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


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- Episode #3A Part I – Is Now LIVE|The Recap
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Polls & Scheds
Freshman Production
NCAA Update
Sifters
ICYMI
Polls & Scheds
DCU/USCHO Division I Poll December 5, 2022
Rank | Team | (First Place Votes) | Record | Points | Last Poll |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Ohio State | (9) | 14-2-2 | 286 | 1 |
2 | Wisconsin | (7) | 13-2-1 | 276 | 2 |
3 | Quinnipiac | (4) | 16-1-0 | 260 | 4 |
4 | Yale | 8-1-1 | 224 | 3 | |
5 | Colgate | 15-2-1 | 220 | 6 | |
6 | Minnesota | 12-3-2 | 218 | 5 | |
7 | Minnesota Duluth | 12-6-0 | 182 | 8 | |
8 | Northeastern | 18-2-1 | 174 | 7 | |
9 | Cornell | 7-3-2 | 118 | 10 | |
10 | Providence | 15-4-1 | 117 | 9 | |
11 | Clarkson | 16-5-1 | 110 | 11 | |
12 | Penn State | 13-8-1 | 81 | 12 | |
13 | Vermont | 11-7-1 | 45 | 13 | |
14 | St. Cloud State | 11-8-0 | 35 | NR | |
15 | Connecticut | 12-8-2 | 22 | 14 |
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
Rank | Team | Points | (First Place Votes) | Last Poll | Record | Weeks in Poll |
1 | Ohio State University | 265 | (5) | 1 | 14-2-2 | 13 |
2 | University of Wisconsin | 264 | (10) | 2 | 13-2-1 | 13 |
3 | Quinnipiac University | 251 | 4 | 16-1-0 | 13 | |
4 | University of Minnesota | 213 | 5 | 12-3-1 | 13 | |
5 | Yale University | 207 | 3 | 8-1-1 | 13 | |
6 | Colgate University | 203 | 6 | 15-2-1 | 13 | |
7 | Northeastern University | 174 | (1) | 7 | 18-2-1 | 13 |
8 | University of Minnesota Duluth | 169 | 8 | 12-6-0 | 13 | |
9 | Providence College | 116 | 9 | 15-4-1 | 8 | |
10 | Cornell University | 110 | 10 | 7-3-2 | 13 | |
11 | Clarkson University | 99 | 11 | 16-5-1 | 13 | |
12 | Penn State University | 82 | 12 | 13-8-1 | 12 | |
13 | University of Vermont | 48 | 13 | 11-7-1 | 13 | |
14 | St. Cloud State University | 29 | NR | 11-8-0 | 1 | |
15 | University of Connecticut | 20 | 14 | 12-8-2 | 8 |
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
Rank | Team | (First Place Votes) | Record | Points | Last Poll |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Gustavus | (16) | 10-0-0 | 296 | 1 |
2 | UW-River Falls | (4) | 8-1-0 | 280 | 2 |
3 | Adrian | 9-0-0 | 241 | 5 | |
4 | Plattsburgh | 9-2-0 | 209 | 4 | |
5 | Norwich | 7-1-0 | 197 | 6 | |
6 | Amherst | 5-1-0 | 196 | 11 | |
7 | Colby | 5-0-0 | 173 | 8 | |
8 | Elmira | 9-2-0 | 166 | 7 | |
9 | Middlebury | 4-3-0 | 163 | 3 | |
10 | UW-Eau Claire | 7-2-0 | 125 | 9 | |
11 | Nazareth | 9-1-0 | 114 | 10 | |
12 | Aurora | 9-1-1 | 62 | 12 | |
13 | Utica | 8-1-1 | 40 | 14 | |
14 | Oswego | 8-4-0 | 37 | 15 | |
15 | Endicott | 6-3-1 | 21 | 13 | |
15 | St. Norbert | 9-1-2 | 21 | NR |
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
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.
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.
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.
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
Rnk | Team | Record | Points | Last Poll |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Minnesota (20) | 9-0-1 | 300 | 1 |
2 | Ohio State | 10-1-1 | 280 | 2 |
3 | Wisconsin | 10-2-0 | 246 | 3 |
4 | Colgate | 11-1-0 | 216 | 6 |
5 | Quinnipiac | 10-1-0 | 207 | 4 |
6 | Yale | 4-0-0 | 193 | 8 |
7 | Minnesota Duluth | 7-5-0 | 190 | 5 |
8 | Northeastern | 10-1-1 | 187 | 7 |
9 | Cornell | 5-1-0 | 151 | 9 |
10 | Providence | 9-2-1 | 109 | 12 |
11 | Clarkson | 10-3-1 | 89 | 10 |
12 | Penn State | 8-5-1 | 84 | 11 |
13 | Vermont | 7-4-1 | 76 | 13 |
14 | Connecticut | 8-4-2 | 27 | NR |
15 | Princeton | 1-3-0 | 18 | 14 |
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
RANK | SCHOOL | LAST WEEK’S RANKING | 2022-23 RECORD | WEEKS IN TOP 15 |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | University of Minnesota, 282 (18) | 1 | 9-1-1 | 9 |
2. | Ohio State University, 263 (1) | 2 | 10-1-1 | 9 |
3. | University of Wisconsin, 233 | 3 | 10-2-0 | 9 |
4. | Quinnipiac University, 207 | 4 | 10-1-0 | 9 |
5. | Colgate University, 203 | 6 | 11-1-0 | 9 |
6. | Yale University, 191 | 8 | 4-0-0 | 9 |
7. | Northeastern University, 180 | 7 | 10-1-1 | 9 |
8. | University of Minnesota Duluth, 166 | 5 | 7-5-0 | 9 |
9. | Cornell University, 143 | 9 | 5-1-0 | 9 |
10. | Providence College, 100 | 12 | 9-2-1 | 4 |
11. | Clarkson University, 90 | 10 | 10-3-1 | 9 |
12. | Penn State University, 75 | 11 | 8-5-1 | 8 |
13. | University of Vermont, 68 | 14 | 7-4-1 | 9 |
14. | University of Connecticut, 30 | NR | 9-1-1 | 4 |
15. | Princeton University, 22 | 13 | 1-3-0 | 9 |
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
RNK | Team | Points |
1 | Yale | 12 |
2 | Quinnipiac | 12 |
3 | Cornell | 9 |
4 | Harvard | 7 |
5 | Clarkson | 6 |
6 | St. Lawrence | 6 |
7 | Colgate | 6 |
8 | Brown | 5 |
9 | Dartmouth | 4 |
10 | Union | 3.5 |
11 | Princeton | 3 |
12 | Rensselaer | 1.5 |
Hockey East
RNK | Team | Points |
1 | Northeastern | 26 |
2 | Providence | 18 |
3 | Vermont | 18 |
4 | Connecticut | 15 |
5 | Boston College | 14 |
6 | Maine | 12 |
7 | Merrimack | 10 |
8 | Boston University | 8 |
9 | New Hampshire | 8 |
10 | Holy Cross | 3 |
NEWHA
RNK | Team | Points |
1 | Saint Anselm | 18 |
2 | Stonehill | 16 |
3 | Long Island | 12 |
4 | Sacred Heart | 10 |
5 | Franklin Pierce | 6 |
6 | Saint Michael’s | 4 |
7 | Post | 4 |
CHA
RNK | Team | Points |
1 | Syracuse | 12 |
2 | Penn State | 9 |
3 | Mercyhurst | 3 |
4 | Lindenwood | 0 |
4 | RIT | 0 |
WCHA
RNK | Team | Points |
1 | Ohio State | 31 |
2 | Minnesota | 27 |
3 | Wisconsin | 21 |
4 | St. Cloud State | 16 |
5 | Minnesota State | 10 |
6 | Minnesota-Duluth | 9 |
7 | Bemidji State | 3 |
8 | St. Thomas | 0 |
DCU/USCHO Division III Poll November 7, 2022
Rnk | Team | (First Place Votes) | Record | Points | Last Poll |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Middlebury | (19) | 0-0-0 | 299 | 1 |
2 | Gustavus | (1) | 3-0-0 | 274 | 2 |
3 | Plattsburgh | 2-0-0 | 262 | 3 | |
4 | Elmira | 3-0-0 | 235 | 4 | |
5 | Nazareth | 2-0-0 | 206 | 6 | |
6 | UW-River Falls | 1-1-0 | 170 | 7 | |
7 | Adrian | 4-0-0 | 163 | 10 | |
8 | UW-Eau Claire | 3-1-0 | 161 | 5 | |
9 | Norwich | 2-0-0 | 151 | 11 | |
10 | Colby | 0-0-0 | 140 | 8 | |
11 | Endicott | 3-1-0 | 90 | 9 | |
12 | Amherst | 0-0-0 | 77 | 12 | |
13 | Cortland | 2-0-0 | 63 | 14 | |
14 | Augsburg | 1-3-0 | 32 | 13 | |
15 | Aurora | 3-1-0 | 22 | 15 | |
15 | Hamilton | 0-0-0 | 22 | NR |
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
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
Rank | Team | Dates | Total Attendance | Average Attendance | Capacity | Cap. % |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Wisconsin | 6 | 13,338 | 2,223 | 2,273 | 97.8 |
2 | Minnesota | 6 | 8,349 | 1,392 | 3,400 | 40.9 |
3 | Minnesota Duluth | 4 | 3,495 | 874 | 6,756 | 12.9 |
4 | Yale | 2 | 1,586 | 793 | 3,486 | 22.7 |
5 | Colgate | 6 | 4,105 | 684 | 2,222 | 30.8 |
6 | Princeton | 2 | 1,237 | 618 | 2,100 | 29.5 |
7 | Mercyhurst | 6 | 3,551 | 592 | 1,300 | 45.5 |
8 | Penn State | 8 | 4,675 | 584 | 5,782 | 10.1 |
9 | Clarkson | 5 | 2,822 | 564 | 3,000 | 18.8 |
10 | Ohio State | 6 | 3,180 | 530 | 1,200 | 44.2 |
11 | Boston University | 6 | 2,947 | 491 | 3,684 | 13.3 |
11 | New Hampshire | 6 | 2,947 | 491 | 6,501 | 7.6 |
13 | St. Lawrence | 6 | 2,729 | 455 | 3,000 | 15.2 |
14 | Quinnipiac | 5 | 2,241 | 448 | 3,086 | 14.5 |
15 | Harvard | 4 | 1,770 | 442 | 3,095 | 14.3 |
16 | Dartmouth | 2 | 810 | 405 | 4,500 | 9 |
17 | Connecticut | 8 | 3,174 | 397 | 2,000 | 19.8 |
18 | Northeastern | 6 | 2,324 | 387 | 4,747 | 8.2 |
19 | RIT | 3 | 1,126 | 375 | 4,300 | 8.7 |
20 | Vermont | 6 | 2,207 | 368 | 4,007 | 9.2 |
21 | St. Thomas | 6 | 2,169 | 362 | 1,400 | 25.8 |
22 | Cornell | 4 | 1,412 | 353 | 4,267 | 8.3 |
23 | Bemidji State | 8 | 2,737 | 342 | 4,373 | 7.8 |
24 | Boston College | 6 | 1,883 | 314 | 7,884 | 4 |
25 | Union | 2 | 585 | 292 | 2,225 | 13.1 |
26 | St. Cloud State | 6 | 1,641 | 274 | 5,159 | 5.3 |
27 | Minnesota State | 6 | 1,491 | 248 | 4,832 | 5.1 |
28 | Maine | 10 | 2,273 | 227 | 5,124 | 4.4 |
28 | St. Anselm | 7 | 1,589 | 227 | 2,700 | 8.4 |
30 | Brown | 3 | 642 | 214 | 2,495 | 8.6 |
31 | Syracuse | 5 | 1,065 | 213 | 350 | 60.9 |
32 | Sacred Heart | 5 | 1,059 | 212 | — | — |
33 | Holy Cross | 7 | 1,384 | 198 | 1,400 | 14.1 |
34 | St. Michael’s | 2 | 359 | 180 | 600 | 29.9 |
35 | LIU | 3 | 529 | 176 | — | — |
36 | Merrimack | 7 | 1,221 | 174 | 2,549 | 6.8 |
37 | Rensselaer | 6 | 1,030 | 172 | 5,217 | 3.3 |
38 | Lindenwood | 2 | 323 | 162 | — | — |
39 | Providence | 8 | 1,290 | 161 | 3,030 | 5.3 |
40 | Stonehill | 8 | 1,135 | 142 | 1,000 | 14.2 |
41 | Franklin Pierce | 3 | 219 | 73 | — | — |
42 | Post | 4 | 264 | 66 | — | — |
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.
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.
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.
