to play than those who choose to sign up to get certified to become an official. 5) As players go through this type of program from a younger age – some will filter themselves out of officiating – while many, many more will stay in it because they’ve done it for so long, enjoy doing it, and perhaps may see a career path with it.

Outside the box idea for sure. But with all the issues, something drastic has to be done.

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Sifters

Upcoming Events… There usually aren’t a lot of in-season tournaments or special events during the course of the D-I or D-III season, but with Thanksgiving and the holidays approaching, there will be some. Here’s a partial list:

  • Las Vegas Showcase, Boston University, Penn State, Minnesota, Yale, Nov. 25-26
  • Nutmeg Classic, Bemidji, UCONN, Sacred Heart, Quinnipiac, Nov. 25-26
  • Smashville Showcase, Cornell, Northeastern, Princeton,
  • Mayor’s Cup, Providence vs Brown, Nov. 26
  • East/West Showcase, St. Cloud, Minnesota, UNH, Merrimack, Jan. 6-7
  • Capital District Mayors Cup, Union & RPI, Jan. 28
  • The Beanpot, Boston College, Boston University, Harvard, Northeastern, Feb 7 & 14

History Made… It is believed to be a first in D-I as two black female assistant coaches faced off vs. one another when Union College’s Olivia Soares faced Dartmouth College’s Nina Rogers last weekend. The story made NHL.com which you can read HERE.

New Poll… For those who don’t know about The Ice Garden, you should. It’s a SB Nation blow/website that covers the PHF and all things professional women’s hockey. They also do their own NCAA D-I Women’s Poll each week. You can catch that right HERE.

NLI Signings… The National Letter of Intent signing period was last week which allowed players a chance to sign their scholarship paperwork. Programs usually will announce recent signings after this period on their websites – so stay tuned!

ECAC News… Big news out of the ECAC this week as we learned the ECAC Women’s and Men’s playoffs will feature all 12 teams. While no specific playoff structure was announced for the women, it’s believed the they will follow the men’s side. Teams 1-4 will get a bye in the first round while teams 5-8 will host seeds 9-12 in a one game single elimination format. Winners would move on to play in a quarter-final best-of-three series hosted by seeds 1-4 the following weekend. Those winners would move on to the championship semi-finals and finals each. being one game. You can read the official story HERE. The change for the women takes effect in 2024 while the men’s side will see the new format this season.

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Until Next Time… Enjoy and Happy Reading!


-Streams for games in the ECAC can be found HERE. Subscriptions will be necessary to watch games.

-Streams in the WCHA can be found HERE. Subscriptions will be necessary to watch games.

-Streams in Hockey East this year can be found HERE. Hockey East once again is streaming all game live and for FREE.

-Streams for CHA games with the exception of Penn St. can be found HERE. Subscriptions will be necessary to watch games.

-Streams for NEWHA games can be found at each teams’ website. Subscriptions may be necessary to watch games.


NCAA Coaching Changes… Keep up with all the coaching changes across D-I and D-III HERE.

Recruiting Events/League Online Directory… Find all the recruiting events on WCH.org right HERE. Want to add your event? Click HERE to fill out our WCH.org event form.


Grant Kimball is founder and contributing writer at Women’s College Hockey.org and beginning his 4th season as an Assistant Coach with the Yale University women’s hockey program. Grant has developed an experienced perspective in the world of women’s ice hockey, having coached and recruited players from across the globe during his 25+ year amateur and NCAA coaching career. He has coached at 6 NCAA DIII and DI programs in the NCHA (D3), the CHA, WCHA, Hockey East, ECAC, and the Ivy League (DI). Beyond coaching, Grant served as a site representative for the 2019 NCAA quarterfinal of the D-I NCAA Tournament. He also currently serves as an Officer with the American Hockey Coaches Association as Vice President of Membership and sits on the AHCA’s Women’s Hockey Executive Committee.