Post #112 – 7/17/23 – Monday’s Sifters + A Little Extra:
Little lobs of news and info from around the world of women’s college hockey and beyond
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
A Lot Going On
There is a lot to get to. Coaching hires, USA Hockey & Hockey Canada news, as well as a little extra – so we’re going to dive right in.
Let’s get to it.
Coaching Hires
Merrimack… Has named former UMASS-Boston Head Coach Danielle Blanchard as one of its Assistant Coaches.
Minnesota… Brad Frost has rounded out his staff. Back to the college ranks as one of coach’s Frost’s Assistant Coaches is Mitch Baker. The former assistant coach at Union College has been the U-19 team Head Coach at Shattuck St. Mary’s for the past 2 seasons. Also joining Frost’s staff is Greg “Boom” May who will serve as an Associate Head Coach. May was the men’s Head Coach at D-III Augsburg College for 2 seasons. Jessica Scott has had the ‘interim’ tag removed and is now a Full-Time Assistant Coach.
St. Michael’s College… Has named Kevin Salinas it’s first ever full-time assistant coach. Salinas comes to St. Mike’s after working with the Lawrence Viking’s women’s program during their first two years of existence in the NCHA. You can read more on his hiring HERE.
Curry College… Head Coach Kelly Rider announced the hiring of new Assistant Coach Rebecca Taylor. Click HERE to read more on Taylor’s appointment.
Elmira College… Has hired former SUNY-Potsdam Head Coach Greg Haney. Greg was a former D-I Assistant Coach at Lindenwood before taking over the Potsdam program. You can read more on Haney’s hiring HERE.
Plymouth State University… Has opened a national search for a new Head Coach after Mollie Fitzpatrick stepped down to pursue other endeavors.
USA Hockey & Hockey Canada News
There is lots to report from USA Hockey and Hockey Canada.
On the USA Hockey Front…
- The USA Hockey U-15 National Development Camp ended last week in Oxford, Ohio with 215 players taking part. You can see the list of camp participants and player stats HERE.
- The USA Hockey U-18 Select Camp get’s underway today with each team getting in a 1-hour practice and game. A group of 32-players will be named at the end of camp to move on to the August National Festival help in Lake Placid, NY.
- Full-Time Scouting Position… USA Hockey is seeking applicants for its Women’s National Team Head Scout. You can find the job description and posting HERE. Current Providence Head Coach Matt Kelly last held this position leading up to the 2018 Gold Medal which Team USA won.
While north of the border, Hockey Canada…
- Katherine Henderson, former Head of Canada Curling, has been hired as Hockey Canada’s new President and CEO. You can read more on her hiring HERE.
- Hockey Canada announced earlier this weekend its player pool of attendee’s and camp schedule for the National Under-18 and National Development Teams. You can find the U-18 Camp schedule HERE and Camp Roster HERE. The National Team Roster of players can be found HERE. Unlike the US, it appears Hockey Canada has already selected its Development Team Roster.
- As I suspected, Hockey Canada’s Under-18 and National Development Team Camp will be held in Ontario. St. Catherines, Ontario at Canada Games Park.
- Also taking part in Hockey Canada’s U-18 Camp will be a group from Finland. This has been something Hockey Canada has done before.
Sifter Extras
Recruiting Events Coming Up
The last 2 weeks of July will be a busy one for college coaches. Here are some of the remaining July events coaches will be out at:
- USA U-18 Select Camp, July 16-22 (schedule + Live Stream Link… must pay
- NAE July College Exposure Showcase, July 17-19
- Beantown WKND #1 – College Super Series, July 21-23 (schedule)
- NAE July Development & Showcase, July 24-26
- East Coast Wizard Summer Showcase, July 27-30, (schedule)
- Beantown WKND #2, U19 & 2007/2008, July 28-30
- MN Os Prospects Weekend, July 28-30
Additional Coaches Pool?
- With the closure of the PHF, could there be a new pool of ex-pro players ready to jump on some of these 4th coaching positions at the D-I level?
- Speaking of 4th coaches… we’re beginning to see some of them are on the road recruiting.
IIHF Division 1-A World Championships Scheduled to begin Aug. 20
- The IIHF Div. 1-A World Championships are set to kick off August 20th in Shenzhen, China. You can find schedules HERE.
Robert Morris Announces 23-24 Roster…
- Robert Morris University Head Coach Logan Bittle has announced the Colonials’ roster last week for the 23-24 season. As you may recall, RMU shut both its women’s and men’s hockey programs down citing budget constraints in the Spring of 2021. Ultimately, the programs have been reinstated and Bittle has been hard at work rebooting the program. 9 incoming freshmen, 9 transfers, and 6 current members of the program from when it was shut down makeup the 24-player roster – which you can get right HERE.
Assumption University Greyhounds Announce Inaugural Schedule…
- Looks like the Greyhounds have their 23-24 schedule posted. Beyond conference games in the NEWHA, they have non-conference games vs. RIT x 2, Dartmouth, Holy Cross x 2 (The Battle of Worcester… I just made that up. I’ll give them license to use if they want though), and RPI.
ECAC Tweaks Conference Playoff Format + Announces Conference Schedule…
- ECAC Hockey released its 132-game conference slate of games July 11 including a new women’s playoff format to mirror what the men used last season. The first ECAC contest takes place October 13th when Harvard travels to play Dartmouth.
- The ECAC playoffs will now include all 12 teams up from 8. Seeds 1-4 get a first round bye while seeds 5-8 host seeds 9-12 in one-game playoff the weekend of Feb 23-24. Winners of the first round will travel to play seeds 1-4 in a best two-out-of-three quarter-final series March 1-2 with quarter-final round winners moving on to the ECAC Championship Weekend March 8-9 hosted by the highest remaining seed. You can read the full release HERE.
Summer College Hockey Fix…
- According to the Mercyhurst Lakers Twitter account and the schedule banner at the top of their website homepage, the Lakers’ European Summer Tour games will be steamed. Games are scheduled for July 25, 26, 28, and 29. All times listed are 6pm… we’re just not sure if that is Swedish time or EST. I’ll find a link and confirm game times if possible.
Until Next Time Everyone… Be Well and take Care,
-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. Paid 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 5th 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.
