Part I – What the June 15th call date is and what it really means The Women’s College Hockey Pipeline… Stay informed. Get educated. Your leading online resource for NCAA
ICYMI (In Case You Missed It) – All Posts From The Past Week… Never Miss One! The Women’s College Hockey Pipeline… Stay informed. Get educated. Become ‘HOCKEY-WISE’! Your leading online
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. Your leading online resource for
Like It Or Not, For Some – Tryouts Are Here Or Have Come And Gone The Women’s College Hockey Pipeline… Stay informed. Get educated. Your leading online resource for NCAA
5 Regular Season Games Remain Before A Unique Playoff Format Begins The Women’s College Hockey Pipeline… Stay informed. Get educated. Your leading online resource for NCAA Women’s College Hockey Latest
ICYMI (In Case You Missed It) – All Posts From The Past Week… Never Miss One! The Women’s College Hockey Pipeline… Stay informed. Get educated. Become ‘HOCKEY-WISE’! Your leading online
How will the absence of the COVID 5th year graduate transfer change D-I recruiting? The Women’s College Hockey Pipeline… Stay informed. Get educated. Your leading online resource for NCAA Women’s
The NCAA ‘Quiet Period’ provides a nice break for D-I coaches to reset and recharge The Women’s College Hockey Pipeline… Stay informed. Get educated. Your leading online resource for NCAA
The Pipeline Returns The Women’s College Hockey Pipeline… Stay informed. Get educated. Your leading online resource for NCAA Women’s College Hockey Latest From… The Women’s College Hockey Podcast – Episode
ICYMI (In Case You Missed It) – All Posts From The Past Week… Never Miss A Post! The Women’s College Hockey Pipeline… Stay informed. Get educated. Become ‘HOCKEY-WISE’! Your leading
Part I – What the June 15th call date is and what it really means
The Women’s College Hockey Pipeline…
Stay informed. Get educated.
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
June 15 is a special time in the recruiting process between coaches and recruits as well as their families. Dreams are made into reality, while for others dreams get crushed with nothing but despair. In a 2-part series this week, I’ll talk about what the June 15 date is, what it means, what’s allowed, and how parents and players can approach this all important date. Enjoy!
What Is June 15 And Why Is It Important?
In plain terms, June 15 begins the recruiting process for recruits who are entering grade 11 next Fall.
It’s the first date when D-I coaches can initiate contact with recruits and their families (besides sending recruiting questionnaires). Division III schools have a set of different rules on communication, so the June 15 date doesn’t apply to D-III coaches.
Coaches can have recruiting conversations with players and parents about recruiting them to attend their institutions and play for their hockey program. It’s also a time when recruits and families gain some perspective within the recruiting process on which schools — have interest in them — or if any at all.
At the end of the day, June 15th represents a time when the first real step in the recruiting cycle with two-way communication between D-I coaches and recruits can begin.
What Does June 15 Really Mean?
It’s kinda of like ‘Draft Day’.
For players, it’s a special day for those who reeceive some type of communication from a coach. All forms of direct electronic communication… phone calls, FaceTime calls, Zoom calls, emails, or texts, and DM”s through social media from coaches are allowable.
Answering the phone and having a conversation with a D-I school can be exhilarating. For others who wait by their phone only to not have it ring, it can be heartbreaking.
It’s really the beginning stages of establishing a relationship between the program and the recruit.
Coaches finally get the chance to talk with the recruits they’ve been watching for months if not years. Players, much the same way, have been watching and taking an interest in potentially many schools. And now both get to find out if the feel ‘feel’ about one another.
Stay tuned for Part II Friday where I’ll discuss what’s allowed to happen in June 15, what the REAL important part is, getting expectations in line, and tips for players and parents.
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.
Hello There! Grant Kimball here… founder and contributing writer to my blog & website: Women’s College Hockey.org. I’m very glad you found my site. My goal is simple – to help those play women’s NCAA college hockey. I am beginning my 6th season as an Assistant Coach with the Yale University women’s hockey program. I have developed an experienced perspective in the world of women’s ice hockey having coached and recruited literally hundreds of players from across the globe and talked with thousands of parents during my close to 30 years of amateur and NCAA coaching. I have coached at 6 NCAA DI and DIII programs in the NCHA (D3), the CHA, WCHA, Hockey East, ECAC, and the Ivy League (DI). Beyond coaching, I have served in a variety of leadership capacities. I currently serves as an Officer with the American Hockey Coaches Association as Vice President of Women’s Hockey where I lead our D-I and D-III coaching body and sit on the AHCA’s Women’s Hockey Executive Committee.
ICYMI (In Case You Missed It) – All Posts From The Past Week… Never Miss One!
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
The Pipeline Weekly Review
Miss a post from The Pipeline this week?
Get caught up with what’s going on in the world of women’s college hockey & beyond with The Pipeline Weekly Review every Sunday.
I’ll recap my posts from the past week so you never have to miss out. Just click any of the links below and stay informed.
The Week That Was…
Thanks to everyone who opened and read The Pipeline this week. Posts were read close to 11,500 times – a great week for the Pipeline.
The post that got the most attention was #137 on Wednesday regarding the club team tryout environment that exists. Next years’ team tryouts… usually start within days after the current season ends. It’s not a great way to do things when you want to talk about what’s best for athletes or parents. Lots of positive comments and feedback on the issue. Be sure to check it out below.
And it was a fantastic week for hockey in general. Not only did the NHL playoffs begin, but the PWHL reached another attendance milestone.
With fans back in the seats after a 3-week pause due to the World Championships, the PWHL broke its own attendance record with a sellout crowd of 21,205 for Saturday’s game between Toronto and Montreal, in Montreal at the Belle Centre. Awesome to see. One to the Weekly Review…
-Quick Takeaway On Tryouts -Coaching Carousel Continues -Future Expansion -IIHF Syncs Up World Championship Dates -What A Week For Hockey
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 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.
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.
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
Quick Takeaway…
Thanks to those of you who commented on my last post regarding the timing of next seasons team tryouts. If you didn’t read it, you can click HERE and get caught up. The overwhelming sentiment appears to be – you all don’t like it either. I do feel that motivation piece is very real.
And let’s not kid ourselves, there is a motivation piece for organizations to run tryouts as early as they can. Those people are competitive, they want success, i.e. they want to ‘win’. Be the first one to the table, and you’ll have the most players to select from. Wait and you’ll have less options, the pool shrinks thus jeopardizing you chances of ‘success’. Or does it?
May be the question instead should be… what’s the best way to achieve success? Is winning even the goal? Is success winning a championship or making players better? I come from the school of thought that winning or success, should be a byproduct of your process. Improve your play and execute consistently over time, and you’ll have your chances to ‘win’ just by virtue of what and how you do things. So how do you create the best process? Interesting question for another time.
It’s hard to get to a perfect tryout-world. Lots of variables involved. I think most would agree however, a few months of separation would be a good thing – for everyone.
Saturday’s Sifters…
Coaching Carousel Continues… -Assumption University of the NEWHA is looking for a new head coach and the position is now open -Wilkes University has a posting for an Assistant Coach -Albertus Magnus College has a Graduate Assistant Coach position open
You can find most of these and other hockey related job postings on The American Hockey Coaches Association job postings Board HERE.
Future Expansion… -Michigan Finally Moving Forward With Feasibility Study… in a story earlier this week which you can watch HERE, Denise Illitch talks with WXYZ Sports about The Univ. of Michigan executing a feasibility study, with help from the NHL and College Hockey Inc., to see if a D-I program can work. These studies take time. And even if it is ‘feasible’, we all know that does not guarantee it’s going to happen. I wouldn’t expect any news soon.
-Western Connecticut State University, located in Danbury, CT has announced plans to add a NCAA D-III program by the 26-27 season. They will operate as a club team for the 24-25 season. You can read the full release HERE.
-The NCAA D-III Management Council announced yesterday the D-III women’s national championship field will increase by one team to 12, beginning with next years championship. The Management council changed the ratio of national tournament teams who make the tournament which is based on the number of schools that sponsor women’s hockey as a D-III varsity sport, from 1:6.5 to 1:6.
At Division I Increasing the D-I championship tournament from its current 11 team field to 12, is also on the mind of every D-I program and will be a focus point to put in front of the NCAA for consideration.
IIHF Synchronizes Championship Dates… -The top 3 levels of women’s world championships, 1B, 1A, and the top Division will all take place over the same IIHF international break starting in 2025. This move, while World Championship games are played, will help professional leagues not to lose players. The PWHL for example, takes an ‘international break’ when World Championships are held and does not schedule games.
What A Week For Hockey… -This is awesome… Tennessee State University has named Duanté Abercrombie and is the first head coach hired to lead the men’s hockey team. The historic hire makes Abercrombie the first head coach of a hockey program at a historically Black college or university (HBCU). You can read more on the announcement HERE.
-The NHL will be headed to the state of Utah in 2024-2025. The Arizona Coyotes franchise could not strike an arena deal, and by end of business Thursday, Utah had it’s first NHL franchise.
-It’s that time of year… fans of the NHL playoffs, which begin tonight (Go Bruins!), put the next 2-months of their lives on hold and are glued to watching their favorite team compete for the Stanley Cup. Some of these Cup commercials are amazing!
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.
Hello There! Grant Kimball here… founder and contributing writer to my blog & website: Women’s College Hockey.org. I’m very glad you found my site. My goal is simple – to help those play women’s NCAA college hockey. I am beginning my 6th season as an Assistant Coach with the Yale University women’s hockey program. I have developed an experienced perspective in the world of women’s ice hockey having coached and recruited literally hundreds of players from across the globe and talked with thousands of parents during my close to 30 years of amateur and NCAA coaching. I have coached at 6 NCAA DI and DIII programs in the NCHA (D3), the CHA, WCHA, Hockey East, ECAC, and the Ivy League (DI). Beyond coaching, I have served in a variety of leadership capacities. I currently serves as an Officer with the American Hockey Coaches Association as Vice President of Women’s Hockey where I lead our D-I and D-III coaching body and sit on the AHCA’s Women’s Hockey Executive Committee.
Like It Or Not, For Some – Tryouts Are Here Or Have Come And Gone
The Women’s College Hockey Pipeline…
Stay informed. Get educated.
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
Lost Motivation…
Except for a few teams competing north of the border in the Esso Cup, Canada’s National Midget Club Hockey Championship held in Vernon, BC this coming week, the traditional youth/minor hockey season of 23-24 has ended. MN high school and New England prep hockey has been done since early March. The USA Hockey National Championships ended about10 days ago, and most of club hockey in Ontario and across the world has finished over the last 2 weekends.
Time to relax, right? Have a few months off of hockey, may be dust off the golf clubs, reconnect with friends who haven’t seen you in months, break out the grill. At least have some time to re-charge the battery before the summer camp and showcase circuit begins.
Well. For many of you. Not a chance.
The hamster wheel of youth/minor hockey keeps on spinning.
No sooner did your season just end, only to have you jump right back in the car, drive to wherever you needed to get to, and take part in 3 or 4 day tryout event for next years 24-25 team.
With little to no break for anyone, youth/minor hockey organizations across the US and Canada have asked parents and players to partake in a ‘tryout’ process so coaches can presumably make the right decisions in selecting next years team… without waiting until next season really begins.
Doesn’t seem quite fair does it. No time to reflect. No time to take what the coach wants you to work on and actually work on it. No time to get better, learn, contemplate, rest. No time to develop, impress, or surprise.
I’ll keep the economics of youth/minor hockey and the year-long ice contracts some rinks impose on associations to buy, which keeps the hamster wheel going, out of the discussion for now.
What I do want to hit on, is motivation, or lack there of.
Back when I was growing up and playing in Massachusetts during the early to mid 80’s, the youth season ended in mid-April and tryouts weren’t until late August or early September. A full 4.5 months away from the person who was going to decide your fate at the next tryout. Your coach told you a few things he/she wanted you to improve on – or else making the team might not happen. You might not be good enough if you don’t put in the work. So I was faced with a choice, put in the work or not.
It’s funny. Hockey people, coaches in particular, talk about the motivation of a player being integral to her/his success. Coaches love self-motivated players. Players who are first on, last off. A player who takes responsibility for their own development will do well in life – whether they meet their on-ice goals or not. Listen to any college coach talk about what they’re preaching to players in their year-end exit meetings and you’ll hear them give clear and direct guidance on where they need to improve on – to move up the depth-chart. The best part, players have 5-6 months to work on what they need to. They have time to use their motivation to their advantage.
So when an organization or coach tells a kid, hey I know we just ended the season Sunday, But I hope to see you on Tuesday at tryouts… man are we missing an opportunity to make the game and players better. There’s something to be said for working for something – and the lessons you learn from going through the process. There are a million different ways to do things. But I really hope the organizers of youth/minor hockey re-think how they approach the tryout process and allow for some separation.
So if you’ve already had your tryouts and made the team you wanted – congrats. Now the hard part comes, staying motivated to improve. You already got what you wanted.
And if you don’t have your tryouts for some time, consider yourself lucky. Take a break, play another sport. Get a job. Do some volunteer work. You get the chance to surprise and impress someone when the time comes. That is if you’re motivated to do the work and improve.
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 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.
5 Regular Season Games Remain Before A Unique Playoff Format Begins
The Women’s College Hockey Pipeline…
Stay informed. Get educated.
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
PWHL Schedule Picks Back Up This Week…
After taking a mid-season break which allowed its players to compete at Worlds, the Professional Women’s Hockey League gets back to its regular season schedule this week. In games being played this Thursday, Toronto travels to play Boston and Minnesota makes its way to play Montreal. 5 games in all dot the schedule this week.
Judging from the PWHL website, the regular season ends May 5th with Ottawa @ Toronto. Each team has 5 games remaining on its schedule and no one has been eliminated from the playoff yet. Speaking of playoffs, the format this year being used is a truly unique.
Strait from the PWHL website… The top four teams in the PWHL regular-season standings qualify for the playoffs, which commence the week of May 6. The first-place team will have a 24-hour window to select its semifinal opponent – choosing between the third- or fourth-place teams. Playoff semifinals and championship will be played as best-of-five series. The higher seeds will have home-ice advantage for games one, two, and five in each series. Games requiring overtime will be decided by playing five-on-five periods until a winning goal is scored.
Have to say, I really like that each stage of the playoffs will be a ‘best of series’ format… and how about the #1 seed getting to pick their opponent in the semi-finals!
With much of the minor/youth hockey season now over, what a great opportunity to get out and see some PWHL games live and in person.
With over 90% of PWHL players having ties to the NCAA, much more to discuss about the PWHL, it’s opt-in style draft, and the impact that has on players at the NCAA D-I level.
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 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.
– Errors & Omissions – Possible D-I Recruiting Changes With COVID 5th Year Grad. Transfers Going Away – Sifters… Little Lobs of News & Info From Around Women’s College Hockey
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 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.
How will the absence of the COVID 5th year graduate transfer change D-I recruiting?
The Women’s College Hockey Pipeline…
Stay informed. Get educated.
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
Errors & Omissions…
Omissions… One more crack at correcting my myself about the USA Hockey Girls Tier II National Championship Tournament locations… I was partly correct in saying they were held in Green Bay, WI. However, only the U16 division was held there.
I omitted the fact that the Tier II tournament had 3 separate locations for each age division, whereas the Tier I tournament was held at a single location for all divisions. The U14’s were in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, U16’s in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and U19’s in East Lansing, Michigan.
Possible D-I Recruiting Changes W/ COVID 5th Year Grad. Transfers Going Away…
Change is coming to the way D-I coaches manage their future recruiting classes. Which should be good news to future incoming first-year recruits – in that there will be more of them entering college hockey. Why?
The upcoming 2024-2025 season will be the last year D-I programs can recruit 5th year Graduate Transfer players. And with around 80-90 grad. transfer players (plus or minus a few), dotting D-I rosters since 20-21, a majority of those 80-90 roster spots will now be filled with first-year incoming players. Around 265-ish players is the average makeup a typical recruiting class across D-I. So about one-third was taken up of grad transfers.
There will still be a small number of grad transfers for reasons like for medical/injury red-shirt situations or other NCAA waivers players could take advantage of. I think the question programs are wondering is how may players with eligibility left in their career will decide to transfer. There has always been a small number of players each year that decide to move on from their previous school with eligibility remaining. The NCAA has made transferring easier with the introduction of new rules allowing players to become eligible right away without sitting out a year.
We’ll have to wait and see what the numbers look like at the start of the 25-26 season. Suffice to say, there will undoubtedly be more first-year recruits than grad transfers a part of future recruiting classes.
Sifters… Little Lobs of News & Info From Around Women’s College Hockey
-Post University is seeking a new head coach as it has posted for the position. That makes 3 new head coaches for 24-25, 2 in the WCHA and 1 in the NEWHA.
-Congrats to Chris MacKenzie of UCONN and Joe Cranston of UW-River Falls for being named the D-I and D-III AHCA National Coach of the Year.
-The SUNYAC, State University of New York Athletic Conference, will be adding William-Smith beginning in 25-26.
-Transfer rules may be changing to allow student-athletes to transfer as many times as they like and be immediately eligible as long as they meet academic requirements. The change could come to a vote at the D-I council meetings April 17-18.
-Forrest Karr, athletic director at MN-Duluth, has been named the new Executive Director of the American Hockey Coaches Association. Karr will take over for longtime Exec. Dir. Joe Bertagna in July.
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.
Hello There! Grant Kimball here… founder and contributing writer to my blog & website: Women’s College Hockey.org. I’m very glad you found my site. My goal is simple – to help those play women’s NCAA college hockey. I am beginning my 6th season as an Assistant Coach with the Yale University women’s hockey program. I have developed an experienced perspective in the world of women’s ice hockey having coached and recruited literally hundreds of players from across the globe and talked with thousands of parents during my close to 30 years of amateur and NCAA coaching. I have coached at 6 NCAA DI and DIII programs in the NCHA (D3), the CHA, WCHA, Hockey East, ECAC, and the Ivy League (DI). Beyond coaching, I have served in a variety of leadership capacities. I currently serves as an Officer with the American Hockey Coaches Association as Vice President of Women’s Hockey where I lead our D-I and D-III coaching body and sit on the AHCA’s Women’s Hockey Executive Committee.
The NCAA ‘Quiet Period’ provides a nice break for D-I coaches to reset and recharge
The Women’s College Hockey Pipeline…
Stay informed. Get educated.
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
Errors & Omissions…
In Monday’s post I mentioned the location of the Girls USA Hockey Tier II National Championship Location was in Green Bay, WI. That was incorrect. The championships were held in East Lansing, Michigan.
D-I Coaches ‘Quiet Period’ Coming Soon…
D-I coaches have a few weeks left to evaluate players LIVE and in-person before the NCAA D-I women’s hockey quiet period begins. The quiet period does not allow D-I coaches to evaluate players who are in grade 9-12/PG live in-person off-campus or have face-to-face off-campus contact with recruits or family members.
The quiet period runs from the Monday (April 29, 2024) prior to the American Hockey Coaches Association Convention through May 31. So – D-I coaches will be back in the rinks June 1.
The quiet period however, does allow for D-I coaches to work camps/clinics with individuals who are in grade 8 or below.
With a few major events left on the recruiting calendar, you can bet coaches will be busy leading into the last weekend of April. Of note, some of the events D-I coaches could be attending over the next few weeks are: -IIHF Worlds, Utica, NY -IIHF Worlds Div. I Group A, Austria -Ontario Provincial Championships, Toronto, Ontario -Esso Cup – Canadian Women’s U18 National Club Championship, Vernon, BC -USA Hockey National Development Camp Tryouts by District — Minnesota, Central, Michigan, Mid-AM, and Massachusetts
One of the nice things about the ‘quiet period’ is the chance to take a step back from the day-to-day duties a college coach has while while getting in some professional development at the AHCA National Convention in Naples, FL. Getting some much needed downtime to re-charge the battery during the month of May not not a bad thing either!
Coaching Changes Tracker Is Back…
Over the past few years I’ve kept track of every coaching and professional staff change across D-I and D-III.
With 4 D-I head coaching departures already, this off-season is shaping up to be an active one — yet again.
Click on the links below to see the D-I and D-III coaching and professional staff changes over the last three seasons.
I will try and keep up with the changes as they happen every few weeks.
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.
Hello There! Grant Kimball here… founder and contributing writer to my blog & website: Women’s College Hockey.org. I’m very glad you found my site. My goal is simple – to help those play women’s NCAA college hockey. I am beginning my 6th season as an Assistant Coach with the Yale University women’s hockey program. I have developed an experienced perspective in the world of women’s ice hockey having coached and recruited literally hundreds of players from across the globe and talked with thousands of parents during my close to 30 years of amateur and NCAA coaching. I have coached at 6 NCAA DI and DIII programs in the NCHA (D3), the CHA, WCHA, Hockey East, ECAC, and the Ivy League (DI). Beyond coaching, I have served in a variety of leadership capacities. I currently serves as an Officer with the American Hockey Coaches Association as Vice President of Women’s Hockey where I lead our D-I and D-III coaching body and sit on the AHCA’s Women’s Hockey Executive Committee.
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
It’s Great To Be Back…
Hi everyone.
It’s GREAT to be back with you as I get The Women’s College Hockey Pipeline back up and running again. With my college hockey season over and now shifting gears into a new but familiar phase (recruiting), I have more time to keep all of you updated on what’s going on in the world of women’s college hockey.
Last year, I tried a new format which I got a lot of positive feedback on… shorter posts, but delivered more frequently. It seemed to work well as there was no shortage of news and info to disperse but much easier for me to manage. In an age where attention span is hard to capture, the ‘shorter-but-more-frequent’ option allowed me to be more consistent.
So, expect more of the same.
What A Season…
It was an amazing college hockey season.
In Division-I, Ohio State won it’s 2nd NCAA Championship in three seasons defeating Wisconsin 1-0 in front of 4,378 fans. UNH hosted The Frozen Four in Durham, NH. OSU avenged a defeat in the NCAA title game a year ago to the same Wisconsin Badgers by an identical score.
In Division-III, the University of Wisconsin-River Falls capped off an an undefeated season going 31-0-0 en-route to its first-ever NCAA Championship tittle with 4-1 win over Elmira College in front of 1,789 fans on home ice. The Thirty-one victories are the most ever in D-III women’s hockey.
The NCAA D-I coaching pool grew this year with D-I teams allowed to hire a 4th coach.
New (and old) D-I and D-III college programs began play this year expanding the sport.
The Professional Women’s Hockey League, (PWHL), kicked off play in January and has been nothing short of spectacular in all facets. The caliber of play has been tremendous, attendance numbers are off the charts, and the buzz within hockey AND the sporting world has been phenomenal. Over 90% of PWHL players played NCAA college hockey.
Lots More To Look Forward To…
There will be much to discuss in The Pipeline as the months go by. College sports, and hockey in particular, could be in for some major changes from the NCAA in the not too distant future.
At the NCAA level, the 5th year COVID players are going away after the 24-25 season which means a shift is coming in recruiting for many D-I programs. 24-25 brings the potential for new playing rules to be introduced as its an NCAA rules change year across all of NCAA college hockey. The game is expanding with new D-I and D-III teams coming online over the next few years. And to help make the NCAA women’s game more visible, College Hockey Inc. has added a full-time Director of Women’s Hockey.
The PWHL is making its case for a viable, sustainable professional league that is here to stay.
The IIHF is in Utica, New York as I write this hosting the top level World Championships. The USA Hockey Girls National Championships just completed in Tampa, FL and Green Bay, WI. North of the border in Canada, league and provincial champions are being crowned. The Esso Cup Midget National Championships are a few weeks away. USA Hockey national development camp tryouts will be taking place soon. Spring and Summer camps as well as the showcase circuit begins. And tryout season for ’24-’25 is right around the corner (or have they already happened??!!).
It’s an exciting time for women’s college hockey right now… and The Women’s College Hockey Pipeline will here to keep you updated and informed – so stay tuned!
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 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.
ICYMI (In Case You Missed It) – All Posts From The Past Week… Never Miss A Post!
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
The Pipeline Weekly Review
Miss a post from The Pipeline this week?
Get caught up with what’s going on in the world of women’s college hockey with The Pipeline Weekly Review every Sunday.
I’ll recap my posts from the past week so you never have to miss out. Just click any of the links below and stay informed.
I received a lot of positive feedback on my post last Week – which was great to hear. ‘The Adjustment Phase’ as I call it, happens to most players at every level. As you move up the competitive hockey ladder, the game harder. But it doesn’t have to be all bad news just because you struggle a bit. With struggle comes growth – as long as you have the right mindset and a plan to face the adjustments needed. Enjoy!
Adjusting To A New Age Group Or Level of Play Takes Time. It’s Suppose To Be Hard – Embrace It!
Moving Up An Age Group Or Competitive Level?
Not Playing As Well As You Thought To Start The Year?
Three Ideas To Help You Cope 1) Mindset 2) Adjustments/Improvements 3) Realistic Expectations & Goals
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 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.
Adjusting To A New Age Group Or Level of Play Takes Time.
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
It Takes Time To Get Up To Speed
Adjusting To A New Age Group Or Level of Play Takes Time. It’s Suppose To Be Hard – Embrace It!
It’s a new year at a new age level. You’ve just had your first few weeks of practices & games with your new team. Your coaches have been great. New teammates seem awesome. And now, weekly practices and games have begun. You’re excited for a great year.
But as the season has gotten underway, you feel as though things aren’t going too well.
You’re not happy with how you are playing–no goals scored, no assists, you can’t make pass and you got roasted defending a few 1v1’s. Some of the older girls on the team are giving you the stink-eye with every missed pass. You didn’t think moving up would be this hard. You’re feeling a little lost and don’t know to make things better. You are super frustrated!
Does this sound familiar?
Well, for anyone who moved up an age group, skipped one entirely, or is playing at a higher level like AA to AAA, tier II to tier I, or even tier I to NCAA D-I or D-III… this situation is extremely common.
You have begun – TheAdjustment Phase. That period of time when a player struggles with their play at a new age or competitive level before settling in and getting comfortable.
Players… before you have a total meltdown and think you’re terrible at hockey and should quit the game… and for you parents out there too – before you voice your disappointment in your daughter’s performance – again, just know this:
Almost every hockey player – at every level – goes through a period of adjustment. Doesn’t matter if you’re going from U14 to U16, Tier II to Tier I, Tier I to NCAA D-I / D-III. It’s part of the natural development process and it’s suppose to be difficult for you.
It’s extremely rare for players to seamlessly transition to a new level and have major success right off the bat.
So why an adjustment? Well for starter’s, biology plays a huge role. As you move from one age level to the next, you can expect to play against older (2 years older in some cases), players who are typically more physically developed, more skilled, and who do everything quicker and faster. So for the younger player just starting out at a particular age group… they tend to be a little smaller, not as physically developed, not as skilled or as fast and as quick as their competition. Thus – the success is harder to have. The game becomes harder to process and think, and thus more mistakes get made and you have less of an impact on the game.
This adjustment isn’t just in hockey skill set or physical strength. There is a mental processing or hockey IQ component (which is a skill too) and a social dynamic in play as well. Your brain processes the game a certain way and that changes as you get older and your brain develops. The theory being… the older you get, the quicker you can process. Everyone processes information differently. To some, it’s more visual, players need to see it in order to understand it. To others it’s more auditory, once they hear it explained, they get it. And still, others need both so they can make the connections.
The social dynamic piece is really big and I’m guessing often overlooked as to how long. aplayers adjustment phase can be. Say you are in grade 9 and made your HS varsity team… now playing with girls who are 4 years older. That locker room is WAY different than if you were playing with just grade 9/10 players. The social dynamic of a team can make that adjustment period much longer. Imagine the stress level of a younger player who is trying to fit in with girls that much older? Make a few mistakes on the ice and you can bet that younger player is super worried about how the older girls view her.
So how do you avoid The Adjustment Phase?
For starter’s, you don’t. It’s not and ‘if’ question, but ‘when’. And when it happens, usually at the beginning of the season, you’re best to find ways to cope with it then to pretend it isn’t happening to you.
#1 – Have a positive mindset about your hockey development and know the adjustment is all part of YOUR process.
#2 – Realizing what you need to fix or adjust in your game is like getting answers to the test. If the game of hockey is the exam, once you know what to work on, you can then focus on those areas while letting nature take its course on the physical side of your development.
#3 – Having realistic expectations about your play is also SUPER important. If you’re in the first year at a new age level and expect to score 50 goals while you only scored 13 the year before, that probably isn’t the best frame of mind to be in. However, if you focus on process driven goals, you will focus on something that is absolutely attainable and in your control – no one else’s – not even your opponent. All you need is your work ethic and determination. For example, if your shot needs work, a goal of shooting 1,000 pucks a week vs. getting 10 shots per game is much better to focus on. Goals that drive the process of improvement are really key.
There is no exact timeline of when a player gets over the hump on her adjustment phase. Some players take mere weeks, some months, some even longer. It’s one of those things that takes as long as it takes. You can’t fake it either, the game – and your performance – doesn’t lie (it’s like video).
Look at your ‘adjustment phase’ as an advantage… Identify what needs adjusting, focus on attainable, process-driven goals, and keep a positive attitude about the challenge of adjusting!
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 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.
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
Pipeline Schedule Change
First, a scheduling note. Your inboxes will be a little less cluttered as I make a change to my Pipeline posting schedule. Now that my season has begun at Yale, (we got on the ice yesterday for the first time), I’ll be dialing back the frequency of my posts – to once per week, perhaps a second(?) dependent on news etc., of course. I’m shooting to get these out for Wednesday’s.
That said, I hope everyone enjoyed the frequency of posts in the summer and shorter format. I’ll pick that type of schedule back up in December as more time allows, then again after the season concludes.
On to today’s post!
Busy Weeks Ahead, NCAA Coaching and Pro Women’s Hockey News
Labor Day weekend is usually the unofficial start to the youth hockey and fall NCAA recruiting season – and it’s here!
Major recruiting events are taking place this weekend in Massachusetts with the NAHA Labor Day Showcase, Pittsburgh with the PIP Labor Day Girls Fest, and in Ontario – the Etobicoke Dolphins Labor Day Exhibition Series. Close to 150 teams are taking part and many more are hitting the ice with training camps to begin their seasons.
NCAA D-I programs have begun to hit the ice as well, at least for those who have started classes as per NCAA rules. Some D-I schools won’t begin class the 2nd full week into September.
Recruiting for NCAA coaches in the Fall is like NASCAR. For years the first few weeks of the month have been dominated by the same key events in the same locations, around the same weekends. Although the move to Boston for the NAHA showcase is a major change. It’s a month strait of hitting the road almost every weekend for coaches if they wanted to. Next on the calendar after Labor Day will be back-to-back Stoney Creek Showcase weekends in Hamilton, Ontario. First up is the Midget U18/U16 event next weekend and then their ‘University’ U22/U19 showcase the following one. Out in MN the Girls Upper Mid-West High School Elite League kicks off. And out in Calgary is the Firestarter U18AAA Weekend, the same weekend of the Stoney Creek University showcase.
Coaching News
The school year has begun for many, but positions still remain open and some still to be filled. Here is what I have for this week.
Colgate… Has hired former Colgate captain Breanne Wilson-Bennett ’18 as an Assistant Coach and Dir. of Operations.
Maine… Has hired former Dartmouth Assistant Coach Nina Rogers for the same role.
Plymouth State Univ… Has hired Ben Chipman, a 2022 Plymouth State men’s hockey alum.
At D-III, Head Coaches have yet to be announced at Hamilton, Marian, Potsdam, and St. Mary’s.
PWHL Announcement
On Tuesday the Professional Women’s Hockey League or PWHL announced its plans for 6 teams, a 15-round player selection draft, and free agency.
Here is what was announced:
Teams will be based in 3 Canadian cities–Montreal, Ottawa, and Toronto and 3 in the US–Boston, New York, and Minneapolis for a 6-team league to start. 23-24 will consist of a 24-game schedule, with 32 in future years. Around Jan 1 is the purposed start date.
There will be a 10-day Free-Agency signing period beginning Sept. 1 where teams may sign up to 3 players. NCAA/USPORTS players with eligibility are not eligible to sign.
There will be a 15-Round player draft in Toronto on Sept. 18. Players wishing to play in the 23-24 season must declare for the draft by Sept. 3. Draft order will be determined by a lottery (details not known yet).
Teams can only sign 20 players to ‘standard contract agreements’ in advance to training camp, with a minimum 28 players at camp. 23 players must be on it’s active roster by a ‘compliance date’ which is TBD. The league minimum standard player contract will be $35K per year and no more than 9 players may be paid the minimum. 6 players on each team will be signed to 3-year contracts of no less than 80K per year.
Training camps open the week of Nov. 15
Facilities for each team have not been named yet.
I am trying to understand all that is in play for the draft and how NCAA players (or even younger) may or may not be eligible. More to come on that…
Needless to say these are exciting time for the grow of the sport. For more, be sure to follow Hailey Salvain of The Athletic HERE.
See you all next Wednesday…
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 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.
ICYMI (In Case You Missed It) – All Posts From The Past Week… Never Miss A Post!
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
The Pipeline Weekly Review
Miss a post from The Pipeline this week?
Get caught up with what’s going on in the world of women’s college hockey with The Pipeline Weekly Review every Sunday.
I’ll recap my posts from the past week so you never have to miss out. Just click any of the links below and stay informed.
Sunday’s are usually reserved for our Weekly Review. But, after a busy week, there were only 2 Pipeline posts this week – Monday and Wednesday. So I’m adding our Friday Sifters edition w/ today’s post. Enjoy!
Friday’s Sifters
Little lobs of news and info from around the world of women’s college hockey and beyond
Gustavus Women’s Hockey Tragedy
I’d like to start today’s post by offering my deepest condolences to the families, friends, teammates, coaches, and the greater women’s hockey community affected by the tragic passing of Gustavus Adolphus women’s hockey player Jori Jones. Jones and three of her teammates were involved in a two-car accident last Sunday in western Minnesota. Jones succumbed to her injuries caused in the crash while 3 of her teammates suffered non-life threatening injuries. Jones was coming off a freshman season winning the Division III National Championship.
Friday Sifters
This week has been the calm before the storm.
We are just a few days away from September and the 23-24 college hockey season about to begin. First-year student orientations are in full swing. Freshman are moving in and returning students are just days if not hours from getting settled back on campus.
NCAA coaches are in ‘Full Go Mode’ as they juggle everything that occurs at the beginning of the year. Players return to campus, recruiting activity ramps up, those beginning of the school year meetings etc., and for D-I coaches – the planning of on-ice practices as soon as classes begin. It’ a busy but exciting time.
Here is what’s happening in today’s Sifters edition.
-Coaching moves news to announce.
-D-III Changes to Playing Season & National Championship.
-UNH Receives Alumni Support for New
-IIHF Women’s Division 1A World Championships Conclude.
-In-Season D-I Tournaments Announced
Let’ get to it!
Coaching/Staff News
Staff news to announce at… Chatham Univ., Dartmouth, Harvard, Holy Cross, Univ. of New England,, RPI, Saint Anselm College, and St. Lawrence,
Here’s what I have this week.
In The NCAA
Chatham University… is seeking applicants for its position of volunteer goalie coach.
Dartmouth… Has announced its searching for a full-time Assistant Coach.
Harvard… Has recently posted for a Full-Time Assistant Coach position. Joe Grossman is no longer listed on the Crimson website.
Holy Cross… Is seeking applicants for a Full-Time Assistant Coach. Associate Head Coach Meredith Roth is no longer listed on the website.
University of New England… Has announced Cassandra Sherman as its next Head Coach. Sherman played at Southern Maine and was an Assistant Coach there from 2017-2021.
RPI… Has announced the hiring of former Bently Men’s Assistant Coach Ben Murphy as its new Assistant Coach.
Saint Anselm College… Has announced its searching for a Full-Time Assistant Coach. VinnieFerrainola is no longer listed on the website.
St. Lawrence… Has announced the hiring of their 3rd Assistant Coach Brittney Gout ’21 M’23. Gout played three seasons for the Saints graduating after the 21-22 season. She spent last season as the Saints’ Graduate Assistant Coach while getting her Masters of Arts Degree in Leadership.
In The Pros
Angela Ruggiero… The New York Rangers have hired the former 4 x US Olympic medalist and Harvard defender as a Hockey Operations Advisor.
D-III Changes Coming in 2023-2024
Some big changes are coming to D-III this year.
The hockey season calendar is changing from a number of weeks in the season to a number of days model. Here is what teams can expect:
Hockey has 114 total days to use.
From the beginning of classes to the first Monday in October they may use up to 8 of the 114 days [they don’t have to but they can.]:
Those days can be on or off-ice
During this period they can’t use more than three days in a week
They can’t compete
From the first Monday in October to the second Monday in October:
They can only go “off-ice’
The days count against the 114 total
They have to have a day off
They don’t have to practice at all during that week
From the second Monday in October to NCAA championship selection:
They have to have 5 on-ice days before they can compete
They have to have a day off per week
From Champs selection to five weekdays before final exams for the academic year (provided they weren’t chosen for NCAA championships or some other post-season tournament):
They can only practice if they have not used 114 total days and they did not use 8 days before the first Monday in October (if they used 5 days before the season then they can use 3 days after the season provide they haven’t used 114 days)
Additionally the NCAA Championships Committee approved a ‘predetermined site pilot’ program for the National Championships over a 4-year period. The 2025 and 2027 Championship finals will be held at a predetermined site. The 2024 and 2026 finals will be held at the site of the highest seed eligible to host.
UNH Hockey Programs Receives $4 Million Boost
The Women’s and Men’s hockey programs at the University of New Hampshire recently received a $4 million dollar gift from Anthony DiLorenzo ’87, owner of Key Auto Group. The gift is part of an overall campaign to support upgrades to the Whittemore Center.
The USCHO.com release stated… “The upgraded arena will feature larger, more functional and accessible multi-use locker rooms for both men’s and women’s hockey, an expanded strength and conditioning space, and new offices for coaches and administrative staff. The upgrade will also benefit other UNH teams using the facility including UNH Field Hockey and Paralympic athletes that compete in sled hockey on UNH’s Northeast Passage team.”
China Wins IIHF Division I, Group A World Championships
China went 5-0 to claim the gold medal during the IIHF Division I Group A World Championship this passed week in Shenzhen, China. Denmark took Silver and Austria took home the Bronze.
China and Denmark have been promoted to the top level division and will travel to Utica, New York in April to compete in the Women’s World Championships. They will be in group B along with Sweden, Japan, and Germany.
NCAA connections helping China and Denmark advance were:
China:
UCONN, Tyia, CHEN
St. Lawrence, Xifang, ZHANG (Anna Segedi)
Colgate Univ., Mulan, KANG (Kas Betinol)
Long Island Univ., Anna, FEI (Anna Fairman)
Team China’s head coach is Scott Spencer, who formerly coached at Lindenwood University, Mercyhurst University, and Robert Morris University.
Denmark:
Mercyhurst Univ., Sofia SKRIVER
Vermont, Sofie, SKOTT
St. Lawrence, Emma-Sofie, NORDSTROM
2023-2024 D-1 In-Season Tournaments
In-Season tournaments are becoming known. Here is a list with participating teams as of now based on schedules and dates released:
2023 Women’s College Hockey Icebreaker – Fairfield, CT, Oct. 20-21: Sacred Heart (host), Northeastern, St. Cloud, and Lindenwood.
U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game – Maple Grove, MN Nov. 9: Minnesota State-Mankato vs. St. Thomas.
Nutmeg Classic – New Haven, CT, Nov. 24-25: UCONN, Quinnipiac, Sacred Heart, and Yale (host).
Smashville Showcase – Nashville, TN: Nov. 24-25 : Boston University, Minnesota State Univ-Mankato, Robert Morris.
D1 in DC – Washington, D.C., Nov. 24-25: Cornell, Harvard, Minnesota, and St. Thomas.
Battle at the Burgh – Pittsburgh, PA, Dec. 29-30: Bemidji, Colgate, Maine, and Robert Morris (host).
Friendship Series – Belfast, Northern Ireland – Jan 5-6: Princeton and Providence (2-game series).
Beanpot – Boston, MA, Jan 16 & 23: Boston College, Boston University, Harvard, and Northeastern.
-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 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.
Worlds Enters Day 3, Watch Denmark vs. China LIVE on YouTube (Free)
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
After 2 days, Austria On Top
With a 12-hour time change between the eastern US and Shenzhen, Denmark and China are just about to drop the puck.
You can watch this game live on YouTube HERE. Looks like a big crowd on hand as well to support the home team.
Here is a link to video from all games played HERE.
The 2023 Women’s Division I Group A World Championships in Shenzhen, China began this week. Leading the group of 6 countries is Austria with a 2-0-0-0 record. China is right behind with a 2-0-0-0 record as well. Full standings are below.
The NCAA is well represented with multiple current and former players representing their home countries. See a list of current players ⬇️. Scott Spencer, former head coach at Lindenwood University and associate head coach at Robert Morris Univ. is the head coach for team China.
Austria
Norwich University, Marja, LINZBICHLER
Long Island Univ., Lisa, SCHROFL
Long Island Univ., Emma, MORTL
Yale, Anja, TRUMMER
China
UCONN, Tyia, CHEN
St. Lawrence, Xifang, ZHANG (Anna Segedi)
Colgate Univ., Mulan, KANG (Kas Betinol)
Long Island University., Anna, FEI (Anna Fairman)
Denmark
Mercyhurst Univ., Sofia SKRIVER
Vermont, Sofie, SKOTT
St. Lawrence, Emma-Sofie, NORDSTROM
Netherlands
Wesleyan Univ., Aimee, SEPPENWOLDE
Norway
Holy Cross, Millie, SERIUM
Nazareth College, Ingrid, BERGE
Lindenwood Univ., Thea, JOEGENSEN
Mount Royal University (Canadian School), Emma, BERGESEN
Slovakia
Oswego University, Simone Martina, BEDNARIK
There are also about half a dozen players who are still in high school. To see all team rosters and where players are playing just click HERE.
Standings as of 8/23
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 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.
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
With College Visits, Coaches Should Be Mindful As Well As Flexible
Recruiting activity is starting to pick up for the class of 2025. There seems to be an uptick in recent commitments and the scheduling of official/unofficial visits. The next few weeks into September will certainly be busy.
The scheduling of official and unofficial visits can be not only a challenge at times, but also come with some real angst felt by players and parents, as well as coaches.
Players and parents can sometimes get caught between a rock and hard place… they know a college visit will really help make their college decision, but often it comes at a cost–time away from their team. And that may cause some missed practices or games. As such, players/parents wind up worrying about how they will be viewed by their teammates and especially their coaches, heck – even other parents. Their commitment to the team can sometimes come into question. AND IT ABSOLUTELY SHOULD NOT.
High School and Club coaches on the other hand, feel some angst because sometimes they may miss one or multiple players. And that can make managing such games/practices a challenge. Coaches are competitive people too, they want to win and have success.
The bigger picture to keep in mind is – college visits are for a really good reason! A chance to figure out which college/university best suits them!
Believe me, college coaches get it too. Scheduling these things aren’t always easy. But they are a crucial piece of the process and can be the difference between a fantastic four years or a trip to the transfer portal.
Don’t Be That Coach
Some High School and Club Coaches are great about letting their players schedule college visits and are totally understanding about time missed. Others not so much… to the point where they take it personally or almost get offended by such a request. Then they wind up holding a bit of a grudge against the player and or parents.
Coaches, do consider this is a stressful process for your players and parents, so PLEASE don’t hold it over their heads for wanting to go on a college visit. You do want them to move on and play at the next level don’t you? This process isn’t about you. So best to be accommodating and understanding. Be flexible and supportive if one of your players may miss some time – its for a great reason. How you react is noticed by every other player and parent. Bottom line, college visits are a HUGE piece to the recruiting process for most players as they try to find that right fit. Who knows, in their absence you might just be surprised by who one of your players does in their place.
Players and parents, you should be communicative and keep your coaches in the loop as early as you can about potential visit dates. Be mindful of your coaches expectations around college visits if they have them too. Do the same with your teachers and school administrators as well. Sometimes, your college guidance counselor will be right with you every step of the way and help with communicating to your teachers, etc. But for those of you don’t really have that kind of relationship with your counselor, best to talk with your teachers on when you will be missing class, why, and ask what work needs to be made up.
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 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.
Little lobs of news and info from around the world of women’s college hockey and beyond
Coaching news at Amherst, Augsburg, Franklin Pierce, Keene State, King’s College, Merrimack, Middlebury, MN-Duluth, UNH, Penn St. x 2, RPI, St. Cloud, Syracuse, and Vermont x2
USA Hockey and Hockey Canada are battling it out in their Under-18 and Collegiate Team 3-game series in Lake Placid
The IIHF Women’s Division 1A World Championships are set to begin (finally) in China
The NCAA Women’s and Men’s rules committee makes a tweak to video review
Leadership changes coming for the American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA)
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 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.
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
Friday’s Sifters
It’s been a busy week with lots of activity. Here is what’s happening in today’s Sifters edition.
-Lots of last minute coaching and staff hires to announce.
-USA Hockey and Hockey Canada are battling it out in their Under-18 and Collegiate Team 3-game series in Lake Placid.
-The IIHF Women’s Division 1A World Championships are set to begin (finally) in China
-The NCAA Women’s and Men’s rules committee makes a tweak to video review
-Leadership changes coming for the American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA)
Let’ get to it!
Coaching/Staff News
Staff news to announce at… Amherst, Augsburg, Franklin Pierce, Keene State, King’s College, Merrimack, Middlebury, MN-Duluth, UNH, Penn St. x 2, RPI, St. Cloud, Syracuse, and Vermont
August is usually a busy month for hiring announcements due to university budgets opening up for the new academic year. There seems to be about a 50/50 split between hiring announcements vs. open positions needed to be filled.
Here’s what I have this week… In the NCAA and on the Professional side
In The NCAA
Amherst College and Head Coach Jeff Mathews has announced the hiring of Kaylain Kelly as an Assistant Coach. Kelly is a graduate and former captain of Worcester State.
Augsburg College and Head Coach Michelle McAteer has announced that former Wisconsin-Stevens Point Nicole Neuberger will be the new Graduate Fellow Assistant Coach.
Franklin Pierce has announced it is hiring for a Graduate Assistant Coach position.
Keene State College, a new D-III program starting in 24-25, is hiring its inaugural Head Coach to build the program.
Merrimack College has announced 2 new Assistant Coach hirings – Danielle Blanchard, former UMASS-Boston Head Coach and Yale/Plattsburgh Assistant. And Stephanie Wood, former Director of Hockey and Head Coach at Austin Prep high school and managing director at the Islanders Hockey Club.
Middlebury College and Head Coach Bill Mandigo announced the hiring of Emily McNamara as its new Assistant Coach. McNamara spent the last 11 seasons as the Head Coach at Hamilton College. She now returns to her alma matter for a 2nd tour of duty with Mandigo as an Assistant Coach.
With McNamara’s departure, Hamilton now needs a Head Coach.
King’s College has announced it is seeking applications for its 2 Graduate Assistant Coaches.
Minnesota-Duluth and Head Coach Maura Crowell has announced the hiring of Mark Breiter as its Director of Operations. Breiter spent the last season with the NHL’s St. Louis Blues as the Equipment Assistant Manager. Prior to his stint in St. Louis, from 2017-2022 he was the Equipment Manager for the MSU-Mankato Women’s Hockey Program.
The University of New Hampshire is seeking applications for Director of Women’s Hockey Operations.
Penn State and Head Coach Jeff Kampersal has promoted volunteer goaltending coach Ben Halford to the position of Assistant Coach and has named former RIT, Dartmouth, and Boston University operations manager Olivia Fox as Director of Hockey Operations.
RPI has announced it is seeking applications for a full-time Assistant Coach.
St. Cloud State University and Head Coach Brian Idalski has announced the hiring of ’06 Husky alum Billy Hengen as its new Assistant Coach. Hengen comes to St. Cloud after winning a MN Class AA State Title with Gentry Academy last season.
Vermont and Head Coach Jim Plumer announced the promotion of Alex Gettens to Associate Head Coach and the addition of Assistant Coach Victoria Blake. Blake comes to UVM after a 4-year assistant stint at Sacred Heart.
In The Pros
The Kitchener Rangers of the OHL have hired former Syracuse Defender Lindsay Eastwood as their Manager of Communications and Team Services.
The Pittsburgh Penguins of the NHL have hired former Minnesota Gopher and US Gold Medalist Amanda Kessel as the inaugural participant in the new Penguins’ Executive Management Program. The program provides a one-year opportunity to work alongside executives within the Penguins partnership, marketing, communication and broadcast departments, as well as hockey operations.
USA Hockey and Hockey Canada Clash In Lake Placid
USA Hockey’s Collegiate Select Team has won the first 2 games by scores of 4-0 and 4-3. Hockey Canada’s Under-18 team has won its first 2 games also by scores of 4-0 and 6-1.
Both groups will play the 3rd and final game tomorrow, Saturday in Lake Placid. The Under18’s play at 3pm with the Collegiate Select/Development group at 6pm.
Older Players A Factor?
Team Canada U-18s have a decidedly older group as compared to Team USA. Canada has only five 2007 born players while the US has 10 players born 2007 or earlier… eight 2007’s and two 2008’s.
All but 3 members of Team Canada’s U18 Team played last season at the oldest amateur age group allowed in each players’ respective province.
Of 24-rostered players, Team USA’s Select 18 team has 13 players that played at the USA Hockey Under 16 age group last season .
Canada’s Development Team has 8 players who have yet to play a NCAA game.
The USA Hockey Collegiate Select Team has 3 Graduate players, 12 Seniors, 0 Juniors, 6 Sophomores, and 1 incoming freshman.
In terms of accumulated NCAA points from last season… Team USA’s Collegiate Group is led by Yale Senior Elle Hartje with 52 total points, the D corps had 34 G’s, 121 A’s for 155 PTS. The Forward group had 176 G’s, 229 A’s for 405 PTS.
Canada’s Development Team is led by Clarkson Senior Forward Anne Cherkowski with 52 total points.
IIHF Division 1 Group A World Championships Aug. 20-26
Shenzhen, China will play host the next weeks IIHF Women’s Division I Group A World Championships.
Austria, China, Denmark, Netherlands, Norway, and Slovakia are participating countries. The tournament kicks off with Netherlands taking on Norway at 1pm local time.
Some countries will have live streams available. You can find the names of services HERE on the tournament home of the IIHF website.
There will certainly be NCAA players both past and current in this event. Once rosters are made public I’ll have a breakdown.
Rules Committee Removes Too Many Players On Ice For Video Review Rule
Last week, sighting ‘significant confusion’, the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel approved a recommendation from the Women’s and Men’s Ice Hockey Rules Committee where: “Having too many players on the ice when a goal is scored on the ensuing play has been removed from the list of plays that can be reviewed by video in NCAA men’s and women’s hockey for the 2023-24 season”.
“Despite attempted education during the 2022-23 season, rules committee members think the rule is better managed by the on-ice officials and should not be part of the instant-replay criteria,” reads the NCAA announcement.
Leadership Changes Coming To AHCA
The American Hockey Coaches Association is the official Ice Hockey coaches association recognized by the NCAA of women’s and men’s programs participating in divisions I and III.
Starting with the upcoming 2023-2024 season, The AHCA will add 2 new Vice President positions to its leadership structure of Officers. One VP of Women’s Issues and one VP for Men’s Issues.
These two positions will help serve as conduits between the women’s and men’s coaching body of Division I / III and key stakeholders within the NCAA, member conferences, conference commissioners, and various sport specific NCAA committees. In addition, these people will help streamline communication and participation in important initiatives for both sides of the game.
Joe Bertagna enters his final year as AHCA Executive Director, a position he has held for more than 30 years. Joe will step down and take on a media relations role in for the start of the 2024-2025 season.
The process to find a successor for the Executive Director position has begun.
Until Next Time Everyone… Be Well and take Care,
Until Next Time Everyone… Be Well and take Car
-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 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.
Plan On Sending Video To Coaches? Here Are 5 Tips To Get The Most Out Of Your Video Footage.
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
Video Is Becoming A Valuable Piece In The Recruiting Process
If it’s one thing COVID sort of forced NCAA Coaches to do, it was watch a lot of video.
With the COVID recruiting shutdown imposed by the NCAA for D-I Coaches, watching video was the only way they could really evaluate players. Websites and platforms like Live Barn, HUDL, InStat, etc. we’re gaining a foothold with NCAA programs even prior to the pandemic, but became even more popular during, and most certainly now.
With the youth/minor hockey season about to start, plenty of parents and coaches will be fighting for space in the stands to capture game video.
And that’s what I’m going to talk to you about today – how to properly use video footage so you can send coaches the best version of yourself and give the coaches what they need.
It seems like most recruiting emails sent to NCAA coaches have some kind of link to video. Some of it really good… and some of it… well, let’s say it could use some improvement.
I think most coaches would agree they aren’t soley basing decisions to recruit players off of video… but it sure can help. It’s a great tool to evaluate how a player skates, judge their overall skill level, how they play with the puck and w/ out, or how a player can defends. Plus, it’s a great tool to eval goalies as well.
At the end of the day, video allows coaches a chance to get excited about a player. Or not. The opposite is also true. Coaches can easily determine they don’t need to spend their time recruiting a particular player based on what they see.
So here are 5 video tips to incorporate into your video use when sending clips to coaches.
Angles, Screen Position, Player Accents, Length, and Organization
#1 – Use a decent & elevated camera angle… that captures the game action over the top (not through) of the glass and not through netting if possible. There’s nothing worse than trying to look for jersey numbers through glass or really dark netting. Try and get to an elevated part of the stands and shoot from as close to center-ice as possible. Now goalies, I know you have these GoPro suction cup camera systems that mom or dad sticks behind the net on the glass itself – those are actually pretty decent. It also helps to use some kind of tripod or camera stabilizer so the video doesn’t make coaches get motion sickness!
#2 – Puck Position On Screen… As you record your game, try to keep the puck in the dead-center middle of your screen as much as possible… If you’re focussed on the puck and it is too high toward the top of your screen, you’ll miss some of the play above the puck. Same goes for if the puck is too close to the bottom of your screen, you’ll miss action below the puck. As for zooming in and out… Unless you’re a camera whiz, it’s prob best to use a wide enough angle where you can see most of the play and still read jersey numbers. Appropriate zooming in and our as the play moves up and down the ice would be ideal – if it can be done correctly. But that is TOUGH to master.
#3 – Find a way to accent the player in the video you want coaches to watch… This is HUGE!! There are many ways to do this with video editors now. It’s really helpful. I can’t tell you how many times coaches get video and weren’t told what color jersey or number or position a player has in the video – we don’t know what to look for! A nice brightly colored circle, encompassing the player you want us to watch, an arrow, a star – something – just before the video begins that let’s us know who to watch and where they are on the ice is really helpful!
#4 – Don’t send a full game… Every coaches’ time is limited and we seldom have time to fast-forward through a full game to find all of a players’ shifts. Do some editing so coaches have clips of just the players’ shifts. And for goalies, there isn’t much need to include video when the play is at the other end of the ice.
#5 – ORGANIZE YOUR VIDEO!
I recently received an email from a recruit where she organized her video clips in a certain way that really made it really easy for me to watch her video.
In the body of her email, she used bolded ‘titles’ or ‘headings’ with individual clips relative to that title/heading underneath. For example:
Breakouts
No Pressure
With Pressure
Passing Decisions
Defensive Zone Play
Defending the Point
Defending Circle Top Seam
Defending the slot
She had a bunch more… but it was so helpful to know what I was going to be looking at vs. just watching random clips and having no clue.
So, here are some general game sequences that most coaches would want to see in video by position, that you could use as ‘clip types’ titles or ‘headings’ in your emails to help you organize the video you send to coaches.
Defenders & Forwards
Breakouts & Offensive Zone Exits – Forwards – passes made, passes received, exiting the zone w/ the puck
Neutral Zone Re-Groups – puck support & positioning, passes made, passes received
Offensive Zone Entries – w/ puck possession, passes made, passes received, play w/ out the puck
Offensive Zone Play – Forwards – w/ puck possession, passes made, passes received, play w/ out the puck
Offensive Zone Play – Defenders – puck management i.e. walking the blue line w/ puck, D to D passes, passes to forwards
Shots on goal
Goals scored
For-Checking (F1, F2, & F3 for forwards and Pinching for Defenders)
Neutral Zone For-Checking
Back-Checking (forwards)
Defending the rush (defenders) 3v2’s, 2v1’s, 1v1’s, gap control, etc.
Defensive Zone Play – Wings – defending the half-wall, slot, and point/blue line area
Defensive Zone Play – Centers & Defenders – defending the low corners, net front, half-wall, slot,
Special Teams Play — Powerplay & Penalty Kill
Goaltenders
Saves from all angles – Left, Right, and Center, in tight around the crease, inside dot-lane, net front, slot, blue line area
Rebound Control
Goals Scored Against
Puck Play – stop rimmed puck, set-up behind net, passes made
Crease Movement – saves off passes across the mid-line/royal road
Shot Set-up – zone entries
Play Behind Net/Out of Corners play
The most effective video is that of players making decisions with and w/ out the puck, and against really good competition. We don’t just want to see the highlight reel either. You certainly don’t have to do all of these above, but a couple will at least give coaches some idea how you play at a certain position.
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 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.
USA Hockey will provide a live stream for all six games through USAHockeyTV. Single game streams are $14.99 per game whereas the monthly pass is $29.99. You can purchase your pass HERE or go directly to USAHockeyTV.com for more info.
Diving In
USA Hockey Collegiate Select Team
The US Collegiate roster is represented by 9 NCAA D-I schools with 3 goaltenders, 8 defenders, and 12 forwards. Here is a breakdown of schools and # of players represented from each:
Ohio State – 9
Colgate – 4
Northeastern – 2
St. Cloud State – 2
Wisconsin – 2
Cornell – 1
MN-Duluth – 1
Minnesota – 1
Yale – 1
USA Notes
Kelsey King transferred to Ohio State this summer after a 4-year career at Minnesota State – Mankato
Kiara Zanon transferred to Ohio State this summer after three-years at Penn State
Sydney Morrow transferred to Colgate this summer after her freshman year at Ohio State
Joy Dunne will be entering her freshman year at Ohio State this fall
The US Collegiate Select Team Head Coach is Chelsea Wakland – Asst. Coach at Colgate and she is assisted by Lindsay Berman, Asst. Coach at Northeastern, Holley Tyng, Head coach at Colby College, and the Goaltending Coach is Mackenzie Bruch, Asst. Coach at Yale.
Canadian Development Team
The Canadian Development Team roster is represented by 11 NCAA D-I schools with 3 goaltenders, 7 defenders, and 13 forwards. Here is a breakdown of schools and # of players represented from each:
Colgate – 4
Wisconsin – 4
Ohio State – 3
Boston University – 2
Clarkson – 2
Cornell – 2
MN-Duluth – 2
Boston College – 1
Brown University – 1
Quinnipiac – 1
Stonehill – 1
Canada Notes
Canada has 8 players who have yet to play an NCAA game, 1 goaltender, 1 defender, and 6 forwards.
Cassandra Turner is the only NCAA coach on staff.
Cornell defender Ashley Messier and Princeton forward Sarah Paul were invited but unable to participate.
The Canadian Development Team Head Coach is Kori Cheverie and is assisted by Rachel Flanagan, Head Coach at the University of Guelph, Noémie Marin, Head Coach at John Abbott College, Cassandra Turner, Head Coach at Quinnipiac University, and the Goaltending Coach is Sheldon Goertzen, Goaltending Coach at the Univ. of Saskatchewan.
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 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.
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
Friday’s Sifters
Coaching/Staff News At Bemidji x 2, King’s, Mercyhurst, St. Mary’s, Suffolk, ECAC Hockey
As expected there has been a late head coaching position open up, this time in D-III. There will probably be more movement on the D-I Assistant Coach side of things in the coming weeks as well. Here is what I have for this week.
Bemidji… Has 2 position announcements… In addition to announcing the program has posted its position for a 4th coach, Coach Scanlan has named Amber Fryklund Associate Head Coach. This marks Fryklund’s second tour of duty with the Beavers as she spent 9 years as an Assistant and Associate Head Coach from 2011-2019. You can read more on Amber’s hiring HERE. It’s nice to have you back in the game Amber!
Mercyhurst… Has searching for it 3rd Assistant Coach position.
King’s College… Has announced its new Head Coach – Josh Hoff. You can read more about his hiring HERE.
St. Mary’s (MN)… Will be looking for a new Head Coach as Sarah Murray has stepped down to take the Head Coaching position of the Shattuck St. Mary’s U19 Team.
Suffolk… Has announced former Boston University Assistant Coach Abby Ostrom as its new Head Coach. Abby takes over for Taylor Wasylk who left to become the Head Coach at Lindenwood University.
ECAC Hockey… ECAC Hockey is seeking applications for its Digital Media Internship. You can read more about the position and application process HERE.
In Other Coaching News… On the D-I men’s side, Colorado College has hired former Ohio State Women’s Assistant Coach Emily West. West, who played at Minnesota, helped the Buckeye’s to its first NCAA title in 2022. You can read more about her hiring HERE.
The Rochester Americans… Former Cornell standout Alyssa Gagliardi has hired by the Rochester Americans of the AHL as a Development Coach.
In Addition…
USA Hockey / Hockey Canada National Team Programs Underway… I was at both events this past week. USA Hockey has been using the Olympic Training facilities in Lake Placid – and what a renovation they did to the 1980 Herb Brooks Arena and the 1932 rink. For those who haven’t been to LP in a while, there has been major – to the tune of over $100 million – in renovations to both arenas. Herb Brooks arena is now a regulation sized sheet of ice with brand new red colored chair-backed seats and a new scoreboard. The 1932 rink has all brand new blue chair-back seats and looks very sharp. The Old Scoreboard with the USA 4 URS (Russia) 3 from 1980 is now on full display in the lobby of the arena.
Hockey Canada is using the brand new 1,200 seat Canada Games Park Arena. A 2 sheet, multi purpose facility that was built for conjunction with the Canada Winter Games (think Olympic Winter Games but only in Canada) on the Brock University Campus.
Union Dutchmen/Women No More… Union College will now be called the Union College Garnet Chargers. New Logo Below:
Busy Labor Day WKND
Labor Day Weekend you could say is the unofficial weekend to kick off the 23-24 hockey season. And there will be plenty of events happening so college coaches can get eyes on all the new teams.
The North American Hockey Academy (NAHA) will host its 23rd annual Labor Day Tournament. A total of 84 teams in the U14/U15, U16/U18, and U19/U22 age divisions will attend.
Premiere Ice Prospects will hold its 3rd annual (I think) Labor Day Girls Fest in Pittsburgh. This years team list hasn’t been made public yet, but if last year is any indication, we’ll upwards of 65+ teams in 3 age groups.
North of the border in Ontario the Etobicoke Dolphins are hosting an exhibition series at the U15, U18, and U22 levels. 30 teams, 10 in each age group will attend.
The National Girls Hockey League will host its Dawg Daze of Summer Invitational the weekend prior to Labor Day, Aug 25-27 in Connecticut.
Players – Check Your Email!
Players… with the 23-24 season almost here, it’s important that you check your email! And check the ‘JUNK’ folder too!
You don’t want to miss a note from a college coach – so check it early and often. Especially if you’re sending emails to schools in preparation for future events that you’ll be at.
Time is one of those things you can’t get back. And at this time of year, recruiting can move lightning fast sometimes. If coaches send you an email, it’s for a reason. Get in the habit of checking your email at least once a day if not more. I can assure you, the quicker you reply to an email from a coach, the better that coach is going to feel about you as a potential recruit. Coaches don’t want to deal with players who are always delayed in their reply.
So check your email often and reply as soon as you are able!
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 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.
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
Pay Attention To Development
Monday’s post about the Fun vs. Rewarding argument yielded some great feedback. One comment in particular got me thinking about next year’s youth/minor hockey season. Which is pretty much already here even though it’s only mid-August.
The comment was primarily – can you have a rewarding experience without winning. Said another way… if your team loses more than wins, how can that be rewarding?
My answer would be a resounding YES YOU CAN!
As I began to think about the comment more… it got me thinking about the mindset of players and parents regarding what a lot of them think is really important about their hockey experience – i.e. winning or at least having a chance to more often than not.
But then I began to ponder – where does development fit in on that list of desires? Especially when we’re talking about the ages of u10/12/14/16. How come we never hear parents say, “I want my kid to LEARN the most”… instead of I want them to be on a winning team?
Those parents are out there – but they are few and far between.
However… you do hear parents say… go to school, get your education, pay attention in class. Seek extra help if you need it. Do your homework, study for that exam – I want you to LEARN something! May be if there was a championship academic trophy for being a part of the best grade 6 class section in school, things would change?
Your child’s’ ‘hockey education’ shouldn’t be looked at any different.
In the US at the U14, U16, U19 age levels, there seems this… I have to play tier I and MUST make it to US Nationals and National Development Camp… mentality. Before moving to a new team, most parents and players evaluate the likelihood of that team going to USA Hockey Nationals. In Canada, it’s a slightly different model, but they same issues apply there too. What team has the best chance to win?
College coaches often get asked by parents, what should my daughter do? Play with the boys again or make the jump to girls? Should we move to that new association/team that has the best girls playing on it? Next years team isn’t going to be very good, we won’t win much, we have no chance at making it to nationals. If I don’t make it to USA Hockey Nationals or National Camp, my college hockey dreams are crushed.
Sound familiar?
Simply put folks, there is no substitute for coaching and development (the hockey education)… and by that I mean – a coaching staff that is focussed on the process of improvement.
My answer to those questions above about where should my daughter play – boys vs. girls or a new team, has always been this:
Go where the coaching going to be the best — plain and simple.
Go where your daughter is going to learn the most and have the opportunity to EARN ample playing time.
I’m not going to say winning doesn’t matter, it does, but to a very small degree. What should matter, is do her coaches have a development plan to teach her the technical and tactical skills necessary to improve her game and make sure she’s ready for the next level of play.
Any coach can sound smart with hockey-lingo… “oh, we play a 1-2-2 this and we got a 1-3-1 that. Your daughter will fit right in on our top 2 lines! Which is all well and good – AS LONG AS THEY KNOW HOW TO TEACH IT! To know is great… but to know how to teach is the greatest.
So the next time you are confronted with making a change in your daughters hockey education plan… be it a new club, prep school, academy, high school, boys/girls, college… make sure there is a player development plan. Ask how they teach the game and what your daughter will LEARN. Anyone can stand behind a bench, open a door and yell about compete level & working hard. Find the best teacher!
When speaking about youth/minor hockey, a colleague of mine put it best this way, and I couldn’t agree more… The best coaches and programs:
Value your development as a player OVER winning (they are out there but maybe not as numerous as we would like)
Uses ALL players in multiple situations regularly: PP PK starters for games/periods etc. at least the first half of each season
Doesn’t “pigeon hole” anyone as a checker, grinder etc. at the age of 13, 14, 15 thereby stunting development
Coach/Staff is honest, upfront and provides “useful” honest feedback in a positive manner
Coach/Staff prioritizes fun/enjoyment thru the process of pushing you toward improvement
Academic success is valued and prioritized
Find a program with coaches who can do this… and you’ll be well on your way to reaching your goals on the ice!
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 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.
Engaged In The Recruiting Process? It’s Time To Shift Your Focus.
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
The Week Ahead
Happy Monday everyone. Can you believe it? Another school year is about to begin and that means – yes – another hockey season is around the corner. Boy, does time fly!
The week ahead has two marquee events with plenty of current and future NCAA players taking part. USA Hockey’s National Women’s Festival in Lake Placid, NY and Hockey Canada’s Women’s Summer Showcase begin this week.
The camp, showcase, tournament summer recruiting season for NCAA coaches is about to come to a close with just a week or two left with major events taking place.
The recruiting process is top of the mind for many players and parents right now, especially if you’re in grade 11 or 12. And for those of you who are in the midst of your process and trying to figure out next steps, I want to offer you something to think about.
‘Fun’ isn’t what you’re looking for.
The Difference Between Something Fun and Rewarding
There is no recruiting playbook for players and parents to follow which gives you the formula to determine which school and hockey program is right for you. There are just so many variables.
A school close to home + an academic major that leads to a great career + a scholarship + playing time = the school I’ll choose.
It’s just not that simple.
As coaches we often ask players during the process to describe what they want out of their college experience, what are they looking for?
Well coach, I want to have fun! I’m all about making it a fun environment for my teammates. If we have fun – we will win! I want to win and have success, I want to play, I want nice teammates, a great team culture, and I want to have fun!
That is pretty much the norm reply.
Sounds pretty decent and logical, right?
Earlier last week I stumbled upon a social media post from a basketball coach. It was re-tweeted (or is it Re-Xed? come on Elon!) by Craig Doty and was penned by Greg Stemen. It was about the concept of – Do you want something Fun or something that is Rewarding. In an odd twist, this exact concept was talked about by a coaching friend of mine at a showcase we were recently at–this is absolutely a concept we as coaches think about often.
At the end of the day, the post encapsulated – magnificently I might add – a thought provoking message: Don’t look for experiences that are fun. Look for experiences that are REWARDING.
Although the post was about basketball players, you could relate the story to any sport and player. So I started thinking about this Fun vs. Rewarding concept as it relates to our game within hockey.
As a competitive athlete looking to play at the highest level possible, you will have decisions to make along your journey. What team/association do I play for next? Where do I go to college? What is best for my development? How do I spend my time in the off-season?
And while there is no formula out there to help make these decisions for you, I would offer up the Fun vs. Rewarding concept as a way to help evaluate them.
Parents… this is a question your daughters need to answer, not you. And that is – do they want something FUN… or do they want something that is REWARDING?
Fun can be looked at as a short term feeling. You can decide if you had fun after every game based on how you think you played.
The author of the post says, ‘Fun’ is usually based on winning or losing and personal satisfaction or dissatisfaction. And I couldn’t agree more. Rewarding experiences are those that aren’t necessarily fun, in order to achieve results that often times exceed expectations. Rewarding experiences usually involve some kind of sacrifice, pain, disappointment, enjoyment, humbling, and crazy times.
This is the quote that really struck a cord with me… “Is it fun to bust your tail in practice and not get the minuets you had hoped for? Or is it rewarding to know you play with a group of teammates and for coaches who appreciate and value every ounce of effort you put into the success of a program and who know that same effort will be rewarded later on in life if not later on in a career?
Something that is rewarding, doesn’t come down wither or not you won or lost a particular game or won or lost a championship. It’s about what was learned and gained along the way during those ups and downs of the journey.
So as you continue on your path in the sport and come across decisions to make, the Fun vs. Rewarding lens is one of the most valuable to look through.
Fun is short term. Rewarding lasts for ever.
And as for that social media post… here is the article below:
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 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.
Little lobs of news and info from around the world of women’s college hockey and beyond
Coaching news at Harvard, Minnesota, MN-Duluth, Post, Syracuse, St. Olaf, and Utica
USA Hockey / Hockey Canada National Team Programs Get Underway
Extras
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 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.
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
Friday’s Sifters
Coaching/Staff News At Harvard, Minnesota, Northeastern, MN-Duluth, Post, Syracuse, St. Olaf, Utica,
Harvard… Has named ’13 alum Laura Bellamy Head Coach. Bellamy returns to Harvard as one of the most decorated Crimson goaltenders in program history. She departs MN-Duluth after 8 season on staff, most recently serving as Associate Head coach.
Minnesota… Has posted looking for a Director of Women’s Hockey Operations.
Northeastern… Has hired Melissa Piacentini as an Assistant Coach. She has spent the past 5 seasons as the programs Director of Operations.
MN-Dulth… With Bellamy’s departure to Harvard, MN-Duluth now has an assistant coaches spot to fill.
Post University… Is searching for a part-time assistant coach.
Syracuse… Is looking for a volunteer Assistant/Goalie Coach.
St. Olaf College… Has posted its position for a full-time Assistant Coach.
Utica College… Has hired ’05 alum Melissa Lomanto
USA Hockey / Hockey Canada National Team Programs Get Underway Next Week
It’s a big week as both USA Hockey and Hockey Canada start their respective U18 and 18 & Over (let’s call them) national summer programs.
USA Hockey will hold its National Festival Aug. 7-12 in Lake Placid, NY. You can find the link to the Festival home ➡️ HERE.
Hockey Canada is hosting its National Women’s Program Summer Showcase in St. Catherine’s, Ontario Aug. 9-14. You can find HC’s event home link right ➡️ HERE. Add’l links for schedule’s etc.. are a little tricky to find, but are at the top of the page.
Finland’s U18 team will take a part of Hockey Canada’s U18 camp while Sweden’s U18 Team will do the same but in the US with Team USA.
I believe inter-squad camp games will be streamed live for both events. You can find USA Hockey’s streaming platform HERE. HC usually provides a link for game streams HERE.
Extras
August is usually a pretty quiet time in the college hockey world, say outside of recruiting that is.
This year however, there is a lot of movement on the coaching side of things. Harvard just named its Head Coach and that will have a domino effect most likely. In D-I, a lot of programs still seem to be in need of hiring a 4th coach.
And there always seems to be a late head-coach departure as well, or has been the case in years past, just prior to the season starting.
But with each passing week, we know the college hockey season is getting closer.
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 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.
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
Back At It!!
Vacation time unfortunately, has come to an end. But it’s great to be back with another post of the Pipeline.
After a quick trip to New York City/CT to see friends, it was on to Orleans, MA just north of the ‘elbow’ to see my extended family – 15 of us in fact. The weather was great, seafood delicious, and great to get away to the beach for a few days to relax.
If you’re a fan of the ocean beach life and any type of seafood, then Cape Cod is a must. You can plan next year’s Beantown or ECW Summer Showcase event or even your College visits to New England around a few days (or more!) ‘down the Cape’. And it’s only a 2 hour drive from Marlborough, MA.
On to today’s post.
Catching Up
It was a fairly quiet week as far as news goes in the women’s college hockey world. One week closer to the start of freshman orientation and another college hockey season. But there were some major recruiting events that took place.
Massachusetts was home to two of them – The Beantown Classic held in Marlborough, MA & surrounding areas, and The Edge Sport Center in Bedford, MA was home to the East Coast Wizards Summer Showcase.
Out west in Minnesota, the 2nd OS Prospects weekend was held in Edina, MN.
These are no small events. Beantown = 2,225 rostered players, East Coast Wizards Summer Showcase = 500+ rostered players, and OS Prospects in MN = 600+ rostered players. Well over 3,300 players, all playing on the same weekend. 🤦
Summer Burnout Setting In?
This is about that time when ‘Summer Burnout’, as I call it, sets in. Players have played so much hockey they get fatigued, physically and mentally. The week after week of being carted around from event to event takes a toll whether players realize it or not. It’s really easy to loose your edge and focus, especially after 2 months on the Summer Showcase Hamster Wheel.
Parents feel the fatigue too. All that driving and travel, hotel-bed hopping, eating out. Oh, and the bank account… YIKES! Where did all that money go??
The way some of these events are structured don’t help players or coaches much either. Playing 5-7 games in 72 hours doesn’t make for great hockey. Even the best conditioned players will struggle to be at their best.
So, if you have been an active participant in the Summer Silly Season (Read Pipeline Post #85), it may be time for some rest – or at least something different. With the start of another hockey season right around the corner, going into it rested and motivated – is the way to go!
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 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.
Little lobs of news and info from around the world of women’s college hockey and beyond
Coaching news at Vermont, Sacred Heart, Union, New England College
Conference schedules coming out
Extras ➡️ Hockey East hires a supervisor of officials, College Hockey season is WEEKS away, 2023 U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Museum Women’s Face-Off Classic, Hockey Canada U18 News, IIHF Girls Hockey WKND, Take The Ice Documentary
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 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.
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
Wednesday’s Post Sparked Some Feedback
Happy Friday everyone. Before we get going with our Friday Sifter’s, I wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who sent a note about Wednesday’s post about… is there a ‘Best’ type of program or path. All of it was very positive and very insightful. Comments ran the gamut from outlining what ‘The Best’ type program should look like, to parents who admittedly were at this exact crossroad of which path to take when their daughter was coming up the ranks.
So, for those who haven’t had the chance to read Wednesday’s post yet, just click HERE.
There will be more to post about on this subject There are many questions and angles to consider. So, stay tuned!
Now, on to our Friday’s Sifters post.
Friday’s Sifters
Coaching/Staff News At Vermont, Union College, Sacred Heart University, and New England College
Vermont… Is in need of an Assistant Coach. The position is their 2nd Assistant.
Sacred Heart University… Has hired former Quinnipiac netminder and 2020 graduate Abbie Ives. You can read more about her hire HERE.
Union College… Has posted for its 3rd Assistant Coach position.
New England College… Is looking to hire a Graduate Assistant Coach for the 23-24 season.
Conference Schedules Announced
Hard to think given July isn’t over yet, but 3 of the 5 D-I conferences have announced their schedules for the coming 23-24 season. You can see them with links below:
Hockey East Fills Supervisor of Officials Vacancy… Long-time official Dr. Derek Zuckerman has been hired as the Hockey East Women’s Supervisor of Officials. With over 20 years experience as an on-ice official in both the ECAC and Hockey East, Zuckerman brings a storied career with 6 NCAA D-I Frozen Four along with 4 Championship game assignments. You can read more on his hiring HERE.
College Hockey Season Not So Far Off… Speaking of conference schedules, July will end before we know it, and August will be here. Once August hits, we know college hockey is just a few short weeks away. New Student Orientation for some schools will start as early as the Aug. 18/19 weekend. NCAA Rules allow teams to begin practices with coaches on the ice once the first day of school begins. A quick check finds that Bemidji State University seems start classes the earliest – Monday August 21st – a mere 4.5 weeks away.
2023 U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Museum Women’s Face-Off Classic… Just announced today, the University of St. Thomas will take on Minnesota State Mankato on Nov. 9 , 2023 at the Maple Grove Ice Arena. The annual game is played to raise awareness for the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Museum in Eveleth, MN. For more info just click HERE.
Hockey Canada U-18 News… HC 🇨🇦 has announced its U-18 Selection Camp practice schedule which you can find HERE. Finland will once again join Canada for practices and some games.
IIHF World Girls’ Hockey Weekend Set… The weekend of Oct. 7-8 has been designated the IIHF’s World Girls’ Hockey Weekend this year. You can learn more about the event HERE.
Take The Ice… A documentary about the NWHL is coming to AppleTV on July 25th. Knew nothing about it until I saw the post on my Twitter feed. Should be very interesting given what has taken place over the past few weeks. You can get more info HERE or can watch the trailer ⬇️
The NWHL documentary, now titled "Take the Ice", will be out JULY 25 on @appletv
-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 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.
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
What Do The Numbers Say?
College coaches get asked a lot from parents and players – which type of program is best to play? Should I go to a prep school or a hockey academy? Should I stay at my age group of ‘play up’. Should I switch teams for next year? Stay at my local high school?
So, as the years have gone by, I’ve always been curious as to what type of program might be considered ‘best’ to play for. Is there even a ‘best’ program type? ‘Program types‘ would be your local area high school team, a USA Hockey sanctioned tier I club team, a prep. school, or hockey academy, etc.
Given the USA Hockey Under-18 Select Camp is this week, I thought it would be a fun to dive into the player field and see what types of programs are represented and how many in each.
So, below is a PDF of that breakdown. You can see the numbers of how many players came from each type of program and what age levels are represented. MN high schools led the way with 26 of 76 players in attendance. Does the mere fact someone plays for their local high school vs. playing at a hockey academy mean anything? Tough to answer.
At the top of the PDF below highlighted in yellow are all the ‘types’ of program I identified and the numbers of players in each.
What I found was 12 different ‘types’ of programs that players came from based on age classification, gender – girls or boys, whether someone played for multiple types of teams like Prep. School and a club team.
I’m not sure if any of the findings answer what is the ‘best’ path to becoming a successful hockey player. Perhaps we can go back to previous years data and run the same kind of report. But considering the U18 Select camp should have the ‘best’ collection of U18 players, this none-the-less is pretty interesting to see.
What’s great about there being so many options – is – there are so many options and not just one or two.
-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 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.
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:
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-AWorld 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.
NCAA Coaches Dot USA Hockey and Hockey Canada National Team & Camp Positions
USA Hockey And Hockey Canada Tap NCAA Coaching Talent
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 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.
Weekly Review Coming Sunday, Sifters Monday or Tuesday
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
It’s Been Busy…
As I indicated a few posts ago, July is a busy month for college coaches. Yours truly included.
I wasn’t able to get my normal Friday Sifters post out yesterday due to my recruiting travel schedule. There are just so many hours in the day.
So, that post will come early next week – and there is a lot to share.
Stay tuned for our normal Pipeline Weekly Review tomorrow.
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 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.
NCAA Coaches Dot USA Hockey and Hockey Canada National Team & Camp Positions
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
USA Hockey And Hockey Canada Tap NCAA Coaching Talent
Of 38 National Team coaching positions announced by USA Hockey and Hockey Canada this week, 16, are current Head or Assistant Coaches at NCAA D-I and D-III schools for this upcoming season.
The US and Canada each announced 3 sets of coaching staffs for their respective Senior, Development or Collegiate, and U18 teams. A roster of each teams staff is listed below. Coaches currently working at NCAA schools are noted as well.
In total, 21 coaches have ties to NCAA women’s programs either as a coach or player. You can see the coaching staff rosters and NCAA affiliations below.
USA Hockey National Women’s Team
John Wroblewski, Head Coach
Josh Sciba, Assistant Coach (Head Coach, Union College)
Tara Watchorn, Head Coach, (Head Coach, Boston University)
Stefanie McKeough, Assistant Coach, (Played at Wisconsin)
Vicky Sunohara, Assistant Coach
Haley Irwin, Assistant Coach, (Played at MN-Duluth)
Gord Woodhall, Goaltending Coach
Hockey Canada has named additional camp support staff coaches with NCAA ties to help at their National Women’s Team camp. They are ⬇️
Doug Derraugh, (Head Coach, Cornell University)
Greg Fargo, (Head Coach, Colgate University)
Britni Smith, (Head Coach, Syracuse University)
USA Hockey kicks off its National Festival in Lake Placid, NY, August 7-13. Hockey Canada has yet to officially announce its dates and locations.
It wouldn’t surprise me if Hockey Canada chooses to hold them in Ontario this year. Both the US and Canada will play a 3-game series with their respective U-18 and College Select/Development teams in Lake Placid Aug. 16-19. It probably makes a lot more sense financially to bus to LP from Ontario rather than fly everyone from Calgary where Hockey Canada has held these camps in the past.
You can find links to both USA Hockey and Hockey Canada’s national team staff announcements ⬇️
-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 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.
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
Knowing The Rules Of Engagement
You’ve sent multiple emails to the coaching staff of your #1 choice D-I dream school. You can’t wait to hear back from them. You check your email daily. Two months go by, now three. No reply yet. And now you begin to wonder… are my emails even getting through? Why haven’t they gotten back to me??? This is torture!
Communication with coaches can be a bit tricky. Coaches have to not only manage NCAA rules, but time in their schedule to respond or not at all.
You literally you can drive yourself a little crazy trying to read into why you haven’t gotten a response yet.
So, before you bite off all your fingernails or pull your hair out in frustration, here are some tips to managing expectations when trying to communicate with coaches.
Know The Landscape, Communicate Appropriately, Control What You Can.
First, Know The Landscape…
There Are NCAA Rules… Under NCAA rules, D-I coaches are not allowed to engage in regular communication (phone, text, email, social media DM’s, etc.) with recruits or family members until June 15 after the recruits’ grade 10 year (or when finishing grade 10 if after June 15). In-person contacts may not occur until August 1 after the prospects grade 10 year. However, D-I coaches are allowed a one-time response to a recruits’ inquiry where they can advise the recruit/family of NCAA communication rules. Also, D-I coaches may provide their recruiting questionnaire or camp or clinic information at any time.
D-III coaches have no restrictions on electronic communication (phone, text, email, social media DM’s, etc.) with recruits or family members. Face-to-face in-person contacts may not occur until after the prospects grade 10 year is complete.
Coaches are extremely busy… As coaches, we’re extremely busy. For people who think being a college coach means planning practice and just showing up for games, you’d be dead wrong. We manage the entire day-to-day operation of our program. It’s a 24/7, 365 type of commitment. The job doesn’t go away when we leave the office for the day. Programs have limited full-time staffs too. Most D-III programs have 1, may be 2 full-times coaches if they’re lucky. Most if not all D-I programs have between 2-3 (some now 4) full time coaches on staff. Coaches also have lives outside of hockey… relationships to enjoy, friends to see, other interests to take part in. We’re just like everyone else.
Reaching out to coaches is easy… Everyone who runs a showcase or camp and has a recruiting seminar/talk as part of the program – says to reach out and contact coaches. It’s easy. Craft your message and press send. We live in a world of instant gratification. The issue for coaches becomes the sheer volume of inquiries they get from prospective recruits. Additionally, coaches try to balance if that email, DM, or text – is worth responding to right then and there, waiting a bit, or not replying at all.
Second, Communicate Appropriately
An intro email and 1-2 in-season updates before the holidays and after your season has ended, should do the trick. Anything more than that is overkill. Just my opinion though… unless there is a real compelling reason like you changed teams or schools. Don’t be that player (or parent!) who sends an email update after every weekend. It’s not necessary, and quite frankly too much contact is bad form. Intro’s should include a little bit about why you have an interest in the institution, a bit about who you are, the grade you are in, name of your high school and name of the team(s) you play for, your position, your season schedule if you have one. Any academic info like your transcript. Plus–you, your coaches, and parents contact info is imperative. Your In-Season Updates… should be just that. Include how your hockey season and school year are going, any personal triumphs or interesting tidbits about your hockey development, but keep them short and sweet. If sending one at the end of the year, you can include your summer hockey plans so coaches will know where they can see you play.
Control what you can…
You can’t control if a coach responds back to you. But you can control your communication to coaches and most of all – your effort in becoming the best player and student you can be. Which, at the end of the day, is the primary factor in why a coach will reach back out to you – because of how good she or he thinks you are and how you can help their program!
You can control your content – what exactly your messages say – and the frequency of how often your messages are sent. So as hard as it may be, try not to worry if you don’t get a reply. Know that your emails have been received and read–all of them are. Your communication to schools should be looked as a supplement to your hockey development. You might write a great email, but if you can’t play the game, you’ll be tough for coaches to want
And if you do get a reply, be glad you did!
The Bottom Line… There are so many players who want to play college hockey and technology makes it easy for them to reach coaches. Some programs make an effort to reply to everyone who reaches out, others are a bit more selective, and some even take the, ‘Don’t Call Us, We’ll Call You’ approach.
At the end of the day, focus on the controllable’s and the communication will become two-sided at some point!
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 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.
Little lobs of news and info from around the world of Women’s College Hockey & Beyond
D-III Positions Open Up
NGHL News
Hockey East Facility Get’s An Upgrade
+ A Little Extra
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 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.
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
Friday’s Sifters
D-III Positions Open Up, NGHL News, Hockey East Facility Get’s An Upgrade and More, Teams Get It Done In The Classroom, + A Little Extra
Two D-III Head Coaching positions opened up this week. The National Girls Hockey League welcomes new teams, a Hockey East program get’s a rink upgrade.
Plus, several NHL Development Camps took place this week with NCAA female D-I coaches taking part.
July is shaping up to be one busy month on the recruiting trail for NCAA coaches.
Let’s get to it.
Coaching/Staff News At RMU, UCONN, Univ. of New England, SUNY-Cortland, SUNY-Potsdam
Robert Morris University… Head Coach Logan Bittle has announced the hiring of Operation Coordinator Patrick Barry to round out his coaching and support staff. Barry previously worked in operations and video with Penn St. You can read more on his hiring HERE.
UCONN… Has hired a new Director of Women’s Hockey Operations and Equipment Matt LaMalfa.
University of New England… Long time University of New England Head Coach David Vendetti has resigned according to a press release put out by the school. A national search for his replacement will be conducted.
SUNY-Cortland… Has posted for its part-time Assistant Coach position.
SUNY-Potsdam… Has announced a national search for a new Head Coach.
FEIA Joins National Girls Hockey League
The NGHL has a new hockey program joining for this coming 23-24 season – Fort Erie International Academy. Located in Fort Erie, Ontario just south of Niagara Falls, the FEIA girls hockey program enters its full 2nd season. Designed as a traditional boarding school, FEIA aims to attract International students in grade 6-12.
The NGHL provides opportunities for girls from the U10 to U19 age group and in the Tier I and Tier II competitive categories. The NGHL has teams literally from coast to coast.
For more information on the NGHL or the FEIA just click the links ➡️ NGHL ➡️ FEIA
Merrimack Get’s New Rink Upgrades
A multi-million dollar gift from Richard H’15 and Susanna Gallant will pave the way for transformative renovations to Lawler Rink. A new luxury pavilion with premium seating at the north end of the rink, enhanced luxury suites, modernized game day club experience, and new designated areas for media, broadcasts and the Merrimack Marching Band. There is a short video of what the future renovations will look like below:
Conference Academic Award Season
We know it’s July and the academic year has been over for a few months, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t news to share. Several D-I conferences have announced All-Academic Team selections.
Conferences have their own academic award criteria, but it’s usually some form of players having a 3.0 or better for 2 or more semesters.
Vermont and Merrimack led Hockey East with 23 selections each.
Yale was tops in the ECAC with 27 selections.
Mercyhurst lead the way in College Hockey America with 26 selections.
You can read each conference’s All-Academic Team release here: ➡️ Hockey East ➡️ ECAC ➡️ CHA
Extras
NCAA Coaches Have An Important July Ahead Of Them
D-I and D-III coaches have a lot at stake this month. With player commitments being made and multiple high profile events taking place mid-month, like USA Hockey’s Under 18 Select Camp or some of the Canadian Provincial Under 18 evaluation camps, July is proving to be a busy but important time of year.
With June 15 in the rear-view mirror and the first wave of recruits making commitment decisions, programs are constantly having to re-adjusting their recruiting priorities. Especially at his time of year given the recruiting cycle, sometimes a player who didn’t start out as high on the list, now either winds up there because teams didn’t get the recruit they wanted or, they have a short window of time to prove they deserve to be there.
And as decisions/commitments happen in D-I, D-III recruiting is greatly impacted. D-III coaches are making commitments themselves with players who know a D-III school is what they want. Subsequently, players that were ‘keeping the D-I dream alive’ and get told ‘NO’ from the D-I schools they were holding out for, could lost a spot at D-III.
It will be a very interesting few weeks as coaches will be using these upcoming events to make some important recruiting decisions.
Here’s just a partial list of events taking place this July that are likely to have a big impact on recruiting decisions.
July 11-16, Alberta Provincial U18 Camp
July 13-16 Ontario Provincial U18 Camp
July 16-22, USA U18 Select Camp (Oxford, OH – Miami University)
July 17-19, NAE – North American Elite July Showcase (Haverhill, MA)
July 20-23, British Columbia U18 Provincial Camp
July 28-30, Beantown Showcase (Marlborough, MA, NESC)
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 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.
Time in Quebec City, HUGE Women’s Pro Hockey News, + Miami Univ. Proving To Be A Great Set-Up
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
Quick Trip To Quebec City
My wife and I decided to get away for a few days and headed up to Quebec City this past weekend. Wow–what a city.
All of my pervious time in Quebec City has been on recruiting trips during Winter Carnival in February. It’s usually brutally cold and almost always snowy at that time of year. -20C temps (-4F / -5F) make exploring in the winter a little less appealing after a 10/12 hour day in the rink.
So, going in early July, and during Canada Day no less, was a much different and wonderful experience. My Biggest takeaway – how big and European the city seemed and how friendly everyone was. These are actual pictures I took below.
The streets, shops, pubs, and restaurants were packed. And not just because of the 8,000 cruise ships tourists who docked in town on Friday. Plenty of out of town visitors enjoyed Quebec City’s charm and Canada Day festivities.
The city has a true European feel. Small quaint side streets, bustling cobble-stone city square’s, smells of Mary’s freshly popped popcorn, (Garrett’s… those form Chicagoland know, has the slight edge over Mary’s pictured above IMO) and magnificent hotels like The Fairmont, make this a special place. Oh, and the Poutine wasn’t bad either… nor the croissants, or coffee, or anything else we had.
The weather cooperated and we definitely got our steps in walking down – and up – every square inch around town… 40,051 of them to be exact. That’s 14.3 miles in case you were wondering.
Quebec City was truly a great spot to visit. We’ll definitely be back.
Game Changing Power Shift. Mark Walter Group Acquires PHF. Paves Way For One Pro Women’s Hockey League
On Thursday evening June 29 various media outlets such as The Athletic, The Hockey News, and The AP, reported The Mark Walter Group, along with BKJ Enterprises (Billie Jean King), had purchased the Professional Hockey Federation or PHF, paving the way for one singular professional women’s hockey league in North America.
Walter’s group as well BJK Enterprises representing a new women’s hockey professional league, has been in talks with the Professional Women’s Hockey Player’s Association or PWHPA for months constructing a collective bargaining agreement, or CBA. Walter is the controlling owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers and the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks, co-general partner of the ownership group of the Premier League’s Chelsea Football Club and holder of a large interest in the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers. All said, it means deep and experienced pockets are behind this endeavor.
Here is the cliff-notes version of what you need to know.
-In May of 2022, the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association partnered with the Mark Walter Group and BJK Enterprises to launch a new professional women’s hockey league.
-Thursday evening June 29, it was announced The Mark Walter Group and BJK Enterprises purchased the PHF. The PHF no longer exists. All player contracts signed for the 23-24 season have been terminated.
-On Thursday evening players in both the PHF and PWHPA were told on separate calls with their respective leadership groups about the purchase of the PFH.
-The PWHPA voted Sunday evening to ratify a collective bargaining agreement that had been in the planning stages for months, between them and the Mark Walter Group and BJK Enterprises.
-The new league is expected to begin in January of 2024. An official league name has not been announced yet. It is being reported the league will feature 6 teams with 23-player active rosters, a player draft and free-agency period.
Certainly there are many more questions than answers.
As The dust settles, I would give Ian Kennedy a follow on Twitter as he seems to be at the forefront of this fluid development. You can find his Twitter account here: @InKennedyCK
USA Hockey 16/17 National Development Camp Wrap-Up
Well done Miami University and USA Hockey.
It would appear the change of venue to Miami University and Goggin Ice Center for USA Hockey’s Girls National Development Camps has been a hit.
Change is often sometimes hard. But from those who I got the chance to speak with – mostly camp coaches and professional staff working last week, it seemed like this change was pretty easy to say ‘ 👍 thumbs up’ to. They all came back with rave reviews.
Comments included everything from dorm accommodations to be more than adequate with AIR CONDITIONING. The food surprisingly good, outside rink facilities excellent, and town just a short walk away from campus to enjoy a bite or grab a coffee.
I spent about 4 days scouting the event myself. For anyone who may be traveling there over the next few weeks, Here’s my recap of the area, with some photos included.
Getting There… We know travel is tricky this summer. Cincinnati is your closest major airport. It’s about an hour drive to Goggin. I had to fly into Indianapolis and drive since my original flight got cancelled into Cincy. Which took about 1:45hr.
Oxford… The city where Miami University exists kind of pops up out of no where. The University takes up quite a bit of real estate but is easy to get around and in city-grid format. Cobble stone streets around campus let you know just that – you’re around campus. While I only got a chance to explore a few downtown streets, the area close by seems to have everything you would expect an institution with 20K+ students to have. Do check-out the Bagel & Deli Shop on High Street. This place has been around for ever and serves up ‘Steamed’ old school bagel sandwiches.
Hotels… There aren’t many in Oxford. I wound up staying in Hamilton, OH about 20-mins from the Goggin Ice Center which was an easy drive. Hamilton is a city of approx. 60K+. Plenty of hotels and places to eat.
Food if staying in Hamilton… Anyone who knows me well, knows I’m a bit of a foodie and like my food history. So if you’re wondering why I have a picture below of a Skyline Chili sign, here’s why… To my surprise, the city of Cincinnati is renowned for its ‘Cincinnati Style’ Chili. Hence all the Skyline Chili locations you’ll come across around the area. You’ll also find Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers. They are developing a cult-like following and I am a proud card carrying member. Try it. You wont regret it. If Italian is more your thing, I’d recommend Gina’s Italian Kitchen. It’s your local-yokel bar – tasty and reasonably priced. Complete with video poker and friendly servers.
Watering Holes In Hamilton… Two establishments that seemed very busy were The Casual Pint and Municipal Brew Works. Both serve food, but the Municipal Brew Works has food truck service only.
The Goggin Ice Center… is in a word, magnificent. With two ice sheets, one beautifully appointed 2,800 seat main arena where all games took place, and a perfect practice sheet right beside it. Players, staff, and anyone else there to watch didn’t have any difficulty shuffling between the two rinks. As you can see from the picture below, the practice rink even has a suspended rink-board divider system. Do bring a jacket and wear pants – they keep it cold.
Honestly the only disappointing part of the trip was, all the smog/smoke (pictured below). That said, the set-up and experience at Goggin seems to be a home run.
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 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.
Some Errors and Omissions + We’ll Be Back Wednesday July 5th
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
Glitchy Links… Back On Wednesday!
My apologies with Sunday’s post and the technical website error with incorrect links to last Wednesday’s and Friday’s posts. For whatever reason (operator error most likely!), they never loaded on to the blog homepage. But, the issue has been fixed and you can find links to both below:
Little lobs of news and info from around the world of Women’s College Hockey & Beyond
Coaching News
Changes To The NLI + Transfer Window Timeframe
NCAA Guide For Prospective Student-Athletes Available
Happy July 4th🇺🇸🧨💥🌭🍔🥩🍦
We hope everyone enjoy’s the holiday here in the US… I’ll be back with my regular scheduled post Wednesday which includes: My quick trip to Quebec City… A HUGE power shift in women’s professional hockey… Plus, my wrap-up of the USA Hockey 16/17 National Development Camp from Oxford, OH and Miami University.
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 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.
Little lobs of news and info from around the world of Women’s College Hockey & Beyond
Coaching News
Changes To The NLI + Transfer Window Timeframe
NCAA Guide For Prospective Student-Athletes Available
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 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.
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
Coaching News, Changes To The NLI, NCAA Guide For PSA’s
As has been the case for several weeks in a row, there is some coaching news to update.
The National Letter of Intent (think scholarship form players sign) program is rumored to be making some changes as is the Transfer 60-day window timeline.
And speaking of changes, the NCAA Eligibility Center Guide for Prospective Student-athletes has been updated. We provide a 23-24 FAQ to read or download.
I break it all down for you below. Let’s get to it.
Coaching News At Colgate, UMD, MCLA, Marian, and A Former Friar Gets Behind ECHL Bench
Looks like more programs at the D-I level are advertising for their 3rd assistant coach positions, although most aren’t calling it a ‘3rd assistant coach’. The NCAA approved a 4th coach earlier this passed winter while removing the ‘volunteer coach’ designation. It will be interesting to see how head coaches use this position.
Colgate has announced it is looking for a 3rd Assistant Coach / Director of Operations.
Minnesota-Duluth has announced its looking to fill two positions: Assistant Coach and Director of Women’s Hockey Operations.
MCLA, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, a new D-III program is seeking applications for its assistant coaching position.
Marian University has advertised for its open Head Coach position.
Bob Deraney, Former Providence Friar Women’s Head Coach, has been named Assistant Coach of the Worcester Railers of the ECHL. The Railers are an affiliate of the New York Islanders. You can read more on his hiring HERE.
Changes to the NLI Coming + Transfer Window Timeframe
The National Letter of Intent (NLI) program is rumored to be undergoing some changes which will take effect for the 2024-2025 season and would impact all athletic scholarship award winner.
As reported by The Athletic earlier this week, these changes are aimed at loosening the penalties for athletes when they request to be released from their NLI under certain conditions.
The NLI Program is managed by the NCAA while the Collegiate Commissioners Association (CCA) provides governance oversight of the program. Athletes receiving institutional athletics related aid (athletic scholarship money) from a D-I or D-II school, receives paperwork from the NLI program which must be signed by the student and guardian/parents if under the age of 18.
The purposed changes are:
No NLI penalty if the signee requests their release as the result of a head coaching change
No NLI penalty if the signee completes at least one academic semester or quarter at the institution of their choice
Additionally, four-year transfers will be able to sign a NLI after entering the transfer portal. This is not a requirement to transfer, signing a NLI would trigger a recruiting ban, meaning other schools would not be allowed to make contact once the player has signed with an institution.
The 60-Day Transfer Timeframe Is Changing… The 60-day timeframe window student-athletes had to notify its athletic administration and coaches about entering the Transfer portal could be decreasing to 30 days. The NCAA has viewed the data from this past athletic season and it appears, 60 days is not needed. The D-I council made the 30-day recommendation which will be voted on In October. You can read more about the Transfer window change HERE.
NCAA Guide for Prospective-Student Athletes Available
It’s always incumbent upon recruits and their families to know the NCAA process as a prospective student-athlete.
So, to help, here is a great read which every recruit and parent should look through.
It’s called the NCAA Guide For The College Bound Student-Athlete. It’s your one-stop-shop recruiting booklet that covers just about anything you might be wondering about relative to becoming a D-I or D-III NCAA hockey player.
The 23-24 version is not out yet. But there is a FAQ which is quite helpful . You can find both below and can download the PDF’s as well.
The 22-23 Guide can. be found there as well, also with the PDF file to download.
-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 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.
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
The Answer is… It Depends
Coaches often get asked – So, what do you look for in a player when recruiting?
Truth be told, there is A LOT that goes into recruiting a student-athlete. There is the hockey piece of course, but there are academics, character & personality, is she a good human, among a whole host of other factors.
But on the hockey side of things you might be surprised at the answer you’d get. If you asked 10 different coaches, you would probably get 10 different answers.
There is no standard across the board, All-coaches-want-this-type-of-player answer”. What one coach may value, another may not. What one coaches wants, she or he – may not be able to get.
It Depends… is the more probable answer. Because like art, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. And in the case of recruiting, coaches are the beholders.
So with all the summer showcases, tournaments, and camps to come, here are some basic/general, but important, answers to that question above – What Do Coaches Look For?
At the end of the day, coaches are going to look at how you help your team defend and or create offense. I say it this way because scoring or creating offense is HARD! Not everyone can be that kind of player. The alternative of course, is being a responsible defender. WHICH at minimum most coaches would say, you need to be to be able to do. If you can’t defend and you can’t create offense, it’s really hard for a coach to use you–plain and simple.
Let’s look by position at some general, but really important areas, that NCAA coaches evaluate when watching players.
For Goalies… it goes without saying but, stop the puck. It’s more than just that however. How are you stopping pucks? Are you just blocking shots or are you able to control rebounds and put them to a safe area away from second chances? Or can you eat pucks and not give up rebounds at all? Do you stop dump-ins and set pucks up for your Defenders? Are you communicating to your team? Are you deep in your crease or out on top of it? Are you tracking pucks well through traffic?
For Centers… Face-offs are the one situation that happens the most in a game. Can you win draws? Do you tie up opposing centers on an offensive zone face-off win or just let them go by you? Are you positionally sound in your D-Zone? When the puck is at the point, are you trying to play goalie to block a shot, or have you identified your check and stuck with them?
For Wings… Breakouts are a key game component. Can you break pucks out and advance the play for your team with possession? Or do you turn pucks over in your own zone with ill-advised passes to the middle? Do you just dump pucks out and give up possession? In the D-Zone can you defend? Can you defend an opposing player trying to cut the high seam around the top of the circle or are you able to defend the opposing defender on your side of the ice trying to shoot and block their shot? Can you get pucks back when your team doesn’t have it? Do you take good For-Checking angles to cause turnovers and gain back possession?
For Defenders… Breakouts again – are key… can you retrieve dump-ins and manage breaking the puck out with success? Do you make a good first pass? Are you passive in defending your own end? Do you puck-watch when the opposing teams’ Defenders have possession at the blue-line and lose your check? Can you defend odd-man rushes? Do you get caught outside the dot-lane and over-commit to the puck carrier exposing the middle? Can you get pucks to the net with your shot or are blasting pucks into shin-pads?
Most coaches look for certain traits at certain positions. And there is also a balance between being a little selfish, showing coaches what you can do, vs. playing the game the way you should – making the right play based on the situation you are in. No coach likes a puck-hog. And coaches love players who share the puck and understand how they can gain the advantage for their team. That’s great you’re a speedy player, but do you just get the puck and go with blinders on, or—can you see & understand what is happening as the play is developing? Do you shoot when you can and pass when you should? Or do you shoot from every impossible angle or pass only when you’ve skated yourself out of options?
There are a thousand and one aspects to the game that coaches use to evaluate players. Above, are some some of what coaches may look for.
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 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.
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
More Coaching Moves, D-I Recruiting Rules To Know, and USA 16/17 Camp Underway
Greetings from Oxford, OH where I am taking in a few days of recruiting at the USA 16/17 National Player Development Camp.
It was a little tricky getting to here due to a cancelled flight out of Toronto, but – I finally made it.
It’s been a busy time for coaches, myself included, now that June 15 has passed and the Summer camp / showcase season is in full swing. Last week’s Friday Sifter post and Sunday’s weekly recap got bumped so I could watch a little (actually it was a lot of) hockey last week.
So if you missed Monday or Wednesday’s post – they are below.
With camps, tournaments, and showcases dotting the calendar about every week, there are some important D-I recruiting rules that players, parents, and club / high school coaches should be familiar with. I’ll get to those along with some coaching moves in D-I and D-III as well as some notes from Oxford below.
Let’s get to it.
Recent Coaching Moves
Minnesota is looking to fill its ‘First’ and ‘Second’ Assistant Coach positions.
The University of Maine is searching for an assistant as Gen Richardson is no longer listed as an assistant coach.
Princeton is hiring for a Director of Women’s Hockey Operations / Dir. of video.
Robert Morris University has hired former Lindenwood Assistant Jordan Lipson.
While nothing has been confirmed officially, Merrimack may have an Assistant Coaching announcement to make soon for one of its positions
Augsburg College of the MIAC is searching for a Graduate Assistant Coach.
It appears there is a change in leadership at King’s College as Jordan Ott is no longer list as a member of the Athletic Department coaching staff.
Aurora University has announced the hiring of Sanya Sandahl, goaltending coach of the US U-18 team for 2024, as part of the AU coaching staff for 2023-2024.
D-I Recruiting Rules To Know
With June 15 behind us and the summer camp / showcase season here, there are some important recruiting rules players and parents should be aware of.
Face-to-Face contact with D-I Coaches
Players entering grade 9 & 10 this coming fall may not have Face-to-Face contact prior to June 15 of the grade 11 year. However, players who attend camps / clinics / showcase events where D-I coaches are employed as staff members, may have normalized conversations with D-I Coaches for the duration of the event. No recruiting conversations may take place however.
Players entering grade 11 as well as family members may not have Face-to-Face contact On or Off-Campus with D-I Coaches until August 1st. Again, players who attend camps / clinics / showcase events prior to Aug. 1 where D-I coaches are employed as staff members, may have normalized conversations with D-I Coaches for the duration of the event.
Players entering grade 12 this fall and their family members may have face-to-face contact on or off the institutions campus at any time.
Face-to-Face contact that consists of more than just a ‘greeting’ is allowed on no more than 3 occasions per year.
D-III Coaches may have Face-to-Face contact with recruits and family members after the player completes their grade 10 year.
USA 16/17 Camp Underway
Camp opened Saturday and the first full day’s schedule of practices and games began Sunday.
The Goggin Ice Center is flat out gorgeous. What a facility. It occurred to me – the ice sheet is an NHL regulation sized 200 x 85 sheet. St. Cloud, where previous USA Hockey Camps were held, was not – it was an olympic sheet. Personally, I think the game is better on an NHL sheet. Just my opinion though.
Here is a breakdown of attendees by USA Hockey district. Minnesota leads the way with 32. Mid-Am has the fewest with 6.
All games are being streamed live via USAhockeytv.com with a paid subscription.
-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 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.
USA Hockey get’s the conversation going for Girls Tier I this July
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
USA Hockey To Hold ‘Girls Tier I Community Conversation’ In Oxford
In conjunction with the U18 Select Camp this July in Oxford, Ohio, USA Hockey will gather important stakeholders within the Tier I level of Girls Hockey to get the conversation going.
From July 15-16, discussions will take place around the topics of hockey development, rules and regulations, National Championships, and club support. Also included will be brainstorming sessions and a presentation from the U-18 National Team Coaching Staff on player development.
Kudos to USA Hockey for hosting such an event. The hockey world is pretty small, the women’s side of the game smaller.
Nothing moves forward or get’s solved without dialogue. And the U-18 Select Camp provides a perfect opportunity to gather coaches and administrators as well as club personnel – who care about the direction of the game and how to improve it.
I’ll keep you updated about what we hear.
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 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.
There are actions you can take to gain an edge in your college search
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
Use Your Hockey Travels This Summer To Your Advantage
Put that trip to the Beantown Showcase to good use this summer and go visit some college campuses!
Whether you’re at a camp, showcase, or tournament, you should be going to visit schools. As long as you are within a decent amount of drive time that is.
The school visit is one of the best activities you can do to help in your college process. There is nothing like smelling the smells and putting yourself in your potential physical environment for the 4-best years of your life. Even if the school isn’t on your ‘priority’ list.
Taking a college visit can do a 2 things:
It can prepare you for a future visit that matters… It’s like a dry-rehearsal. You can make all the mistakes without any of the consequences impacting you. Take the wrong turns, visit on the wrong day of the week, ask the awkward questions to the tour guide. But do take note of what you would do differently. This way, the next time you take a visit to a school you have an interest in – you can get that visit right.
You may just get that feeling… you hear a lot of people say, well, I just had that feeling walking around that this was the place for me. Or the opposite may be true… nope, no way I’m going here! Either way, you’re going to get a feeling, good or bad. But one thing will be true, you’ll know what to compare on your next visit somewhere.
You can always spend the money to go visit somewhere. But if you’re already in an area to attend some hockey event, why not kill two birds? Do a little planning, see what campuses are close by, and find sometime to fit a couple stops in.
Here is a couple of rules about college visits to keep in mind:
First, if you plan to visit a D-I school with a hockey program, do know that coaches will not be able to meet with you prior to August 1 of your grade 10 year. If you’re already in grade 11, then you have nothing to worry about.
Second, if you are of age and want to get some face time with a member of the coaching staff, do plan in advance. Reach out several weeks before your visit and see if anyone on staff is available.
Third, as they say – you only get one time to make a first impression. So, if you are able to set up a day/time to meet with the coaching staff, A) Show up early, B) Dress appropriately, and C) Have some questions ready to ask.
The bottom line… if you’re already traveling somewhere for hockey, put that money to good use and go see some schools! Do some homework and see what schools are in the area, contact admissions to schedule a tour around campus, and just go explore.
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 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.
Little lobs of news and info from around the world of Women’s College Hockey & Beyond
Coaching News
Whitehouse Visit for Wisconsin
Swedes Check
ECAC Get’s A New Commissioner
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 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.
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
Coaching News, Whitehouse Travels, Swedes Check, New Commish
It’s been an eventful week.
Coaching hires and promotions have been announced, Wisconsin went to the Whitehouse, Sweden is expanding it’s body checking rule, and the ECAC hired a new commissioner.
Let’s get to it.
Coaching News At Vermont, Lindenwood, and Princeton
University of Vermont Assistant Coach Alex Gettens has been promoted to Associate Head Coach. Alex will begin his 6th year this upcoming season.
Reah Coad, former Head Coach of the Buffalo Beauts of the PHF, has been named an Assistant Coach at Lindenwood University. Coad spent 2 years behind the bench for the Beauts. You can read the release HERE.
Princeton has hired a new assistant coach, Melissa Samoskevich. Samoskevich comes from Quinnipiac where she was the Director of Player Development and Operations while also playing for the Connecticut Whale of the PHF. Prior to her time at Quinnipiac, Samoskevich previous coached at Penn St.
Wisconsin Almost Misses Whitehouse Visit
Darn E-mail spam folders!
The 2023 National Champs the Wisconsin Badgers finally made the trip to the Whitehouse last week to be honored on College Athlete Day. Strangely, the trip almost never happened.
The Swedish Ice Hockey Federation is expanding its checking rules in women’s hockey.
In addition to the SDHL and NDHL, checking/body contact will now be allowed in Sweden’s four younger regional Junior women’s leagues as well.
86% of players surveyed reported having a positive experience with the new checking rules that were introduced for the 2022-2023 season. The new rules allowed intentional body-contact along the boards or if players were skating in the same direction but no opposite directional open-ice hits were allowed.
This past season, The NCAA standard on body contact, not so much changed, but was an area of focus and more was allowed. The NCAA rules don’t allow for intentional body contact as Sweden’s rule do, but the NCAA game is definitely getting more physical.
You can read the full story on Sweden’s decision HERE.
The ECAC Lands New Commissioner
Doug Christiansen has been named Commissioner of ECAC Hockey. He takes over for Commissioner Stephen Hagwell who has held the commissioner’s post since 2005.
As a former Union College Men’s hockey player (1998-2002) and most recently in his role as Deputy Commissioner of the United States Hockey League (USHL), Christiansen brings a vast hockey background to the position.
-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 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.
D-I Coaches Begin Communication with Players Entering Grade 11 This Fall Starting Thursday
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
June 15 Arrives Thursday, What to Know
Well, so much for my shorter post idea 😂.
Longer post… but worth the read.
Tomorrow Thursday, June 15 will be a very busy day for the 44 D-I hockey programs as the recruiting cycle begins for the 2025 class. It will also be a busy and exciting day for hundreds of players across the globe as they begin their quest to play NCAA D-I hockey.
NCAA recruiting rules state D-I coaches my initiate contact with recruits for the first time via phone, email, text, direct social media message, etc. Coaches are now able to have recruiting conversations with recruits and family members as well as make official verbal scholarship or non-scholarship offers to join their program.
As exciting as this time of year can be for players and families, it can also bring a lot of stress and anxiety – both for those who are engaged in the process and for those who are not – but want to be. So with, June 15 less than 24-hours away, here a few things to keep in mind so you don’t drive yourself bonkers.
All Is Not Lost
It’s A Numbers Game
Do Prepare
Your Situation Is Not Anyone Else’s
January or February Could be More Important
All is not lost if you don’t get a phone call
Just because you didn’t get a call on June 15, does not – in any way – mean your D-I dream is dead.
Far from it in fact. Players make it to the NHL undrafted every season–Last night’s Con Smythe Stanley Cup winner as an example! There are many players in every recruiting class, who wind up playing at a D-I school that never got a call on June 15.
So while they may not have gotten a call on that day, they stayed patient, focussed on the process, and worked on their game. The only thing not getting a call means, is you have a bit more work and developing to do. So keep the process in perspective as well as your own development. Sometimes the process takes time.
Every D-I spot doesn’t get committed on June 15, or even Feb. 15 for that matter. Recruiting is one of those living, breathing entities that can change in a heartbeat. Coaches get a ‘NO’ from a recruit and it can change the whole trajectory of their process. It’s also not uncommon for coaches to hold spots free so they can see how players develop over the season. You may not have gotten a call, but you may be on some coaches list and are being talked about as a player to keep watching.
Coaches usually have a pecking order to their recruiting lists and will spend time talking with their priority recruits first. There are only so many coaches who are allowed to make phone calls due to NCAA rules, and there is only so much time in the day. It may take a day or two or three for a coaching staff to plow through all of the calls they need to make.
It’s a bit of a numbers game
More players could get calls this year. Why?
The 5th year COVID grad transfer player goes away in 2025. That means an extra 90-100-ish roster spots will open up and have the opportunity to be filled by graduating High School seniors or PG’s.
When you run the numbers, an average recruiting class is 6 recruits per team. So, the 2025 recruiting class could potentially be at about 264 incoming first year players give or take, 44 teams x 6 players per team = 264. An influx of over 35% more first-year NCAA players.
There are only so many D-I prospects and most schools overlap in calling the same ones. So, how many recruits does a school need call in order to commit its class of 6 players? Great question. I’ve worked at a variety of institutions and I can tell you some years our program has had to call 40 and in others it’s been over 100. But keep in mind there is quite a bit of overlap with schools calling the same player.
There are a lot more players than there are available D-I spots. It’s competitive and you really do need to be in the upper echelon of the talent pyramid to play at the highest level.
If you expect to get some calls, do prepare
There is nothing worse for a coach when talking to a recruit, and it’s a one-sided conversation with the coach doing all the talking. If you anticipate getting some calls, do prepare to talk-back and engage! Have some questions prepared to ask. Have some answers prepared you can speak to if you get questions like, what are you looking for in a school? Do you know what you want to study? When do you see yourself making a decision?
Do return calls, emails, and texts if you get them – even if you aren’t interested in the school. How you handle your hockey affairs says a lot about who you are. So, do take the time to reply. And it’s okay to say you aren’t interested. Sometime a ‘No’ in the recruiting world to a coach, is as good as a ‘yes’ because it allows some focus to come into play. And really – thats a lot of what coaches and players/families are looking for, right? Info so you can know where to focus.
The important piece here, is to do some homework and be prepared.
Don’t compare your process to anyone else but you
Your teammates are getting calls, going on visits, and making decisions. You on the other hand, aren’t doing any of those things… the only thing you’re getting, is bitter at your teammates.
As a player, you start to question things, over-analyze situations, and can talk yourself into a mental tizzy. The reality is, the more you try to dissect why someone is getting the love, and you aren’t, the worse you’ll make yourself feel. And you’ll never know the answers you’re wondering about.
So don’t compare your teammates’ situation to yours. There is a lot that goes into why a coaching staff may want to recruit a certain player. It could be the way the shoot, their position, skill, size, how good of a student they are, financial reasons–you name it. What you can do, is compare yourself to the day before. How did you make your situation or you as a student or as a player – better today than yesterday.
Change Your Mindset
Don’t worry about June 15. Worry about January or February 15 of your grade 11 year instead. Here’s why.
You don’t get a call on June 15 – big WOOP.
If February 15 has come and gone with no calls in your grade 11 year, may be its time to reassess your college hockey goals and start returning those emails, texts, and voicemails from D-III schools.
The amount of growth a player can have between June and February is huge. That’s 7 months! As I said earlier, programs always seem to have some space (and some $$) on the their rosters so they can catch that later bloomer.
So, think about changing your mindset. Get rid of June 15 as the be-all end-all date of dates… focus on the growth you can have during your grade 11 year instead.
Bottom Line
June 15 is the start of something… but certainly not the end.
In most cases, it’s just the beginning of a 2 year time window from when a player could potentially arrive on campus.
Thats a long time for growth and development.
Keep the focus on you and your growth process while keeping all options open that come your way. Your mental health will thank you!
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 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.
D-I And D-III Coaches Will Navigate Their Way to Oxford, Ohio and Miami University This Summer For USA Hockey’s National Development Camps
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
NCAA Coaches Have A New Location For USA Hockey Nat’l Development Camps
USA Hockey as well as NCAA D-I and D-III coaches will descend upon Oxford, Ohio and the campus of Miami University this June and July as the national governing body changes the location of its U15, 16/17, and U18 Select Girls National Development Camps.
The move to the Goggin Ice Center at Miami University comes after a lengthy stay at the National Hockey Center at St. Cloud State Univ. in Minnesota for the better part of the last 10+ years. While Miami doesn’t have a NCAA D-I women’s program, it does have a very successful women’s ACHA D-I program and a NCAA D-I Men’s program.
Interestingly, Miami’s former Men’s Associate Head Coach Eric Rud, was the St. Cloud State University Women’s Head Coach for 5 seasons. Rud, who’s daughter Gabbie plays at Cornell, is now Head Coach of the Sioux Falls Stampede of the USHL.
USA Hockey’s move to Oxford seems to be a welcomed change from other coaches I’ve talked with. You can read more on USA Hockey’s move to Oxford HERE.
Here’s all the camp info you’ll need to know. Kudos to USA Hockey for getting the schedules out early this year.
Dates & Schedules
U16/17 (2006-2007) National Development Camp June 24-30 – Schedule
U15 (2008) National Development Goaltenders Camp – July 7-10 – Schedule
U15 (2008) National Development Camp – July 10-15 – Schedule
U18 (2006-2008) National Select Camp – July 16-22 – Schedule
Camp Rosters
In total 387 players were selected across all camps this summer. Team rosters of each camp aren’t available at the moment, but a list of camp participants are. You can find links to them below. I’ll breakdown that camp attendee’s from each of USA Hockey’s 12 districts in a future post as we get closer to camp.
A note about the player selection process. USA Hockey splits the country up into 12 districts based on geography and each district has its own tryout process. Most are very similar–with some type of skills session, practices or games evaluated by a staff (sometimes college coaches). In true political fashion, each district is allotted a certain number of players it can send at each position. That number is based the number of girls registered in the district. The larger the district, the larger number of attendees it can send.
Is that the best way to select for these camps? Perhaps a post for another time. 🤔
We’ll have updates from Oxford as camps get underway.
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 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.
Time To Investigate, Know The Types Of Summer Hockey Events That Are Out There
Types Of Events
Know What To Look For
Execute Your Plan
Sifters
Coaching Changes Continue & Updated Tracker
Another D-I Team Goes To Europe
Mergers & Acquisitions
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 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.
Learn What To Look At When Evaluating Events To Attend
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
Get Out Your Hockey Specs + Sifters
Happy Friday everyone. I hope you’ve had a great week. Time to get our your hockey glasses and look for a good Summer hockey find.
In Wednesday’s post, I tried to answer a common question that many of you have asked previously: Which Summer events are best to go to? How do you know which ones to attend?
Now, it would have been really easy for me to come up with the top 7-8 events college coaches go to. Bing, Bang, Boom – there’s your list, just register and sign up, right?
Well, it’s isn’t that easy.
My approach was to explain a methodology, a process of evaluating what should go into deciding what Summer hockey event you might consider. In the crowded schedule of Summer showcases, camps, ID Skates, and tournaments, if you know what to look for, the better off you’ll be.
And that is my goal today. To give you some valuable tips on how to evaluate your Summer hockey options.
First, know what types of events exist. Here are a few.
Day/Overnight Camps & Clinics
NCAA College Camps & Clinics
NCAA ID Prospect Camps/Showcases
Multi-Week Skill Development On-Ice/Off-Ice Programs
Showcase Camps
Showcase Tournaments
USA Hockey / Hockey Canada Sanctioned Player Development Camps
Summer hockey events fall into a few different categories. Most say they will either improve your game or… get you exposure to NCAA coaches. Some promote themselves as being able to do both.
As I said in Wednesday’s post, a good way to chose an event to attend is decide 1) what your hockey goals are, 2) what your hockey timeline is, and 3) what you need most as a player to reach your intended goals.
Events that are great for teaching skills and development would be Day/Overnight Camps & Clinics, NCAA College Camps & Clinics, Multi-Week Skill Development Programs, and USA Hockey / Hockey Canada Sanctioned Player Development Camps. Here are few things to pay attention to so you can choose the right one for you.
Who is doing the instruction and how experienced is the staff? To have played is one thing, to have played and know how to teach is another. Coaching experience matters. How much ice-time being offered mater too?
How long does the program run for… 4-5 days for a camp is plenty, 6-8 weeks where you are on the ice or in the gym a few times per week is a great for a multi-week skill development program.
NCAA College Camps/Clinics provide one of the better ways to see how a college coaching staff is like, while hopefully getting on campus. Perhaps there will be other college program there working? Best to ask!
USA Hockey / Hockey Canada events are not something you can just register to attend, you have to be selected. But if you do get to go to a camp, they do provide a great combination of learning, development, and exposure to some great coaches.
Cost & Value… What are you actually getting for your $?
NCAA ID Prospect Camps/Showcases, Showcase Camps, and Showcase Tournaments are intentionally wrapped up around exposure to college coaches with limited if any instruction. They can be a great way to get to know a coach or the entire staff. Some things to consider are:
For NCAA ID Camps and Showcase Camps… Is there instruction provided–if so, how? Is there a campus or facility tour? How many schools will be part of the staff – if any? Is there any feedback provided? Some of these events provide little instruction–and with good reason as most are about getting players to play in front of college coaches. To be clear, a ‘high intensity college level practice’ is not necessarily instruction or teaching… players taking a knee at the dry erase board to hear a coach explain a 4 part 3v2 breakout, re-group, attack offensive zone entry drill – is really code for college coaches to watch and see if these kids can follow directions, keep up, and not be a drill killer.
For Tournaments… or showcases as they are sometimes called… may not offer any instruction or practice time because college coaches usually aren’t involved. It’s all about the tournament operator inviting college coaches to scout games because of the caliber of players participating. You don’t always have to be on e ‘team’ to participate. There are quite a few individual entry showcase camp and tournament events.
On the issue of exposure to college coaches… There’s no way to guarantee it – so it’s probably not a great idea to attend an event just because you were told a certain coach or number of schools would be in attendance. It’s much easier for events to say we have a number of coaches working, but even that isn’t always possible. With just about every rink having some kind of LiveBarn type video service, NCAA coaches don’t always have to be in the rink to watch. A lot of events are using video services like InStat etc. where NCAA coaches have access.
Bottom line, do ask questions and get a sense of what you are paying for. Be sure to figure out your ‘why’, before deciding what to attend and you’ll better off for it.
Coaches Roundtable… Late Monday night it was reported Minnesota Associate Head Coach Natalie Darwitz was no longer listed on the Gopher website, and now we know why. Darwitz and former Elmira Head Coach Jake Bobrowski will be teaming up (again) as Co-Head Coaches at Hill-Murray High School. Bobrowski was Darwitz’ assistant coach at Hamline University before both made the jump to the Gophers in 21-22.
Division I has its 4th head coaching vacancy open as Harvard’s Katey Stone announced her retirement on Tuesday.
Both St. Cloud and RPI look like they’ve posted for their 3rd assistant position.
You can catch up on all the coaching movement with our Coaching Changes Tracker right HERE.
Another Team Goes To Europe… Mercyhurst University will join Princeton and Providence College as they travel to Stockholm, Sweden this July where they will play the Swedish National and Developmental teams. NCAA D-I teams are allowed a foreign trip every 4 years (I think) where they can play international games. The Laker program has a long history of recruiting players from Sweden. The trip will be from July 22-31. You can read more about the trip HERE.
Mergers & Acquisitions… College Hockey America and the Atlantic Hockey Association on the men’s side will officially merge operations for the 24-25 season. Newly hired Commissioner Michelle Morgan made the announcement last week sighting a chance to streamline operations and build an enhanced brand on both the women’s and side side of D-I hockey. You can read the official statement HERE.
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 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.
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
Opportunity Knocks, But Where?
Picking Summer Events To Attend Isn’t Easy, But Can Be Beneficial If You Have A Plan
In response to my post last week on cutting down the number of events you attend and saving your summer sanity, I got a number of positive emails responses–Thank you!
I also got many questions. One in particular bears some attention, that being: Which Summer events are best to go to? How do I know which ones to attend?
So, parents… this post is primarily for you… players, be sure to read up as well.
It’s a great question. But not an easy one to answer. In short – it depends. But here are some ideas to help guide you along the way so you’re not wasting money or your time.
Have A Plan
As some astute business guru once said: When you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.
The same holds true in becoming a great player and reaching your hockey goals. It’s really hard to attain them if you don’t have a plan on how to get there.
So what does it really mean to have a plan?
Having a plan basically means you’re going to assess certain areas of your hockey life and base your decisions of what summer events to attend off that assessment. Put in a little work, have some self discovery, plot a course – and then go after it.
Step 1… Try to answer What’s the goal with hockey? Are you just playing for fun or because you like being with your hockey friends? Or do you have aspirations to play competitively beyond high school or after college? If playing NCAA hockey is your goal, do you want to play D-I or D-III? Think you have what it takes to be an Olympian? Whatever the case – figure out what you want your goal with hockey to be.
So you figured out playing NCAA college hockey is the goal, D-I or D-III doesn’t mater as long as your playing NCAA college hockey. Step 2… Figure out how long you have until your goal begins. I call this your hockey timeline. So if you’re just finishing grade 9, you minimally would have 3 more years in your hockey timeline before playing college hockey.
You know the goal, you know how long you have before you reach it, Step 3 is to assess yourself as a player and figure out where do you stack up? Are you on the right track to reach your goal? Are you just an average player or one of the best on your team? Are you trying out for and being selected for national, regional, or state/provincial camps within your age group?
Here is why these steps are important.
Step 1, Find Your Goal… If you don’t really have aspirations of becoming a competitive player and you’re just playing for the fun of it, there really isn’t a need to spend oodles of money and time traveling around North America or elsewhere. There are probably local programs around your area that will help you improve and have some fun.
By the same token, if you are a competitive player and want to take hockey as far as you can, creating a plan that includes both a great deal of training and development as well as exposure to college coaches would be important.
Step 2, Know Your Hockey Timeline… The more time you have, the more you can spend on your development. The less time on your side, perhaps exposure might be the better choice way to go. The time you spend on your development, is like saving for retirement. The more time you have to contribute, the better retirement balance you’ll have. CONTRIBUTE TO YOUR DEVELOPMENT. If time is on your side, spend more time on development than exposure.
I’ll throw geography in here as well. It matters and can effect your timeline to a degree. Players from Minnesota on east have a distinct advantage. College coaches don’t get out west all that often. That means you westerners have to travel farther and may be more often for exposure.
Step 3, Assess How Good You Are… So you can pick appropriate events that aren’t over your head. I hate saying attempting something is a waste of money, but realistically – you can do yourself a disservice by attending events that are severely above your level of play. Best to pick camps or clinics, development programs that focus on improvement before focussing on exposure.
Once you have all these steps figured out, you can then assess what events exist, what they offer, and how they can help you meet your goals.
In Friday’s post, I’ll discuss how to evaluate events so you can select the one that fits your needs.
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 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.
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
Monday Headlines
NCAA coaches were out in force this past weekend at various events. Toronto and Bloomington, Minnesota seemed to be the hotspots. I made my way to through both Toronto and Bloomington (without delay thankfully).
Coaches On The Move
There has been a little movement with some recent D-III and D-I coaching changes.
In D-III, the University of Dubuque has added Michael Kuruc III as an Assistant Coach.
And Hilbert College will have a change in leadership as Head Coach Cole Klubec has departed his position. A search is underway for his replacement.
In D-I, Kate Leary, who played for the Boston College Eagles, will be leaving her assistant position at Merrimack College and returning to her alma matter in the same role. That leaves two open asst. positions for Merrimack.
Shelly Picard, former 2014 US Olympian, is leaving her assistant position at Princeton and has been named an assistant coach with Long Island University. Princeton now has an open asst. position to fill.
St. Cloud State University has advertised its job posting for a full-time assistant Coach. This is a posting for St. Cloud’s 4th full-time coach.
4th Full-Time Coach at D-I
Back in January the NCAA legislated an additional 4th full-time coach would be allowed in women’s and men’s D-I hockey beginning July 1. The NCAA also legislated the volunteer coach designation removed from the rule book.
Which begs the question: Will all D-I women’s hockey programs get a 4th coach?
The answer is a little harder to come by. Yes, some will make that hire soon, just as St. Cloud has advertised for. But it will come at a cost. And not just a financial one.
Full-Time employees at institutions means more money spent. What constitutes ‘full-time’ at one school, may not at another. Employment laws regulations differ from school to school and state to state.
Another cost is time in managing that extra person. Head Coaches now have a new voice to account for, a new personality to manage. The staff dynamic could change drastically with someone unknown and new. Or may be it won’t. Most staffs have a volunteer coach, and it’s conceivable, that person may slide into the new 4th coach role.
It will be interesting to see how the 4th coach plays out with D-I programs. One aspect a lot of coaches have discussed is the impact to D-III.
D-III has always had issues filling positions. There just isn’t a huge pool of qualified coaches to fill them. Take away 44 people to fill the 4th coach spot at D-I, and now D-III programs could really struggle to find coaches.
What the fourth coach will do is certainly open the door for more females, recent graduates perhaps, to get into coaching – be it at D-III or D-I.
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 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.
WOMENSCOLLEGEHOCKEY.ORG – A Women’s College Hockey Online Website & Resource
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
More Than Just A Blog
Helping Players, Parents, Coaches, and Fans
Happy Friday everyone.
Before we get on with today’s post, a quick coaching changes tracker update.
Princeton has hired former NHLer Jamie Lundmark as their new Director of Player Development and Assistant Coach. You can read more about his hiring HERE.
And King’s College in Wilkes-Barre, PA (D-III/UCHC) recently posted a listing for a new head coach.
OK… on to today’s post – short & sweet.
One thing I haven’t done a ton of is talked too much about my actual website – womenscollegehockey.org. Most of my effort has been put into the Pipeline Blog. I had a feeble attempt last summer at getting a podcast up and running last summer – which in all honesty – I can’t decide if want to resurrect. Perhaps I can take my new approach to the Podcast as I have to the Pipeline… Micro-Pods? We’ll see.
But the website does have several helpful sections that dive into some important areas like recruiting, the difference between D-I and D-III, NCAA Eligibility, Paying for College, etc.
You can find it all by going to our home page – womenscollegehockey.org – and placing your curser over the Play College Hockey link from the menu bar.
From there you will find 8 different sections to chose from. I have another 7-10 sections that are in the works. We’ll certainly let you know when those go live.
Click HERE to get to our homepage and have a look around.
Enjoy… Time to hit the recruiting trail.
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 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.
The NCAA May Quiet Period Is Over and D-I Coaches Are Back In The Rinks.
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
D-I Coaches Back On The Road Recruiting
A busy few weeks before June 15 recruiting phone calls begin
Today is the day. NCAA D-I Coaches are back on the road recruiting after a five-and-a-half week layoff due to the NCAA May Quiet Period. With no D-I coaches allowed on the road in May, there was little missed, say for Canada’s Midget National Championship – The Esso Cup or a few USA Hockey district national camp tryouts.
The May Quiet period provides coaches with some downtime as the end of the academic year comes to a close. The break was nice and usually provides a chance for coaching staffs to re-set, get caught up, and plan their approach for the next important recruiting date.
June 15th is the next big date in the recruiting process. It’s when D-I coaches are allowed to initiate communication with recruits who will enter grade 11 this coming Fall for the first time.
For D-III coaches, they aren’t subject to the same D-I recruiting rules, but most follow the same D-I protocols. Players tend to make D-III commitments a bit later in the process, but not always, especially for those players who know they want a D-III Experience. That doesn’t make it any easier for D-III coaches however – it mostly means they have to wait longer for an answer.
So until then, these next 2 weeks could be a critical as coaches get in some final evals before making their calls and or official offers in some cases. Several high profile events are taking place in Minnesota and Ontario, in addition to some others. Chances are, most D-I / D-III programs will be around the rinks evaluating in person. It’s hard to beat the in-person eye test when evaluating.
In closing, I’ll add a little advice:
Don’t be disappointed if the phone doesn’t ring on June 15. Not every recruit who played D-I, got called on the first day calls were allowed.
If you are on the ice over the next 2 weeks or so, play the game the right way. Coaches want to see you make good decisions – so DON’T be a puck-hog. Pass when you should, Shoot when you can.
Everyone’s recruiting process is different and on a different timeline than yours. It’s dangerous to compare yourself and your process to others. The only person you should be comparing yourself to – is you… and asking – Are you better today than yesterday?
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 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.
Little lobs of news and info from around the world of Women’s College Hockey & 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
Sifters
US to Host 2024 World Championships… The next 2 World Championship host sites were recently announced. In 2024 they will be held in Utica, NY and in 2025, in Czechia. You can read more on the Utica announcement HERE.
IIHF Hall Calls Ouellette… Former Minnesota Duluth Bulldog Caroline Ouellette was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame last week. She is one of the most decorated women’s hockey players ever. Ouellette now spends her time as the Associate Head Coach for the Usport Concordia University Stingers program in Montreal.
IIHF 2023 Congress Video… As it does every year at the men’s World Championships, the IIHF Congress takes place to recap they year, talk new initiatives, and vote on matters of importance like rule changes, World Championship locations and bid processes. You can view the entire 7 hour (!) congress HERE if you like.
Of note, here are some interesting numbers from the recent Women’s World Championships held in Brampton, Ontario back in April.
85 credentialed media members from 8 countries covered the event
77,306 tickets were sold
Total Attendance: 59,402 (wondering if that means a lot of no-shows with 77K+ tix sold??)
Canada’s games had an ave. attendance of 4,073 (capacity of 5,000)
Over $248,000 in 50/50 revenue generated with six 50/50 draws
All games broadcast on TSN
15.7 % of Canada’s population watched some of the tournament… or 6.23 million viewers
Gold Medal Game had a 1.1 million average minute audience with a peak of 2,830,000 on TSN
Unfortunately I don’t have any US figures to share at this time.
IIHF Women’s World Jrs. being discussed… As has been discussed amongst NCAA coaching circles for years as wishful thinking, the time may be coming for a Women’s World Junior Championship type event. Currently, the IIHF does not offer a category championship between the U18 and top senior championship. And a World Jr. event would fill that void. As Ian Kennedy, writer on women’s hockey for The Hockey News uncovers, it’s probably not far off from becoming reality. See his interview with the IIHF HERE.
Harvey is 2023 Bob Allen Women’s Player of the Year… USA Hockey announced that Wisconsin Freshman Defender and 2022 US Olympian, Caroline Harvey is the 2023 Bob Allen Women’s Hockey Player of the Year recipient. You can read the announcement HERE.
JWHL Expands… The Rothesay Netherwood School, New Brunswick will be joining the Junior Women’s Hockey League for the 23-24 season, You can read about the announcement below:
We are excited to share the addition of @RNS1877 to the #JWHL for the 2023-24 Season.
New Jr. League in Sask… Looks Saskatchewan is following in Ontario’s footstep by offering a U-22 Junior league to begin play next season. Which makes sense given the effect of COVID. You can watch the news clip here.
Friendship Ireland Series is back… Hockey is going overseas again. Providence is set to face-off vs. Princeton for a two-game series Jan. 6 & 7. You can read the official announcement HERE.
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 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.
Learn how to gain back your summers, save time, money, and your mental health.
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
Save Your Sanity
A follow up to ‘The Silly Season’
First, we have an omission to clarify. Earlier in the week I mentioned D-III would have 3 new institutions start programs for in the fall. I was incorrect… there will actually be 4. Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) will also be adding a program. This gives D-III 71 varsity teams for next season.
Okay… onto today’s post.
Parents… this post is primarily for you. But players, this is really important for you to read as well.
I said I would try and explain how families can get back some sanity to their summers while potentially saving some serious $, and put some control back in your daughter(s) quest to play college hockey. I also think in addition, if you can do a few things outlined below, you’ll be giving your mental health big boost too.
Families can spend an inordinate amount of time and money – THOUSANDS of dollars, easily in the 4 and 5 figures, on tournament teams, showcases, and camps.
So how can you recoup some of your summer and actually have one? First, It’s important to understand there are couple of forces in play, which you have little to no control over.
One, there is an overabundance of Summer ‘recruiting’ options. Everyone seems to run a showcase or camp touting how it will help you in the recruiting process. I just updated my list for June alone (link at the end of the post) and I’m at 23 and counting. Uh, email just came in. Make that 24.
Two, Chances are, college coaches have already watched your daughter(s) play, especially if you’er a player beyond grade 9. College coaches have to make the best use of their recruiting time in the summer. That means talent depth of an event is important.
Three, Recruiting is a numbers game. A typical D-I recruiting class is about 250 players at D-III it’s about 450. The size of the actual recruiting pool is closer to probably 1,500 to 2,000 grade 12 & Post-Grad players globally. Add 80-90+ D-I graduate transfers and that 250 just went to 160. At D-III we’re not completely sure what the 5th Year grad transfer numbers are. Bottom line – you have to be excellent to play at the highest level.
For the recruiting class of 2025, we’re basically back to pre-covid numbers on recruiting – no more COVID 5th year grad transfer recruits.
Four, The college hockey recruiting culture and environment is largely driven by the recruiting rules that govern D-I.
Five, There is a huge difference between exposure and development. A good way to think of it – exposure is a great way to show how much development in your game has taken place. Having a good balance between development and exposure is a great way to go about planning your summer’s hockey activites.
Like most things in life, a healthy balance between a few things is a pretty good recipe for success. So, if you’re sick of running around the globe with your family in toe, hoping your credit card doesn’t decline at the next hotel stop, there are ways in which to approach a change in your summer hockey schedule that can really have a positive impact.
1) Buy into the concept of less = more and don’t fear FOMO. Reallocate your financial resources and commit to attending less events and have your daughter focus on training and the process of getting better. It takes work.
2) Pay for some type of regularly scheduled ON and OFF-ice training be it a gym membership or personal trainer, on-ice skill development and or a power skating coach for at least 6-8 weeks, 2-4 times per week. 4 on-ice session per week over 8 weeks = 32 sessions of training. You can get 50% of a seasons’ worth of on-ice training in 8 weeks. Off-ice training, in my opinion is the single biggest driver of on-ice performance.
3) Create a summer development plan. Figure out what type of training you’ll commit to doing, pull out the calendar and schedule what your summer will look like so you can not only attend a few events based on what you want to get out of them but continue to train.
4) Take the rest of your saved money and put 1/2 toward a nice vacation for all her hard work and the other 1/2 into the college fund.
If she won’t commit to trying something like that, you may want to rethink spending all that money in the future.
So what’s the payoff?
#1, you’ll give your daughter a chance to prove she’s committed enough to play college hockey – because no matter D-I or D-III, there is a lot more practicing and training than playing games. You’ll save money in the long run and give your daughter a chance to actually improve her game. So, when she does get in front of college coaches, she’ll hopefully make a positive impression.
#2, college coaches don’t need to see you play 9 different times between June and August. Remember, chances are – they’ve already watched you play multiple times and have an opinion. What coaches do like seeing – is a player improve.
#3, I mentioned a boost to your mental health. And this may be the single biggest benefit of all. This time in your daughter’s life, this path she’s on to play college hockey, can be extremely stressful. Not only for her, but for you as her parent. This is where you really need to be cognizant of your mindset. Are you and your daughter controlling the path or are you on the hamster-wheel? Because if you are on the wheel, then the process will control you. Usually, we feel stress when things are out of our control or we can’t quite see how an outcome is derived. FOMO is real. But if you’re FOMO is because you’re missing the next 3 showcases, that’s like fake FOMO. If you’re going to have FOMO, at least let it be for her missing out on the 3 weeks of off-ice training while you hit the showcase circuit.
Your mental health is extremely important. Make a plan and you’ll feel less anxious about the future.
It does seem a little ‘silly’… this type of environment that exists. The NCAA could make some future changes to recruiting but for now, it is business as usual. Exposure to college coaches is good – when you are a good competent player. Exposure is bad… when you can’t really play the game. Signing up for 9 different events when your shot can’t reach the net or you can’t break the puck out, isn’t a good plan.
In closing, of course not everyone is on the hamster-wheel. There are quite a few families who subscribe to the ‘focus on development first’ theory. Honestly, most players don’t need a ton of extra exposure in the summer. They get enough during the regular hockey season. What most do need, is to map out a plan, put in the work and train so they can improve.
Oh… if you want to see my event list – as I mentioned it above – just click HERE.
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 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.
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
The Silly Season Begins
For our readers in the US, hopefully you are enjoying your Memorial Day with friends and family and making something great on the grill.
As Memorial Day is the unofficial start to Summer, in just a few short days the official start of the women’s college hockey recruiting season will begin – on June 1st. ‘The Silly Season’ as I would call it – is here.
I can’t lay claim to coining the phrase… For those who are regular listeners of NHL Sirius XM station like I am, you have surly heard the term – The Silly Season. A reference to all the crazy Tom-Foolery nonsense that surrounds NHL Free-Agency which begins July 1. Such a great term I had to use it.
So, for NCAA Coaches and youth hockey families, the summer can be a ‘Silly’ time of year. It can even seem more busy that the regular season. Is there really ever really a break?
For players and families ‘The Silly Season’ means traveling around and attending recruiting events from coast to coast, all across the globe for much of the summer. Your focus is primarily on getting as much exposure to college coaches as you can… and giving up the chance to play another sport, have a job, do some volunteer work, and really – just be a kid in the summer.
For College Coaches, ‘The Silly Season’ means a lot of recruiting: Phone calls to recruits at all hours of the day, lots of time in the car, airport and hotels, hours spent in rinks either working hockey camps or evaluating potential recruits. And lots of hours away from family and friends.
It’s like players and coaches are on the same hamster-wheel. Coaches chase players because we go where the players are, and players are chasing their college hockey dreams based on where coaches say they’ll be at.
Does it need to be this way?
No, it doesn’t.
And in tomorrow’s post, I’ll explain how you can control the silliness, get more out the recruiting process, while buying time and saving money.
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 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.
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
New teams start up… old ones comeback to life
College hockey is expanding. D-III will add 3 new programs for the 23-24 season. The Milwaukee School of Engineering will begin play in the NCHA as will The University of Dubuque (Iowa). The untimely closing of Finlandia University paved the way for U of D to begin its women’s and men’s programs for next season. Connecticut and New Haven based Albertus Magnus College, will begin play as an independent this coming season before joining the NEHC for 24-25.
The State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) announced plans to add women’s hockey to its conference portfolio by absorbing the NEWHL, the North East Women’s Hockey League, effective July 1. The new conference will include Buffalo State, Cortland, Oswego, Plattsburgh and Potsdam while Canton and Morrisville will become associate members of the SUNYAC.
On the D-I side, one new program begins and old familiar program gets resurrected. The New England Women’s Hockey Alliance welcomes its 8th member, Assumption College in Worcester, Massachusetts. Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh re-joins College Hockey America after the program was cancelled (as well as the men’s program) just after its NCAA Tournament appearance in 2021. That is an important add because the CHA gets back to 6 teams – the NCAA requirement for any conference to receive an auto-bid to the NCAA Tournament. Congrats to Coach Bittle & staff on getting things back-up and running.
At the AHCA Coaches Convention in Naples, FL reliable sources indicated to our coaching body there is a school in Michigan (we don’t know which one) that is rumored to be very close to announcing they are starting a D-I program. That is exciting and I’ll be sure to keep you updated.
Utica University (New York), SUNY-Binghamton (New York), Le Moyne College (New York) and Bentley University in Boston have all intimated about starting programs, but no one has pulled the trigger yet.
Until Next Time Everyone… Be Well and take Care.
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 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.
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
Transfer Season
For players graduating in the Spring of 2024 and 2025, they’ll be faced with two choices: graduate and move on from playing college hockey, or decide to finish out their eligibility as a graduate student.
D-I and D-III College Hockey will begin its 3rd year this fall dealing with graduate players & transfers this fall. In September, the NCAA legislated new transfer rules that players and coaches now have to follow.
The cliff-notes version is players now have a 60-day window to declare their intentions to transfer in writing to their existing school and enter the transfer portal. That 60-day window begins on the day after of the D-I NCAA Tournament Selection Show. This years transfer period window was March 6th and ended May 4th. Players who have had cuts to their financial aid or if their scholarships have been reduced/cancelled, or where their program has a head coaching change after the window has closed, may enter the portal after the 60-day window and be eligible immediately provided they meet all other transfer criteria.
Since the COVID 5th year was granted, the number of 5th year players available created a new market for coaches to recruit from and thus the number of transfers has exploded compared to what the number normally is. To my best efforts, I counted 80 D-I 5th year graduate players on rosters in 2021-2022 season while there were 95 in 2022-2023.
The most comprehensive list of D-I transfers heading into next season I can find – is HERE. This list is updated by The Rink Live, a hockey media company which covers Minnesota and North Dakota. Programs still have 2 more seasons to manage the 5th year of COVID eligibility before it goes away–thankfully.
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 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.
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
First, A Few Words…
It has been quite a while since my last post and apologies are in order. It’s been WAY too long of an absence. In the twists and turns of the college hockey season, the time required to post as often as I hoped and in the manner I wanted, became a true challenge.
As the title of today’s post would indicate, it’s now the ‘Off-Season’ and I have a bit more free time (I think) to update the Pipeline about what’s going on in the world of Women’s College Hockey. There is certainly lots to discuss.
So, in the interest of brevity, I’ll be trying a new approach: 1) shorter length posts for a quicker read and 2) an increased frequency in the # of posts published. That means more updates, more information, more often. That’s the goal.
To all of you who stopped me at the rink with a comment or to suggest a topic to discuss, thank you for paying attention.
Now let’s get to it.
Next Year Is Here
‘Next Year’ in the college hockey world is here.
Most institutions have already had or are about to have graduation ceremonies. It’s an exciting time for coaches and players, but also a bit scary at the same time.
Seniors depart to do real-world things be it grad school, a job, time off to travel, or even perhaps extend their playing careers in North America or overseas. It also means next years crop of freshmen and transfers are just a few short months, weeks in some D-I cases, away from matriculating to campus to start new beginnings.
With May comes a chance for coaches to get a bit of downtime, a chance to re-charge their batteries before the summer recruiting and camp season kicks in. Players are able to do the same before hitting the gym or ice to make some gains and keep up with their training. Honestly, I find it’s nice to get away from the game for a bit. I always gain a new perspective as I inevitably mull over the past season. I also get the chance to reconnect with some of my passions outside of hockey–namely golf, travel, and cooking to name a few.
With the end of any season comes change, and changes in coaching staffs are all part of the coaching gig. Coaches depart, while new ones get hired. Here’s a quick look at some changes behind the bench for this upcoming season.
23-24 Coaching Changes Tracker
I’ve kept track of every D-I and D-III coaching/support staff change I could find over the past 3 seasons. Last Spring saw an unprecedented number of opportunities open-up. In what could have been anticipated, there is much less movement this Spring. As has been the case since 2002, there will be yet again be at least 3 D-I head coaching changes to start the coming season. Boston University, Stonehill, and Lindenwood will all see new faces behind the bench. Currently there are 7 head coaching changes that will take place on the D-III side of things.
One coaching change that warrants attention is actually not on the women’s side of college hockey, but on the men’s. Damian DiGiulian, head coach of the St. Michael’s College men’s D-III program will hire his first female full-time lead assistant coach–Lilly Holmes. Holmes who just last week completed her D-I playing career at Vermont, will step into her assistant coaching role for the upcoming 23-24 season. She served as a volunteer coach on DiGuilian’s staff this past season.
I can’t think of any female full-time asst. coaches with any men’s NCAA teams off the top of my head. Perhaps this is something you will see more of in the future. You can read the full story HERE via WCAX.
To see our Coaching Changes Tracker Google Sheet, just click HERE.
-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 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.
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.
I hope you had a great holiday and start to the new year. The college hockey holiday break usually means the D-I season is at or a little more than half-way complete. D-III teams a little less so since their season starts a bit later. But for some D-I teams (which is hard to fathom) are inching their way to 70 % of the regular season being complete.
D-I teams can play a regular season max of 34 games (29 for the Ivies & 25 for D-III) and Penn State leads the country in games played to date with 24. Cornell, Harvard, Princeton, and Yale have played the least, with 14. Usually teams schedule a non-conference opponent to start the 2nd half, and there have been plenty.
In fact every D-I game played since the holiday break has been non-conference as well as many D-III games.
Upon their return to campus, teams usually have the luxury of a little more of a relaxed game schedule vs. trying to pack games in. Classes usually don’t pick back up until the 2nd or 3rd week of Jan. for most schools – and that extra time means a lot of practice and potentially, a lot of games can be played. To give you an example, here is how heavy a schedule some teams are playing within each conference as they return from the holiday break. Keep in mind the normal number of games played in a week is 2, with 4 practice days. Anyone not on the list below has a more ‘normal’ schedule of games to practices leading into the 3rd week of Jan.
Since we’re going to be talking numbers and recruiting… Here’s my disclaimer… when speaking of a teams’ roster size, or a total number of recruits in a given class, or numbers of transfers – these are all best guesses – but educated guesses nonetheless. There is always room for error + or – and unfortunately, there is no website that is the absolute truth in keeping all the commitments… say for the college rosters themselves when they posted after a particular season begins. So, please keep in mind the below are educated best guesses. That said… here we go.
The recruiting process for the 2023 class is largely in its final stages. However, for the 2024 class – those who are now in grade 11 – there is still a ways to go.
With two new D-I teams set to begin next season, you can probably expect roster sizes of each in the low 20’s. Having built a program from the ground up myself, I know what the challenge is like and how difficult a task it is. Not only are you tasked with finding players to fill out a team for your first year, but you have to keep recruiting players to improve your program.
Not all players heading to a first-year program will be freshman. The NCAA transfer portal could certainly be a factor for both programs. As we’ve said an average incoming class is in the 250-260.
2023 Class
Based some of the websites that list commitments, we find about 160 D-I commits. Of course there are some errors in those numbers with de-commits, wrong info etc. and a host of commits that have not been announced yet but that’s a pretty realistic number when you do the math. When you add 160 commits, plus a possible grad transfers # of 95 (using this years number) and an additional 30+ commits left to be announced to fill out 2 entirely new rosters… you get a number around 300 or so. And of those, 200 are going to be first year players strait from the amateur ranks – not transfers.
Interestingly, based on the info we can find, around 80 of the commitments made for the class were announced in the 2022 calendar year. Now that doesn’t mean commitments didn’t happen earlier, it just means when they were announced. Of the announcements made, 5 came in the calendar year 2018, 11 in 2019, one in 2020 (covid), and 58 in 2021. What we don’t have data on is how of these commits took a gap or PG year.
2024 Class
So far we can tell there have been about 60 announced commitments – with 75% of those coming before Nov. 1 in this calendar year 2022. The total number of commits should drop because there are not 2 new teams that need to be recruited for. When accounting for say – 95 grad transfers in the class, there should be a total freshman/first year class commitment number around 170… given 60 announced commitments, there should be another 100 or so left in the class. Said another way, the 2024 class is roughly 35-45% committed.
In our next recruiting update, we’ll take a look at the available space in 2023 & 2024 and see how the numbers might play out.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
-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.
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.
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 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.
*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.
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.
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
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
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.
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.
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.
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 HEREand 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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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 HEREand 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.
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
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.
*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.
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?
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.
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.
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
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.
-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.
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.
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.
*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.
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?
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.
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.
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
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.
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
Lots of New
There’s a whole lot of new coming into the 22-23 NCAA hockey season. New teams, new coaches, old players on new teams, new rules, new polls, and a new auto-bid to the NCAA tourney. You get the picture – Let’s dive in!
NEW TEAMS DROP THE PUCK
Stonehill College in Easton, Massachusetts just outside Boston becomes the NEWHA’s 7th member as they begin play as a first-year NCAA D-I program under first-year Head Coach Tara Watchorn. Thus far, the Skyhawks are 4-3-1 with 4 strait wins in NEWHA play sweeping Post and St. Mike’s after dropping their first two NCAA contests to UCONN 7-1 and 3-2. The Skyhawks have since tied and lost to Brown 2-2 and 3-1 last week.
At Division III, the Hilbert College Hawks out of Hamburg, NY south of Buffalo, get underway this year as an D-III Independent. Their first NCAA games are set for October 28 & 29 when the travel to face Alvernia and Lebanon Valley. The Milwaukee School of Engineering hit the re-set button on starting their program and will begin lay in ’23-’24. Albertus Magnus College in New Haven, CT has made its hire in Steve Novodor and will put a team on the ice next season in 23-24.
NEW COACHES
This was the most active year for coaching/support staff changes in recent memory. 71 changes in total have been made to date. There are a few D-III positions still to be announced, so we’ll eclipse the 70+ mark. That is a lot of turnover.
6 new head coaches get behind the bench this year for D-I programs and 2 more begin the program building process. You have new bench. bosses in Hockey East-Maine, NEWHA-Long Island Univ., Post Univ., and Stonehill College, CHA-Syracuse, WCHA-St. Cloud. 2 more Head Coaches are building programs virtually from the ground up in Robert Morris University (back in the CHA after being cut in 2021) and Assumption College who is making the transition from ACHA Club status to NCAA D-I and the 8th member of the NEWHA.
An astounding 13 new head coaches have been hired in D-III to start the 22-23 season, 10 of which are changes to existing programs.
OLD PLAYERS, NEW TEAMS
In Division I for the 21-22 season, we saw 85 graduate transfers on D-I rosters. Glancing at each schools’ rosters this season in 22-23, we find a total of 95 graduate transfers at the D-I level, an increase of 10 players. That’s right around a third of all players usually taken in a typical recruiting class. We’ll use 6 players as the average number of recruits a program takes per year.
This trend won’t go away until all players who were granted a 5th year due to COVID by the NCAA, exhaust their eligibility. Which, barring any unforeseen circumstances, should be in the Spring of 2025 and means the 25-26 season should have very few if any grad. transfers.
Year 1 = 20-21 (initial COVID year), Year 2 = 21-22, Year 3 = 22-23, Year 4 = 23-24, Year 5 = 24-25
NEW RULES
The 22-23 season begins a new 2-year cycle for the NCAA men’s & women’s ice hockey rules committee to introduce new rules and legislation into the game. New changes with significance this year:
Offsides: A player shall be considered onside if the skate is over the blue line when the puck enters the attacking zone, which is the rule used in the National Hockey League. Previously, the skate was required to be in contact with the blue line.
Video Review: Coaches Challenges – coaches may challenge a reviewable play. If the play is not reversed, a timeout will be charged for the unsuccessful challenge. Any subsequent unsuccessful challenges would result in a minor penalty for delay of game.
Overtime/Shootouts – will remain 3v3 with conference rules to determine if a shootout will be used after a 5-min 3v3 OT period is played.
Major Penalty Option… officials [have] an option of a major (five-minute) penalty without an ejection. An educational video will be developed to illustrate the differences between a major penalty by itself and a major penalty with an ejection.
High sticking in defensive zone: To be consistent with a hand pass infraction in the defensive zone, when the defensive team high sticks the puck in the defensive zone, the team will not be able to change its players.
Covering puck in crease: The committee added covering the puck in the crease by a skater as a reviewable play through a coach’s challenge.
BODY CONTACT
The NCAA Ice Hockey Women’s Rules Committee members as well as the body of coaches and school administrators, feel legal body contact has been penalized far too often. So in an attempt to have greater consistency across all NCAA divisions and conferences, the women’s rules committee requested language around the rules of body contact be clarified and a supplemental video produced and distributed.
The end result – 11 minutes and 18 seconds of video clips and voice-over clarifications and explanations of what legal and illegal body contact is as defined by the NCAA Ice Hockey Women’s Rules Committee. Here are the takeaways:
Legal body contact may consist of:
Use of Angling
Use of Size, Strength and Balance to play the puck
Use of Body Position to control or gain possession of puck
incidental collision may occur and should not be penalized
There is no distinct hip, shoulder, arm or stick contact to physically force the opponent off the puck
Illegal Body Contact–Principles of the continued enforcement standard
The use of the stick will be limited to only playing the puck
The stick will not be allowed to in any way impede a players progress
The use of a free hand/arm will not be allowed to grab or impede a player’s progress
Players who use their physical skills and/or anticipation and have a positional advantage shall not lose that advantage as a result of illegal acts by the opponent
Players will be held accountable for acts of an intimidating or dangerous nature
Through the first few weeks of the season, it’s been an adjustment for everyone – officials and players. But the early comments from most coaches seem to indicate they really like the direction. It does seem like less penalties are being called, judging from a quick scan of box scores as compared with memory from early last season. It will be interesting to see the number of body contact/illegal checking penalties called this season vs. last.
NEW NATIONAL POLLS
Good bye top 10, hello top 15. The two leading major media outlets that publicize national polls for D-I and D-III women’s hockey, USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine (just D-I), will now have a weekly Top 15 National Poll to accommodate the increase of teams selected to the NCAA Tournament – which is now at 11 teams. For years, national polls have always listed 10 teams. Below are the weekly polls as of this week.
It’s been a long Summer and Fall tracking all of the coaching and support staff changes across D-I and D-III. In all, 71 staff changes have taken place to date. And we still have a few more on the D-III side to go before the season gets underway in the next 3 weeks. Why so many changes? Hard to put a finger on one ‘thing’. Professional playing opportunities are paying better and attracting younger female coaches who still want to play. But, that’s a minor trend. Lot’s of head coach turnover, which can mean assistant coach turnover as new head coaches look to bring in their own people. Are coaches throwing in the towel and leaving the profession at the NCAA level, yes to some degree. Based on our data, of the coaches who have been hired as a head or assistant at D-I or D-III, a little less than 40% have no NCAA coaching experience. The coaches who leave programs (let go or otherwise) aren’t necessarily being rehired by other programs, which is a much more common occurrence on the men’s side.
For a complete D-I and D-III list of coaching and professional staff changes to date, click HERE for our google sheet Coaching Changes Tracker.
As October has come and gone, the 2023 D-I recruiting process is on the mind of many players, parents, and coaches alike, D-III as well. Those graduating high school in 2022 or 2023 has been engaged in the process since June 15 of the respective year they were allowed to begin communication. The graduate transfer player pool is usually the last to make their commitments given the timing of when transfers typically make commitments – late Feb/March. So while teams may have ‘space’ or scholarship money left, you can bet many programs are saving it for graduate transfer options.
The first wave of D-I commitments for the class of 2024 usually ends around this time of year. And let’s be honest, making a decision where to spend your college years is not that easy. It takes some time and many factors are involved. For players in grade 11 who have been engaged in the process since June 15 – we’re about the 4.5 month-mark right now. More players will make decisions in the coming weeks and months. Others still will wait to find the right school, hockey program and best fit for them.
On the evaluation side of things… there are still plenty of competitive opportunities between now and when the D-I Women’s Hockey Quiet Period begins, usually in the latter half of April. In December, the USA-Canada Cup in Kitchener always attracts competitive teams from across North America. January 8-15, the IIHF U18 World Championships will be held in Sweden. The Canada Winter Games, which is Canada’s version of the Winter Olympics held every 4 years takes place on Prince Edward Island Feb. 18 to March 5. The USA Hockey National Championships and MN Girls National Development Camp Tryout phase events usually round out the last major events. Bottom line, there are plenty of hockey for coaches to watch and evaluate players.
What’s really interesting to watch will be two things: 1) The changing dynamic of recruiting 5th year grad transfer players and 2) How the new standard of allowable body contact impacts recruiting decisions. Will size and physicality be more of a priority?
Some notables:
There are two more D-I teams coming online next fall – Robert Morris University (CHA) and Assumption College (NEWHA). Both are basically looking to build their rosters from the ground up. And grad transfers could be a big part of the recruiting equation for both schools. So there could be more grad transfers taken next year than in years passed.
If the past two seasons are any indication, more than a third of a typical recruiting class is likely to come from graduate transfers. 85 grad transfers were on rosters during 21-22. In 22-23 there are 95. Perhaps more in the next 2 years?
A typical recruiting class is around 6 players, that equates to 264 spots across D-I. (44 teams x 6 players). next season with RMU and Assumption, that number will increase by 2 full teams’ worth of players – let’s assume 24 players per team–add 48 more players and you’re around the 310 mark. 95 grad transfers would be 30% of the class. That leaves 215 spots to be split up between players graduating high school in ’23 and ’24. That’s at least 215 non-grad transfer players. Roughly 30 U18 national team players from various countries take up spots, and now you’re down to 185 spots left. MN as a state has over 100 varsity High School teams… needless to say, you have to be darn good to get an offer at the D-I level. The environment is as competitive as ever.
Player height/size is always something coaches consider when recruiting and it could become more of a factor in future recruiting decisions. Why? There is a coordinated effort from conference director of officials to standardize play across each conference with respect to body contact. Gone will be the days of the WCHA being ‘the most physical conference’.
-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.
Stay informed. Get educated. Become ‘HOCKEY-WISE’!
The Women’s College Hockey Pipeline…
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.
There’s a whole lot of new coming into the 22-23 NCAA hockey season. New teams, new coaches, old players on new teams, new rules, new polls, and a new auto-bid to the NCAA tourney. You get the picture – Let’s dive in!
NEW TEAMS DROP THE PUCK
Stonehill College in Easton, Massachusetts just outside Boston becomes the NEWHA’s 7th member as they begin play as a first-year NCAA D-I program under first-year Head Coach Tara Watchorn. Thus far, the Skyhawks are 4-3-1 with 4 strait wins in NEWHA play sweeping Post and St. Mike’s after dropping their first two NCAA contests to UCONN 7-1 and 3-2. The Skyhawks have since tied and lost to Brown 2-2 and 3-1 last week.
At Division III, the Hilbert College Hawks out of Hamburg, NY south of Buffalo, get underway this year as an D-III Independent. Their first NCAA games are set for October 28 & 29 when the travel to face Alvernia and Lebanon Valley. The Milwaukee School of Engineering hit the re-set button on starting their program and will begin lay in ’23-’24. Albertus Magnus College in New Haven, CT has made its hire in Steve Novodor and will put a team on the ice next season in 23-24.
NEW COACHES
This was the most active year for coaching/support staff changes in recent memory. 71 changes in total have been made to date. There are a few D-III positions still to be announced, so we’ll eclipse the 70+ mark. That is a lot of turnover.
6 new head coaches get behind the bench this year for D-I programs and 2 more begin the program building process. You have new bench. bosses in Hockey East-Maine, NEWHA-Long Island Univ., Post Univ., and Stonehill College, CHA-Syracuse, WCHA-St. Cloud. 2 more Head Coaches are building programs virtually from the ground up in Robert Morris University (back in the CHA after being cut in 2021) and Assumption College who is making the transition from ACHA Club status to NCAA D-I and the 8th member of the NEWHA.
An astounding 13 new head coaches have been hired in D-III to start the 22-23 season, 10 of which are changes to existing programs.
OLD PLAYERS, NEW TEAMS
In Division I for the 21-22 season, we saw 85 graduate transfers on D-I rosters. Glancing at each schools’ rosters this season in 22-23, we find a total of 95 graduate transfers at the D-I level, an increase of 10 players. That’s right around a third of all players usually taken in a typical recruiting class. We’ll use 6 players as the average number of recruits a program takes per year.
This trend won’t go away until all players who were granted a 5th year due to COVID by the NCAA, exhaust their eligibility. Which, barring any unforeseen circumstances, should be in the Spring of 2025 and means the 25-26 season should have very few if any grad. transfers.
Year 1 = 20-21 (initial COVID year), Year 2 = 21-22, Year 3 = 22-23, Year 4 = 23-24, Year 5 = 24-25
NEW RULES
The 22-23 season begins a new 2-year cycle for the NCAA men’s & women’s ice hockey rules committee to introduce new rules and legislation into the game. New changes with significance this year:
Offsides: A player shall be considered onside if the skate is over the blue line when the puck enters the attacking zone, which is the rule used in the National Hockey League. Previously, the skate was required to be in contact with the blue line.
Video Review: Coaches Challenges – coaches may challenge a reviewable play. If the play is not reversed, a timeout will be charged for the unsuccessful challenge. Any subsequent unsuccessful challenges would result in a minor penalty for delay of game.
Overtime/Shootouts – will remain 3v3 with conference rules to determine if a shootout will be used after a 5-min 3v3 OT period is played.
Major Penalty Option… officials [have] an option of a major (five-minute) penalty without an ejection. An educational video will be developed to illustrate the differences between a major penalty by itself and a major penalty with an ejection.
High sticking in defensive zone: To be consistent with a hand pass infraction in the defensive zone, when the defensive team high sticks the puck in the defensive zone, the team will not be able to change its players.
Covering puck in crease: The committee added covering the puck in the crease by a skater as a reviewable play through a coach’s challenge.
BODY CONTACT
The NCAA Ice Hockey Women’s Rules Committee members as well as the body of coaches and school administrators, feel legal body contact has been penalized far too often. So in an attempt to have greater consistency across all NCAA divisions and conferences, the women’s rules committee requested language around the rules of body contact be clarified and a supplemental video produced and distributed.
The end result – 11 minutes and 18 seconds of video clips and voice-over clarifications and explanations of what legal and illegal body contact is as defined by the NCAA Ice Hockey Women’s Rules Committee. Here are the takeaways:
Legal body contact may consist of:
Use of Angling
Use of Size, Strength and Balance to play the puck
Use of Body Position to control or gain possession of puck
incidental collision may occur and should not be penalized
There is no distinct hip, shoulder, arm or stick contact to physically force the opponent off the puck
Illegal Body Contact–Principles of the continued enforcement standard
The use of the stick will be limited to only playing the puck
The stick will not be allowed to in any way impede a players progress
The use of a free hand/arm will not be allowed to grab or impede a player’s progress
Players who use their physical skills and/or anticipation and have a positional advantage shall not lose that advantage as a result of illegal acts by the opponent
Players will be held accountable for acts of an intimidating or dangerous nature
Through the first few weeks of the season, it’s been an adjustment for everyone – officials and players. But the early comments from most coaches seem to indicate they really like the direction. It does seem like less penalties are being called, judging from a quick scan of box scores as compared with memory from early last season. It will be interesting to see the number of body contact/illegal checking penalties called this season vs. last.
NEW NATIONAL POLLS
Good bye top 10, hello top 15. The two leading major media outlets that publicize national polls for D-I and D-III women’s hockey, USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine (just D-I), will now have a weekly Top 15 National Poll to accommodate the increase of teams selected to the NCAA Tournament – which is now at 11 teams. For years, national polls have always listed 10 teams. Below are the weekly polls as of this week.
DCU/USCHO Division I Women’s Poll – October 31, 2022
It’s been a long Summer and Fall tracking all of the coaching and support staff changes across D-I and D-III. In all, 71 staff changes have taken place to date. And we still have a few more on the D-III side to go before the season gets underway in the next 3 weeks. Why so many changes? Hard to put a finger on one ‘thing’. Professional playing opportunities are paying better and attracting younger female coaches who still want to play. But, that’s a minor trend. Lot’s of head coach turnover, which can mean assistant coach turnover as new head coaches look to bring in their own people. Are coaches throwing in the towel and leaving the profession at the NCAA level, yes to some degree. Based on our data, of the coaches who have been hired as a head or assistant at D-I or D-III, a little less than 40% have no NCAA coaching experience. The coaches who leave programs (let go or otherwise) aren’t necessarily being rehired by other programs, which is a much more common occurrence on the men’s side.
For a complete D-I and D-III list of coaching and professional staff changes to date, click HERE for our google sheet Coaching Changes Tracker.
As October has come and gone, the 2023 D-I recruiting process is on the mind of many players, parents, and coaches alike, D-III as well. Those graduating high school in 2022 or 2023 has been engaged in the process since June 15 of the respective year they were allowed to begin communication. The graduate transfer player pool is usually the last to make their commitments given the timing of when transfers typically make commitments – late Feb/March. So while teams may have ‘space’ or scholarship money left, you can bet many programs are saving it for graduate transfer options.
The first wave of D-I commitments for the class of 2024 usually ends around this time of year. And let’s be honest, making a decision where to spend your college years is not that easy. It takes some time and many factors are involved. For players in grade 11 who have been engaged in the process since June 15 – we’re about the 4.5 month-mark right now. More players will make decisions in the coming weeks and months. Others still will wait to find the right school, hockey program and best fit for them.
On the evaluation side of things… there are still plenty of competitive opportunities between now and when the D-I Women’s Hockey Quiet Period begins, usually in the latter half of April. In December, the USA-Canada Cup in Kitchener always attracts competitive teams from across North America. January 8-15, the IIHF U18 World Championships will be held in Sweden. The Canada Winter Games, which is Canada’s version of the Winter Olympics held every 4 years takes place on Prince Edward Island Feb. 18 to March 5. The USA Hockey National Championships and MN Girls National Development Camp Tryout phase events usually round out the last major events. Bottom line, there are plenty of hockey for coaches to watch and evaluate players.
What’s really interesting to watch will be two things: 1) The changing dynamic of recruiting 5th year grad transfer players and 2) How the new standard of allowable body contact impacts recruiting decisions. Will size and physicality be more of a priority?
Some notables:
There are two more D-I teams coming online next fall – Robert Morris University (CHA) and Assumption College (NEWHA). Both are basically looking to build their rosters from the ground up. And grad transfers could be a big part of the recruiting equation for both schools. So there could be more grad transfers taken next year than in years passed.
If the past two seasons are any indication, more than a third of a typical recruiting class is likely to come from graduate transfers. 85 grad transfers were on rosters during 21-22. In 22-23 there are 95. Perhaps more in the next 2 years?
A typical recruiting class is around 6 players, that equates to 264 spots across D-I. (44 teams x 6 players). next season with RMU and Assumption, that number will increase by 2 full teams’ worth of players – let’s assume 24 players per team–add 48 more players and you’re around the 310 mark. 95 grad transfers would be 30% of the class. That leaves 215 spots to be split up between players graduating high school in ’23 and ’24. That’s at least 215 non-grad transfer players. Roughly 30 U18 national team players from various countries take up spots, and now you’re down to 185 spots left. MN as a state has over 100 varsity High School teams… needless to say, you have to be darn good to get an offer at the D-I level. The environment is as competitive as ever.
Player height/size is always something coaches consider when recruiting and it could become more of a factor in future recruiting decisions. Why? There is a coordinated effort from conference director of officials to standardize play across each conference with respect to body contact. Gone will be the days of the WCHA being ‘the most physical conference’.
NCAA D-I Quiet Period Next Week… The National Letter of Intent Fall signing period begins next week. Wednesday November 9 is the actual date players can sign their NLI scholarship paperwork. D-I women’s Ice Hockey has a ‘NCAA Quiet Period’ which begins Monday Nov. 7 and ends at midnight Friday 12:01am. During that time, no on or off campus contact or evaluations may take place. Communication may continue to take place.
Everyone In D-I Is NowPlaying… It may have taken a little longer than in years prior, but every D-I team has now started their season. The last 2 D-I teams to not play a regular season game, Princeton and Yale, finally played their first two games last wknd. At the other end of the spectrum, 6 D-I programs Clarkson, UCONN, Wisconsin, Bemidji, Penn State, and RIT have played more than a 1/3 of their regular season with 12 games played heading into the weekend.
22-23 NCAA Legislative Items Announced… The NCAA Modernization of Rules Subcommittee has recommended significant changes to coaching limits, official and unofficial visits. Announced Oct. 27th of last week were the following recommendations:
Changes to Official / Unofficial Visits
Removal of the 5 official visit limitation. No cap on the total number of officials visits a recruit could take. Only one visit per school would be allowed unless there was a head coaching change after the first official visit. a 2nd visit could be made
Schools would be allowed to pay for transportation, hotel, food, and reasonable entertainment costs for up to 4 individuals accompanying a prospect’s official visit. Guests could include family members, high school or club coaches or anyone helping in the recruits’ decision making process.
Schools could provide complimentary admissions to a home athletics event to prospects and up to four guests.
Coaching Limits
A proposal would increase the number of permissible countable coaches in baseball, softball and ice hockey to five. It is currently at three.
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.
Stay informed. Get educated. Become ‘HOCKEY-WISE’!
The Women’s College Hockey Pipeline…
Your leading online resource for NCAA Women’s College Hockey
Do The Math – Part 2
In our last post we talked about families being able to hep themselves by doing a bit of work on the financial end of things as their daughters’ college/recruiting process begins. That help is in the form of doing self guided family financial evaluation. Doing so will allow families to come up with estimated college expenses and… THE ALL IMPORTANT ‘out-of-pocket dollar amount’ that can be used to pay for these various college and hockey related expenses.
In today’s post, we give families an explanation of how to evaluate this process and the tools – a Google Doc set of financial worksheets to do the math, estimate what expenses they need to account for to come up with that out-of-pocket dollar amount so you can evaluate every opportunity that comes along know what your financial situation is.
You won’t get exact amounts of each expense or amounts related to institutional financial aid. These will be different for everybody based on your own financial situation and the schools / hockey programs you deal with.
So click HERE and we’ll take you to our ‘Paying For College’ portion of our website. You can also find out Family Financial Aid Worksheets HERE to download and work through yourself.
For a lot of reasons, D3 women’s college hockey (heck, women’s hockey in general) doesn’t get much national media attention. Middlebury’s perfect season last year not withstanding, there just aren’t a lot of journalists or members of the media who cover the sport. But, times are changing. And it’s about time.
Last month it was announced that Chris Sugar, the senior MBA and Political Science major at Oswego State University who is the owner/editor and the man behind D3 Hockey News, will be THE ONLY contributing writer for USCHO.com exclusively covering D3 women’s hockey beginning this season.
Chris certainly has a passion for covering D3 hockey. His twitter account @D3HockeyNews has over 6,100 followers and in March of 2022, he started a podcast where he interviews players and coaches and members of the media.
I recently spoke to Chris about his new gig with USCHO.com and he is excited to get to work. Congrats Chris. We look forward to seeing your work!
In addition to Chris’ post with USCHO, another media announcement in the world of women’s hockey caught our eye last week. Stephanie Wood will become the new voice of the New England Hockey Journal’s ‘RinkWise’ Podcast. Stephanie is currently the Head Girls Coach at Austin Prep and Women’s Director at the Islanders Hockey Club in Massachusetts. Her first episode is now live and you can read more about her podcast appointment HERE.
Congrats Stephanie… would love to have you on The Women’s College Hockey Podcast sometime soon!
In media, it’s about eyeballs. How many views, how many followers, how many paid subscriptions? How many people are consuming a particular type of content. The more people consume, the more media coverage there will be… because there will be the dollars coming in to pay people to do the media work that is SO needed in our sport. In this sense, it’s not such a bad idea to be a follower!
We hope to announce more girls/women’s college hockey media coverage in the future.
The 2022 IIHF World Championships began last week. This marks the first time a World Championship was held in the same year after the Olympics. They are being held in Denmark. The Gold Medal game is scheduled for this Sunday Sept. 4 at 1:30 EST.
Lots of connections to NCAA college programs in this event and not just for Team USA or Canada either. Current rostered NCAA players include Sweden with 7, Swiss with 5 players, as well as 1 Canadian uSport player. Czechia with 5, Germany with 5, Finland with 4, Hungary 2, Denmark 2. The US with 9 and Canada has 3.
You can catch up on all the action with the IIHF Video Hub for recaps of each game. Hats off to what I am pretty sure is a Canadian broadcast crew in Denmark providing the production quality.
And speaking of media coverage… thanks to the NHL Network and TSN in Canada for broadcasting all of the US and Canada’s games. You get get a the full tournament schedule HERE.
D1 Season about to begin… We are literally days away from some programs hitting the ice for the first time in 2022-2023. NCAA D-1 rules allow coaches on the ice to practice with their teams a certain number of hours per week prior to the D1 official start date. I know, sounds odd right… allowed to practice before your official start date? It’s true. This years’ official start date for all programs outside of the Ivy League will be September 17. This is when programs can use their ‘regular season’ allotted weekly time limit of athletic activity – 20-hours per week. The first official practice date for Ivy league institutions will be Sept. 23, a full week earlier than normal. NCAA games will begin on Sept. 17 with several exhibition games and the following weekend Sept. 23-24-25, game count for real.
Busy Recruiting Month Ahead…The Dawg Daze Of Summer Showcase hosted by the National Girls Hockey League and the 2023 CPC National Preview Showcase hosted by the Collegiate Prospect Combine got underway last weekend kicking off a busy stretch of recruiting for college coaches. In addition, Manitoba hosted its top 40 U16 & U18 summer development camps in Winnipeg. September alone has something going on pretty much every single weekend. To see where college coaches may be recruiting, click HERE for our 2022-2023 Recruiting Event Calendar. We’ll be provide events for October soon. If you don’t see an event not listed, please send us an email to add it.
New Coaching Hires… It has been the busiest off-season in terms of coaching hires & departures across D-1 and D-3 ever. Here’s a list of new Head Coaches behind the bench at D1 and D3 this year. We’ll preview new assistant coach hires in our next post. The Head Coach turnover rate for D1 coaches was 14.6 %. For D3 it was 15.5%. I’m not sure why I started doing this, but ever since I became a college coach in 2001-2002, I have tracked D1 head coaching changes and there has never been fewer than 3 head coaching changes ever season since ’01-’02.
D-I Head Coaches
Kelly Nash, Long Island University, NEWHA
Gretchen Silverman, Post University, NEWHA
Tara Watchorn, Stonehill College, NEWHA–New Program 22-23
Molly Engstrom, University of Maine, Hockey East
Britni Smith, Syracuse University, College Hockey America
Brian Idalski, St. Cloud State Univ, WCHA
New D-I Head Coach hires who will compete in the 23-24 season
Jack Sweeney, Assumption College, NEWHA
Logan Bittle, Robert Morris University, College Hockey America
D-III Head Coaches
Maddy Santore, Johnson & Wales, NEHC
Zach Perkins, Anna Maria College, Independent
Mollie Fitzpatrick, Plymouth State University, NEHC
Dave LaBaff, Wilkes University, MAC
Kalie Grant, SUNY-Canton, NEWHL
Kevin Dessart, Lawrence University, WIAC
Rachel Grampp, Buffalo State Univ., NEWHL
Finlandia University, Mike Kurug, NCHA
Elmira College, UCHC
Lindsay Macy, St. Benedict College, MIAC
Cole Klubek, Hilbert College, TBD
New D-III Head Coaches who were hired to start new programs(or new teams starting up)
Heath Issacson, Mass College of Liberal Arts, 23-24
TBD, Albertus Magnus College, 23-24
TBD, Hood College, 23-24
Transformation Committee To Meet… Tomorrow August 31 the NCAA Transformation Committee will meet to discuss adoption of a revised package of transfer rules and changes to the ‘Infractions’ process. In an announcement made August 17, there were some concerns over purposed changes. You can read more on the proposed changes HERE.
Canada Stays With Ryan… Hockey Canada announced this week that it has signed Troy Ryan to continue as its Women’s National Team Head Coach over the next 4-year Olympic cycle. Canada will try to win its 6th Olympic gold medal in 2026 with the winter games being help in Italy. You can read more about Ryan’s announcement HERE.
Be sure to scroll down after the Ryan article as there is an interesting story about the Living Sisu Hockey League out of Montreal.
SAT & ACT National Test Dates, Etc… As the amateur hockey season across the globe begins, so too does ‘ACT and SAT Test Taking Season’. Invariably, these tests are mostly offered on Saturdays. And when does everyone play hockey – on the weekends, so conflicts can arise. But they don’t have too. Some coaches over the years have had issues with their players missing a game/practice to take a test.
Coaches… do the right thing and let your players take a test – when the player wants to.
And we would also suggest if you have not registered for a specific test yet – do it now! Here are links to the National Testing Dates in the USA for the SAT and ACT exams — SAT HERE and ACT HERE (scroll toward the bottom of the page). For international students – click the link for the test you want info on: SAT – Int’l — ACT – Int’l (left side of page).
It looks like there is a digital version of the SAT being offered for International students in 2023.
Find Your ‘Why’… Although this twitter thread is about a men’s hockey player who made it to the NHL, a lot of what he preaches is true for any player wanting to play at the most competitive level. Some GREAT stuff, just click HERE.
-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.
In our last post we talked about families being able to hep themselves by doing a bit of work on the financial end of things as their daughters’ college/recruiting process begins. That help is in the form of doing self guided family financial evaluation. Doing so will allow families to come up with estimated college expenses and… THE ALL IMPORTANT ‘out-of-pocket dollar amount’ that can be used to pay for these various college and hockey related expenses.
In today’s post, we give families an explanation of how to evaluate this process and the tools – a Google Doc set of financial worksheets to do the math, estimate what expenses they need to account for to come up with that out-of-pocket dollar amount so you can evaluate every opportunity that comes along know what your financial situation is.
You won’t get exact amounts of each expense or amounts related to institutional financial aid. These will be different for everybody based on your own financial situation and the schools / hockey programs you deal with.
So click HERE and we’ll take you to our ‘Paying For College’ portion of our website. You can also find out Family Financial Aid Worksheets HERE to download and work through yourself.
For a lot of reasons, D3 women’s college hockey (heck, women’s hockey in general) doesn’t get much national media attention. Middlebury’s perfect season last year not withstanding, there just aren’t a lot of journalists or members of the media who cover the sport. But, times are changing. And it’s about time.
Last month it was announced that Chris Sugar, the senior MBA and Political Science major at Oswego State University who is the owner/editor and the man behind D3 Hockey News, will be THE ONLY contributing writer for USCHO.com exclusively covering D3 women’s hockey beginning this season.
Chris certainly has a passion for covering D3 hockey. His twitter account @D3HockeyNews has over 6,100 followers and in March of 2022, he started a podcast where he interviews players and coaches and members of the media.
I recently spoke to Chris about his new gig with USCHO.com and he is excited to get to work. Congrats Chris. We look forward to seeing your work!
In addition to Chris’ post with USCHO, another media announcement in the world of women’s hockey caught our eye last week. Stephanie Wood will become the new voice of the New England Hockey Journal’s ‘RinkWise’ Podcast. Stephanie is currently the Head Girls Coach at Austin Prep and Women’s Director at the Islanders Hockey Club in Massachusetts. Her first episode is now live and you can read more about her podcast appointment HERE.
Congrats Stephanie… would love to have you on The Women’s College Hockey Podcast sometime soon!
In media, it’s about eyeballs. How many views, how many followers, how many paid subscriptions? How many people are consuming a particular type of content. The more people consume, the more media coverage there will be… because there will be the dollars coming in to pay people to do the media work that is SO needed in our sport. In this sense, it’s not such a bad idea to be a follower!
We hope to announce more girls/women’s college hockey media coverage in the future.
The 2022 IIHF World Championships began last week. This marks the first time a World Championship was held in the same year after the Olympics. They are being held in Denmark. The Gold Medal game is scheduled for this Sunday Sept. 4 at 1:30 EST.
Lots of connections to NCAA college programs in this event and not just for Team USA or Canada either. Current rostered NCAA players include Sweden with 7, Swiss with 5 players, as well as 1 Canadian uSport player. Czechia with 5, Germany with 5, Finland with 4, Hungary 2, Denmark 2. The US with 9 and Canada has 3.
You can catch up on all the action with the IIHF Video Hub for recaps of each game. Hats off to what I am pretty sure is a Canadian broadcast crew in Denmark providing the production quality.
And speaking of media coverage… thanks to the NHL Network and TSN in Canada for broadcasting all of the US and Canada’s games. You get get a the full tournament schedule HERE.
D1 Season about to begin… We are literally days away from some programs hitting the ice for the first time in 2022-2023. NCAA D-1 rules allow coaches on the ice to practice with their teams a certain number of hours per week prior to the D1 official start date. I know, sounds odd right… allowed to practice before your official start date? It’s true. This years’ official start date for all programs outside of the Ivy League will be September 17. This is when programs can use their ‘regular season’ allotted weekly time limit of athletic activity – 20-hours per week. The first official practice date for Ivy league institutions will be Sept. 23, a full week earlier than normal. NCAA games will begin on Sept. 17 with several exhibition games and the following weekend Sept. 23-24-25, game count for real.
Busy Recruiting Month Ahead…The Dawg Daze Of Summer Showcase hosted by the National Girls Hockey League and the 2023 CPC National Preview Showcase hosted by the Collegiate Prospect Combine got underway last weekend kicking off a busy stretch of recruiting for college coaches. In addition, Manitoba hosted its top 40 U16 & U18 summer development camps in Winnipeg. September alone has something going on pretty much every single weekend. To see where college coaches may be recruiting, click HERE for our 2022-2023 Recruiting Event Calendar. We’ll be provide events for October soon. If you don’t see an event not listed, please send us an email to add it.
New Coaching Hires… It has been the busiest off-season in terms of coaching hires & departures across D-1 and D-3 ever. Here’s a list of new Head Coaches behind the bench at D1 and D3 this year. We’ll preview new assistant coach hires in our next post. The Head Coach turnover rate for D1 coaches was 14.6 %. For D3 it was 15.5%. I’m not sure why I started doing this, but ever since I became a college coach in 2001-2002, I have tracked D1 head coaching changes and there has never been fewer than 3 head coaching changes ever season since ’01-’02.
D-I Head Coaches
Kelly Nash, Long Island University, NEWHA
Gretchen Silverman, Post University, NEWHA
Tara Watchorn, Stonehill College, NEWHA–New Program 22-23
Molly Engstrom, University of Maine, Hockey East
Britni Smith, Syracuse University, College Hockey America
Brian Idalski, St. Cloud State Univ, WCHA
New D-I Head Coach hires who will compete in the 23-24 season
Jack Sweeney, Assumption College, NEWHA
Logan Bittle, Robert Morris University, College Hockey America
D-III Head Coaches
Maddy Santore, Johnson & Wales, NEHC
Zach Perkins, Anna Maria College, Independent
Mollie Fitzpatrick, Plymouth State University, NEHC
Dave LaBaff, Wilkes University, MAC
Kalie Grant, SUNY-Canton, NEWHL
Kevin Dessart, Lawrence University, WIAC
Rachel Grampp, Buffalo State Univ., NEWHL
Finlandia University, Mike Kurug, NCHA
Elmira College, UCHC
Lindsay Macy, St. Benedict College, MIAC
Cole Klubek, Hilbert College, TBD
New D-III Head Coaches who were hired to start new programs(or new teams starting up)
Heath Issacson, Mass College of Liberal Arts, 23-24
TBD, Albertus Magnus College, 23-24
TBD, Hood College, 23-24
Transformation Committee To Meet… Tomorrow August 31 the NCAA Transformation Committee will meet to discuss adoption of a revised package of transfer rules and changes to the ‘Infractions’ process. In an announcement made August 17, there were some concerns over purposed changes. You can read more on the proposed changes HERE.
Canada Stays With Ryan… Hockey Canada announced this week that it has signed Troy Ryan to continue as its Women’s National Team Head Coach over the next 4-year Olympic cycle. Canada will try to win its 6th Olympic gold medal in 2026 with the winter games being help in Italy. You can read more about Ryan’s announcement HERE.
Be sure to scroll down after the Ryan article as there is an interesting story about the Living Sisu Hockey League out of Montreal.
SAT & ACT National Test Dates, Etc… As the amateur hockey season across the globe begins, so too does ‘ACT and SAT Test Taking Season’. Invariably, these tests are mostly offered on Saturdays. And when does everyone play hockey – on the weekends, so conflicts can arise. But they don’t have too. Some coaches over the years have had issues with their players missing a game/practice to take a test.
Coaches… do the right thing and let your players take a test – when the player wants to.
And we would also suggest if you have not registered for a specific test yet – do it now! Here are links to the National Testing Dates in the USA for the SAT and ACT exams — SAT HERE and ACT HERE (scroll toward the bottom of the page). For international students – click the link for the test you want info on: SAT – Int’l — ACT – Int’l (left side of page).
It looks like there is a digital version of the SAT being offered for International students in 2023.
Find Your ‘Why’… Although this twitter thread is about a men’s hockey player who made it to the NHL, a lot of what he preaches is true for any player wanting to play at the most competitive level. Some GREAT stuff, just click HERE.
We’re starting a new section to our blog called… In Case You Missed It. If you didn’t get the chance to read out last have no fear. Will will begin putting out previous Pipeline posts at the bottom of our current one. Check it out below.
On August 3rd the NCAA Division I Board of Directors acted on recommendations made by the Transformation Committee. Some items made it through are were put into action immediately, like more benefits to support athletes. One item did not. The package of recommendations on Transfers was sent back and not voted on.
The NCAA’s D-I Board of Directors took action earlier last week on recommendations made by the Transformation Committee. Schools are now be allowed – immediately – to offer enhanced benefits for student-athletes. The D-I Board of Directors took no action on the TC’s proposed new set of transfer rules.
Institutions are now able to provide enhanced benefits to better their support athletes in a variety of areas such as personal well being & safety, insurance products for major injury and loss of value, and funding participation in elite-level training, tryouts, and competition. It used to be schools were very limited in what they spend $ on to support their athletes in these areas. Starting August 3, schools will no longer need to submit waivers to get approval to pay for these types of benefits.
Let’s say you are a part of your country’s national team program and they want you to participate in a team camp or tournament event. It appears schools will now be able – if they are willing – to pay for their athletes to attend. Or if you’re a potential high draft-pick in your sport and had the potential to get lucrative playing and endorsement contracts, an insurance policy could be purchased by your school to protect against a catastrophic injury and loss of value in your potential earnings.
The D-I Board agreed to not act on the transfer rules package recommended at this time. It seems there was a bit of pushback from the D-I membership as well as SAAC – The Student Athlete Advisory Committee in that some of the transfer rules seemed too restrictive. The original recommendations by the NCAA TC would have allowed for an academic eligibility exception where students would not only be academically eligible from the school they were transferring from, but also have enough credits to be eligible at the school they were transferring to. Additionally, several ‘transfer windows’ would be available where athletes would have a certain amount of time to give written notice to their school with intentions to transfer. However those windows would close after a certain number of days. The SAAC Committee commented that the overall transfer package was deemed too restricting and limited a players’ freedom of movement.
The NCAA’s D-I Board will next meet and vote on additional recommendations from the Transformation Committee on August 31. You can read the full NCAA announcement on its approval of enhanced student-athlete benefits HERE.
U-18 USA & Canada Selection Camps
Hockey Canada’s U18 selection Camp… is already underway in Calgary Alberta. Goaltenders had the first few days of camp Aug. 2nd & 3rd. Forwards and defenders had a series of position specific practices Aug. 4th and 5th prior to the 45-player group is split into 2 teams, Red & White, where team practices will commenced on Aug. 6th. Interestingly, Finland has brought it’s U-18 team over to participate along with Canada. Finland’s participation began with its own team practices Aug. 5 and begin play vs. Team Red Aug. 10.
Speaking of games, it looks like Hockey Canada will be streaming quite a bit of hockey over the next little while.
Canada U-18 Selection Camp Game Streams can be found HERE and then by clicking on the ‘Watch’ link in the right-hand side of the page, see example below.
USA Hockey’s U18 and O18 selection Camp… get’s underway today with games beginning today at the LECOM Harborcenter in Buffalo, NY. Players are split into 2 age groups, Under-18 and Over-18. The U18 group will practice and scrimmage together with 4 total games vs. one another. The Over-18 group will be split into 4 teams for practices and games with each team playing 3 games.
You can find the U18 and O18 team rosters HERE. We haven’t been able to find any info on links to watch live streams. We will keep you posted if we do find some.
Do The Math
Wondering how much you’ll have to pay for college? Best to ‘Do The Math’ now, so you know how much you have to work with down the road – when you’ll need to know…
Unless you plan on your daughter getting a full scholarship, (there aren’t many of that get offered), families are going to wind up paying some amount of money out-of-pocket to put your daughter through college. How much exactly, that’s a lot harder to determine when the college hockey recruiting process is involved.
But even if a final dollar amount is unattainable right now and college could be years away, families SHOULD do something in the meantime to help make things a lot easier in the future.
What families should be doing is a ‘Family Financial Evaluation’.
Simply stated, this is a process where families crunch the numbers and find out a worst-case / this-is-what-we-can-afford at the top end of our budget amount – in order to make paying for college, work. Consider it like an internal family audit and a way of determining what your family finances will be over the next 6 to 7 years. And that’s how many years ahead families should be evaluating their finances for.
Why 6-7 years?
For those players who are heading into grade 11 this coming Fall, you are either in the midst of the recruiting process already or it’s going to probably happen before the grade 11 year is over and that’s the time frame you’ll need to evaluate. 2 more years of high school + 4 years of college. Add in a post-grad year perhaps, and that is how you get to 7.
So why is it important to do this now if we’re talking about something that may not happen for another 7 years!!??
3 reasons. 1) As they say, knowledge is power. The more you know how much you can afford, the better off you will be when it comes time to evaluate college costs. You can focus your time and efforts where legit opportunities are. 2) For someone who is going through the recruiting process right now or soon will, you could be faced with having to make some decisions – and soon. In order to do so, those opportunities have to be affordable in order to work out. 3) Some schools may be real aggressive with making offers, and it’s not just on the D-I side any longer,. Plenty of offers come in the grade 11 year for players at the D-3 level. And at D-I – it’s all about financial aid and knowing costs as there are no athletic scholarships.
In next week’s post, we’ll breakdown what to evaluate when looking at your finances.
Sifters
As David Bowie sang, Cha, Cha, Cha, Changes… The coaching changes keep coming. This time if year is somewhat late for departures, especially of head coaches – but that’s exactly what has happened. Tim Crowley, head coach at Elmira College, has stepped down. We have a suspicion it’s for another coaching position, but that hasn’t been made public yet, and don’t want to speculate. Elmira’s assistant coach, Mandy Montgomery stepped down earlier this summer and that leaved Elmira with two very important positions to fill.
The more unexpected departure came when it was reported last week University of Maine’s Head and Assistant Coach, who are husband and wife, Richard Reichenbach and his wife Sara, resigned for undisclosed reasons. In an article posted by a local TV station WGME, it appears the school has commenced its search process already. You can read that story HERE and see our updated 2022-2023 Coaching Changes Tracker HERE.
Season Almost Here… You know the season is getting closer when conferences start to announce their schedules. The CHA 22-23 schedule can be found HERE. The WCHA conference schedule can be found HERE.
Regional Representation… Ontario and Minnesota Lead The Way… Canada’s U18 Selection camp has players from 7 different provinces, here is a breakdown:
Province
# of Players
British Columbia
6
Alberta
4
Saskatchewan
2
Manitoba
3
Ontario
21
Quebec
5
Nova Scotia
3
Team USA’s U18 National Festival Camp Roster has players from 13 different states, here is a breakdown:
State
# of Players
California
2
Montana
1
Missouri
1
Minnesota
13
Illinois
1
Michigan
2
Pennsylvania
2
Florida
1
New York
1
Vermont
1
Connecticut
1
Massachusetts
4
Wisconsin
1
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.
Give Someone a Stick Tap… Know someone in women’s college hockey who’s work needs some recognition? Nominate them for WCH.org’s monthly ‘Stick Tap’HERE or Email us at: womenscollegehockey@gmail.com
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 3rd 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 amatuer 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.
On August 3rd the NCAA Division I Board of Directors acted on recommendations made by the Transformation Committee. Some items made it through are were put into action immediately, like more benefits to support athletes. One item did not. The package of recommendations on Transfers was sent back and not voted on.
The NCAA’s D-I Board of Directors took action earlier last week on recommendations made by the Transformation Committee. Schools are now be allowed – immediately – to offer enhanced benefits for student-athletes. The D-I Board of Directors took no action on the TC’s proposed new set of transfer rules.
Institutions are now able to provide enhanced benefits to better their support athletes in a variety of areas such as personal well being & safety, insurance products for major injury and loss of value, and funding participation in elite-level training, tryouts, and competition. It used to be schools were very limited in what they spend $ on to support their athletes in these areas. Starting August 3, schools will no longer need to submit waivers to get approval to pay for these types of benefits.
Let’s say you are a part of your country’s national team program and they want you to participate in a team camp or tournament event. It appears schools will now be able – if they are willing – to pay for their athletes to attend. Or if you’re a potential high draft-pick in your sport and had the potential to get lucrative playing and endorsement contracts, an insurance policy could be purchased by your school to protect against a catastrophic injury and loss of value in your potential earnings.
The D-I Board agreed to not act on the transfer rules package recommended at this time. It seems there was a bit of pushback from the D-I membership as well as SAAC – The Student Athlete Advisory Committee in that some of the transfer rules seemed too restrictive. The original recommendations by the NCAA TC would have allowed for an academic eligibility exception where students would not only be academically eligible from the school they were transferring from, but also have enough credits to be eligible at the school they were transferring to. Additionally, several ‘transfer windows’ would be available where athletes would have a certain amount of time to give written notice to their school with intentions to transfer. However those windows would close after a certain number of days. The SAAC Committee commented that the overall transfer package was deemed too restricting and limited a players’ freedom of movement.
The NCAA’s D-I Board will next meet and vote on additional recommendations from the Transformation Committee on August 31. You can read the full NCAA announcement on its approval of enhanced student-athlete benefits HERE.
Hockey Canada’s U18 selection Camp… is already underway in Calgary Alberta. Goaltenders had the first few days of camp Aug. 2nd & 3rd. Forwards and defenders had a series of position specific practices Aug. 4th and 5th prior to the 45-player group is split into 2 teams, Red & White, where team practices will commenced on Aug. 6th. Interestingly, Finland has brought it’s U-18 team over to participate along with Canada. Finland’s participation began with its own team practices Aug. 5 and begin play vs. Team Red Aug. 10.
Speaking of games, it looks like Hockey Canada will be streaming quite a bit of hockey over the next little while.
Canada U-18 Selection Camp Game Streams can be found HERE and then by clicking on the ‘Watch’ link in the right-hand side of the page, see example below.
USA Hockey’s U18 and O18 selection Camp… get’s underway today with games beginning today at the LECOM Harborcenter in Buffalo, NY. Players are split into 2 age groups, Under-18 and Over-18. The U18 group will practice and scrimmage together with 4 total games vs. one another. The Over-18 group will be split into 4 teams for practices and games with each team playing 3 games.
You can find the U18 and O18 team rosters HERE. We haven’t been able to find any info on links to watch live streams. We will keep you posted if we do find some.
Wondering how much you’ll have to pay for college? Best to ‘Do The Math’ now, so you know how much you have to work with down the road – when you’ll need to know…
Unless you plan on your daughter getting a full scholarship, (there aren’t many of that get offered), families are going to wind up paying some amount of money out-of-pocket to put your daughter through college. How much exactly, that’s a lot harder to determine when the college hockey recruiting process is involved.
But even if a final dollar amount is unattainable right now and college could be years away, families SHOULD do something in the meantime to help make things a lot easier in the future.
What families should be doing is a ‘Family Financial Evaluation’.
Simply stated, this is a process where families crunch the numbers and find out a worst-case / this-is-what-we-can-afford at the top end of our budget amount – in order to make paying for college, work. Consider it like an internal family audit and a way of determining what your family finances will be over the next 6 to 7 years. And that’s how many years ahead families should be evaluating their finances for.
Why 6-7 years?
For those players who are heading into grade 11 this coming Fall, you are either in the midst of the recruiting process already or it’s going to probably happen before the grade 11 year is over and that’s the time frame you’ll need to evaluate. 2 more years of high school + 4 years of college. Add in a post-grad year perhaps, and that is how you get to 7.
So why is it important to do this now if we’re talking about something that may not happen for another 7 years!!??
3 reasons. 1) As they say, knowledge is power. The more you know how much you can afford, the better off you will be when it comes time to evaluate college costs. You can focus your time and efforts where legit opportunities are. 2) For someone who is going through the recruiting process right now or soon will, you could be faced with having to make some decisions – and soon. In order to do so, those opportunities have to be affordable in order to work out. 3) Some schools may be real aggressive with making offers, and it’s not just on the D-I side any longer,. Plenty of offers come in the grade 11 year for players at the D-3 level. And at D-I – it’s all about financial aid and knowing costs as there are no athletic scholarships.
In next week’s post, we’ll breakdown what to evaluate when looking at your finances.
As David Bowie sang, Cha, Cha, Cha, Changes… The coaching changes keep coming. This time if year is somewhat late for departures, especially of head coaches – but that’s exactly what has happened. Tim Crowley, head coach at Elmira College, has stepped down. We have a suspicion it’s for another coaching position, but that hasn’t been made public yet, and don’t want to speculate. Elmira’s assistant coach, Mandy Montgomery stepped down earlier this summer and that leaved Elmira with two very important positions to fill.
The more unexpected departure came when it was reported last week University of Maine’s Head and Assistant Coach, who are husband and wife, Richard Reichenbach and his wife Sara, resigned for undisclosed reasons. In an article posted by a local TV station WGME, it appears the school has commenced its search process already. You can read that story HERE and see our updated 2022-2023 Coaching Changes Tracker HERE.
Season Almost Here… You know the season is getting closer when conferences start to announce their schedules. The CHA 22-23 schedule can be found HERE. The WCHA conference schedule can be found HERE.
Regional Representation… Ontario and Minnesota Lead The Way… Canada’s U18 Selection camp has players from 7 different provinces, here is a breakdown:
Province
# of Players
British Columbia
6
Alberta
4
Saskatchewan
2
Manitoba
3
Ontario
21
Quebec
5
Nova Scotia
3
Team USA’s U18 National Festival Camp Roster has players from 13 different states, here is a breakdown:
-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.
Give Someone a Stick Tap… Know someone in women’s college hockey who’s work needs some recognition? Nominate them for WCH.org’s monthly ‘Stick Tap’HERE or Email us at: womenscollegehockey@gmail.com
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 3rd 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 amatuer 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.
Today we analyze what appears to be a changing landscape around college recruiting and the showcase/tournament style events coaches attend. Showcase, tournament, and camp/clinic event owner / operators could be facing big hurdles in the future as conditions within D-I recruiting, travel, and the NCAA – change.
Recruiting Event Landscape Changing…
There has been quite a bit of talk this summer amongst D-I coaches regarding the lack of real high-end talent and just even a good concentration of talent at events compared to prior years. One reason, there are more showcases, tournaments, and camps than ever. There are way more event operators in the showcase/tournament/camp/clinic space than ever before. Second, beyond what USA Hockey and Hockey Canada offer as part of their Nat’l Dev. Camps or High Performance initiatives, there is only so much talent to go around and only so many weeks to schedule events. We can think of weekend in June but prior to the June 15th call date where there were 4 and 5 major events goin on in the same weekend. Only a few showcase event operators continually attract potential D-I quality talent. We don’t track event rosters and where those participants end up playing college hockey D-I or D-III, but it sure would be interesting to see. For D-III coaches, its a much different story. The environment is great for D-III programs from a talent prospective. D-III staffs do have the same problem D-I coaches have – not enough staff and or $ in the recruiting budget to get to everything they’d like to. The number of players within the competitive player pool, as we call it, has increased. Travel costs have also increased significantly.
We’re probably seeing the D-I recruiting summer landscape change right before our eyes. Coaches want to go where the talent is, especially in the summer months as recruiting is far more targeted now than it used to be. Rosters for showcase/camp style events are extremely hard to come by. Tournaments, not so much. And yes, we know it’s a chicken and egg type of situation. Event/showcase operators need to promote coaches in their marketing materials so players will sign up. But, recruiting dollars aren’t unlimited. With as expensive as travel has become, programs will probably be very careful where they put their dollars to work. Coaches usually go to events for two reason either A) Identify new prospects or B) Evaluate prospects on their recruiting list–hopefully vs. excellent talent.
The takeaway is this, with an overall talent pool spread thin having to choose between multiple events, travels costs not expected to go down anytime soon, and a lot of events scheduled on the same week/weekends, D-I coaches are probably going to get more choosey with where they go in the future, especially in the summer months. And what could make matters worse, are potential looming changes to the women’s ice hockey recruiting calendar from the NCAA Transformation Committee which could drastically cut down the number of days coaches can be off campus to evaluate players.
Recruiting as we know it, is going to look and feel drastically different sooner than later due to upcoming changes from the NCAA Transformation Committee. How soon no one really knows. But why… is bigger more complicated question.
If you follow news about the NCAA then the NCAA Transformation Committee (‘NCAA TC’ for short) should be a group you are aware of. If you don’t, you need to, because college athletics is about to get real interesting. Unlimited scholarships for teams, players getting paid, flexible transfer rules, squad size limits, are all a very real possibility.
So who and what is this NCAA Transformation Committee and why does it exist?
The NCAA hasn’t had a real good track record with its own athletes or in the court system, or with public opinion. It has an image problem. NCAA athletes largely have been uncompensated employees while the NCAA, athletic departments, and high profile sport coaches have reaped billions, all on the backs of their own athletes’ efforts. The dollar amounts are staggering. Lawyers and the athletes realized they were being taken advantage of. Lawsuits followed, as did congressional hearings in Washington. And after a few social media posts from the 2020 NCAA D-I Women’s Basketball Tournament, the disparity in financial support the NCAA doesn’t give to it’s female sport counterparts became a tipping point. A third-party gender equity law-firm review was conducted and voila – you have an organization in real trouble with egg on its face and unless something drastic gets done, the lawsuits keep coming.
To right-the-ship, the NCAA put together a group of 21 people charged with changing how the NCAA operates, what it oversees, and what decisions it gets to make, and thus – the NCAA TC was born. The real plan for the NCAA seems to be figuring out how to transfer power, not get sued, and limit risk while improving its public image.
The NCAA TC is slowly tipping its hand at what will change and how things will be different. The full extent is not known quite yet, but here are some examples of what this group has already committed to changing.
Set membership standards for each Division — I, II, and III. You want to compete at the D-I level, then your athletic department will have to abide by having a certain level of services and resources. What those are exactly isn’t known. Perhaps its in the area of providing adequate mental health professionals, diet/nutrition specialists, academic support services and the like. What the NCAA won’t decide, is how much money schools or sport programs have to spend in certain areas… like scholarships, etc.
Do away with scholarship limits. Example… hockey has a limit of 18 full scholarships. The NCAA wants to do away with those limits and open it up to allow schools the freedom to spend as they wish.
Squad Size Limits… the NCAA would dictate how large rosters could be. As an example, D-I hockey teams may be limited to having no more than a certain number of players on a roster.
Do away with coaching staff limitations… The NCA would not mandate how many or how few coaches could be employed full-time to work with a team. Now, D-I Hockey has a limit of 3 full-time coaches + 1 volunteer… that could go away and you could have any number of coaches on staff. The number of coaches who could be in a recruiting capacity would be very similar to what staffs have now however. In hockey, this amounts to programs adding compensated skills or power skating/goalie coaches. Whereas before, program could have only volunteer, the prospect of hockey programs having many coaches is real.
Recruiting calendars… This is the big one. Sports would have their own recruiting calendars with a pre-determined amount of weeks where no recruiting activities could take place. As an example, women’s hockey could have a period of up to 10 weeks per calendar year where no recruiting activities can take place… no player evaluations, no communication allowed with recruits, families, youth hockey/high school/club coaches… this is a complete evaluation and communication SHUTDOWN. D-I women’s hockey already has about 6 weeks where we can’t evaluate from the end of April (usually) until June 1. However, coaches can still communicate. Programs would have a certain number of ‘recruiting days’ to utilize per year to evaluate and potentially have NO limits on the number of evaluations or how often communication could take place. As an example, a D-I program may have 200 recruiting days to use as a staff combined between all coaches (not 200 per coach), and recruiting shut-downs would occur from say, around mid-April to mid-June (8 weeks), plus a week around the US July 4 holiday week and the week prior to Dec. 25… again – these dates are only used as examples for now.
Enforcement of rules and who handles that aspect of regulation will change too. It could be the conferences themselves more involved? Perhaps a 3rd party entity will be created? Much is not known on who will control enforcing the rules. But one thing we can infer is, you can’t make major rule/policy changes to say – recruiting – without sorting out how enforcement will work. So until that happens, don’t expect recruiting or scholarship rules to change yet.
The above list is just a smattering of what will actually may change and unfortunately, no one knows exactly when all these will occur. Who will be in charge of managing scholarships, financial aid, and who can spend what? It will be largely up to the conferences or at least we thing that is the direction the NCAA TC could go. May be certain institutions? What is going on is a complete shift in who has power. In college athletics, power is who controls money and people (athletes/coaches in this case) and the NCAA wants out of that business. They’d much rather transfer their risk to others willing to take it on. Conferences have too much $ on the line with TV contracts, apparel deals, etc. to not be the ones to take over for the NCAA in regulating the day-to-day of how college athletics operates.
As things become known, we’ll keep you as up to date as we can. For clear-cut definition and roster of who sits in The NCAA TC, click HERE.
Update as of 9pm EST July 20, 2022… The NCAA’s D-I Council announced its endorsement of several recommendations from the Transformation Committee, “… to better support student-athletes, improve efficiency and timeliness in the infractions process, and improve clarity in the transfer environment.”
The big takeaway from tonight’s announcement has to do with clarity in the Transfer Process... Specifically 1) The transfer window will be open for athletes to transfer more than once. Previously it was one-time. 2) Beginning the day after the NCAA D-I Women’s Ice Hockey Tournament field is announced (and for all other winter-sports), athletes have a 60-day window to notify their current institution in writing their wish to enter the transfer portal. Using this year as an example, the 60-day window would have began Monday March 7, 2022 and ended Thursday May 5th. 3) Schools accepting transfers will be REQUIRED to provide financial aid (athletic scholarships) through the completion of the athlete’s 5th year of eligibility or when their degree is granted – whichever comes first.
The D-I Council’s recommendations must be approved by the D-I Board of Governors next month to be adopted. You may read the NCAA’s official announcement from tonight HERE.
USA Hockey ends the busiest portion of its summer with the U18 Select Camp finishing up today. Yours truly attended the 15 Camp as well as the past 3 days of the U18 Select Camp. The only camp left to be held is the U18 final camp or 30 or so players usually, in early August to select the initial U18 World Championship roster. That team will then head to Calgary, Alberta for a 3-game series vs. Team Canada. Here are some observations…
Lots of D-I coaches on hand for the 15 Camp (’07/’08 birth yrs)… not as many for the U18 Select Camp. And certainly plenty on hand at the 16/17 camp (’06/’05 birth yrs).
USA Hockey made a change this year regarding 15 Camp attendees in that, no 15 Camp attendee would get selected for the the U18 Camp. Parents were not happy. The only way ’07’s were allowed to attend the U18 Camp was if they were selected to it in the first place. Where as 13 players from the 16/17 camp were selected to attend the U18 camp.
15 Camp is probably too long, especially for goalies. Goalies attended a USA Hockey goalie camp before the main camp. 4-5 days total would be plenty. 6 nights and 7 days for players or 10 & 9 for goalies (8 and 7 for staff), is way too much. Less is more. Especially if no one from camp is going to be moving on to the Select 18’s.
Interesting numbers on penalties called at the U18 Select Camp. Too many?
Game #
# of Penalties
Total # of Mins in GM
% of GM on Special Teams
Game 1
4
6
10.7%
Game 2
12
18
32.1%
Game 3
12
18
32.1%
Game 4
14
21
37.5%
Game 5
11
16.5
29.4%
Game 6
12
18
32.1%
Game 7
7
10.5
18%
Game 8
9
13.5
24.1%
*Warning, personal opinion based rant… One final thought from an NCAA coaches perspective…
Everything that goes on at these types of camps matters. You can add in all the Canadian provincial and Hockey Canada camps as well. These camps become extremely important to NCAA D-I coaches. And what better eval do you want as a coach then to watch players in a best-on-best format? It’s great hockey to watch and we as coaches are thankful USA Hockey / Hockey Canada and the Canadian provinces put these events on. However…
Sometimes it appears the ‘importance’ of these event for college coaches gets lost in the mix. Let’s face it, NCAA coaches come to these events and leave making six-figure type decisions that will impact lives and livelihoods based on what they saw at these events. For decades now, NCAA programs have helped produce Team USA and Hockey Canada’s olympic and World Championship rosters. There is a lot at stake. The money alone that gets decided on out of these events is a lot. I’d be willing to bet in the U18 select camp alone, when all the college commitments and scholarship/financial aid offers get made, there was close to $12 million dollars on the ice this week. Not to mention what the 16/17 camp was worth. Heck, if every D-I scholarship or financial aid offer was an average of $40K per year, D-I alone commands about $40 million a year with 42 teams.
Camps are a ton of work, and you can’t make everyone happy. But when 5 on 5 play is only close to 70% or less of game play or a goalie session gets cancelled on the last day of camp and no one outside of USA Hockey knows about it, or roster info doesn’t get distributed until a certain point in an event… lack of those things matters. If the NCAA ever deregulates camps/clinics rules to allow coaches to hold invite only events, perhaps NCAA coaches will band together and organize their own best-on-best events themselves. But until then, with all that money & opportunity on the line, it would be nice to see a different thought process where everything matters.
Last December, our Pipeline Blog Post had grad transfer data… rosters by team of graduate transfer players and statistics through the end of November. You can check it out here. Now that the season has ended, here is the the data for the 21-22 season which you can find HERE.
In all, 80 grad transfer players found their way on to D-I rosters this year. In a typical year, that’s about 1/3 of a incoming recruiting class across D-I. That means, 80 incoming freshman may not have had a spot. In addition to the 80 – 5th year grad transfers, who have now exhausted their NCAA eligibility, there are 200 or so Seniors graduating. That means the pool of next year 5th year grad transfers will come from this pool… but it won’t be all 200. 1) Seniors from Post, St. Mike’s, St. Anselms, RPI, Union, and all 6 Ivy League schools were not eligible for a 5th year. Players needed to be on a college hockey roster in 20-21 in order to get a ‘COVID 5th year’ from the NCAA.
In all, it looks like the grad transfer players were pretty productive with 18.5 points per player. 7.13 goals and 11.36 assists per player. Goalies averaged a save % of .926, GAA of 2.10, and 11.1 wins.
Sifters
Little tidbits from around the world of women’s hockey…
USA Hockey Moving On??? With the end of USA Hockey’s Nat’l Dev. Summer Camps in St. Cloud… we’re hearing rumblings it may indeed be the actual end of camps for USA Hockey in St. Cloud. Rumor is bids are being taken or will be, to host future camps. St. Cloud offered a nice combo of 2 sheets of ice, dorms, dining halls, and all the other services USA Hockey likes/needed to run its operation. No word on possible locations. That said, Lake Placid please???
Best-of-Three In CHA… College Hockey America is changing its post-season playoff format to include the top four team in a 1v4 and 2v3 – best two-out-of-three format hosted by the high seed. Semi-final winners will move on to play a 1-game CHA Championship Game hosted by the highest remaining seed.
ECAC Hires New Associate Commissioner… Nick Sczerbinski has been named new ECAC Associate Commissioner announced by the league office. Sczerbinski is no stranger to the ECAC having graduated from and worked in the athletic department at Quinnipiac University where he was associate athletic director for athletic communications. You can read more on his hiring HERE.
WCHA Hires Interim Commissioner… With Jennifer Flowers departing the WCHA to take an Athletic Director position at Southwest Minnesota State University, the WCHA announced on July 5th former Bemidji State Athletic Director Tracy Dill, has been hired by the league on an interim basis and will begin his duties August 1. In its press release, the WCHA sighted the NCAA’s uncertainty with de-regulation and what the role of a commissioner or conference may be in the near future. You can read more on his hiring HERE. Rob DeGregorio, commissioner of the CHA and NEWHA will also step down as of the end of this coming season. The D-I landscape of commissioners will look very different at the end of next season.
NCAA D-III Passes Legislation… Recently passed legislation at D-III will impact women’s ice hockey for the coming season. The biggest of which is the D-III National Championship Tournament will now be at 11 teams, up 1, from 10. You can read the NCAA’s official announcement HERE. Now the D-I and D-III national championships will have the same amount of teams – 11.
-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 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.
Grant Kimball is founder and contributing writer at Women’s College Hockey.org and beginning his 3rd 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 amatuer 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.
We are exactly 1-month into D-I coaches being allowed to initiate direct contact with recruits and family members (phone/email/text/social media), who are entering grade 11 next Fall. D-I coaches are also back on the recruiting trail as of June 1. The ‘Recruiting Ramp-Up’ bas we call it brings a lot of intrigue, excitement, as well as some heartache too. Over the next few days we’ll dive-in and give you a run-down of what we are hearing from D-I coaches about their first contacts with recruits, the changing landscape of recruiting events this summer, and an introduction to the NCAA Transformation Committee: What is it, why it was created, what they have been charge to do, and how college athletics… namely women’s college hockey… will be impacted.
On The Phones, 1st Contacts, andInformation Overload… It seems not as many verbal commitments are happening out of the gate as perhaps in years passed. Word from a lot of NCAA coaches we’ve talked to is players are interested in taking their time before pulling the trigger on a verbal commitment. Why? They want to visit campus as a part of their decision making process. We say hallelujah to that. Perhaps the pandemic had something to do with the delay in commitments? Not many families were able or flat-out decided – not to travel and visit campuses. It’s nice to actually hear a majority of players want to do their homework. Not all have though. There have been some early commitments, but far less that usual.
In our conversations w/ Club & high school coaches, they are indicating many parents/players are finding themselves under-prepared for the volume of calls, types of conversations players and parents are having, and are a bit overwhelmed. This is very typical to be honest. There is SO much info to wrap ones head around on these types of calls. If you’re a really good player, just imagine fielding 10, 20, 30, 35+ calls, emails, texts on June 15th. That’s a lot of time on the phone and a lot of info to keep track of. There are sales professional who don’t experience that kind of workload.
Unless recruits & their parents have had someone else in the family or a best friend go through the process, you would have no idea what was about to come your way June 15. There are some club/high school coaches who help their players with what to expect in terms of the types of questions they could get and what to be prepared for – but it’s rare to find this. Most recruits & families have no idea how many programs are going to try and get in touch with them. But when schools do, you need to be prepared. There are some best practices we recommend – outlined below… whether it’s a D-I or D-III program reaching out – makes absolutely no difference.
Recruiting Calls – Best Practices
Create a plan to organize call info… use a notebook, laptop/computer, phone – however best works for you, but find way to keep track what you talk about w/ each school and coach. After the call is over, write down your initial thoughts, good or bad and any next steps discussed.
Know what comes next with that school now that you’ve had that initial phone call by asking, ‘Ah, Coach, what happens next in your process, how do we move forward from here?’ That is assuming you have interest in that school. Knowing what you want to happen next also helps b/c a coach might just turn the question back at you for direction.
Do your research… look online at each school/hockey program after your call. May be you go visit campus on your own without the coaching staff. If you’re really interested in the school, reach out to an alum parent/player to ask questions and get a first-hand account of someones experience (social media is great for getting in touch w/ former players/parents!), Check-out the roster and gauge avail spots that may open up due to graduation.
Have a list of questions ready to ask… how many players at my position are you recruiting for? Have you made any offers yet? Have any commitments? When do you typically make offers? What kind of grades do I need to get in, etc. Having a list of questions ready to go makes you seem interested and prepared – and coaches love players who give some thought to the school/hockey program they’re engaging with.
Think about answers to questions you could get asked so you know how to respond… “Well Susie, we’re all for full this year, but we’d love to take you in our class of ’25, how would you feel about taking a gap year??—is a very real question you could get. I know you played Center last year, what about a year or two on D for us? How would you feel if you didn’t play much and had to wait a bit for regular playing time? Would you commit right now on the phone to us? What major are you looking for? What other schools are on your list? All of these could potentially get asked. Again, doing your homework and having answers tells coaches you’ve actually thought about these scenarios and are prepared.
Bottom line, be organized and prepare for what could happen. This type of prep. work will show well to any coach!
Last year we saw upwards of over 50 coaching changes across D-I/D-III, which we kept track of and can be found HERE. We’re doing the same this summer as well and we’re already at 61 & counting. You can find our ’22-’23 Coaching Changes Tracker Document of to date – HERE.
Here are a few takeaways…
Leaving the NCAA Coaching Profession to Play Pro… Thus far, 3 D-I assistants have left the coaching profession to sign pro deals in the PHF. Former Assistant coaches Breanne Wilson-Bennet of Union College, Melissa Samoskevich of Penn State, and Claudia Kepler of Syracuse have all moved on from coaching to play in the PHF. With the Premier Hockey Federation’s salary cap jumping to $750,000 this season and teams having to spend at least 75% of their cap, players are now positioned to make more than ever before. We thought this might be something that would occur if/when salaries and the $ became enticing enough for female Coaches who weren’t finished with their playing days. The ability to play has a shelf-life, obviously. It will be interesting to see if more NCAA teams will lose staff to not only play professionally, but perhaps to other coaching opportunities on the men’s pro-side as well.
It has been a very active season for coaching and professional staff changes. There have been 6 D-I head coaching hires which was 1 more than last year. Two of which are newer programs basically starting from the ground up in Robert Morris University and Assumption College. I say basically ‘starting up’ because both Assumption and Robert Morris do have some kind of history as they aren’t totally brand new programs.
As always, there are a few dominos that fall which create additional positions that need to be filled when current open positions get filled by coaches already coaching at a different school. When this happens, it tells us coaches are getting ‘recycled’, a common trend you see in the NHL and at all levels of hockey really. It also means very few ‘newbies’ are getting their chance to get into the game. Tough to tell what the applicant pools were for each position.
Little tidbits from around the world of women’s hockey…
New Programs Set to Grow The Game… As documented in our 22-23 Coaching Changes Tracker, there are some new programs at D-I and D-III slated to come on board as soon as this season. Robert Morris University is in the midst of their reboot and will enter the CHA, its previous conference home, for the ’23-’24 season. Assumption University will elevate it’s ACHA club program to full NCAA D-II/D-I varsity status for ’23-’24 and have already inked a conference – The NEWHA and will be it’s 8th member. Stonehill College is a new program and will begin play this coming Fall in the NEWHA as its 7th member. Hilbert College, near Buffalo, NY will begin play this coming fall as a D-III program.
Women’s Hockey Makes Maccabiah Games Debut… Women’s Ice Hockey will make its inaugural appearance at this years games, thanks in large part to former Northeastern Grad Chelsea Goldberg. You can read the full story HERE in the Hockey News of how the event came to be.
New NCAA Rule Changes… Every two years the NCAA Ice Hockey Rules Committee puts forth recommendations for new rules to take effect. the 22-23 season is such a year and there are a few new rules that if voted on (which should be known soon), will go into effect for the coming season. You can read what those new purposed rules are HERE
More Women Hired In Professional Men’s Hockey… Some very high profile female hires were made recently from the AHL to the NHL. This article is fantastic and documents how these opportunities are happening. It’s not by mistake thanks to the NHLCA. Read HERE.
-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 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.
Grant Kimball is founder and contributing writer at Women’s College Hockey.org and beginning his 3rd 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 amatuer 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.
Episode #2 Now LIVE|Interview w/ Logan Bittle, Head Coach at Robert Morris University
Grant sits down with Logan Bittle, newly named head coach of Robert Morris University on of Feb. 3, 2022. Grant and Logan reflect on how Logan got into coaching, the tragic announcement of both the women’s & men’s ice hockey programs being cut, and the programs’ subsequent resurrection. Enjoy!
The Women’s College Hockey Podcast… our goal is three-fold. 1) Inform 2) Educate and 3) Promote NCAA D-I and D-III College Hockey. It’s that simple. We’ll recap all the major headlines as we analyze trending topics and storylines impacting the game today. You’ll hear everything from how NCAA coaches are trying to improve the path for youth hockey players to play NCAA college hockey, advice on navigating the recruiting process, to interviews with the sports most impactful influencers, as well as colorful banter on anything that insects with women’s college hockey.
thewomenscollegehockeypodcast@gmail.com
Stay tuned. Episodes will be dropping soon and available on all the major podcast platforms.
Until Next Time… Enjoy and Happy Listening!
-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.
Give Someone a Stick Tap… Know someone in women’s college hockey who’s work needs some recognition? Nominate them for WCH.org’s monthly ‘Stick Tap’HERE or Email us at: womenscollegehockey@gmail.com
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 3rd 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 amatuer 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.
Women’s College Hockey.org to Produce Podcast. Coming Spring of ’22
Filling A Void
As many of you may know from our social media posts, we have announced plans to produce our very own podcast!
We didn’t want to leave any doubt as to the nature of what our Pod would be about – so it’s all in the name.
The Women’s College Hockey Podcast… our goal is three-fold. 1) Inform 2) Educate and 3) Provide you – the listener – with access to some of the sports biggest personalities. We’ll recap all the major headlines as we analyze trending topics and storylines impacting the game today. You’ll hear everything from how NCAA coaches are trying to improve amateur & college hockey, advice for parents and players navigating the recruiting process, to interviews with the sports most impactful influencers, as well as colorful banter on anything that insects with women’s college hockey.
Why a podcast? It seems like the next logical step in helping promote the sport from the WCH.org vantage point. We have our Pipeline Blog (which isn’t going away… may be a ‘Blog-Cast’ instead???), we have our website, and – to our surprise – there is isn’t a podcast dedicated to covering women’s college hockey!!!! So, we thought, okay… time to step up. Women’s college hockey needs all the promotion it can get. Plus, what else would you want to listen to with all that time spent in the car on the way to practice and games, right? Ha.
Be sure to click the link above or below which takes you to our Podcast website page and subscribe! Why? You’ll receive episodes before the general public does, that’s why. It’s always better to be first!
Have an idea for an episode or a comment to share? Email our podcast team directly at: thewomenscollegehockeypodcast@gmail.com
Stay tuned. Episodes will be dropping soon and available on all the major podcast platforms.
Happy listening!
Until Next Time…
-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.
Give Someone a Stick Tap… Know someone in women’s college hockey who’s work needs some recognition? Nominate them for WCH.org’s monthly ‘Stick Tap’HERE or Email us at: womenscollegehockey@gmail.com
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 3rd 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 amatuer 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.
Quinnipiac scored 2 goals in the 2nd period and 2 in the 3rd, including an empty-netter for a 4-0 victory vs. Syracuse. The bobcats will now face #1 tournament seed Ohio State Saturday for a berth in the Frozen Four. Corrine Schroeder got the shutout and made 16 stops. Adzija, Mobley, and Boyd each had 2 points a piece to pace the Bobcats.
2 goals to finish the 2nd period with a 2-0 lead! 🎥⤵️
Taylor House and Sadie Peart light the lamp and we are rolling into the 3rd 🔥 pic.twitter.com/WQBLOOjX19
MN-Duluth forward Gabbie Hughes needed just 39 seconds to put Duluth up 1-0 on the Crimson and they never looked back en route to a 4-0 win over Harvard in Minneapolis last night. Hughes would go on to score two more goals to complete the hat-trick while 5th yer senior and Top 10 Patty Kaz finalist Elizabeth Giguere chipped in with 3 assists of her own. Anna Klein would 2 assists as well. Duluth’s Soderberg picked up the shutout making 27 saves.
Wisconsin took a 2-0 lead into the 3rd period and scored an empty net goal to secure a 3-1 win for the Badgers. Clarkson cut the lead to 1 on an extra-attacker goal with 2:01 remaining Almost half the game was played on special teams as a total of 26 minutes in penalties were called. Clarkson outshot Wisconsin 31-25. Wisconsin moves on to play the #3 overall seed Northeastern in a rematch of last years national championship game.
7 conferences give ‘Auto Bids’ to their post-season playoff champions. Those are below. 3 additional schools receive bids based on their season record and body of work. Those schools receive an ‘At-Large’ invitation to the tournament.
CONFERENCE
SCHOOL
Commonwealth Coast Conference
Endicott
Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
Gustavus Adolphus
New England Hockey Conference
Elmira
New England Small College Athletic Conference
Middlebury
Northeast Women’s Hockey League
Plattsburgh State
United Collegiate Hockey Conference
Nazareth
Women’s Northern Collegiate Hockey Association
Aurora
The three institutions selected from Pool C were Colby, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and University of Wisconsin-River Falls.
Bracket
Schedule
March 9 – First Round
Aurora University 0 @ UW-River Falls 7
UW-Eau Claire 0 @ Gust-Adolphus 3
March 12 – Quarterfinals
#8 Endicott @ #1 Middlebury, 3PM EST
#9 Colby @ #2 Plattsburgh, 3PM EST
#3 Elmira @ #6 Nazareth, 3Pm EST
#5 Gustavus @ #4 UW-River Falls, 3:05PM CST
Sifters
2 Minutes For Delay of Game… The women’s hockey spotlight is now firmly on the NCAA D-I tournament with its expanded 11-team field. Not only are three more teams added, but the tournament selection show was aired for the first time ever on national television via ESPN News last Sunday. The D-I game is evolving. Coverage of women’s NCAA hockey, D-I or D-III, has been hard to come by consistently in one spot. One hockey media outlet, USCHO.com, which stands for US College Hockey Online, does its best to cover both NCAA divisions. But even their women’s hockey coverage is sporadic.
With three NCAA tournament games played last night, over 50% of the field, one might expect a bit of coverage from the likes of a USCHO. Yet when you go to the USCHO.com homepage, there’s nothing about any of the three games. Heck, there isn’t anything on the women’s D-I homepage either. Seems like it should be US Men’s College Hockey Online, right? The only place I can find coverage or recaps from a national type media entity is from The Ice Garden, which is a blog that covers not only NCAA D-I hockey but professional leagues like the PHF.
The need for national coverage of Women’s D-I and D-III hockey only helps the sport top to bottom. There are so many great college players, coaches, rivalries, human interest stories, etc. NCAA Women’s Hockey deserves timely, quality, and consistent coverage.
#5 Yale vs. #4 Colgate, 3pm EST. It’s been hard to find viewing info, until now. ESPN+ will carry the game according to its website. You can click HERE to subscribe.
Gustavus vs. UW-River Falls, 3PM EST / 2pm CST – Watch Here.
Enjoy the viewing!
Until Next Time…
21-22 Streaming Info
-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.
Give Someone a Stick Tap… Know someone in women’s college hockey who’s work needs some recognition? Nominate them for WCH.org’s monthly ‘Stick Tap’HERE or Email us at: womenscollegehockey@gmail.com
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 3rd 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 amatuer 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.
We’ll take a look at the upcoming weekly D-I schedule|
See who’s ranked in the USCHO.com, USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine, and the ‘Power 10’ national polls|
NCAA Tourney Preview|
Sifters… Little tidbits of news and info from around women’s college hockey|
D-I Weekly Schedule
Thursday March 10th, 2022
Minneapolis Regional – Harvard vs. Minnesota-Duluth 7pm EST. WATCH B1G+ (FREE)
Columbus Regional – Syracuse vs. Quinnipiac 6pm EST. WATCH – B1G+ (FREE)
Boston Regional – Clarkson vs. Wisconsin 7pm EST. Watch – SportsLive (FREE)
Friday March 11, 2022 – DAY OFF
Saturday March 12, 2022
Boston Regional Final – Clarkson/Wisco winner vs. #3 Northeastern 1pm EST. Watch – SportsLive (FREE)
Hamilton Regional Final – #5Yale vs. #4 Colgate 3pm EST. Watch – NCAA.com
Minneapolis Regional Final – Harvard/MN-Duluth winner vs #2 Minnesota 3pm EST. WATCH – B1G+ (FREE)
Columbus Regional Final – Syracuse/Quinnipiac winner vs. #1 Ohio State 5pm EST. WATCH – B1G+ (FREE)
Game results, box scores, and statistics come directly from CHN – College Hockey News, USCHO.com or the NCAA’s official stats site HERE.
Video highlight links are to individual program produced media, some of which may be found on team twitter or other social media accounts – so scroll the feed to see the game highlights.
Postgame links are any postgame video produced by individual programs and found on either team websites or social media accounts.
Don’t See a link… for video highlights or postgame? Assume there was none available at the time of our post.
D-I Top 10 Polls
Evan’s last look at his Top 10 in D-I women’s college hockey came in Pipeline Post #65. You can find it HERE.
2022 NCAA Tourney Preview
The Bracket
Seedings
-5 teams are seeded, #1 Ohio State, #2 Minnesota, #3 Northeastern, #4 Colgate, and #5 Yale
-Seeds 1-5 get an automatic bye into the regional final. There are 4 regions: Columbus – Ohio State as the host, Minneapolis – Minnesota as the host, Boston – Northeastern as the host, and Hamilton, NY – Colgate as the hosts. Seeds 6-11 play a 1st round game with the winner moving on to the regional final.
-The top 5 teams, by virtue of their pairwise rankings after all post-season playoff championships were completed, received seeds 1-5. Using the pairwise rankings as the seeding method was determined by the 2022 NCAA Women’s Ice Hockey Tournament Committee.
How They Got There
There are 4 automatic qualifiers for the 4 D-I conference playoff champions that award ‘Auto-bids’ and 7 ‘At-Large’ bids awarded that make up the 11-team NCAA Tournament field.
-#1 Ohio State, received the WCHA automatic qualifier by winning the WCHA playoff championship 3-2 in OT vs. Minnesota and ranked #1 in the pairwise.
-#2 Minnesota received an At-Large bid and ranked 2nd in the pairwise rankings.
-#3 Northeastern University, received the Hockey East automatic qualifier by winning the Hockey East Playoff championship vs. UCONN 3-1 and ranked #3 in the pairwise.
-#4 Colgate University, received the ECAC Automatic qualifier by winning the ECAC playoff championship over Yale 2-1 in overtime and ranked #4 in the pairwise.
-#5 Yale University, received an ‘At-Large’ bid and ranked 5th in the pairwise rankings. Yale lost to Colgate in the ECAC Championship game 2-1 in OT.
–Syracuse University, received the College Hockey America Automatic qualifier by defeating Mercyhurst University in the CHA Championship 3-2 in overtime.
–QuinnipiacUniversity received an ‘At-Large’ bid and ranked 7th in the pairwise rankings. The Bobcats lost to Colgate 3-2 in the semifinals of the ECAC post-season tournament.
–Wisconsin received an ‘At-Large’ bid and ranked 6th in the pairwise rankings. The Badgers lost to Ohio State in the semifinals of the WCHA post-season tournament.
–ClarksonUniversity received an ‘At-Large’ bid and ranked 10th in the pairwise rankings. The Green Knights lost to Quinnipiac in the first round of the ECAC post-season tournament.
–Minnesota-Duluth received an ‘At-Large’ bid and is ranked 8th in the pairwise. The Bulldogs lost to Minnesota 5-1 in the WCHA post season tournament semifinals.
–Harvard University received an ‘At-Large’ bid and is ranked 9th in the pairwise. The Crimson lost its first-round ECAC quarterfinal series to Princeton.
Sifters
Free Viewing… Nice to see first round NCAA games free to watch. Click the links above for info.
National Awards Season… This is the time of year when national players’ of the year, coach of the year, goaltender of the year, etc. get named. The 3 finalists for Goaltender of the Year in D-I have been announced–2 from the ECAC, St. Lawrence’s Lucy Morgan and Quinnipiac’s Corinne Schroeder. And from Hockey East, it was Northeastern’s Aerin Frankel. The winner will be announced March 17th.
USA Hockey Nationals Update… One of the last events for D-I college coaches to get some in-person evals in before the April-May quiet period takes place will be in Pittsburgh, PA as USA Hockey hosts its girls tier I national championships.
Tier I Schedule and Info can be found HERE. Tier II Schedule and Info can be found HERE. All games will be streamed live on HockeyTV.
Here is who we know to have made the field as of now… with still a few spots to doll out the next few weeks.
U14s – Qualified
Amherst Lady Knights
Cleveland Lady Barons
Detroit Little Caesars
FL Alliance
LA Lions
MN Green Giants
Philadelphia Jr Flyers
Pittsburgh Penguins Elite
Team North Dakota
4 more teams to qualify + 3 At Large Bids
Central District
Mass District
New England District
Rocky Mtn District
U16s – Qualified
Anaheim Lady Ducks
BK Selects Academy (Rochester Youth Hockey)
Detroit Belle Tire
East Coast Wizards
Gilmour Lancers
FL Alliance
MN Grey Sharks
Philadelphia Jr Flyers
Pittsburgh Penguins Elite
Team Colorado
Team North Dakota
2 more teams to qualify + 3 At Large Bids
Central District
New England District
U19’s – Qualified
Alaska All-stars
BK Selects Academy (Rochester Youth Hockey)
NAHA White – North American Hockey Academy
Detroit Little Caesars
Gilmour Lancers
FL Alliance
Philadelphia Jr Flyers
Pittsburgh Penguins Elite
Shattuck St. Mary’s (Prep)
3 more teams to qualify + 4 At Large Bids
Central District
New England District
Rocky Mtn District
Until Next Time…
21-22 Streaming Info
-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.
Give Someone a Stick Tap… Know someone in women’s college hockey who’s work needs some recognition? Nominate them for WCH.org’s monthly ‘Stick Tap’HERE or Email us at: womenscollegehockey@gmail.com
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 3rd 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 amatuer 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.
NCAA Championship Tournament Selection Show Details
Pairwise Update
Here is the latest Pairwise rankings as detailed by USCHO. Rankings are updated as of Sunday March 6th at just after 3am this morning.
There was one more game to be played this afternoon in the WCHA Final-Faceoff as Ohio State beat Minnesota in a #2 vs. #1 match-up. Ohio State erased a 2-goal deficit in the 3rd period to force overtime. It only took OSU 23 seconds into OT while on a PP to end it and win the WCHA Championship and the WCHA’s auto-bid to the NCAA tournament.
Ohio State and Minnesota are #1 and #2 respectively in the Pairwise, so not much movement should happen below them. It’s now up to the NCAA D-I tournament committee to work on sorting out the bracket & regional site team placements.
The NCAA D-I National Collegiate Tournament Selection Show will air tonight, Sunday March 6, at 9pm EST. For the first time ever, it will be broadcast on television live via the ESPN News channel. Check local cable listings for where you can find ESPN News.
If you have access to the ESPN App, you can subscribe to ESPN+ and watch the selection show from there.
More on how to watch the selection show can be found HERE.
Be sure to tune in!
Until Next Time…
21-22 Streaming Info
-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.
Give Someone a Stick Tap… Know someone in women’s college hockey who’s work needs some recognition? Nominate them for WCH.org’s monthly ‘Stick Tap’HERE or Email us at: womenscollegehockey@gmail.com
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 3rd 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 amatuer 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.
We’ll take a look at the upcoming weekly D-I schedule|
See who’s ranked in the USCHO.com, USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine, and the ‘Power 10’ national polls|
The Pairwise & NCAA Tourney|
Sifters… Little tidbits of news and info from around women’s hockey|
D-I Weekly Schedule
We are going to try a new format for displaying the weekly schedule as well as games played with links to box scores. Formatting from USCHO.com is not kind to mobile users. So to help, we will be using the links CHN – College Hockey News.
It’s ‘Final-Four’ Weekend for NEWHA, ECAC, Hockey East, and WCHA… The CHA completed its post-season playoff championship last weekend with Syracuse beating Mercyhurst in the final 3-2 in OT. The NEWHA, ECAC, Hockey East, and WCHA are all down to its ‘Final-Four’ championship weekend. The NEWHA held quarterfinal games Tuesday. Hockey East played its Semifinal games last night. The NEWHA and ECAC championship weekends have semifinals Friday and championships Saturday. The WCHA final-four championship weekend is Saturday/Sunday. All schedules are below:
Make sure to scroll down
Tuesday, March 1
NEWHA Quarterfinals #6 St. Michael’s 1 @ #3 St. Anselm 2
NEWHA Quarterfinals #5 Post 2 @ #4 Sacred Heart 5
Wednesday, March 2
Hockey East Semifinal #3 UCONN 3 @ #2 Vermont 1, HIGHLIGHTS
Hockey East Semifinal #5 Maine 1 @ #1 Northeastern 3, HIGHLIGHTS are ⬇️
We're headed to our sixth-straight @hockey_east title game.
Hockey East Championship TBD, 7PM, @ TBD Campus site of highest remaining seed, TV-NESN+
WCHA Semifinal #4 MN-Duluth vs. #1 Minnesota, 1:07PM CST, @ Univ. of MN Ridder Arena, TV/Stream INFO
WCHA Semifinal #3 Wisconsin vs. #2 Ohio State, 4:07PM CST, @ Univ. of MN Ridder Arena, TV/Stream INFO
Sunday, March 6
WCHA Championship TBD, 1Pm CST, @ Univ. of MN Ridder Arena, TV/Stream INFO
NCAA Tournament Selection Show, 9PM EST, TV-ESPN NEWS Channel, Stream Info Coming Soon
Game results, box scores, and statistics come directly from CHN – College Hockey News, USCHO.com or the NCAA’s official stats site HERE.
Video highlight links are to individual program produced media, some of which may be found on team twitter or other social media accounts – so scroll the feed to see the game highlights.
Postgame links are any postgame video produced by individual programs and found on either team websites or social media accounts.
Don’t See a link… for video highlights or postgame? Assume there was none available at the time of our post.
D-I Top 10 Polls
Evan’s last look at his Top 10 in D-I women’s college hockey came in last week’s Pipeline Post #65. You can find it HERE.
The Pairwise & NCAA Tourney
The Pairwise
In a Jan. 8th post of the Pipeline we introduced what is known as the Pairwise rankings. ‘The PWR’ or ‘The Pairwise’ as it’s known in NCAA hockey circles, is a way to rank teams that play an unbalanced schedule based on a specific mathematical formula. We use the USCHO.com iteration of the Pairwise rankings which can be found online HERE.
Why are the Pairwise Rankings important? It is what the NCAA D-I Women’s Ice Hockey Committee will use will determine the 11-team field for the NCAA Tournament. And this year, the committee is strictly going by the math and not subjectivity. The Committee will conviene Sunday March 6th and crunch the numbers to announce the 11-teams going to the NCAA Tournament.
Contrary to what many may think, the USCHO.com top 10 poll that comes out each week or any other media poll that exists, has no bearing on who makes the NCAA tournament. Those polls are for media purposes only and not used by the D-I NCAA Women’s Ice Hockey Committee.
Making The NCAA Tournament, Auto & At-Large Bids
There are two ways to make the NCAA Tournament’s 11-team field. Receive your conference’s automatic bid by winning the conference post-season playoff championship – or – have a high enough Pairwise Ranking to fall within the top 11 teams and receive an ‘At-Large’ bid.
There are 5 D-I conferences. 4 of the 11 bids come from conference post season playoff tournament championship Auto Bids. The other 7 are ‘At-Large Bids. The NEWHA does not have an automatic bid until the 22-23 season by virtue of an NCAA rule which stipulates conferences must compete with 6 teams for two full seasons before getting an automatic bid. The NCAA determined the 20-21 COVID season did not count as a full season for the NEWHA while only 2 NEWHA teams played games.
The CHA, which was a 6 team conference until it lost member Robert Morris University when the school shut-down the program in May of 2021, is allowed to retain its auto bid for a period of two years. The CHA would lose its auto bid if it were unable to get a 6th team beginning with the 23-24 season.
After the 11-team tournament field has been selected, then the fun begins in putting together 4 regional sites. To learn more about how the selection process works and how regional sites will be determined – click here for the 2022 NCAA Pre-Championship Manual.
Below is the USCHO.com Pairwise rankings as of Wednesday March 2, 2022.
#8 Outlasts #1 In ECAC… For the first time in the 20-year history of the ECAC Playoff Championship Tournament, the #8 seed Princeton Tigers knocked off the #1 seed Harvard Crimson. The Tigers won game one 3-2, lost game two 2-1 in overtime, but won the third and deciding game, 3-2. #8 Princeton will play #2 Yale in the first ECAC Semifinal set for 3Pm Friday. #2 seed Yale also went the distance in its first-round quarterfinal series with #7 seed St. Lawrence.
Top 10 Patty Kaz Announced… The 10 Patty Kaz finalists were announced today by USA Hockey.
Introducing the top-10 finalists for the 2022 #PattyKaz Award!👏
The WCHA leads the way with 6 finalists while Hockey East landed 4. No one from the ECAC, CHA, or NEWHA made the cut. Northeastern leads the way with 3 players themselves,Minnesota and Wisconsin with 2 each. Ohio St., MN-Duluth, and Vermont each have 1. Northeastern’s Aerin Frankel, last year’s Patty Kaz winner, is a finalist this year.
The Patty will be awarded on the NHL Network March 27 in a special on-air television presentation. The top-3 finalists will be announced March 17th during the Women’s Frozen Four National Championship.
Possible NCAA Recruiting Rule Changes… As the NCAA often does each year, proposals for various rule changes in a variety of areas like recruiting, financial aid, eligibility etc., are announced and then voted on in April to become legislated. The following rule proposals were just announced and will be voted on in April.
Amend the trigger for student-athlete status to align with the approach authorized by waivers the past two academic years in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
An individual would remain a prospective student-athlete until the individual signs a National Letter of Intent or the school’s written offer of admission and/or financial aid or the school receives the individual’s financial deposit in response to its offer of admission and completes all high school graduation requirements or all transfer academic eligibility requirements.
An individual would revert to prospective student-athlete status if the individual does not attend classes at the beginning of the first full-time regular academic term after the individual completes all high school graduation requirements or all transfer academic eligibility requirements.
Specify a school shall not provide more than two consecutive nights of lodging to a prospective student-athlete in conjunction with an official visit.
Eliminate the limitation on the number of official visits a prospective student-athlete may take.
Specify that in sports other than basketball, contact may not be made with a prospective student-athlete during the time of day when classes are in session at their school.
WCH Spring Recruiting Event List… Coming shortly will be our WCH Spring/Summer Recruiting Event List. We’ll keep track of all showcases, camps/clinics, and recruiting events from March until the end of August across North America & beyond we’re aware of. We’ll post a link with event names, dates, and locations along with links to info if provided. For any coaches who want their event listed, please fill out our online form and we’ll be sure to list it. You can find it HERE.
Changes to Camps & Clinics for D-I Schools… In an effort to curb early recruiting tactics by college coaches in sports other than women’s basketball, the NCAA has legislated new ‘Institutional’ camp/clinic rules which took effect in January of 2022. ‘Institutional Camps/Clinics’ are now only allowed to be conducted during the months of June, July, August and December to Feb. 1. Institutional camps/clinics are not allowed outside of that time period.
Institutional camps and clinics are defined as those 1) owned/operated by a D-I coach or the institution institution itself and 2) where participants are classified as prospective student-athletes and have entered grade 9.
This new legislation does not impact Institutional Camps/Clinics where the participants are in grade 8 & below or the ability of college coaches to work for privately owned camps/clinics.
What’s Next For Women’s Hockey… It seems like the sport has this conversation after every Olympics. One would think with over 6 million viewers world-wide for the Gold Medal game, there is a way to harness a sustainable viewing audience for our sports best during the regular hockey season. Word came this week of something in the works. Yahoo Sports’ Justin Cuthbert & Co. bat around whats needed for a viable pro league:
Until Next Time…
21-22 Streaming Info
-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.
Give Someone a Stick Tap… Know someone in women’s college hockey who’s work needs some recognition? Nominate them for WCH.org’s monthly ‘Stick Tap’HERE or Email us at: womenscollegehockey@gmail.com
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 3rd 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 amatuer 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.
Weekly Top 10 National Polls – USCHO.com, USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine, and the NCAA’s ‘Power 10’|
Pairwise Rankings |
D-I Conference Playoffs|
Sifters… Little tidbits of news and info from around women’s college hockey & beyond|
D-I Weekly Schedule
We are going to try a new format for displaying the weekly schedule as well as games played with links to box scores. Formatting from USCHO.com is not kind to mobile users. So to help, we will be using the links CHN – College Hockey News.
The regular season has ended for 4 out of the 5 D-I conferences. The NEWHA still has one more regular season weekend to complete. Hockey East kicked off the Conference Tournament season Wednesday with two games. Here’s the weekly schedule.
WCHA Quarterfinal Game 3 (If Necessary), #5 Minnesota State @ #4 MN-Duluth, 2pm CST
WCHA Quarterfinal Game 2, #7 St. Cloud @ #2 Ohio St., 3pm EST
WCHA Quarterfinal Game 3 (If Necessary), #8 St. Thomas @ #1 Minnesota, 2pm CST
WCHA Quarterfinal Game 3 (If Necessary), #6 Bemidji St. @ #3 Wisconsin, 2pm CST
Game results, box scores, and statistics come directly from CHN – College Hockey News, USCHO.com or the NCAA’s official stats site HERE.
Video highlight links are to individual program produced media, some of which may be found on team twitter or other social media accounts – so scroll the feed to see the game highlights.
Postgame links are any postgame video produced by individual programs and found on either team websites or social media accounts.
Don’t See a link… for video highlights or postgame? Assume there was none available at the time of our post.
D-I Top 10 Polls
What a regular season.
The women’s college hockey regular season did not disappoint. Weekend after weekend, college hockey fans were treated to great individual and team performances. The best part was the ever-changing rankings every week due to the amount of parity inside the top 10.
Let’s dive into the final Power 10 of the regular season.
1. Minnesota (26-7-1) | Prev: 1
The Golden Gophers finished the regular season with a sweep of St. Thomas, earning a pair of 7-1 wins. Minnesota was scorching hot in their final 15 games, going 13-2-0 with big wins over then-No. 7 Minnesota Duluth, then-No. 2 Ohio State and a sweep of then-No. 1 Wisconsin. Senior Taylor Heise posted five points on the weekend, bringing her season-total to 60 — good for first in the nation.
2. Ohio State (25-6-0) | Prev: 3
In the biggest series of the final weekend, Ohio State swept Wisconsin by scores of 5-1 and 2-1. Despite the close score in Game 2, Ohio State outshot Wisconsin, 45-23. Junior forward Kenzie Hauswirth entered the weekend with only one goal on the season. She potted three on the weekend, including the game-winner on Saturday. With the sweep, the Buckeyes proved they’re the second-best team in the nation heading into the WCHA postseason and the national tournament.
The Huskies move up a bit in the final rankings of the regular season after earning a 2-1 win over UNH and then going 1-0-1 against UConn this past weekend. It’s fitting that graduate student goalie Aerin Frankel ended the season with a 32-save shutout in the 5-0 win. Frankel finishes the regular season with the best goals against average (1.07) and save percentage (.956) in the country. She’ll be must-watch in the national tournament.
4. Wisconsin (23-6-4) | Prev: 2
The Badgers had a tough weekend at Ohio State, dropping both games and getting outplayed. In Wisconsin’s defense, they were only able to skate three forward lines. The star of the weekend for Wisconsin was backup goalie Cami Kronish. On Saturday, in just her third start of the season, she stopped 43 of 45 Ohio State shots in the 2-1 loss. Starter Kennedy Blair missed the game with an upper-body injury.
5. Minnesota Duluth (22-9-1) | Prev: 4
The Bulldogs only move down a spot because I think the top four teams in college hockey are the four listed above. They faced St. Cloud State over the last week, going 2-0-1 against the Huskies. In the two wins, fifth-year Elizabeth Giguere and redshirt senior Naomi Rogge posted big weekends. Giguere had four assists, while Rogge registered two goals and a helper.
Also, how about senior McKenzie Hewett winning the game with nine seconds to play on Senior Day?
Colgate moves up a spot after three big wins last week. The first was a 3-2 victory over Cornell, then a 2-1 win over then-No. 10 Clarkson. The Raiders finished off the weekend by beating St. Lawrence, 9-1. In the win over ranked Clarkson, Colgate got goals from senior Rosy Demers and sophomore Kalty Kaltounkova. Freshman goalie Hannah Murphy turned aside 39 of the 40 shots she faced.
7. Harvard (21-7-1) | Prev: 8
The Crimson ended their regular season with a 4-1 win over RPI and a 3-0 victory over Union. They got goals from sophomores Shannon Hollands and Courtney Hyland, senior Becca Gilmore, and first-year Taze Thompson in Game 1 and junior Kristin Della Rovere, senior Emma Buckles and senior Dominique Petrie in Game 2. Gilmore has put on an especially great season, potting 43 points in 29 games, which is good for first on her team and tied for 14th in the nation.
8. Yale (22-6-1) | Prev: 6
The Bulldogs fell to Quinnipiac, 4-1, on Friday, but finished strong with a 3-0 win at Princeton on Saturday. Sophomore Elle Hartje finished off a strong second season, posting a goal and an assist over the two games. She’s been dynamite this year, leading her team in points with 44. That number ranks 13th in the nation. Her two-way skills, matched with her production, project her to be an even greater force in the coming years.
The Bobcats earned a 4-0 win over RPI last Tuesday and then a strong 4-1 victory over then-No. 6 Yale. They finished off this past weekend with a 1-0 loss to Brown on Saturday. In the win over the Bulldogs, Quinnipiac got goals from Renee Saltness, Kendall Cooper, Jess Schryver and Olivia Mobley. They also got a great game out of goalie Corinne Schroeder, who stopped 38 of 39 shots en route to the win. Schroeder’s save percentage of .946 is good for third in the nation, while her 1.43 GAA ranks sixth.
10. Clarkson (22-9-3) | Prev: 10
Clarkson ended its season with a 2-1 loss to Colgate and a 3-1 loss to Cornell. Despite ending on two-straight losses, Clarkson is the No. 10 team in the nation. The Golden Knights rank ninth in the country in both goals for (104) and goals against (59). They’ll face Quinnipiac in the ECAC quarterfinals this weekend.
Pairwise Rankings & NCAA Tourney
The Pairwise
In a Jan. 8th post of the Pipeline we introduced what is known as the Pairwise rankings. ‘The PWR’ or ‘The Pairwise’ as it’s known in NCAA hockey circles, is a way to rank teams that play an unbalanced schedule based on a specific mathematical formula. We use the USCHO.com iteration of the Pairwise rankings which can be found online HERE.
Why are the Pairwise Rankings important? It is what the NCAA D-I Women’s Ice Hockey Committee will use will determine the 11-team field for the NCAA Tournament. And this year, the committee is strictly going by the math and not subjectivity. The Committee will conviene Sunday March 6th and crunch the numbers to announce the 11-teams going to the NCAA Tournament.
Contrary to what many may think, the USCHO.com top 10 poll that comes out each week or any other media poll that exists, has no bearing on who makes the NCAA tournament. Those polls are for media purposes only and not used by the D-I NCAA Women’s Ice Hockey Committee.
Making The NCAA Tournament, Auto & At-Large Bids
There are two ways to make the NCAA Tournament’s 11-team field. Receive your conference’s automatic bid by winning the conference post-season playoff championship – or – have a high enough Pairwise Ranking to fall within the top 11 teams and receive an ‘At-Large’ bid.
There are 5 D-I conferences and 11 teams that make the tournament. 4 of those bids come from conference Auto Bids. The other 7 are ‘At-Large Bids. Winners of the Hockey East, ECAC, College Hockey America, and WCHA post-season playoff championship receive the auto bids. You win, and you’re in. The NEWHA does not have an automatic bid until the 22-23 season by virtue of an NCAA rule which stipulates conferences must compete with 6 teams for two full seasons before getting an automatic bid. The NCAA determined the 20-21 COVID season did not count as a full season for the NEWHA while only 2 NEWHA teams played games.
The CHA, which was a 6 team conference until it lost member Robert Morris University when the school shut-down the program in May of 2021, is allowed to retain its auto bid for a period of two years. The CHA would lose its auto bid if it were unable to get a 6th team beginning with the 23-24 season.
Below is the USCHO.com Pairwise rankings as of Tuesday, Feb. 22 just past 8pm.
Below are the final regular season standings for each conference minus the NEWHA which has one more regular weekend of play this Friday and Saturday. Each conference’s post-season playoffs structure is described as well.
Hockey East Post-Season Playoff Format
For the first time ever, the Hockey East Women’s Tournament will feature all 10 member programs in a single-elimination postseason tournament for the Bertagna trophy. Seeds seven and eight will host seeds 10 and nine, respectively, in the Opening Round on Wednesday, February 23 while the top six seeds receive a bye into the Quarterfinals. After a reseeding, the top two seeds will host the winners of the Opening Round while the three seed will host the six seed and the four seed will host the five seed. Semifinals will take place on Wednesday, March 2 and the Championship is set for Saturday, March 5 in prime time for just the second time ever.
QUARTERFINALS, Best 2 Out of 3 Series – Feb. 25, 26 and 27 if necessary
Teams TBD, Highest remaining seed to host, single elimination
The Championship will open on Feb. 24 with a quarterfinal match-up between No. 4 seed Lindenwood and No. 5 seed RIT. Thursday’s winner will advance to meet No. 1 seed Syracuse in the first semifinal on Feb. 25. No. 2 Penn State will then face. No. 3 Mercyhurst in Friday’s second semifinal with Friday’s winners advancing to Saturday’s final at 2 p.m. ET.
The winner of the 2022 CHA Championship will receive the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Women’s Ice Hockey Championship.
As the 2021-22 WCHA regular season champion and Julianne Bye Cup winner, MInnesota is the tournament’s top seed and is set to host No. 8 St. Thomas. No. 2 Ohio State hosts No. 7 St. Cloud State, No. 3 Wisconsin hosts No. 6 BEmidji State, while No. 4 MInnesota Duluth earned the final home ice advantage to host No. 5 MInnesota State.
The four winners of the best-of-three quarterfinals advances to the 2022 Final Faceoff, held March 5-6 at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis. The winner of the 2022 WCHA Final Faceoff receives the League’s automatic bid into the NCAA Women’s Ice Hockey Championship.
Pairings, locations, and start times for the Friday-Sunday, Feb. 25-27 best-of-three WCHA Quarterfinals:
No. 8 St. Thomas at No. 1 Minnesota (Ridder Arena – Minneapolis, Minn.) Game 1 – Friday, Feb. 25: 6 p.m. Game 2 – Saturday, Feb. 26: 4 p.m. Game 3 – Sunday, Feb. 27: 2 p.m. (if necessary)
No. 7 St. Cloud State at No. 2 Ohio State (OSU Ice Rink – Columbus, Ohio) Game 1 – Friday, Feb. 25: 5 p.m. CT / 6 p.m. ET Game 2 – Saturday, Feb. 26: 2 p.m. CT / 3 p.m. ET Game 3 – Sunday, Feb. 27: 2 p.m. CT / 3 p.m. ET (if necessary)
No. 6 Bemidji State at No. 3 Wisconsin (LaBahn Arena – Madison, Wis.) Game 1 – Friday, Feb. 25: 7 p.m. Game 2 – Saturday, Feb. 26: 3 p.m. Game 3 – Sunday, Feb. 27: 2 p.m. (if necessary)
No. 5 Minnesota State at No. 4 Minnesota Duluth (AMSOIL Arena – Duluth, Minn.) Game 1 – Friday, Feb. 25: 2 p.m. Game 2 – Saturday, Feb. 26: 2 p.m. Game 3 – Sunday, Feb. 27: 2 p.m. (if necessary)
2022 WCHA FINAL FACEOFF
The premier conference tournament in women’s college hockey, the 2022 WCHA Final Faceoff will be held March 5-6, 2022 at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis. Annually featuring a collection of the nation’s highest-ranked programs and best players, the WCHA’s four remaining teams will compete for the league’s playoff championship and automatic berth to the 2022 NCAA Tournament.
The league’s top event and best weekend of the year for college hockey fans, the two-day 2022 WCHA Final Faceoff weekend is a celebration of the sport’s past, present, and future.
Saturday, March 5, 2022 Semifinal Game 1 – No. 1 remaining seed vs. No. 4 remaining seed: 1 p.m. CT Semifinal Game 2 – No. 2 remaining seed vs. No. 3 remaining seed: 4 p.m. CT
Sunday, March 6, 2022 WCHA Championship – 1 p.m. CT
Sifters…
Robert Morris Names Head Coach… Former Robert Morris University Women’s Hockey Associate Head Coach Logan Bittle has been hired to re-boot the RMU program as its new Head Coach. Bittle’s announcement came Feb. 4th. You can read more about RMU’s new bench boss here ——-> USCHO.com Story, RMU Women’s Hockey Homepage Story
U18 Worlds Back On… News of the IIHF U18 Women’s World Championship broke at the Olympics last week in a tweet by the IIHF.
The IIHF leadership met the media in #Beijing2022, discussed the #Olympic#icehockey tournaments, development, #Milano2026 and announced updates on the events that will be postponed from January to summer.
6+ Million Watched… Over 3.54 million viewers in the US and 2.7 million in Canada tuned in to watch the Women’s Olympic Gold Medal game between the US and Canada. It was the most watched hockey game, at any level, in the US since 2019. Given the game was aired live at 11:10pm EST, you can bet those numbers would be bigger had the game been played at an earlier hour. Beijing is 13-hours ahead of EST. Lots of tired eyes the next day, mine included.
US-Canada women’s gold medal hockey game on NBC averaged 3.54 million viewers. That’s more viewers than any NHL game this season. And second most watched hockey game in United States since 2019.
Topic for another post… So, there is a market. A large one. How does the sport tap into a meaningful % of those 6 million who watched on a regular basis… and not just once every 4 years.
Busy Spring for Recruiting… D-I college coaches will have a packed Spring in terms of recruiting events to get to before the NCAA Women’s Hockey ‘Quiet Period’ begins on April 18. USA Hockey National Development Camp tryouts, U.S. District Play-Downs, U.S. National Championships, as well as various US and Canadian Academy ID camps, Canadian league and Provincial Championships are just a few of the events on the calendar college coaches will get to. Coaches have approximately 9 weeks left for off-campus evaluations of recruits in grade 10 before the June 15 call date commences.
A NCAA ‘Quiet Period’ is defined as where NCAA coaches may not conduct any in-person, off-campus evaluations or conduct off-campus face-to-face contact with recruits or their family members from April 18 until June 1. Recruits who are in grade 11 & above may take unofficial visits and have face-to-face contact with coaches as long as it takes place on their campus. There is also a NCAA ‘Dead Period from noon March 17 to noon the 21st., which is defined as a period of time when no on or off-campus evaluations or face-to-face contact may be had. In addition, no unofficial or official visits may take place.
Buckle Up!
Help Women’s College Hockey, Go Attend A Game… For years the National Championship tournament has not had what coaches would call ‘True Bracket Integrity… meaning #1 plays #8, #2 plays #7 and so on. College coaches want that. The NCAA was more concerned with saving money, not flying teams to certain sites, then organizing a proper championship experience for teams. That mindset is somewhat gone in 2022 with an expanded field to 11 teams. However, part of the criteria the NCAA uses to determine who plays at each regional site, is based on the potential for a playoff atmosphere. A playoff atmosphere to the NCAA means fans in the stands and to get butts in the seats, means there has to be a local interest in the teams competing… to the NCAA anyway.
Potentially you could have at least two of three teams at a regional site who are geographical close in proximity to one another, without bracket integrity intact. May be you have the #1, #4, and #5 teams, rather than a schedule that protects the top seed.
So here is how you can help… Go attend NCAA regional tournament games no matter your affiliation with teams there. If you’re a fan of women’s college hockey – pack the stands and sell venues out. Make it so the attendance issue isn’t one the NCAA can hang its hat on to create a schedule where they can save money.
Better attendance helps ensure future NCAA tournaments have true bracket integrity and a better national championship experience for our student-athletes–which should be what matters most.
MN State HS Tourney Underway… There aren’t a lot of states who do a better job of putting on a state tournament than Minnesota. Class ‘A’ got underway yesterday and Class ‘AA’ gets underway today. All games are played at the Excel Energy Center, home to the MN Wild. You can watch all games HERE for FREE.
Tune in Thursday to watch the State Girls Hockey Class AA Quarterfinals! These games will be free to view thanks to the support of @TheUrgencyRoom https://t.co/IdfNDVQVZ6 will also be covering the consol. and 3rd place games. https://t.co/CFNub6u5Fp…
-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 games 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.
Give Someone a Stick Tap… Know someone in women’s college hockey who’s work needs some recognition? Nominate them for WCH.org’s monthly ‘Stick Tap’HERE or Email us at: womenscollegehockey@gmail.com
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 3rd 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 amatuer 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.
We’ll take a look at the upcoming weekly D-I schedule|
See who’s ranked in the USCHO .com, USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine, & the NCAA ‘Power 10’|
The Pairwise & NCAA Tourney|
COVID Thoughts |
Sifters… Little tidbits of news and info from around women’s college hockey|
D-I Weekly Schedule
We are going to try a new format for displaying the weekly schedule as well as games played with links to box scores. Formatting from USCHO.com is not kind to mobile users. So to help, we will be using the links CHN – College Hockey News.
As D-I teams are back from the holiday break, most anyway, so too are COVID related scheduling postponements and adjustments as COVID cases pile up within programs. Game status’ seem to change by the hour. It’s reminiscent of what happened last year around this same time. We’ll try to keep you updated on which games are impacted as much as we are able.
The composite schedules of each respective conference will probably have the most up to date scheduling change info – so just click the link for any conference’s composite schedule.
PPD = Postponed, CNCLD = Cancelled, TBD = To Be Determined
Friday, Jan. 7, 2022
RIT vs. Sacred Heart, TBD
Merrimack vs. Northeastern
Holy Cross vs Maine, Saturday, PPD until Sunday Jan. 9th
Providence vs. New Hampshire
Clarkson vs. Princeton
Minnesota-Duluth vs. St. Cloud State, CNCLD
St. Lawrence vs. Quinnipiac, PPD, Make-up date TBD
Syracuse vs. Minnesota State, CNCLD
Connecticut vs. Vermont
Harvard vs. Colgate PPD to Saturday 1/8
Lindenwood vs. Ohio State
Rensselaer vs. Brown
Union vs. Yale PPD, PPD, Make-up date TBD
Long Island vs. Mercyhurst, TBD
Boston University vs. Boston College, PPD
Dartmouth vs. Cornell PPD to Saturday 1/8
Sacred Heart vs RIT, CNCLD
Saint Michael’s vs. Franklin Pierce, CNCLD
Saturday, Jan. 8, 2022
Holy Cross vs Maine, PPD until Monday Jan. 10
UNION vs. Brown, PPD, Make-up date TBD
Brown vs. RPI (at Brown, RPI designated Home team)
Dartmouth vs Cornell
St. Lawrence vs. Princeton, PPD, Make-up date TBD
Clarkson vs. Quinnipiac
RPI vs. Yale, PPD, Make-up date TBD
Sacred Heart vs RIT, CNCLD
Long Island vs. Mercyhurst, TBD
Saint Michael’s vs. Franklin Pierce, CNCLD
Syracuse vs. Minnesota State, CNCLD
Minnesota-Duluth vs. St. Cloud State, CNCLD
St. Thomas vs. Minnesota
Sunday, Jan. 9, 2022
Dartmouth vs. Colgate
Harvard vs, Cornell
St. Thomas vs. Minnesota
Monday, Jan. 10, 2022
Harvard vs. Colgate
Game results, box scores, and statistics come directly from CHN – College Hockey News, USCHO.com or the NCAA’s official stats site HERE.
Video highlight links are to individual program produced media, some of which may be found on team twitter or other social media accounts – so scroll the feed to see the game highlights.
Postgame links are any postgame video produced by individual programs and found on either team websites or social media accounts.
Don’t See a link… for video highlights or postgame? Assume there was none available at the time of our post.
D-I Top 10 Polls
Also receiving votes: Harvard 8, Providence 1
January 3, 2022
The second half of the women’s college hockey season is underway, which means it’s time to get right back to the Power 10 rankings.
Not every team was in action this past weekend, but the matchups of Wisconsin-Quinnipiac and Harvard-Minnesota Duluth were enough to release a fresh batch of rankings.
Wisconsin is back in the saddle as the No. 1 team in the nation, and rightfully so. They took Quinnipiac down, 5-2, in Game 1 on Saturday and then skated to a 1-1 tie with the Bobcats Sunday.
Sophomore forward Casey O’Brien potted a goal this past weekend, extending league-leading goal total to 21. She also added an assist, which brings her league-leading point total to 38. The sophomore was one of college hockey’s biggest offensive threats through the first half. It doesn’t look like anything’s changed in half No. 2.
The Badgers are off this upcoming weekend, but will pick play up against Wisconsin-Eau Claire on Jan. 10.
2. Northeastern (16-2-1) | Prev: 1
The Huskies didn’t play this past weekend and haven’t since Dec. 5.
They’ll begin their second half this Friday against Merrimack.
3. Ohio State (15-3-0) | Prev: 3
Ohio State also didn’t play this past weekend. It will begin the second half this Friday against Lindenwood.
4. Quinnipiac (15-2-3) | Prev: 6
The Bobcats move up two spots in this Power 10 due to their 1-1 tie of Wisconsin in the second game.
Goalie Corinne Schroeder was the biggest reason why Quinnipiac escaped with a tie. The graduate student turned aside 41 of Wisconsin’s 42 shots. Because of her performance, she won ECAC goalie of the week. Schroeder also owns the country’s second best save percentage (.959) and third-best goals against average (1.07).
The Bobcats get right back at it this Friday against St. Lawrence.
5. Minnesota (14-5-1) | Prev: 4
The Golden Gophers didn’t play this past weekend. They open the second half this Saturday against St. Thomas.
6. Minnesota Duluth (11-7-0) | Prev: 7
The Bulldogs opened their second half with two solid wins over Harvard, taking down the Crimson, 5-2, in Game 1 and then, 4-3, in Game 2.
Senior forward Gabbie Hughes potted four goals on the weekend, bringing her season-tally to 14, which is tied for fourth in the nation. Fifth-year Anna Klein chipped in with a two-goal weekend.
Next up is a road series with St. Cloud State.
7. Colgate (15-4-1) | Prev: 5
Colgate didn’t play this past weekend. It opens the second half this Friday against Harvard.
8. Yale (10-3-1) | Prev: 8
Yale also didn’t play this past weekend. It opens the second half on Tuesday against Sacred Heart.
9. Clarkson (15-2-3) | Prev: 10
The Golden Knights didn’t play this past weekend. They open the second half this Friday against Princeton.
10. Harvard (9-5-0) | Prev: 9
Harvard opened its second half with two disappointing losses to Minnesota Duluth by scores of 5-2 and 4-3. Despite the two losses, Harvard stays ranked this week because the Bulldogs were the team that had the higher rank in their matchup.
The Crimson get a chance to right the ship on Friday at Colgate.
USCHO Division I PairWise Rankings
What is the PairWise and why are we including it?
The USCHO.com PairWise Ranking is a system which attempts to mimic the method used by the NCAA Selection Committee to determine participants for the NCAA National Collegiate Women’s hockey tournament. The PWR compares all teams by these criteria: record against common opponents, head-to-head competition, and the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI).
For each comparison won, a team receives one point. The final PWR ranking is based on the number of points (comparisons) won against teams under consideration. Ties are settled by the RPI.
The PWR can be reformatted and redistributed by any media outlet or person, provided USCHO’s URL (https://www.uscho.com/) accompanies the results.
We Need to Figure This Out… Recent numbers of positive cases within college hockey programs have fueled game postponements and cancelations. A lot of people, and rightly so, are on edge. Coaches, players, conference commissioners, and school athletic and health administrators to name just a few. The CDC and now the NCAA have provided new guidance how how to manage life with COVID. The NCAA came out with a statement for winter sports Jan. 6, you can read it HERE.
From a scheduling standpoint, it seems like NCAA hockey is back to where it was last year around this time. No one will know if they are going to play until almost the very last minute. It seems like conference schedules are changing by the hour. But this time around, things are different.
For starters, most within a college hockey program has been vaccinated and or boosted. That was not the case last year. The CDC recently cut its quarantine time in half to 5 days for those who test positive. The new NCAA guidance follows that recommendation. Part of the problem with recommendations – they are just that – recommendations. There is no national NCAA COVID protocol standards forced upon schools. Each school can make up their own protocol how to decide who plays/coaches etc. Last season, if you tested positive, players/coaches/staff were out at minimum 10 days. And until a few days ago, the college hockey season had gone on with every program back playing a normal schedule. Not that there wasn’t the odd game postponement or player out due to COVID protocol. But the year was as normal as any could be with the pandemic still raging on.
Some schools/programs aren’t testing much at all – perhaps only if someone has symptoms. Others are testing all players & staff 2 or 3 times weekly. Different protocols are in place for different schools. At this very moment we’ve heard athletes who test positive at one school are out a min. 16 days while at other institutions it’s only 7 or the NCAA recommended 5 days. As of Friday Jan 7, there were 19 D-I Women’s games alone canceled or postponed, which tells me teams and conferences are getting more cases than their athletic/medical departments feel comfortable with. If D-I women’s and men’s basketball is any indication of how things are going to go for hockey. Most campuses don’t have all of their students back yet. Hockey could be a mess for the next 4-6 weeks before things can get back to normal.
Ultimately, I don’t feel we’ll go a place where the season gets cut short like the Spring of 2020. As with most things in life when there is a great unknown, caution reigns supreme. Science knows little about Omicron. And that means most school administrators/decision makers know just as little.
Sifters…
NCAA COVID Eligibility Update… The NCAA just updated its ‘Eligibility Center FAQ’ for D-I & D-II athletes entering college for next fall. With Schools such as Harvard responding to the pandemic by going ‘Test Optional’ in the admissions process over the next several years, perhaps the NCAA Eligibility Center will take a similar approach or evaluate its criteria on a year-by-year basis? I can’t imagine the NCAA requiring SAT/ACT scores in the future and Harvard and others do not.
Conference POW’s… Usually when you see the ‘POW’ one might think a list of each conferences ‘players’ of the week… not so in this case. Think of this segment as more of a VPOW – or Video Plays Of the Week.
Until Next Time…
21-22 Streaming Info
-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.
Give Someone a Stick Tap… Know someone in women’s college hockey who’s work needs some recognition? Nominate them for WCH.org’s monthly ‘Stick Tap’HERE or Email us at: womenscollegehockey@gmail.com
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 3rd 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 amatuer 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.
We’ll take a look at the upcoming weekly D-I schedule|
See who’s ranked in the USCHO.com, USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine, and the ‘Power 10’ national polls|
Conference Standings after the first half|
Sifters… Little tidbits of news and info from around women’s college hockey|
Happy New Year!
2021 was an exciting and fun year at Women’s College Hockey.org. Just as the stock market ended the year in the positive, the readership of ‘The Pipeline’ Blog grew quite a bit as well. We ended the year with close to 20,000 unique individual visitors from 54 countries! Yes, I too was shocked to learn that. I had no idea we had that kind of reach. Now in fairness, 90-something % of our visitors are from the US and Canada. But still – people in 52 other countries are paying attention, which is awesome to see.
Several of you have taken the time to stop me in a rink recently to say a quick ‘thanks-for-doing-what-you’re-doing’… It’s extremely gratifying for me when that happens. So, to the nearly 20,000 of you who took the time to read a Pipeline post or watch a video – THANK YOU – it is truly appreciated. Keep the positivity coming. Here’s is to a great 2022!
D-I Weekly Schedule
We are going to try a new format for displaying the weekly schedule as well as games played with links to box scores. Formatting from USCHO.com is not kind to mobile users. So to help, we will be using the links CHN – College Hockey News.
D-I Upcoming Games
January 1, 2022
Minnesota-Duluth vs. Harvard
Quinnipiac vs. Wisconsin
RIT vs. Long Island
Syracuse vs. Boston University
Penn State vs. St. Cloud State
January 2, 2022
BU/Syra. vs. St. Cloud State
PSU/St. Cloud vs. Boston University
PSU/St. Cloud vs. Syracuse
Maine vs. Vermont
New Hampshire vs. Dartmouth
Quinnipiac vs. Wisconsin
Providence vs. Holy Cross
January 3, 2022
Long Island vs. Princeton
Providence vs. Boston College
January 4, 2022
Sacred Heart vs. Yale
Castleton vs. Saint Michael’s
January 7, 2022
RIT vs. Sacred Heart
Game results, box scores, and statistics come directly from CHN – College Hockey News, USCHO.com or the NCAA’s official stats site HERE.
Video highlight links are to individual program produced media, some of which may be found on team twitter or other social media accounts – so scroll the feed to see the game highlights.
Postgame links are any postgame video produced by individual programs and found on either team websites or social media accounts.
Don’t See a link… for video highlights or postgame? Assume there was none available at the time of our post.
D-I Top 10 Polls
DCU/USCHO Division I Women’s Poll – December 13, 2021
Others receiving votes: Connecticut 3, Penn State 1
USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Women’s College Hockey Poll
December 14, 2021
RANK
Team
Points
Last Poll
Record
Weeks in Poll
1
University of Wisconsin (19)
190
1
17-1-2
14
2
Ohio State University
163
2
15-3-0
14
3
Northeastern University
143
4
16-2-1
14
4
Quinnipiac University
133
5
15-1-2
11
5
University of Minnesota
125
3
14-5-1
14
6
Colgate University
80
6
15-4-1
14
7
University of Minnesota Duluth
71
7
9-7-0
14
8
Yale University
67
8
10-3-1
4
9
Clarkson University
45
9
15-2-3
7
10
Harvard University
21
10
9-3-0
6
Others receiving votes: UConn 4, Providence 2, Penn State 1.
We’ve made it to the holiday break in women’s DI college hockey, which allows us a great chance to look back at the first half.
This week’s Power 10 won’t just be focused on last weekend. Instead, I’m going to rank the best 10 teams from the first few months.
Was it easy? Not really. This fall had some amazing games and upsets, making the job of putting together a top 10 a tough one.
Nevertheless, let’s dive in.
1. Wisconsin (17-1-2)
Admittedly, this wasn’t a hard decision. The Badgers were the best team in the first half and it’s not really close.
For starters, they have the best offense in the country with 94 total goals. Even more impressive is that the top three point-getters in the country are all from Wisconsin — sophomore forwards Casey O’Brien (36) and Makenna Webster (35), as well as fifth-year forward Daryl Watts (34). This team just can’t stop scoring.
The Badgers are also great defensively. They’re tied for third in the nation in goals against, having only allowed 22. Senior goalie Kennedy Blair has been outstanding in net, sporting the fourth-best goals-against average in the country (1.17).
The quality wins so far for Wisconsin have come against Minnesota Duluth and Ohio State but really, Wisconsin is the team to beat in college hockey right now.
2. Northeastern (16-2-1)
The choice to put Northeastern over Ohio State was a tough one, but I went with the better defensive team at No. 2.
The Huskies are the best defensive team in the nation. They’ve given up the least amount of goals against (18) and here’s a whopper — they’ve done it in just 19 games. That’s less than a goal against per game. A lot of that success has come from senior goalie Aerin Frankel, who ranks second in the nation in both save percentage (.962) and GAA (0.94).
Offensively, senior forward Maureen Murphy leads the way with 24 points and senior defenseman Skylar Fontaine, one of the best defenders in college hockey, comes in with 22. Both have a large role on the nation’s fourth-best power play, which sits at a solid 28.5 percent.
The quality wins so far have come against Boston College and Princeton. Much of the rest of their schedule comes against Hockey East opponents.
3. Ohio State (15-3-0)
The Buckeyes are great at overpowering teams offensively, as is evident in their 91 total goals, which is good for second in the nation. It makes sense then that their power play is also second, coming in at 35.2 percent.
A lot of that offense comes from junior forward Jennifer Gardiner and senior defenseman Sophie Jaques who both lead the team in points with 30 each. They’re also both tied for sixth in the nation in that category. Sophomore forward Jenna Buglioni and senior forward Clair DeGeorge come in right behind them at 28 points each.
Another sign that Ohio State is going on all cylinders offensively is its league-best 66.6 percent Corsi For percentage.
The most notable wins for Ohio State came against Minnesota and Minnesota Duluth in the first half. Even though the Buckeyes were swept by the Badgers on Oct. 23 and 24, they’ll get a chance at revenge Feb. 18 and 19.
4. Quinnipiac (15-1-2)
The Bobcats are a very strong No. 4 right now. It’s no surprise they garnered a first-place vote in the Dec. 13 USCHO poll.
Why? Because Quinnipiac is actually the No. 1 team in women’s college hockey, according to USCHO’s PairWise rankings. That shouldn’t be too much of a surprise. The Bobcats are well-rounded, sporting the second-fewest goals against (21) and the sixth-most goals for (61). Senior goalie Corinne Schroeder ranks first in both save percentage (.966) and GAA (0.80).
The Bobcats play in the tough ECAC, so quality wins came against Colgate, Princeton and Yale. If the Bobcats can keep winning with an ECAC-heavy schedule in the second half, their case for No. 1 in PairWise will be strengthened.
5. Minnesota (14-5-1)
The Golden Gophers ended their first half with some big wins over No. 1 Wisconsin and then-No. 9 Minnesota Duluth. Along with a sweep over Colgate on Oct. 22 and 23, those were Minnesota’s biggest wins of the first half.
The stats show Minnesota is a perfect No. 5. They’re No. 5 in PairWise, No. 4 in goals for (77) and they own the fifth-highest even-strength Corsi For percentage at 61.8 percent. This team has no issue putting shots on net either, ranking second with 773. Offensively, this is a very good team.
At the heart of that offensive attack is senior forward Taylor Heise who ranks fifth in the country in points with 31. Senior forward Abigail Boreen ranks second on the team with 23 and freshman forward Peyton Hemp comes in third with 21.
Minnesota will have its toughest stretch of the season in the second half when it takes on Wisconsin one weekend and then Ohio State the next.
6. Colgate (15-4-1)
Out of all the teams on this list, the Raiders did the coolest thing in the first half: They won a guitar.
Yes, back on Nov. 27 when they beat then-No. 3 Minnesota to win the Smashville Showcase, the trophy was a guitar. It was epic.
Aside from the guitar, Colgate is another team with a high-powered offense. The Raiders carry the third-most goals in the country (86) and rank third in even-strength Corsi For at 64.4 percent. Junior forward Danielle Serdachny leads the offense with 30 points, which ranks sixth in college hockey. Junior forward Dara Greig comes in second with 25.
The quality wins for Colgate in the first half came against Minnesota and Harvard. Like I mentioned with Quinnipiac earlier, things won’t be easy for the Raiders in the second half due to all those ECAC games.
7. Yale (10-3-1)
It feels like we’re just going back and forth between really strong offensive teams and really good defensive teams. Here’s a great defensive team for you.
The Bulldogs rank third in goals against with only 22 given up in the first half. Senior goalie Gianna Meloni has gotten the majority of the reps in net, posting an impressive 1.43 GAA and .942 save percentage.
Still, Yale has an impressive offense upfront. Sophomore forward Elle Hartje leads the team with 24 points, while junior forward Claire Dalton ranks second with 22. Yale also has one of the best defenders in college hockey in junior Emma Seitz. She has 17 points on the season.
The quality wins have come against Colgate and Harvard. With an ECAC-packed schedule in the second half, there will be many more quality wins for this group.
8. Clarkson (15-2-3)
The Golden Knights are a solid team overall. They rank fifth in the country for goals for (65) and eighth in goals against (29).
Lots of the offense comes from one of the best forwards in college hockey — senior Caitrin Lonergan. Lonergan ranks fourth in the country in points with 32. Junior forward Gabrielle David slots in right behind her with 25.
One encouraging sign for Clarkson in the second half is that they went 6-1-1 in conference play in the first half. If that trend continues, the Golden Knights will be moving up this list.
9. Minnesota Duluth (9-7-0)
The Bulldogs had a lot of time off, as they didn’t play any games between Oct. 24 and Nov. 19. Still, they put together a solid first half.
They have 59 goals in 16 games, which, if you do the math, comes out to be roughly 74 goals over 20 games. That would have them fifth in the nation for lamplighters. Senior forward Gabbie Hughes has the highest points per game in the nation at 1.81 with 29 points in 16 games. Senior forward Elizabeth Giguere ranks sixth in points per game at 1.68 with 27 in 16.
Despite a tough first half schedule, the Bulldogs earned two big wins over Minnesota and one over Ohio State.
10. Harvard (9-3-0)
The Crimson only have 12 games under their belt through the first half, but that’s still enough to place them inside the top 10.
They’ve already scored quality wins over Cornell and Boston College. Senior forward Becca Gilmore has been a strong line-driver, leading Harvard in points with 15. Senior forward Dominique Petrie ranks second with 14 points and junior forward Anne Bloomer third with 12.
We’ll get a great look at Harvard when it takes on Minnesota Duluth to begin play in the second half of the season.
Division I Conference Standings: As of 12/31/21
Teams are listed top to bottom in order of points accumulated in conference play only. There is no national point system. The first W-L-T column is a teams’ conference record, 2nd W-L-T column is the overall record, and the 3rd and 4th W-L-T columns is the record at home and on the road for all games.
In our next post, we’ll display each conference’s post-season playoff structure.
NCAA Approves 11-Team National Tournament Field for 2022… In the NCAA’s final step on Dec. 15th the D-I Council voted to approve an 11-team field (up from 8) for the 2022 Women’s National Collegiate Championship. 11 teams represents exactly 26.8% of D-I schools that sponsor the sport, which is the same ratio used by the D-I men’s NCAA tournament. You can read the official announcement from the NCAA HERE.
The Takeaway… More teams participating improves the sport because more players gain that do-or-die national Tournament game experience. Returning players the following year can then use their NCAA experience to their teams’ benefit. This development will push the overall level of D-I play forward every year.
The tournament committee will go ‘by the numbers’ this year in selecting the 11 team field. So in theory, teams ranked 1 to 11 in the Pairwise rankings will get a bid to the tourney. Subjectivity has been taken out. Language has also been removed from the pre-championship manual which now brings in line the same priorities used in pairing the men’s tournament brackets. In plain English, pairings will be based on, “competitive equity, financial success and the likelihood of a playoff-type atmosphere at each first/second round site.” Every effort will be made to avoid inter-conference match-ups unless 4 or more teams from the same conference make the tournament.
Because of the parity that exists across D-I and with 6 At-Large berths coming in the 2022-2023 season, we’ll probably not see the same 11 teams year after year. We’ll see much more turnover of teams getting At-Large berths in years to come. There are plenty of teams outside the top 11 that could challenge for a NCAA berth.
Robert Morris Is Back… RMU President Chris Howard announced Friday December 17th the reinstatement of both the RMU Women’s and Men’s hockey programs effective for the 2023-2024 season. Both programs were shutdown in an abrupt cost-cutting move by the RMU administration back in May of 2021. A major groundswell of support both locally in the Pittsburgh area as well as nationally among the hockey circles to get the program back online ensued. Men’s Head Coach Derek Schooley added fundraising campaign manager to his job description and accumulated enough cash in hand and donation pledges to impress the RMU brass to bring the programs back to life.
The Takeaway… This is great and exciting news for all of college hockey. Now the hard part begins. RMU will need to hire a women’s head coach and staff of assistants while recruiting an entire team of players as well as building out a competitive schedule. Both RMU teams are without a conference. The women’s were part of the CHA and the men part of Atlantic Hockey. CHA conference officials have publicly stated they need to find a 6th team for the CHA regardless of RMU came back or not as they would be in jeopardy of losing their NCAA tourney auto-bid without a 6th team after the 2022-2023 season.
With a RMU coming back, this opens the door for a full roster of players to either continue their playing careers as a transfer, a 5th year grad school player, or begin their D-I college hockey career as a freshman recruited player. All told, more spots become available at the D-I level (Stonehill College will also begin play in 2022-2023 as well).
U18 Worlds Cancelled… The IIHF announced on December 24th all January IIHF events would be cancelled due to COVID. This marks the second time in as many years the U-18 World Championships would be cancelled. The announcement was made just as the Men’s World Junior Championships in Alberta, Canada were taking place in arenas with fans. Not only was the timing of the announcement poor with the Men’s WJC was about to get in full swing, but the fact there was no mention or intention of a possible postponement of the event. Voices from current and former Olympians, around the NCAA, NHLers, hockey media personalities, and right down to the U-18 players themselves – took to social media with their rightful frustration. IIHF president Luc Tardiff is taking major heat for how he’s managed the announcement.
To add insult to injury, just days later the IIHF cancelled the WJC’s because a number of teams had positive COVID cases and a number of forfeits occurred.
The Takeaway… The IIHF is in a bit of a pickle. The Men’s WJC’s and the Men’s World Championships held in May are the two big money makers for the IIHF. One has to think a future date for the Women’s U-18 Worlds would have to be on the table if a future date for the Men’s WJC. The optics without that consideration for the women would be, um… detrimental? However, nothing definitive from the IIHF has been announced or considered. USA Hockey reached out to the IIHF and asked if a later date for the women’s U18’s could be discussed. Even private groups in the US offered to host the event while paying for the ice.
Perhaps a gender equity review of the IIHF is due, just like the NCAA recently had?
NCAA COVID Update… The second-half NCAA schedule is underway and we’ve already seen one series cancelled between Merrimack and RPI for Jan 1 and 2. No official reason was given as to why. Could we assume COVID? Perhaps. Some schools have adjusted their academic calendars and delayed the the return of students to campus, while deciding to begin classes remotely, before allowing in-person classes to begin several weeks later. We are unaware of any hockey program that are on a ‘pause’ or has decided not to play games until COVID improves. That said, if Men’s hockey and D-I women’s and men’s basketball is any indication, women’s hockey is in for it’s fair share of postponements and game cancellations. If think it’s a question of how, not if, the remainder of the season will be impacted.
SAT/ACT Testing Update… Harvard recently announced on Dec 17th it is going test optional for the next 4 years. That means no SAT or ACT test scores will be required for admission. More schools will probably do the same but no official announcements have been made yet. It will be interesting what the NCAA does with the Eligibility Center’s academic requirements moving forward as well.
D-III Gets New Program… The Milwaukee School of Engineering recently announced it’s starting a D-III NCAA program. Former RIT and Adrian Head Coach Chad Davis has been named head coach. No word yet on when the program will begin or what conference it will affiliate with.
2022 Women’s World Championship Host Selected… The IIHF announced in early December that Denmark will host the 2022 Women’s Senior World Championships August 26th to September 4th. This marks the first time Worlds will be held after an Olympic Games in the same year. Denmark is a first-time Women’s Olympic hockey participant in the 2022 games set to begin in about 1 month from now.
WCHA Extends Commissioner Flowers… WCHA Women’s Commissioner Jen Flowers received a three-year contract extension through the 2024-2025 season. Flowers has been instrumental in transitioning the WCHA to a Women’s only conference while navigating COVID-19 for the 8-team conference. Flowers also added a first-of-its-kind streaming partnership with the Big Ten Network and Big Ten+ as the official streaming partner of the WCHA.
UND Case Dismissed For Now… Lawyers representing players for the now defunct University of North Dakota Women’s Hockey Team, have voluntarily dismissed their case last month, for now anyway. The ND Attorney General’s office moved to dismiss the case because none of the players have NCAA eligibility left – leaving their claims moot – and not able to receive any relief. The door is open for future litigation however.
MN Trucker Helps UVM Player Home… This is one of those stories that is classified as ‘only happens in Minnesota’. UVM Women’s Hockey player Ellice Murphy needed a bit of help getting home for the holidays after her flight got cancelled from Minneapolis to Thief-River Falls. Ellice’s quick thinking mom called her friend at Byfuglien Trucking to see if any driver’s were in the Minneapolis area and heading north, who was willing to let Ellice tag along. Sure enough there was. You can read the full story HERE. You have to love small towns!
USA Hockey Announces Olympic Roster… Between the 2nd and 3rd period intermission of last night’s Winter Classic, USA Hockey unveiled its 23-Player final Olympic Roster. 8 newcomers will combine with 15 returning players with previous Olympic experience as Team USA defends it’s Gold Medal from 2018. You can find the roster HERE. 5 players still have NCAA eligibility and 1st time Olympian Caroline Harvey, has yet to step foot on a college campus yet. Minnesota leads the way with 8 players connected to the Gophers program, Wisconsin has 5, BC 3, Northeastern 2, BU, Clarkson, Lindenwood, UMD, and Ohio State each with 1.
Until Next Time…
21-22 Streaming Info
-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.
Give Someone a Stick Tap… Know someone in women’s college hockey who’s work needs some recognition? Nominate them for WCH.org’s monthly ‘Stick Tap’HERE or Email us at: womenscollegehockey@gmail.com
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 3rd 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 amatuer 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.
Every D-I game was non-conference this weekend, not one conference game was played. However, there was one game which saw two conference opponents go at it from the ECAC as #6 Yale and #5 Quinnipiac played in the 1st round of the Nutmeg Classic Friday night. Quinnipiac won in a thriller 3-2 in OT.
5 games went to overtime out of 30 played.
5 teams got shutouts in total as of Sunday.
There 11 – one-goal games.
The D1 in DC event took home top spot in terms of attendance for all 4 of its games this weekend. 1,052 spectators watched each game Saturday and 1046 watched each game on Friday for a total of 4,196 on the weekend. Tournament event attendance numbers are below.
Game results, box scores, and statistics come directly from USCHO.com or the NCAA’s official stats site HERE.
Video highlight links are to individual program produced media, some of which may be found on team twitter or other social media accounts – so scroll the feed to see the game highlights.
Postgame links are any postgame video produced by individual programs and found on either team websites or social media accounts.
Don’t See a link… for video highlights or postgame? Assume there was none available at the time of our post.
Quinnipiac won it’s 2nd Nutmeg Classic in a row with a 3-2 victory over UCONN in the Championship game Saturday. In game one, Quinnipiac had to come from behind after trailing 2-0 to 6th ranked Yale to reacch the finals with a thrilling OT 3-2 winner Friday.
DI in DC — Nov. 26-27 — Ohio St., Penn St., Univ. MN-Duluth, St. Lawrence University
Ohio St. captured the D1 in DC Championship doubling up Penn State 4-2.
Mayors Cup — Nov. 27 — Providence @ Brown
The pride of Providence, RI was on the line in the annual Mayor’s Cup game between Providence College and Brown University. The Friars took this one 4-2.
D-III
Cardinal/Panther Classic–Endicott, Plattsburgh, Elmira, and Middlebury (Nov. 27 & 28)
Middlebury wins the title beating Elmira and Endicott in the Championship with a pair of 2-1 victories
Codfish Bowl–UMASS-Boston, Bowdoin, Trine, and Stevenson (Nov. 27 & 28)
Bowdoin wins the Codfish Bowl beating host UMASS-Boston 4-2 in the Championship game
5th Year Players – Worth It?
Due to COVID, the NCAA provided an opportunity for anyone on a college hockey roster last year to utilize a 5th year of athletic eligibility beginning with the 2021-2022 season. A lot has been said about how the 5th year rule has impacted the recruiting landscape. Some incoming freshmen were asked to take a PG year, some contemplated a new school that was willing to take them this fall, and countless others will be impacted over the next 4 years in various ways.
So, the million dollar question: How have 5th year players impacted NCAA rosters? Are they lighting it up or has the incoming group of freshman and returners passed them by? Is the 5th year worth it for coaches and players? Tough to answer with a little more than one-third to half of the season gone by for most teams, but we can learn a little as we dive into the stats thus far. We looked at each D-I roster and parsed out the 5th years by position as of games ending on Nov. 28th and here is what we found.
There are a total of 80 Graduate 5th year players on D-I rosters this season. 10 Goalies, 24 Defenders, and 46 Forwards.
Here is a rundown on which conferences have 5th years and at each position:
Hockey East
ECAC
NEWHA
CHA
WCHA
Goalies
4
2
0
0
4
Defenders
10
1
2
1
10
Forwards
17
7
1
5
16
Totals
31
10
3
6
30
A look at the stats tell us:
Goalies
Of the 8 fifth Yr. goalies who have played in at least 6 games, 5 have a winning % over .500.
The lowest save % is .919… highest is .966, shared by two goalies who have played 14 and 10 games respectively.
3 goalies have gaa’s under 1.00… .7958, .8614, and .9161, with 14, 10, and 14 games played.
The least number of games played is 1, 3, and 6. Everyone else is at 7+ with the most being 14.
Only 2 goalies have double digit wins, 12 and 13. Next is 8, 5 and two have won 4.
Defenders
Of the 24 Defenders, only one has not registered a point.
The ave. number of games played is 13.83. Most games played is 18, least amount played is 1, and all Defenders but 1 have played in a double-digit amount of games.
No Defender has more than 4 goals (only 2 do), 9 have not scored a goal.
3 Defenders have double digit assists – 16, 13, and 12 as well as double digits in points–19, 14, and 13.
Only 5 Defenders are a .50 pts/game or better. Tops is 1.12 pts./gm with 17 games played.
Forwards
27 of 46 Forwards are scoring at a .50 pts/gm pace or better and of those 27, 8 are 1.25 or higher. Tops is producing at a 1.9167 pts./gm clip right now.
Only 3 Forwards have scored in double digits, 12, 11, and 11 goals respectively. 32 Forwards have scored just 5 goals or less.
20 Forwards have scored 10 pts. or more with 6 scoring 20 or more.
The ave. number of games played is 14.8. The lowest number of games played has been 8 – by 3 players. 43 have dressed for 10 or more.
Below is a link to our master 5th year stat file in an excel format taken directly from USCHO.com. Notice the tabs at the bottom for each position. **Stat note… all stats are taken from USCHO.com D-I women’s team stat pages. We realize some info may be incorrect, whether it be the graduating year or the actual statistical category number being incorrect. However, it is the most comprehensive stat database in a format that was easily transferable to excel at this time.
*caution, personal opinion based topic* I think it’s time for the national weekly polls in D-I Women’s Hockey to be a Top 12, instead of a Top 10. Why? 2 reasons. First, the D-I NCAA tournament is moving to 11 teams from 8, and if you’re upping the # of teams, I have to imagine those that follow our sport would like to know who’s potentially on the cusp of a tourney berth. Important to keep in mind these polls do NOT determine who makes the NCAA tourney, but they do tell you which teams are in the conversation to be there. Second, media partners along with the D-I coaches’ blessing, should be doing everything they can to promote more teams on as wide a scale as possible. I don’t know the number of eyeballs that each poll receives each week, but logic says if you increase the number of teams, you’ll get more eyeballs paying attention. As a sport, we want all the positive attention we can grab. And i’ll throw in a third reason for good measure… it matters in recruiting. You get ranked in a poll and that shows well on your program which translates into increased interest from recruits. College coaches constantly hear from club and high school coaches about Susie Smith who wants to play for a top 10 program. Well, now that can change to be a top 12. With the NCAA’s final decision tournament expansion to 11 (which is widely expected to pass… why not 12 teams is a story for another day) being voted on Dec. 15, perhaps the D-I coaching body may find value in the suggestion and we can change our future polls? We shall see…
Others receiving votes: Princeton 6, Penn State 4, Mercyhurst 2, Connecticut 1
USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Women’s College Hockey Poll
November 30, 2021
Team
Points
(First Place Votes)
Last Poll
Record
Weeks in Poll
1
University of Wisconsin
190
(19)
1
15-0-1
12
2
Ohio State University
171
2
14-2-0
12
3
Northeastern University
142
4
14-2-1
12
4
Quinnipiac University
126
5
15-1-2
9
5
University of Minnesota
119
3
12-4-0
12
6
Colgate University
95
8
15-4-1
12
7
Yale University
62
7
9-3-1
2
8
Clarkson University
58
9
14-2-2
5
9
University of Minnesota Duluth
42
6
7-5-0
12
10
Harvard University
18
NR
7-3-0
4
Others receiving votes: Princeton 10, Penn State 4, Boston College 4, Mercyhurst 2, UConn 1, Cornell 1.
D-I Power 10
This past weekend featured two exciting and important tournaments in the women’s college hockey world: the D1 in DC tournament and the Smashville Showcase. Both are large reasons as to why there’s quite a bit of movement within this week’s Power 10.
Let’s dive into one of the most interesting rankings of the season so far.
1. Wisconsin (15-0-1) | Prev: 1
The Badgers didn’t play this past weekend. There’s no doubt about it — they’re currently the best team in the nation.
Up next is a big weekend set with Minnesota.
2. Ohio State (14-2) | Prev: 2
Ohio State posted a huge weekend in the D1 in DC Tournament, first taking down St. Lawrence, 5-2, and then beating Penn State, 4-2.
Junior forward Jennifer Gardner and senior defenseman Sophia Jacques traded roles in both games. Gardner tallied two goals against St. Lawrence, while Jacques posted a goal. In the win over Penn State, Jacques registered two lamplighters, while Gardner scored one. Hard to complain with that kind of production.
Next on the schedule is a series with Minnesota Duluth this weekend.
3. Northeastern (14-2-1) | Prev: 4
While the Huskies didn’t participate in a cool-named tournament, they did go on the road to Princeton to take on the Tigers. They swept them, winning, 2-0, on Friday and 3-1 on Saturday.
In the 2-0 win Friday, Northeastern goalie Aerin Frankel posted a 22-save shutout. Princeton responded Saturday by peppering the graduate student goalie with 42 shots, but only mustering one goal. Frankel’s goals against average is tied for second in the nation at 0.86. Her save percentage of .966 is third.
The Huskies will look to maintain their spot in these rankings next weekend when they face Cornell.
4. Colgate (15-4-1) | Prev: 7
After a brief time in the second half of this Power 10, the Raiders move back into the top 5 after a terrific showing at the Smashville Showcase.
Colgate edged out Boston College Friday, 2-1, and then-No. 3 Minnesota on Saturday, 2-1. Despite being one of the nation’s top offenses, Colgate could only muster four goals over the two games. Instead, it was its defense and goaltending that saved the day. Freshman goalie Hannah Murphy made 50 stops on 51 shots over the two days.
Here’s a wild stat from the weekend: the Raiders tallied 57 shots on BC goalie Abigail Levy Friday. Props to her for stopping 55 of them.
When it came to the Smashville Showcase, the only thing better for Colgate than earning this high of a spot on this list was winning a guitar for a trophy. That’s pretty cool.
Colgate can now enjoy a long break, as it doesn’t play another game until Jan. 1 when it takes on Sacred Heart in an exhibition game.
5. Minnesota (12-4) | Prev: 3
After having swept Colgate earlier this season, the Golden Gophers lost in the Smashville Showcase final to the Raiders, 2-1. They beat Mercyhurst, 4-0, the day before.
The big reason for Minnesota falling a whole two spots is a combination of two things: losing to Colgate and Northeastern having a big weekend. Nothing to panic over, Minnesota fans.
Things won’t get any easier for Minnesota, as it faces No. 1 Wisconsin this upcoming weekend.
6. Quinnipiac (15-1-2) | Prev: 5
The Bobcats won the Nutmeg Classic this past weekend, beating then-No. 6 Yale, 3-2, in OT and then UConn by the same score in the championship.
Quinnipiac’s win over Yale was especially impressive, considering it was down 2-0 after one period and spent most of the game down 2-1. It wasn’t until sophomore forward Olivia Mobley scored, forcing OT with 45 seconds left in the game. Graduate student forward Taylor House won the game in overtime.
The Bobcats begin a long break, as they don’t play until Jan. 1, 2022. That matchup comes against Wisconsin.
7. Yale (9-3-1) | Prev: 6
The Bulldogs fell to Quinnipiac in the Nutmeg Classic, 3-2, but then beat Sacred Heart, 4-1, the next day. The matchup with Quinnipiac was as close as it gets, but that’s now two losses to the Bobcats this season.
Like with Minnesota, there’s nothing to panic over for Yale. The only issue for the Bulldogs is having to watch the Bobcats “run” Connecticut.
The Golden Knights posted a great weekend, sweeping Maine on the road. Friday afternoon saw Clarkson earn a 4-1 win, while Saturday brought a 5-2 win.
Junior forward Gabrielle David was the star of the weekend for Clarkson, putting up a hat trick in Game 1 and posting two more in Game 2. She leads her team in goals with 13.
Up next is a home-and-home series with St. Lawrence.
9. Minnesota Duluth (7-5) | Prev: 8
Like many teams in this Power 10, the Bulldogs were apart of a tournament this past weekend. They were down in Washington D.C. for the D1 in DC Tournament. They lost, 3-2, to Penn State on Friday but put together a nice performance Saturday, beating St. Lawrence, 4-3.
Fifth year forward Anna Klein posted three goals over the two games.
Up next is a tough weekend series at home against Ohio State.
10. Harvard (7-3) | Prev: 10
The Crimson didn’t play this past weekend, however they earned a 3-2 win over New Hampshire last Tuesday.
This weekend brings dates with Union and a sneaky good RPI team. The Engineers have a win over a ranked opponent this year (then-No. 9 Providence) and took Colgate to OT on Nov. 12.
Evan Marinofsky has covered the Boston Bruins for CLNS Media and WEEI, covering three postseasons and the 2019 Stanley Cup Final. He covered the UMass hockey team for two seasons for the Massachusetts Daily Collegian, including its national championship run in 2021. He also covered the Cape Cod Baseball League for a summer in 2019. You can follow him on Twitter @EvanMarinofsky.
The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NCAA or its member institutions.
Sifters
Recruiting Schedule Gets BUSY… NCAA programs are winding down over the next few weeks with the Fall semester coming to a close. Coaches will be logging some major miles on the road and in the air as recruiting really begins to pick up in December. The madness kicks off this weekend with events in Chicago and Kitchener/Waterloo in Ontario and continues all across the US and Canada until early January. Things begin to slow down after the IIHF U18 World Championships Jan. 8-16 in Sweden… we hope anyway. This new COVID variant has already cancelled one European event and we hope there is not another.
As promised in our last post, here is a list of the more well-known recruiting events–showcases & holiday tournaments you will see NCAA coaches attending. Just click HERE. We know this is not a complete list–we did not include any prep or high school league games from anywhere that coaches will also make an attempt to get to. So, if there is an event you would like posted on this list, please send us an email to womenscollegehockey@gamil.com with your event details or fill out our online recruiting event form HERE. College coaches will thank you!
FISU Event Postponed… Speaking of COVID concerns, the 2021 Fédération Internationale du Sport Universitaire has been postponed. The FISU is an international sports event management organization providing University students around the world the chance to compete on a global stage in various sports. This years event was supposed to be held in Lucerne, Switzerland. Northeastern’s women’s and men’s hockey teams were set to compete and represent the United States. See NU’s announcement Tweet below:
From Athletic Director Jim Madigan regarding the cancellation of the 2021 Winter World University Games pic.twitter.com/eBvOqpbmtE
Streaming Issues?… We heard through the grapevine there were streaming issues with all 3 D-I holiday tournament events ranging from no announcers for some games at the Nutmeg Classic to people paying to watch games that could not be watched, to just poor quality of the stream itself. Again, we have not verified what has been said to have taken place. But if it did, it looks really poor on our sport. In fairness, these events are hard to put on when they are not hosted by an NCAA school with the man-power and resources to produce such an event. That said, if these events are worth putting on, provide a level of service that is the same for all teams participating and make sure the streaming capabilities are functional.
Get Your Tickets… The NCAA released ticket information for the 2022 Women’s Frozen Four earlier this week. Tickets are available for purchase as we speak. See tweet below. The 2022 event will take place on the campus of Penn State University at Pegula Ice Arena in State College, PA.
All-session tickets for the 2022 #WFrozenFour are available NOW!
-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.
Give Someone a Stick Tap… Know someone in women’s college hockey who’s work needs some recognition? Nominate them for WCH.org’s monthly ‘Stick Tap’HERE or Email us at: womenscollegehockey@gmail.com
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 3rd 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 amatuer 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.
Game results, box scores, and statistics come directly from USCHO.com or the NCAA’s official stats site HERE.
Video highlight links are to individual program produced media, some of which may be found on team twitter or other social media accounts – so scroll the feed to see the game highlights.
Postgame links are any postgame video produced by individual programs and found on either team websites or social media accounts.
Don’t See a link… for video highlights or postgame? Assume there was none available at the time of our post.
In yesterday’s Sifters section we reported about the possibility of Union and RIT being able to offer athletic scholarships pending a NCAA D-III vote. We now know when that vote is coming and a little more about the driving forces behind the move. Indianapolis, IN will be the site for the NCAA Convention held January 19-22. The final vote on this measure will come on the convention’s last day. The Daily Gazette, quotes Union Athletic Director Jim Mclaughlin,
“We’ve been looking at this for more than a year,”. “Seeing the real possibility of significant changes on the horizon on the NCAA landscape, we felt we had to come together to put some things in place in order to sustain competitiveness for our programs.”
These types of decisions aren’t made on a whim and can take years plus a lot of lobbying to gain traction. All eyes are now on Jan. 22.
Until Next Time…
21-22 Streaming Info
-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.
Give Someone a Stick Tap… Know someone in women’s college hockey who’s work needs some recognition? Nominate them for WCH.org’s monthly ‘Stick Tap’HERE or Email us at: womenscollegehockey@gmail.com
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 3rd 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 amatuer 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.
Game results, box scores, and statistics come directly from USCHO.com or the NCAA’s official stats site HERE.
Video highlight links are to individual program produced media, some of which may be found on team twitter or other social media accounts – so scroll the feed to see the game highlights.
Postgame links are any postgame video produced by individual programs and found on either team websites or social media accounts.
Don’t See a link… for video highlights or postgame? Assume there was none available at the time of our post.
Quick Observations
There were 12 shutouts in games this past weekend through tonight — Wednesday — out of 41 games played, just shy of 1/3 of all games where a team didn’t score a goal.
7 games needed overtime, 4 teams won in OT while 3 remained tied after OT. One game, in Hockey East ended in a shootout win for Providence.
MN-Duluth hadn’t played a game in three-and-a-half weeks dating back to Oct. 23/24.
Speaking of Duluth… congrats to grad transfer forward Elizabeth Giguere who notched her NCAA career 250th point in a 5 assist effort vs Bemidji on Nov. 19.
And there it is — Élizabeth Giguère has become the ninth player in NCAA history to reach 250 career points. With four assists today, Giguère now has 104 career goals in addition to 146 career assists. pic.twitter.com/TwUJmyCzml
Beginning this week, we’ll publish three nationally recognized ‘Top 10’ polls – 1) USCHO.com Women’s Top 10 Poll and 2) USA Today / USA Hockey Magazine Top 10 Women’s Poll, and the NCAA Power 10 Rankings compiled by Evan Marinofsky as seen on NCAA.com.
The USCHO.com ranking will be listed first and the USA Today / USA Hockey Magazine ranking listed second when identifying rankings for teams. Example, ‘#4/5’
Notes: University of Wisconsin remains in the top spot of the rankings with 190 points and 19 first-place votes… The ECAC leads with five teams in the ranking, while the WCHA has four and the HEA has one… Team records are listed as W-L-T… For past poll results, click here.
About the Poll: The 25th 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 five NCAA women’s hockey conferences who are eligible for the NCAA Women’s National Collegiate Ice Hockey Championships, as well as composite votes from officers of the AHCA and USA Hockey.
NEW – NCAA Power 10 Rankings… by Evan Marinofsky
WCH will begin to post a new Rankings list and commentary published on the National Collegiate Women’s site on NCAA.com which can be found HERE. It’s put out by Evan Marinofsky who covers NCAA Ice Hockey for the NCAA. Evan is a media professional who covers the Bruins for WEEI and has an extensive college hockey media background. Long story short, he’s credible.
Another great weekend of women’s college hockey has us back for another Power 10 rankings.
This week doesn’t see much movement in the top four, however, there is some serious movement in the middle of my top 10. Yes, I’m looking right at you, Quinnipiac, Yale and Minnesota Duluth.
Let’s dive in.
1. Wisconsin (15-0-1) | Prev: 1
The Badgers are still ridiculously good. They steamrolled St. Thomas this past weekend, winning 7-1 on Saturday and 5-1 Sunday.
Sophomore forward Maddi Wheeler had quite the weekend, potting two goals and two assists in the first game and then adding two more assists in the second. That brings her point total to 18, which is good for fifth on the team. After this weekend, forwards Casey O’Brien (16) and Makenna Webster (14) rank No. 1 and No. 2 in the nation for goals. Not bad.
After getting this upcoming weekend off, the Badgers will have a big test against Minnesota on December 3 and 4.
2. Ohio State (12-2) | Prev: 2
The Buckeyes had no issues with Minnesota State this weekend, taking the Mavericks down by scores of 6-3 and 9-0.
In the 6-3 win, graduate student forward Clair DeGeorge and senior forward Paetyn Lewis both posted four-point nights. In the nine-goal rout, 12 Buckeyes posted at least one point. Most notably, sophomore Jenna Buglioni registered four.
P2| Clair DeGeorge scores her second of the period with 3:22 on the clock!
Next up is the D1 in DC Tournament. Ohio State will play St. Lawrence first and then Penn State.
3. Minnesota (11-3) | Prev: 3
Minnesota had another great weekend, sweeping St. Cloud State with scores of 6-2 and 5-1. Senior forwards Abigail Boreen and Taylor Heise and senior d-man Gracie Ostertag all registered two goals apiece on the weekend.
Here’s a fun stat: In its last four games, Minnesota is outscoring the opposition 28-4. That’s quite the goal differential.
The Gophers will look to continue dominating this weekend at the Smashville Showcase. First up is Mercyhurst, a team very close to earning a spot in these rankings, on Friday.
4. Northeastern (12-2-1) | Prev: 4
The Huskies continued strong play with two victories over good Hockey East opponents this past weekend. First up was New Hampshire, who Northeastern beat, 4-1. The following day was a 3-2 win over UConn.
Even though Friday’s win was only by three goals, the Huskies dominated, outshooting UNH, 46-13. In Saturday’s game against UConn, Northeastern was down 2-0 but rattled off three-straight lamplighters over the final two periods to win the game.
Next up is a big weekend series at Princeton.
5. Quinnipiac (13-1-2) | Prev: 6
The Bobcats move up a spot on my Power 10 for two main reasons. One is they took care of business against Cornell, winning by a final of 4-0. The second, and this one is bigger, is that they took down the team that previously held this No. 5 spot.
That’s right: Colgate had this spot last week, and Quinnipiac beat it, 4-0.
In its biggest win so far this season, the Bobcats got goals from sophomore forwards Sophie Urban and Nina Steigauf, junior forward Jess Schryver and first-year forward Maya Labad.
But the story of the game was graduate student goalie Corinne Schroeder. She stopped all 38 shots she faced from Colgate’s relentless offensive attack, as the Bobcats were outshot, 38-13. After this weekend, Schroeder leads the nation in goals-against average with an incredible .663. She has yet to allow more than a single goal in nine games.
Next up is the Nutmeg Classic. The first game will be against Yale this Friday.
6. Yale (7-2-1) | Prev: 7
Speaking of Yale, the Bulldogs come in this week at No. 6.
They tied St. Lawrence, 4-4, Friday night and beat Clarkson, 4-2, the following day. First-year forward Anna Bargman, junior forward Claire Dalton and junior defenseman Emma Seitz all registered a goal in each game.
Up next for Yale is a game against LIU Tuesday night. Then comes its biggest test of the season so far against Quinnipiac in the Nutmeg Classic. That will have massive implications on these rankings.
7. Colgate (13-4-1) | Prev: 5
It was a tough weekend for Colgate. The Raiders tied Princeton, 1-1, and then lost to Quinnipiac, 4-0.
Last week, I said both games would be huge tests for Colgate because each opponent was ranked. In the tie against Princeton, the offense peppered Tigers goalie Rachel McQuigge with 48 shots. She stopped 47 of them. The next day it was more of the same. Once again, Colgate put up a ton of shots (38) and once again, it ran into a hot goalie in Quinnipiac’s Schroeder.
Next up is the Smashville Showcase. Colgate gets Boston College first on Friday. Saturday will bring either Minnesota or Mercyhurst — both very good opponents.
8. Minnesota Duluth (6-4) | Prev: NR
After almost a full month away from competition, the Bulldogs were back playing games. They traveled to Bemidji State this past weekend for a series with the Beavers. Friday’s game was a 9-0 win, while Saturday brought a 4-1 victory. In the nine-goal win, fifth-year forward Elizabeth Giguere posted a team-high five assists.
Minnesota Duluth’s next game is this weekend in the D1 in DC tournament. Its first matchup is against Penn State on Friday.
9. Clarkson (12-2-2) | Prev: 9
The Golden Knights stay put at No. 9 in these rankings after splitting this past weekend. Friday saw Clarkson take down Brown, 5-1. But the following night, Clarkson was bested by Yale, 4-2.
There were lots of signs of encouragement in the 5-1 win. The Golden Knights enjoyed scoring from all over the lineup and outshot Brown, 44-23.
Next up is a weekend set against Maine.
10. Harvard (6-3) | Prev: 10
The Crimson didn’t play this past weekend, so no reason to move them out of the No. 10 spot.
Next up is a date with New Hampshire Tuesday night, another weekend off and then Union on Dec. 3.
Evan Marinofsky has covered the Boston Bruins for CLNS Media and WEEI, covering three postseasons and the 2019 Stanley Cup Final. He covered the UMass hockey team for two seasons for the Massachusetts Daily Collegian, including its national championship run in 2021. He also covered the Cape Cod Baseball League for a summer in 2019. You can follow him on Twitter @EvanMarinofsky.
The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NCAA or its member institutions.
Holiday Tournament Time
It’s that time of year. Hard to believe, but Thanksgiving is here Thursday and with it, comes a slew of tournament events. Here is a rundown of what’s happening this weekend.
DI in DC — Nov. 26-27 — Ohio St., Penn St., Univ. MN-Duluth, St. Lawrence University
Mayors Cup — Nov. 27 — Providence @ Brown
World University Games — Dec. 10-17 — Northeastern University, Team Switzerland, Team China, Team Canada, Team Russia, Team Japan. You can find out more on this event HERE.
The D-III season is now under way and there are some holiday tournament events being played as well:
Cardinal/Panther Classic–Endicott, Plattsburgh, Elmira, and Middlebury (Nov. 27 & 28)
Codfish Bowl–UMASS-Boston, Bowdoin, Trine, and Stevenson (Nov. 27 & 28)
Katey Stone Wins #500… A 5-2 win vs. Brown on the road Nov. 13th gave Harvard Head Coach Katey Stone her 500th career NCAA win. She now becomes the first female head coach to reach the 500 win plateau. You can read more on Coach Stone’s 500th win HERE. You can find a list of the top 100 coaches in NCAA women’s hockey HERE as well.
NCAA D-I Tourney Expansion Update… Big news came out Tuesday as the Division I Competition Oversight Committee supported the recommendation for expansion of the women’s D-I NCAA National Collegiate Championship tournament to 11 teams in 2022. The NCAA D-I Council still needs to give final approval and will meet Dec. 15th to decide. You can read the official announcement from NCAA.com HERE. The cliff notes version is this:
11 teams make the tournament.
The top five seeds in the tournament would receive first-round byes. The fifth-seeded team would play at the campus site of one of the top four seeds.
Three first-round games would be played at the campus sites of three of the top four seeds in the tournament. The winners of first-round game would receive a day off before playing in the quarterfinals of the tournament.
The four second-round winners would advance to the Women’s Frozen Four March 18-20 in Park, Pennsylvania.
Holiday Recruiting Events Dot the Schedule Into December… It’s that time of year. College’s are winding down the first half of their respective seasons over the next few weekends (can you believe it!… seems like the season just started.) and that means one thing: Time to hit the recruiting trail. Several events are taking place around North America beginning this weekend and continuing late into December. Look for our complete list of marquee recruiting events next week. Things kick off this weekend with showcase events in Nashville to coincide with the ‘Smashville’ D-I Thanksgiving tournament as well as the Massachusetts State Championship tournament that gets underway Friday.
21-22 NCAA S-A Guide… Speaking of recruiting, the NCAA came out with its annual Guide for the College Bound Student-Athlete. You can download it HERE for free. This is the perfect document for anyone wondering about NCAA eligibility in the post-COVID era. It’s a must read!
Athletic Scholarships for RIT ad Union?… Yes, you read that correctly. Athletic scholarships could be on the way for these two long-time D-III schools with Division I Women’s and Men’s Ice Hockey programs. Final approval of the measure could come at the 2022 NCAA Convention. In late October, the D-III NCAA President’s Council supported a change to legislation concerning Bylaw 15 of the NCAA Manual–Financial Aid. Which would allow a small number of institutions who sponsor a D-III athletic department with a D-I team to give athletic scholarships. Allowing it at the NCAA level is one thing, having each school come up with the $ to fund athletic scholarships is another. A NCAA waiver in 2004 allowed current D-I hockey programs like Clarkson and St. Lawrence to give athletic scholarships. A move to allow D-III schools to fund it’s D-I teams with scholarships could have far reaching impacts for a sport like hockey. I don’t know all the inns and outs of what schools would have to do to elevate their hockey teams to D-I status, but imagine of Adrian, Plattsburgh, or Elmira, wanted to jump up to D-I? Hmmm… Interesting.
Kaplan, Hecker & Fink NCAA Gender Equity Review… If you have not so done yet, give this document a read, you can find it below. It’s absolutely stunning what the findings bring to light about how the NCAA operates, what it holds true to prioritize, and the disparities that exist in certain sports. It’s hard to put into words how bad it is. Ice Hockey as a sport is highlighted as one of the worst culprits in terms of disparities between the student-athlete experience for it’s women’s and men’s programs as well as the NCAA National Championship S-A experience. This document has much to do with the D-I tournament being expanded.
-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.
Give Someone a Stick Tap… Know someone in women’s college hockey who’s work needs some recognition? Nominate them for WCH.org’s monthly ‘Stick Tap’HERE or Email us at: womenscollegehockey@gmail.com
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 3rd 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 amatuer 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.
Click on the link below to watch this week’s video version of Mailbag Monday. Mike from Minnesota asks: Do college coaches/recruits only tend to look in affluent areas/cities when looking for players to fill a partial scholarship situations? Lengthy video caution… lots to unpack here!
It’s a good question Mike. We have not touched on the scholarship topic much to date yet. We discuss how each program is different in how they manage scholarship and it’s not a one-size-fits-all answer. We talk about what the scholarship environment is like now compared with just a few years ago and how COVID and transfers have changed things. We also talk about the mindset parents and players should have when thinking about scholarships.
We hope this video helps!
Be sure to tune in next Monday for another addition of Mailbag Monday. Remember you can submit your questions HERE, email them to us at womenscollegehockey@gmail.com, or send us a Tweet to @WMNSCollHockey and use the hashtag #MailbagMonday.
Odds & Ends + Streaming Info
NCAA Coaching Changes…Keep up with all the coaching changes across D-I and D-III HERE.
Give Someone a Stick Tap… Know someone in women’s college hockey who’s work needs some recognition? Nominate them for WCH.org’s monthly ‘Stick Tap’HERE or Email us at: womenscollegehockey@gmail.com
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 event form.
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. Subscriptions will be necessary to watch games.
-Streams in Hockey East this year can be found HERE. Subscriptions are not needed to watch games this season.
-Streams for CHA games with the exception of Penn St. can be found HERE. Subscriptions to watch Penn State may be necessary and can be found HERE.
-Streams for NEWHA games can be found at each teams’ website. Subscriptions may be necessary to watch games.
Grant Kimball is founder and contributing writer at Women’s College Hockey.org and beginning his 3rd 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 amatuer 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.
A quick apology for the lapse in recent coverage everyone. Rest assured, The Women’s College Hockey Pipeline is back! In September we did a post about coaching changes that occur late into the summer or early Fall and how it affects programs and coaches. Well, this exact situation happened to yours truly a few weeks ago.
My fellow and now former assistant coaching partner at Yale, Danielle Blanchard, has left to take over the UMASS-Boston D-III program as its new Head Coach as of October 18th. As the lone Assistant Coach with our program now, I had to re-focus my priorities and something had to give–the Pipeline was it.
With that said, I want to extend my congratulations to Danielle on getting her first NCAA Head Coaching opportunity. And now, with things firmly under control, it’s back to the Women’s College Hockey Pipeline!
NCAA Expands D-I National Tourney
Big news yesterday from the NCAA Championships Oversight Committee (COC) when they announced approval of expanding the D-I National Collegiate Women’s Ice Hockey Championships from 8 to 11 teams as soon as this season 2022 or in 2023. You can read the official announcement HERE. Here’s the back story and timeline.
The NCAA National Championship Tournament has had a field of 8 teams. Beginning with the 2022-2023 season, the New England Women’s Hockey Alliance (NEWHA) will become eligible to receive an automatic bid to the Tournament under NCAA rules. Also under NCAA rules, 50% of the tournament field must come from conferences that are auto-bid eligible. The NEWHA would be the 5th auto-bid eligible conference in D-I women’s Ice Hockey. The D-I tourney would thus become out of balance with it’s current 8 team field format.
This issue didn’t come out of the blue for the D-I coaching body or the tournament committee. Work was being done as early as the 2018-2019 season in anticipation of the NEWHA beginning play in 19-20 with 6 teams – the min. needed to attain an auto-bid to the NCAA tourney after 2 consecutive seasons of play. Year 1 for the NEWHA was 19-20, then COVID hit and the league did not have a traditional season. Year 2 for the NEWHA is this season, 21-22.
In the Spring of 2021, the D-I women’s coaching body creates a tournament expansion committee to explore a viable proposal for consideration by the COC. After much discussion, deliberation, and consultation with D-I women’s hockey stakeholders, an official proposal is made to the NCAA COC.
September 10, 2021, the NCAA COC tables a proposal put forth by the D-I Women’s Ice Hockey Committee for an expanded tournament of 10 teams. Sighting lack of funds, the NCAA agreed on the merit of the proposal but did not vote one way or the other.
In it’s guidance back to D-I coaching body, a member of the COC asked if the coaching body considered more teams, like 12 instead of 10. Also on September 10th, the NCAA granted Men’s Hockey an extra day in between it’s NCAA Tournament regional semi-final and final round days.
On October 26, 2021 Phase II of the NCAA requested independent gender equity review conducted by the law firm of Kaplan Hecker & Fink LLP is made public. (do yourself a favor and read it–it will make you cringe). The disparity between monetary resources and percentage of student-athlete participation allowed between Women’s and Men’s Ice Hockey is highlighted in the review as having the greatest variance of any NCAA sport where women and men compete in the same sport. A fire-storm of negative publicity as a result of the review on social media ensues.
On November 2nd, Women’s Hockey D-I coaches hold emergency zoom meeting to discuss options of tournament expansion now that Phase II of the NCAA gender equity review is public. It comes to light, the COC will meet on Nov. 10 to discuss the possibility of Women’s Ice Hockey Tournament expansion. A social media campaign is unveiled to educate people about the disparities in women’s D-I ice hockey using the hashtag #CloseTheGapNCAA and #TimeFor12Teams2022.
Nov. 10th, the NCAA COC acts and approves expanding the NCAA D-I Women’s Ice Hockey Championship Tournament to 11 teams for 2022 or 2023. 11 teams is 27% of the eligible teams in D-I women’s ice hockey. It’s also the exact % of teams the D-I men’s tournament has.
This is an ongoing story with many intricacies. We will keep you updated and informed as details develop.
Olympic Qualification Tournaments… The IIHF is hosting the last of 3 Women’s Ice Hockey Olympic qualification tournaments to determine the last 3 teams to go to Beijing for the 2022 Winter Olympics. Some NCAA rosters are heavily impacted. All games are streamed live – you can find the game schedule and streaming links below. There are 26 NCAA players on team rosters. Several of which some from NCAA D-III and Canadian U-Sport programs. We’ll have a full report and breakdown next week.
📺How to watch the Women's Final Olympic Qualification live today and during the weekend:
MN High School Hockey Underway… The 2021-2022 MN High School Girls Hockey Season is just getting started with most teams playing their first games over the next week. Your best source to keep up to date with news, scores, standings, and of course – the MN State Tournament – can be found right HERE at The MN Girls Hockey Hub.
New England Prep School Hockey… The NE Prep. season is right around the corner from starting up in another week or two. Traditionally, prep players will play a fall sport or activity commitment which causes the perceived ‘late start’ by most NE prep teams. To keep up with schedules, scores, and standings etc, you can find it all right HERE.
NCAA Dead Period Ends Friday at Midnight… For D-I schools that subscribe to and offer National Letter of Intent, i.e. Athletic Scholarships, the NCAA Dead Period ends tonight at Midnight. Beginning Monday of this week, recruits who are in grade 12 and were offered a NLI to sign, had the ability to do so with the school of their choice. The Dead Period does not allow for any off-campus contact between D-I college coaches and recruits or their families on or off of its campus. The dead period rule was put into effect to help recruits make their college decision w/ out pressure from coaches during this week.
Until Next Time…
21-22 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. Subscriptions will be necessary to watch games.
-Streams in Hockey East this year can be found HERE. Subscriptions will be necessary to watch games.
-Streams for CHA games with the exception of Penn St. can be found HERE. Subscriptions will be necessary.
-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.
Give Someone a Stick Tap… Know someone in women’s college hockey who’s work needs some recognition? Nominate them for WCH.org’s monthly ‘Stick Tap’HERE or Email us at: womenscollegehockey@gmail.com
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 3rd 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 amatuer 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.
Click on the link below to watch this week’s video version of Mailbag Monday. A frustrated parent, ‘Jason’ from the Mid-West’ who’s daughter is currently in grade 11 this academic year, wants to know why the class of 2023 is perhaps being overlooked in the recruiting process. Lengthy video caution… lots to unpack here!
It’s a good question ‘Jason’. We do a deep dive on some factors that recruits in the 2023 class will want to keep in mind as they go through the process. We hope this video helps!
Be sure to tune in next Monday for another addition of Mailbag Monday. Remember you can submit your questions HERE, email them to us at womenscollegehockey@gmail.com, or send us a Tweet to @WMNSCollHockey and use the hashtag #MailbagMonday.
Odds & Ends + Streaming Info
NCAA Coaching Changes…Keep up with all the coaching changes across D-I and D-III HERE.
Give Someone a Stick Tap… Know someone in women’s college hockey who’s work needs some recognition? Nominate them for WCH.org’s monthly ‘Stick Tap’HERE or Email us at: womenscollegehockey@gmail.com
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.
Streaming Info
Streams 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. Subscriptions will be necessary to watch games.
Streams in Hockey East can be found HERE. Subscriptions will be necessary to watch games.
Streams in CHA games with the exception of Penn St. can be found HERE. Paid subscriptions will be necessary. Penn State streams can be found HERE.
Streams in NEWHA games can be found at each teams’ website. Paid subscriptions will be necessary.
Grant Kimball is founder and contributing writer at Women’s College Hockey.org and beginning his 3rd 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 amatuer 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.
Click on the link below to watch this week’s version of Monday Mailbag! Jeff from Wisconsin wants to know when new coaches take over a program, do they have to honor commitments from the previous staff? Also, is it appropriate to ask coaches during the recruiting process how long they foresee themselves at the school?
Great question Jeff. We hope this helps!
Be sure to tune in next Monday for another addition of Mailbag Monday. Remember you can submit your questions HERE, email them to us at womenscollegehockey@gmail.com, or send us a Tweet to @WMNSCollHockey and use the hashtag #MailbagMonday.
In This Post…
Weekend Preview & Schedule |
Sifters |
Weekend Preview & Schedule
Preview
#7/8 Boston College and Penn State kicked off the weekend Thursday in Happy Valley. BC takes game one 2-1
15 teams will play their first games of the year this weekend
#1 Wisconsin travel east to take on Merrimack in North Andover, MA
#2 Northeastern
#3/3 Ohio State travels to #4t/4 Minnesota in a early WCHA match-up
#4/6 Colgate clashes with a 3-0-0 Mercyhurst team at home for a pair Friday & Saturday
#6 MN-Duluth travels to Mankato
#8/7 Cornell and #9/9 Princeton are idle. Ivy League schools don’t start playing games for a few weeks
Thursday Sept. 30th
#7/8 Boston College @ Penn State – 7PM
Friday October 1st
#1/1 Wisconsin @ Merrimack 2PM
Union @ RIT 6PM
BU @ UNH 6PM
Boston Pride @ Providence 6PM (Exhibition)
RPI @ Vermont 6PM
Syracuse @ St. Lawrence 6PM
LIU @ #10/NR Quinnipiac 6PM
#2 Northeastern @ Holy Cross 6PM
Mercyhurst @ #4t/4 Colgate 6PM
#7/8 BC @ Penn State 7PM
Bemidji @ St. Thomas 7PM
#6/5 MN-Duluth @ Mankato 8:07PM
Lindenwood @ St. Cloud 7:07PM
#3/3 Ohio State @ #4/4 Minnesota 8:07PM
Saturday October 2nd
#2 Holy Cross @ Northeastern 2PM
#1/1 Wisconsin @ Merrimack 2PM
Union @ RIT 2PM
BU @ UNH 2PM
St. Anselm @ Maine 3PM
Mercyhurst @ #4t/4 Colgate 3PM
Syracuse @ St. Lawrence 3PM
RPI @ Vermont 3PM
LIU @ #10/NR Quinnipiac 3PM
Lindenwood @ St. Cloud 4:07PM
#6/5 MN-Duluth @ Mankato 4:07PM
Bemidji @ St. Thomas 4PM
#3/3 Ohio State @ #4/4 Minnesota 5:07PM
St. Michael’s @ Sacred Heart 5:30PM
Sifters
Ivy Official Start Date… Today is the first official practice date for Ivy League teams. Programs can now practice more than the 4 hrs. per week previously allowed.
More Coaching Changes… As has been the case each year, there always seems to be a late head coaching change that opens up a position late. This year, for now, that is UMASS-Boston. UMB opened its search on Sept. 10 and the position was posted on the American Hockey Coaches Website on Sept. 21. You can view the posting HERE.
SUNY-Cortland is looking for an Assistant Coach as is Plymouth State Univ. You can find more info about each position on the AHCA website HERE. Be sure to scroll down the page to find each listing.
New U.S. National Team Addition… Anna Wilgren, Senior Defenseman at Minnesota State Mankato has been added to the U.S. residency roster for the U.S. Women’s National Team in preparation for the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. USA Hockey made the announcement yesterday morning. You can read more HERE.
Odds & Ends + Streaming Info
NCAA Coaching Changes…Keep up with all the coaching changes across D-I and D-III HERE.
Give Someone a Stick Tap… Know someone in women’s college hockey who’s work needs some recognition? Nominate them for WCH.org’s monthly ‘Stick Tap’HERE or Email us at: womenscollegehockey@gmail.com
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.
Streaming Info
Streams 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. Subscriptions will be necessary to watch games.
Streams in Hockey East can be found HERE. Subscriptions will be necessary to watch games.
Streams in CHA games with the exception of Penn St. can be found HERE. Paid subscriptions will be necessary. Penn State streams can be found HERE.
Streams in NEWHA games can be found at each teams’ website. Paid subscriptions will be necessary.
Grant Kimball is founder and contributing writer at Women’s College Hockey.org and beginning his 3rd 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 amatuer 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.
#7/8 Boston College and Penn State kicked off the weekend Thursday in Happy Valley. BC takes game one 2-1
15 teams will play their first games of the year this weekend
#1 Wisconsin travel east to take on Merrimack in North Andover, MA
#2 Northeastern
#3/3 Ohio State travels to #4t/4 Minnesota in a early WCHA match-up
#4/6 Colgate clashes with a 3-0-0 Mercyhurst team at home for a pair Friday & Saturday
#6 MN-Duluth travels to Mankato
#8/7 Cornell and #9/9 Princeton are idle. Ivy League schools don’t start playing games for a few weeks
Thursday Sept. 30th
#7/8 Boston College @ Penn State – 7PM
Friday October 1st
#1/1 Wisconsin @ Merrimack 2PM
Union @ RIT 6PM
BU @ UNH 6PM
Boston Pride @ Providence 6PM (Exhibition)
RPI @ Vermont 6PM
Syracuse @ St. Lawrence 6PM
LIU @ #10/NR Quinnipiac 6PM
#2 Northeastern @ Holy Cross 6PM
Mercyhurst @ #4t/4 Colgate 6PM
#7/8 BC @ Penn State 7PM
Bemidji @ St. Thomas 7PM
#6/5 MN-Duluth @ Mankato 8:07PM
Lindenwood @ St. Cloud 7:07PM
#3/3 Ohio State @ #4/4 Minnesota 8:07PM
Saturday October 2nd
#2 Holy Cross @ Northeastern 2PM
#1/1 Wisconsin @ Merrimack 2PM
Union @ RIT 2PM
BU @ UNH 2PM
St. Anselm @ Maine 3PM
Mercyhurst @ #4t/4 Colgate 3PM
Syracuse @ St. Lawrence 3PM
RPI @ Vermont 3PM
LIU @ #10/NR Quinnipiac 3PM
Lindenwood @ St. Cloud 4:07PM
#6/5 MN-Duluth @ Mankato 4:07PM
Bemidji @ St. Thomas 4PM
#3/3 Ohio State @ #4/4 Minnesota 5:07PM
St. Michael’s @ Sacred Heart 5:30PM
Sifters
Ivy Official Start Date… Today is the first official practice date for Ivy League teams. Programs can now practice more than the 4 hrs. per week previously allowed.
More Coaching Changes… As has been the case each year, there always seems to be a late head coaching change that opens up a position late. This year, for now, that is UMASS-Boston. UMB opened its search on Sept. 10 and the position was posted on the American Hockey Coaches Website on Sept. 21. You can view the posting HERE.
SUNY-Cortland is looking for an Assistant Coach as is Plymouth State Univ. You can find more info about each position on the AHCA website HERE. Be sure to scroll down the page to find each listing.
New U.S. National Team Addition… Anna Wilgren, Senior Defenseman at Minnesota State Mankato has been added to the U.S. residency roster for the U.S. Women’s National Team in preparation for the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. USA Hockey made the announcement yesterday morning. You can read more HERE.
Odds & Ends + Streaming Info
NCAA Coaching Changes…Keep up with all the coaching changes across D-I and D-III HERE.
Give Someone a Stick Tap… Know someone in women’s college hockey who’s work needs some recognition? Nominate them for WCH.org’s monthly ‘Stick Tap’HERE or Email us at: womenscollegehockey@gmail.com
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.
Streams 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. Subscriptions will be necessary to watch games.
Streams in Hockey East can be found HERE. Subscriptions will be necessary to watch games.
Streams in CHA games with the exception of Penn St. can be found HERE. Paid subscriptions will be necessary. Penn State streams can be found HERE.
Streams in NEWHA games can be found at each teams’ website. Paid subscriptions will be necessary.
Grant Kimball is founder and contributing writer at Women’s College Hockey.org and beginning his 3rd 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 amatuer 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.
Game results, box scores, and statistics come directly from the NCAA Stats Site (found here).
Video highlight links are to individual program produced media, some of which may be found on team twitter or other social media accounts – so scroll the feed to see the game highlights.
Postgame links are any postgame video produced by individual programs and found on either team websites or social media accounts.
No link… for video highlights or postgame? Assume there was none available at the time of our post.
Game Results, Box Scores, Video Highlights, Postgame
20 games played, 1 Thursday, 9 Friday, and 10 on Saturday.
The home team went 13-6-1 last weekend.
Colgate @ RIT Saturday drew 1350 in attendance, the largest crowd of the weekend. RPI/M’Hurst came in 2nd with 726 on Saturday. According to the NCAA Stats Site, 8,140 spectators attended the 20 games scheduled, an ave. of 407/game.
The average margin of victory per win this weekend was 4.65 goals. Exactly half of the games this weekend saw 5 goals or more scored by the winning team.
SLU/Penn State played the first overtime 3 on 3 game this year… with no winner.
St. Thomas played its first ever games as a member of Division I and the WCHA.
There we 7 shutouts.
Minnesota-State Mankato had the furthest road trip of any program this weekend… according to Apple Maps, it’s 1425 miles from Mankato, MN to North Andover, MA where Merrimack College is located.
Weekly Top 10 Rankings
We publish two nationally recognized ‘Top 10’ polls – 1) USCHO.com Women’s Top 10 Poll and 2) USA Today / USA Hockey Magazine Top 10 Women’s Poll.
The USCHO.com ranking will be listed first and the USA Today / USA Hockey Magazine ranking listed second when identifying rankings for teams. Example, ‘#4/5’
USCHO Division I Women’s Poll – September 27, 2021
Others receiving votes: Clarkson 17, Harvard 9, Providence 3, Penn State 2
USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Women’s College Hockey Poll
September 28, 2021
# RK
Team
Points
(First Place Votes)
Last Poll
Record
Weeks in Poll
1
University of Wisconsin
190
(19)
1
2-0-0
3
2
Northeastern University
163
2
0-0-0
3
3
Ohio State University
143
3
2-0-0
3
4
University of Minnesota
120
5
0-0-0
3
5
University of Minnesota Duluth
107
4
0-0-0
3
6
Colgate University
106
6
2-0-0
3
7
Cornell University
65
7
0-0-0
3
8
Boston College
59
8
0-0-0
3
9
Princeton University
40
9
0-0-0
3
10
Clarkson University
22
NR
2-0-0
1
Others receiving votes: Quinnipiac 12, Providence 10, Harvard 6, Penn State 2.
More Coaches Polls
The NEWHA and Hockey East have released their 21-22 Preseason Coaches Polls. In just its third year, Long Island University claims the NEWHA’s top spot while in Hockey East, Northeastern was picked to finish first by league coaches. You can see both polls below.
2021-2022 New England Women’s Hockey Alliance Preseason Coaches Poll
RANK
TEAM
POINTS (FIRST PLACE VOTES)
1.
LIU
25 pts. (5)
2.
Sacred Heart
19 pts. (1)
3.
Franklin Pierce
18 pts.
4.
Saint Anselm
14 pts.
5.
Saint Michael’s
9 pts.
6.
Post
5 pts.
2021-2022 Hockey East Preseason Coaches Poll
Rank
Team (1st Place Votes)
Pts.
1.
Northeastern (9)
90
2.
Providence (1)
75
3.
Boston College
70
4.
UConn
67
5.
Boston University
59
6.
Vermont
52
7.
Maine
43
8.
New Hampshire
40
9.
Holy Cross
25
10.
Merrimack
19
Hockey Canada Cancels Under-18’s
Originally this was going to be a little boo-hoo blurb in our Sifters section, but as I got going on it, it became what it is below.
Monday evening, Hockey Canada announced the cancellation of three events slated to take place this fall due to ongoing COVID concerns. The 2021 National Women’s Under-18 Championships was one of them, an event cancelled last Fall and one many NCAA schools were looking forward to getting to. So our questions is this: Was there back-up plan?
Here is part of Hockey Canada’s official statement, “Despite a strong desire to work with three great communities to host the top players at various levels across the country this season, the health and safety of all participants and the communities at large continues to be of the utmost importance to Hockey Canada. The ongoing pandemic, in addition to the vaccination status of some international teams, has left us with no other option. We believe the decision to cancel these fall events is the safest decision given the ongoing uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic at a local level, as well as the uncertainty around countries and regions being able to safely compete...”
The Canadian Tire Para Hockey Cup and 2021 World Junior ‘A’ Challenge were the two other events cancelled. Other countries were set to compete at these two events. Looking at the above statement, we can buy the rationale for cancelling based on Canada requiring certain types of vaccines for entry. If teams can’t meet the requirement, than you have no choice but to cancel the event. But the Women’s U-18 don’t involve outside countries – just provincial U-18 teams. If conditions are such, that the intended locale doesn’t meet Hockey Canada standards, move to plan B. Why not announce a postponement with a clear plan to either move to a plan B – which would have already been figured out in advance – or a path investigate alternative locations or dates? Didn’t Hockey Canada just go through this a few months back with the Women’s Worlds being canceled? Didn’t Hockey Canada already have a front row seat for this?
A quick glance of Canadian Major Junior or Tier II Jr. A league schedules tells us games are being played across provincial lines, even US based teams are crossing into Canada. So what got missed? The development of a ‘what if’ plan to hold the event elsewhere if conditions warranted, that’s what. Organizations have had to learn to adapt in our new COVID world–event organizers need back-up plans! NCAA – you are on the clock too, should COVID concerns derail any championships in its intended locale, have a plan B. Insert hand slapping face emoji here. What’s the saying, history is doomed to repeat itself? Until it doesn’t.
Like most things in life you either want to do something and can. You want to do something but can’t, because of some limitation preventing you. Or – you just don’t want to do it. Curious to know where this situation falls. Health and safety should never be compromised – no question. The lack of explanation about possible alternatives leaves a lot to be answered. Where on the priority list does the Women’s Under-18 Championships fall?
Kudos to Manitoba Hockey for their statement HERE about putting in the work to find an alternative. Leadership comes in all forms, but sometimes, all it takes is effort.
Sifters
ECAC YouTube Page… The ECAC has its own YouTube page found HERE. Viewers can watch game highlights of ECAC teams. We hope to see more highlights this season.
CHA Celebrates 20 Years… College Hockey America is celebrating its 20th season as a D-I conference with five insitutitions–Lindenwood, Mercyhurst, Penn State, Rochester Institute of Technology, and Syracuse. The league was founded back in 2002-2003 as a four-team conference with Findlay University, Mercyhurst University, Niagara University, and Wayne State University. Sadly, only one program still remains active – Mercyhurst. Quinnipiac came into the CHA for the 2004-2005 after being an independent after Findlay dropped its program. Even Ohio State was a conference member of the CHA for a brief time prior to the 04-05 season before becoming a member of the WCHA (again). Mercyhurst has been to the NCAA tournament 17 times, Robert Morris twice, RIT and Syracuse once each.
CHA NCAA Auto-bid Situation… D-I NCAA conferences in women’s ice hockey must have 6 active members to be eligible for an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. With Robert Morris’ program still in doubt of starting back up, the CHA would need to find a 6th team by the ’23-’24 season or be in jeopardy of losing its auto bid. Conferences have a two-year grace period to find a 6th team under NCAA rules.
Hockey East Continues Free Streams… Hockey East will once again stream all of its conference games online, live, and for free. You can read the official announcement from Hockey East HERE. Hockey East provided free streams of its women’s and men’s game last season. Also in the coming days will be an announcement about the 21-22 TV schedule of Hockey East women’s and men’s games on NESN and NESN+.
2022 Olympic Schedule Released, Qualifying Tournaments Up Next… The IIHF announced the women’s hockey 2022 Olympic schedule last week. You can find it HERE. Games are set to begin Feb. 3, 2022 and the Gold Medal Game will be Thursday Feb. 17, 2022. Seven nations have already qualified, Canada, China (host–automatic qualification granted) Finland, Japan, Russian Olympic Committee, Switzerland, and The United States. 3 spots are still up for grabs. These will be determined by 2 qualifying tournaments held below:
Olympic Pre-Qualification Round 2 (7-10 October 2021)
Group F
Group G
Group H
(in Nottingham/GBR)
(in Torre Pellice/ITA)
(in Bytom/POL)
Korea
Italy
Netherlands
Great Britain
Kazakhstan
Poland
Slovenia
Spain
Mexico
Iceland
Chinese Taipei
Turkey
Final Olympic Qualification (11-14 November 2021)
Group C
Group D
Group E
(in Chomutov/CZE)
(in Fussen/GER)
(in Lulea/SWE)
Czech Republic
Germany
Sweden
Hungary
Denmark
France
Norway
Austria
Slovakia
Q6
Q5
Q4
OWHA Mandates Vaccines… The Ontario Women’s Hockey Association, in consultation with Ontario health officials, is mandating as a condition of eligibility, all players born 2009 or earlier to be fully vaccinated (2 shots + 14 days after 2nd shot) no later than Nov. 1. You can read there official statement HERE.
Stop & Go Offsides… We mentioned our displeasure about the new USA Hockey offsides rule. Looks like former Pittsburgh Penguin Ian Moran feels similarly – see his tweet below.
-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. Subscriptions will be necessary to watch games.
-Streams in Hockey East this year can be found HERE. Subscriptions will be necessary to watch games.
-Streams for CHA games with the exception of Penn St. can be found HERE. Subscriptions will be necessary.
-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.
Give Someone a Stick Tap… Know someone in women’s college hockey who’s work needs some recognition? Nominate them for WCH.org’s monthly ‘Stick Tap’HERE or Email us at: womenscollegehockey@gmail.com
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 3rd 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 amatuer 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.
Click on the link below to watch this week’s version of Monday Mailbag! Jeff from Michigan wants to know the NCAA rules regarding when face-to-face conversations can take place between recruits and college coaches at the arena.
Great question Jeff. We hope this helps!
Be sure to tune in next Monday for another addition of Mailbag Monday. Remember you can submit your questions HERE, email them to us at womenscollegehockey@gmail.com, or send us a Tweet to @WMNSCollHockey and use the hashtag #MailbagMonday.
Post #55
In This Post…
The Adjustment Phase|
Pre-Season Polls |
Sifters |
The Adjustment Phase
If you are one of those players moving up an age level this year, from U14 to U16 or U16 to U19, how are you feeling about your game so far? A little off or frustrated you’re not playing as well as you thought you would… Overwhelmed with all those new skills & systems to learn… Not playing as much as you would like… No time yet on the PP or PK… does everyone you play against seem bigger, faster, stronger???
Well, if you answered ‘yes’ to any of the above – welcome to the Adjustment Phase.
Just about everyone, at every level hockey, has some kind of adjustment. Youth players all the way up to NHLers have adjustment periods – seldom is anyone immune from it. We’ll answer exactly what the adjustment phase is, how long it can last for, and why it’s probably the most critical period of your hockey development. The ‘Adjustment Phase’ is really just a period of time during ones hockey development where a player might struggle with certain elements of the game as they move from one level to another.
May be the pace of the game is too fast to handle and you struggle to make good decisions. Or you aren’t physically strong enough to handle the much older/stronger competition.
Yes – the adjustment phase is excruciatingly frustrating at times, who wants to play poorly, right? Players hate when this happens, that is until you understand how it can help you. It’s kind of like taking a test in school… if you knew what questions were going to be on the test before you took it, that would really help, right? Well, if hockey is the test, then the adjustment phase are the ANSWERS! When players go through the adjustment phase, they learn what they need to focus on in order to improve and hopefully get to a point where they can impact the game on a consistent basis at the new level they are at. The time it takes to get to that point can vary greatly however.
If we knew how long the adjustment phase lasted, someone would be a gazillionaire. There’s a lot that goes into how long this takes. For some players it could take weeks to get adjusted, or months, or the better part of a full season. It’s going to be different for everyone. Genetics plays a role, learning ability plays a role, work ethic, desire, mental mindset, and the list goes on. What can help accelerate passing by the adjustment phase? Tough to come up with a full-proof answer but, here are a few things you can do to possibly shorten the length your adjustment may take.
Know what your coach wants to see in your play
Evaluate your game with video (if possible), so you can see how what your coaches are describing… or perhaps in this case, not seeing so you can identify what you’re struggling with
Identify the skills needed to accomplish your goals
Create an action plan and timeline to work on the skills necessary
Bottom line, the Adjustment Phase could be the most important piece to your hockey development. It’s a necessary part of the process of playing well at the level you’re at. The more you understand how to approach it – the better you’ll be the next time it comes around.
Pre-Season Polls
It’s that time of year, Pre-Season Coaches Poll time. The NCAA D-I season starts up for real this weekend with games that count, and each conference has announced its pre-season coaches poll. In addition, USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine publish a weekly Top 10 poll during the season.
Like with most pre-season polls, there is nothing to go on from this year. These for the most part, are purely based on last seasons records, key player departures as well as recruited additions. The WCHA, CHA, and ECAC have announced their pre-season coaches polls which are below. We’ll get you Hockey East and the NEWHA once they are officially announced.
Sifters
New NCAA Stat Site To Replace Collegehockeystats.net… Long time statistical college hockey website collegehockeystats.net, a favorite among college hockey coaches and fans, will no longer be updating statistical season data. 20-21 was its last year in service. The website will however, still remain and any of its prior year statistical data will be available. CHS filled a huge void and was the ‘Go-To’ college hockey online resource for live scores, game stats, game line-up charts, conference standings, and any number of college hockey stats. Taking its place will be a NCAA branded site found here: https://stats.ncaa.org/. We have provided a limited overview of the NCAA site and included a comparison vs. collegehockeystats found HERE. The NCAA site tracks many of the same data, there are some major differences as well. A detailed description of how to get certain data is outlined in the form also.
So why the change? The NCAA is transitioning away from a very popular game stats software program called StatsCrew and moving to a new software program called LiveStats.
Marmer and Roth Selected to Work With Boston Bruins… Quinnipiac Player Development and Operations Director Danielle Marmer and Holy Cross Associate Head Coach Meredith Roth have been selected to participate in the Boston Bruins Diversity & Inclusion Scouting Mentorship Program. The 9-month project aims to use members of the Bruins’ operations staff to increase the mentee’s pursuits in scouting and or a professional career in hockey. You can read the official Bruins’ announcement HERE.
U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Museum Game Announced… The Minnesota Golden Gophers will host St. Cloud State University Nov. 20th in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Museum Face-Off Classic. Puck drop is set for 3pm cst.
Speaking of Minnesota, the Gophers program turns 25-years this year.
US Allows Non-Citizens To Travel By Air To US In November… The U.S. Gov’t announced Monday starting in November fully vaccinated non-US citizens will be able to fly to the US. A negative COVID test will be required within three days of arrival. The land border between the US and Canada remains shut-down for another month until Oct. 21. We can’t seem to find much in the way of specifics with the new US guidance regarding Canadians. We will keep you updated as more is known.
IIHF World Championships Moves to August… Women’s hockey just got a nice boost from the IIHF as it is moving the top level Women’s World Championships Tournament to August in Olympic years beginning with 2022. Denmark has applied to be the host country in 2022. It’s a move that makes a lot of sense coming off the sports most high profile event at the Olympics. The best get to showcase themselves on the world stage 6 months later at a time of year when there is a hockey void on TV. No other league in the world that garners a TV audience, are usually playing games in August. You can read the IIHF official announcement HERE.
NCAA Coaching Changes…Keep up with all the coaching changes across D-I and D-III HERE.
Give Someone a Stick Tap… Know someone in women’s college hockey who’s work needs some recognition? Nominate them for WCH.org’s monthly ‘Stick Tap’HERE or Email us at: womenscollegehockey@gmail.com
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.
Until Next Time…
Grant Kimball is founder and contributing writer at Women’s College Hockey.org and beginning his 3rd 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 amatuer 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.
NCAA Coaching Changes…Keep up with all the coaching changes across D-I and D-III HERE.
Give Someone a Stick Tap… Know someone in women’s college hockey who’s work needs some recognition? Nominate them for WCH.org’s monthly ‘Stick Tap’HERE or Email us at: womenscollegehockey@gmail.com
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.
Streaming Info-Updated as of 9-21-21
-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. Subscriptions will be necessary to watch games.
-Streams in Hockey East this year can be found HERE. Subscriptions will be necessary to watch games.
-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 D-I Weekend Game Schedule
With a weeks worth of regular season practice under their belts, quite a few NCAA D-I teams are playing games for real now. Some games on the weekend schedule are exhibition games. The new NCAA Stat Site schedule doesn’t reference whether games are Exhibition, Conference, or Non-Conference, which was a nice feature of CHS (collegehockeystats).
Several pre-season USCHO.com Top 10 ranked teams, as well as those just outside the Top 10, are in action this weekend.
Quinnipiac, just outside the Top 10 hosts Maine for a 2-game Friday/Saturday series at home. Clarkson, who is also just outside the Top 10 faces off against Sacred Heart at home for a pair of games Friday and Saturday. #9 Penn State welcomes St. Lawrence for a Thursday/Friday series. #6 Colgate and RIT play a home and home Friday and Saturday. #3 Ohio State hosts new WCHA member St. Thomas Friday/Saturday in Columbus. And #1 Wisconsin travels to North Andover, MA to take on Merrimack for a pair of games.
You can see the full weekend Thursday, Friday, and Saturday schedule below. All times are Eastern Standard Time. Streaming information can be found above.
Updated Coaching Changes… Nichols College has hired former Quinnipiac Head Coach Michael Barrett. Barrett coached the Bobcats from 2002-2008 before moving into an Athletic Department Development role.
Josh Glaser has been hired as RIT’s newest Assistant Coach. Josh has spent time with Vermont, Colgate, and Utica in various roles.
Kate Leary has been hired at Merrimack College as an Assistant Coach. She replaces Stephanie Moberg who is now at Dartmouth College. Leary was a standout at Boston College where she amassed 85 pts in 149 games.
Zoey Pellowitz iis the new Graduate Assistant Coach at Nazareth College. She just completed her playing career at Manhattanville.
Mike Frost is the new Assistant Coach at Johnson & Wales.
Transfers, Where Are They Now… It was quite a year for the transfer. Nicole Haase of USCHO.com has compiled a thorough list of which players have departed certain programs and where they wound up at for the season. You can find her complete list HERE.
Until Next Time…
Grant Kimball is founder and contributing writer at Women’s College Hockey.org and beginning his 3rd 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 amatuer 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.
NCAA Coaching Changes…Keep up with all the coaching changes across D-I and D-III HERE.
Give Someone a Stick Tap… Know someone in women’s college hockey who’s work needs some recognition? Nominate them for WCH.org’s monthly ‘Stick Tap’HERE or Email us at: womenscollegehockey@gmail.com
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.
In This Post…
The Adjustment Phase|
Pre-Season Polls |
Sifters |
The Adjustment Phase
If you are one of those players moving up an age level this year, from U14 to U16 or U16 to U19, how are you feeling about your game so far? A little off or frustrated you’re not playing as well as you thought you would… Overwhelmed with all those new skills & systems to learn… Not playing as much as you would like… No time yet on the PP or PK… does everyone you play against seem bigger, faster, stronger???
Well, if you answered ‘yes’ to any of the above – welcome to the Adjustment Phase.
Just about everyone, at every level hockey, has some kind of adjustment. Youth players all the way up to NHLers have adjustment periods – seldom is anyone immune from it. We’ll answer exactly what the adjustment phase is, how long it can last for, and why it’s probably the most critical period of your hockey development. The ‘Adjustment Phase’ is really just a period of time during ones hockey development where a player might struggle with certain elements of the game as they move from one level to another.
May be the pace of the game is too fast to handle and you struggle to make good decisions. Or you aren’t physically strong enough to handle the much older/stronger competition.
Yes – the adjustment phase is excruciatingly frustrating at times, who wants to play poorly, right? Players hate when this happens, that is until you understand how it can help you. It’s kind of like taking a test in school… if you knew what questions were going to be on the test before you took it, that would really help, right? Well, if hockey is the test, then the adjustment phase are the ANSWERS! When players go through the adjustment phase, they learn what they need to focus on in order to improve and hopefully get to a point where they can impact the game on a consistent basis at the new level they are at. The time it takes to get to that point can vary greatly however.
If we knew how long the adjustment phase lasted, someone would be a gazillionaire. There’s a lot that goes into how long this takes. For some players it could take weeks to get adjusted, or months, or the better part of a full season. It’s going to be different for everyone. Genetics plays a role, learning ability plays a role, work ethic, desire, mental mindset, and the list goes on. What can help accelerate passing by the adjustment phase? Tough to come up with a full-proof answer but, here are a few things you can do to possibly shorten the length your adjustment may take.
Know what your coach wants to see in your play
Evaluate your game with video (if possible), so you can see how what your coaches are describing… or perhaps in this case, not seeing so you can identify what you’re struggling with
Identify the skills needed to accomplish your goals
Create an action plan and timeline to work on the skills necessary
Bottom line, the Adjustment Phase could be the most important piece to your hockey development. It’s a necessary part of the process of playing well at the level you’re at. The more you understand how to approach it – the better you’ll be the next time it comes around.
Pre-Season Polls
It’s that time of year, Pre-Season Coaches Poll time. The NCAA D-I season starts up for real this weekend with games that count, and each conference has announced its pre-season coaches poll. In addition, USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine publish a weekly Top 10 poll during the season.
Like with most pre-season polls, there is nothing to go on from this year. These for the most part, are purely based on last seasons records, key player departures as well as recruited additions. The WCHA, CHA, and ECAC have announced their pre-season coaches polls which are below. We’ll get you Hockey East and the NEWHA once they are officially announced.
Sifters
New NCAA Stat Site To Replace Collegehockeystats.net… Long time statistical college hockey website collegehockeystats.net, a favorite among college hockey coaches and fans, will no longer be updating statistical season data. 20-21 was its last year in service. The website will however, still remain and any of its prior year statistical data will be available. CHS filled a huge void and was the ‘Go-To’ college hockey online resource for live scores, game stats, game line-up charts, conference standings, and any number of college hockey stats. Taking its place will be a NCAA branded site found here: https://stats.ncaa.org/. We have provided a limited overview of the NCAA site and included a comparison vs. collegehockeystats found HERE. The NCAA site tracks many of the same data, there are some major differences as well. A detailed description of how to get certain data is outlined in the form also.
So why the change? The NCAA is transitioning away from a very popular game stats software program called StatsCrew and moving to a new software program called LiveStats.
Marmer and Roth Selected to Work With Boston Bruins… Quinnipiac Player Development and Operations Director Danielle Marmer and Holy Cross Associate Head Coach Meredith Roth have been selected to participate in the Boston Bruins Diversity & Inclusion Scouting Mentorship Program. The 9-month project aims to use members of the Bruins’ operations staff to increase the mentee’s pursuits in scouting and or a professional career in hockey. You can read the official Bruins’ announcement HERE.
U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Museum Game Announced… The Minnesota Golden Gophers will host St. Cloud State University Nov. 20th in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Museum Face-Off Classic. Puck drop is set for 3pm cst.
Speaking of Minnesota, the Gophers program turns 25-years this year.
US Allows Non-Citizens To Travel By Air To US In November… The U.S. Gov’t announced Monday starting in November fully vaccinated non-US citizens will be able to fly to the US. A negative COVID test will be required within three days of arrival. The land border between the US and Canada remains shut-down for another month until Oct. 21. We can’t seem to find much in the way of specifics with the new US guidance regarding Canadians. We will keep you updated as more is known.
IIHF World Championships Moves to August… Women’s hockey just got a nice boost from the IIHF as it is moving the top level Women’s World Championships Tournament to August in Olympic years beginning with 2022. Denmark has applied to be the host country in 2022. It’s a move that makes a lot of sense coming off the sports most high profile event at the Olympics. The best get to showcase themselves on the world stage 6 months later at a time of year when there is a hockey void on TV. No other league in the world that garners a TV audience, are usually playing games in August. You can read the IIHF official announcement HERE.
Until Next Time…
Grant Kimball is founder and contributing writer at Women’s College Hockey.org and beginning his 3rd 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 amatuer 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.
Part III – Mutual Respect Series – Club & High School Coaches |
Today we bring you the 3rd-part of our 3-part series on mutual respect within women’s hockey. We’re taking a look at three key participant groups – Youth hockey Parents, Players, and Club / High School coaches. We’ll identify some situations that commonly occur and ways in which we can show a bit more mutual respect to those we deal with throughout the hockey season. Enjoy!
Part III – Mutual RespectSeries
Club and High School Coaches
Help your players explore all college hockey opportunities that come their way… Coaches or team personnel who help their players navigate the NCAA recruiting process can be very valuable, but only when you present all the options to your players! At times, some club/high school coaches can be selective about who tell their players who has interest in them. This is never a great approach. D-I coaches can’t communicate with players in grade 9 or 10, so club / high school coaches become gatekeepers of information of information college coached tell them–like when they have interest in a certain player. Let your players and families know every NCAA program that asks about them. D-I, D-III, ACHA teams – anyone. It should never matter to you who inquires. What you are, is someone who helps high school players and parents sort through information in order so they can make an educated decision. What you are not, is an some kind of agent, who picks and chooses which schools your players will have interest in.
Want to be respected in your role with your player’s/families and the NCAA coaches who have interest in you players – then give everyone a shot, remove your bias, and be inclusive of all programs. You are much better off developing a process to teach your players/families how make these decisions themselves. Show them how to evaluate the academic, the financial, as well as the hockey side of the opportunities that come their way. Have a player that wants to go to a top program? Great, sit down with them and watch a game online or better yet – go to a game live. Show them the level they are trying to get to. And If a NCAA coach asks for contact info for your players, don’t withhold it – get it to them. Once June 15 rolls around and coaches can make phone calls, eventually NCAA coaches find out if you don’t pass information along. So, respect the process, do right by your players and the college programs you work with.
Don’t be a broker in the transfer process… Those who coach players in grade 9 and beyond are what the NCAA considers a ‘Third Party’. In transfer situations, Third Parties have often been used to act behind the scenes in somewhat obscurity. Because NCAA coaches are not allowed to communicate with other NCAA players until the transfer process is initiated, ‘Third Parties’ have been used to help gain information for the player wishing to transfer. To communicate with college coaches at other programs who might have interest in the player.
Communication by a Third Party to another NCAA coach about a current NCAA player who wishes to transfer – has always been a NCAA violation, but extremely hard to track or prove. These conversations by Third Parties are dishonest and an underhanded way to operate around the NCAA rules in place. The NCAA has never really regulated Third Parties much – that is until now with new the NCAA transfer rules effective as of July 2021. It’s a bit of a back-door way of regulating Third Parties – but here is how the new rules work. Players who want to transfer must certify in writing, along with their new head coach, they did not have direct or indirect communication with the new school’s athletics staff prior to entering the NCAA Transfer Portal. That indirect or direct communication ‘behind the scenes’ is in reference to Third Parties. If impermissible contact was had, the athlete’s eligibility could be in jeopardy and infractions could be placed on her new school. The NCAA is now asking transfers and her new coaches, to be honest about their prior communications as they now have to report this to the NCAA. So, moral of the story for Third Parties: 1) If asked by a former player to help get some info for them in a transfer situation – decline, decline, decline. You will jeopardize her eligibility and could bring NCAA sanctions against her new school if you act on her behalf. 2) Respect the transfer process and wait for your former player to get in the NCAA portal – then you can help all you want. Doubtful D-I coaches are going to risk their jobs or sanctions from the NCAA against their program by lying to the NCAA and their institutions by having impermissible conversations with Third Parties. You can read more about how the new transfer process works HERE and get yourself educated.
Do Your Homework When Promoting Your Players…
Club/High School Coach: Hey, got a great D for you. Kid can really play.
College Coach: Oh, great, well how good is she?
Club/High School Coach: She’s in our top 4D, PP/PK all day long!
College Coach: Nice. Where do you think she fits at our level?
Club/High School Coach: You know, good question, I’m not so sure, never really watched much NCAA hockey. But i’m telling you – she’s AWESOME – you have to take her.
It’s a pretty common conversation actually. But there is a problem trying to promote someone if you don’t really know the talent level of the NCAA team you’re talking. Yes, the NCAA program always needs to do their homework on your player in question, but Club/HS coaches can do themselves a favor by learning a bit about the team they think one of their players may be a good fit for. Watching games live or on video of past games to familiarize yourself with the skill level and style of play the NCAA program has, can help mitigate a big risk of a player not working out and score big points with the program you’re working with. Promoting players that at the end of the day won’t be a good fit, doesn’t do anyone any favors. Just because your player does well for your team or in the league she is in – doesn’t necessarily mean she’ll be the same at the NCAA level. The more you can research and talk in specifics about how your players can help, relative to the NCAA program, the better you’re going to sound and the more a college program will respect working with you.
So do your homework/research and promote players that will be a good fit!
Until Next Time…
Grant Kimball is founder and contributing writer at Women’s College Hockey.org and beginning his 3rd 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 amatuer 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.
NCAA Coaching Changes…Keep up with all the coaching changes across D-I and D-III HERE.
Give Someone a Stick Tap… Know someone in women’s college hockey who’s work needs some recognition? Nominate them for WCH.org’s monthly ‘Stick Tap’HERE or Email us at: womenscollegehockey@gmail.com
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.
In This Post…
Official Start of Season Begins Today
Lots Coming This Week
Sept. 18 – 1st Official Practice Day
Under NCAA rules, September 18 is the 1st official practice date for women’s ice hockey. With that, the 21-22 season kicks off for most D-I programs. Ivy league rules don’t allow their teams to begin until Oct. 1.
All teams across D-I, since their first day of classes, have had up to 4 hours per week on the ice to devote to skill work. Starting today, teams can use up to 20 hours per week (the NCAA maximum) for required on-ice practice, fitness training, team meetings, team/individual video sessions, etc.
Some teams are wasting no time in playing games. With the NCAA granting a waiver late this summer allowing NCAA teams to play each other, 2 exhibition games are taking place this weekend.
Sunday Syracuse @ RPI – 3pm EST – No stream info available – Live Stats
Lots To Come This Week
With the kickoff of the hockey season there is lots to come this week on Women’s College Hockey.org.
Monday = Mailbag Monday Video Edition… Jeff from Michigan asks a great question about conversations at the rink.
Tuesday = Part III of our Mutual Respect Series… Club and High School coaches won’t want to miss this.
Wednesday = Pipeline Post #54… The Adjustment Phase, Pre-Season Polls, NCAA Rosters, D-III Update, Sifters.
Thursday = NCAA Schedules, Weekend Previews.
It’s a jam-packed week and we can’t wait to get going. Enjoy your weekend everyone!
Until Next Time…
Grant Kimball is founder and contributing writer at Women’s College Hockey.org and beginning his 3rd 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 amatuer 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.
NCAA Coaching Changes…Keep up with all the coaching changes across D-I and D-III HERE.
Give Someone a Stick Tap… Know someone in women’s college hockey who’s work needs some recognition? Nominate them for WCH.org’s monthly ‘Stick Tap’HERE or Email us at: womenscollegehockey@gmail.com
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.
In This Post…
Labor Day Tourney Observations |
NCAA In-Season Events |
Sifters |
Labor Day Tourney Observations
Recaps
Labor Day weekend has come and gone and so too have the tournaments that kicked off the 2021-2022 amatuer hockey season. 60 teams from all over the US + 1 Canadian Province came to Burlington, Vermont to compete at the U14-U16-U19 age divisions. While in Pittsburgh, PA at the PIP Labor Day Girls Fest, a total of 54 teams faced-off against one another traveling from as far away as Anaheim to Boston and everywhere in between.
Hotel prices in Burlington were sky high. +$300 / night at area hotels was a common theme. Some coaches had trouble finding rooms and had to stay in nearby Plattsburgh, NY. The weather however, was a nice consolation. It was an all-Connecticut final in both the U19 and U16 divisions with the CT Polarbears beating the Mid-Fairfield CT Stars in each age group. The MN Jr. Whitecaps took the U14 Division title with a 7-0 win over Ironbound. The Jr. Whitecaps averaged just shy of 7 goals per game… while only giving up 3 goals total in 6 games.
From what we heard in Pittsburgh there was a larger contingent of D-I coaches in attendance, all but 3 D-I schools were there. Of course there was a great contingent of D-III coaches as well. Within 3 age groups, 6 champions where crowned – winners were: U19 Silver – Little Caesars, U19 Gold – MN Jr. Whitecaps, U16 Silver – Philadelphia Jr. Flyers, U16 Gold – MN Jr. Whitecaps, U14 Silver – Connecticut Jr. Rangers, U14 Gold – Chicago Mission.
The rumor was both events in VT and Pittsburgh were well run and with no major snafu’s.
Absent from this weekend’s’ slate of events NCAA coaches could get to was the Team Ontario U18 High Performance Camp being help north of Toronto. Many NCAA coaches might say this would have been the best of the three events to evaluate at. Why? A condensed topo-end talent pool and one location to manage. Quite a few D-I coaches (myself included) who were slated to go to Ontario found their way to Burlington instead, once news of the U18 HP event being closed due to COVID concerns became public.
First Look At New USA Hockey Rules
NCAA coaches caught their first glimpses of new USA Hockey rule changes regarding offsides and when a team is penalty killing. The changes are as follows:
Automatic offsides will be called… no ‘Tag-Up’ offsides is allowed. Ensuing faceoff at offending teams offensive blueline.
Teams killing a penalty may not ice the puck. If the puck is iced, icing will be called and ensuing faceoff will be in the defensive zone of the offending team.
Most NCAA coaches we talked to don’t care for the auto offsides. Most seem to be okay with no icing on PK’s. The Games were choppy and hard to get into a flow at times due to a lot of offside calls. Icing on the penalty kill seemed to have more of an affect on the parents in the stands than the players on the ice to be honest. We get the intent of both rules, make a smarter play. But the offside rule, really? If the intent is to make a smarter play, blowing the whistle doesn’t accomplish that, play stops. What about the defending team, who could retrieve the puck, regroup, breakout, attack etc., they don’t have a chance to make a smart play–it’s like the rule was only taken from the offensive perspective of the game.
And the auto offside faceoff location did not change – it’s still at its normal spot – at the offensive blueline of the offending team. Understood when icing occurs, the normal faceoff comes all the way down. I wonder if the faceoff location for the auto offside call should have been changed too. May be the ensuing faceoff should be at the offending teams defensive zone blueline instead? You are somewhat being rewarded by still getting the faceoff at your offensive zone blueline – even though you went offside.
Like most rule changes, it will take some time for players/coaches/officials (and parents) to adjust. We shall see if there is a positive impact.
NCAA In-Season Events
Here is the line-up of in-season D-I tournaments and special events. If we’re missing something send us an email so we can announce it.
DI in DC — Nov. 26-27 — Ohio St., Penn St., Univ. MN-Duluth, St. Lawrence University
World University Games — Dec. 10-17 — Northeastern University, Team Switzerland, Team China, Team Canada, Team Russia, Team Japan. You can find out more on this event HERE.
Battle At The ‘Burgh — Jan. 1-2 — Boston University, Penn State, Syracuse, St. Cloud State
Minnesota Hockey Day Outdoor Game — Jan. 23rd — Mankato vs. St. Thomas
Mayor’s Cup — Jan. 29 — Union College vs. RPI
The Beanpot — Feb 1 & 8 — Boston College, Boston University, Harvard University, Northeastern University
Sifters
Friars’ Domenico Named To Canada’s National Women’s Team Staff… Providence Friar Associate Head Coach Alison Domenico was named to Canada’s National Women’s Team coaching staff as an Assistant Coach for the 2021-2022 season including the Olympic Games in Beijing. Domenico was recently promoted to the position of Associate Head Coach at Providence after finishing her 3rd season as an assistant. Jim Midgley left Team Canada’s National Women’s Team to join the New York Rangers as an Assistant Coach on Aug. 24th. Gina Kingsbury, Director of Hockey Operations with Hockey Canada made the announcement of Domenico’s hiring September 1. Kingsbury is very familiar with Domenico as she has been part of Hockey Canada’s women’s coaching staff before. Both are alums of St. Lawrence.
Providence has not named a replacement for Domenico yet. In these types of situations, a program usually has the option to add someone as an NCAA emergency hire just for the year on a temporary basis. Head Coach Matt Kelly only used 2 coaches on staff last year. Perhaps that will be the case for this year? You can read more on Domenico’s hire HERE.
The Hunt For Coaches Continues… LIU, Merrimack, RIT, and RPI, have yet to name Assistant Coaches to their respective staffs as of yet. There are several D-III Assistant Coaching positions that have yet to be filled also–Nichols and Hamline need to hire head coaches.
COVID Updates… As the Delta COVID variant presses on around the US, athletic departments are being faced with major decisions about fan attendance. The RPI Athletic Department of the ECAC came out with a statement as follows: ‘As per Rensselaer’s plan to return to campus-based operations of August 13, 2021, external spectators are not permitted at this time. Only RPI faculty, staff and students who are fully compliant with the Institute’s COVID-19 protocols are allowed to attend games.’. Other athletic departments are most likely pondering potential adjustments to spectator protocol should the need arise.
Early Exhibition Games… In looking at various schedules, it appears teams are taking advantage of the new NCAA rule on exhibition games allowed to be scheduled vs. NCAA schools for this year. The earliest games we’ve noticed thus far:
Sept. 18 — UCONN @ Quinnipiac
Sept. 19 — RIT @ Mercyhurst
Sept. 19 — Syracuse @ RPI
Sept. 25 — Franklin Pierce @ Northeastern
Sept. 25 — Saint Michael’s @ Univ. of Vermont
RMU Update… Robert Morris University Athletics has announced that former RMU Men’s Head coach Derek Schooley has been named Head Coach and director of hockey operations for both the men’s and women’s programs effective immediately. From the story that appears on USCHO.com HERE, a total of $2.4 Million is needed to reinstate both programs by Dec. 15, 2021. Brianne McLaughlin-Bittle, former US Olympian and RMU goaltender has been named as a special assistant for hockey operations.
Perhaps RMU can follow in the footsteps of The University Alaska-Anchorage as their men’s program recently announced it had reached its fundraising goal and will be reinstating the program for the 2022-2023 season. They raised over $3.1 million.
The Hall Calls For Purple Eagles… Niagara University will induct the 2001-2002 Women’s Hockey team into the 2021 athletics hall of fame class. The announcement was made earlier this week. The 01-02 Purple Eagles went 28-6-2 that year winning the ECAC regular season championship, making it to the Frozen Four, and playing Minnesota to a 2-2 tie in the 3rd place game. The induction will be held Dec. 4th, 2021. The Purple Eagle program was cut after the 2011-2012 season.
Until Next Time…
Grant Kimball is founder and contributing writer at Women’s College Hockey.org and beginning his 3rd 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 amatuer 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.
Part II – Mutual Respect Series – Hockey Players |
Today we bring you the 2nd-part of our 3-part series on mutual respect within women’s hockey. We’re taking a look at three key participant groups – Youth hockey Parents, Players, and Club / High School coaches. We’ll identify some situations that commonly occur and ways in which we can show a bit more mutual respect to those we deal with throughout the hockey season. Enjoy!
Hockey Players
Treat your teammates well… This is an issue that is rampant in the sport (as well as society) and has no place at any level in hockey–Bullying someone. Hockey has a code, an unwritten rule that teammates look out for one another-no matter what. You stand up and support each other with respect. Now, you don’t have to like everyone on your team, but you do have to respect everyone as your teammate and how they want to be treated. Great teammates are always building people up – not tearing them down. Bullying is dangerous stuff. It rips apart teams and lives. It messes with people’s mental health, no one wants to mess with that. There’s nothing more important than you’re well being or preserving someone else’s. So… Do keep the conversations as positive as you can with teammates. Every conversation isn’t always going to be positive – but it’s how you frame your words that will make all the difference in the world. Asking someone is always a bit better than telling (or yelling) at someone. Celebrate the great plays or near misses with words of encouragement. And in general, be nice to one another.
Be a good follower… There’s value in being a good follower. It sounds easy, but sometimes all it takes is just following directions and doing what is asked of your coaches or captains – that’s it. We mentioned last week how parents can commiserate and complain in groups–players can be the same way. That won’t get you very far up the hockey ladder. One definite way to show respect to your coaches and the players in leadership positions, like captains, is following their direction and doing what is asked. Being a good follower is a great leadership quality in fact. Be easy to deal with… meaning don’t always go against what is being asked – don’t be the player who always complains. Going ‘rogue’ and on your own path is never a good thing within a team sport.
Be good ambassadors for your team/program… Being part of a hockey program is really fun and special. But it also comes with an important responsibility–to uphold the values and expectations set by your coaching staff and or school/club association for which you play for. Respect who you play for and where you play. There were probably many people before you who laid the groundwork for your culture and how things get done. Here are a few ways to uphold that tradition. Please & Thank You’s – If anyone offers you help – the phrase ‘please and thank you’ go a long way. Use them early and often. They will put you and the program in a great light. Be ‘Present’ – Your team got asked to volunteer at the local food shelter; stay engaged, don’t make it seem like this is the last place you’d rather be. Show some level of enjoyment. The group you are supporting will have a great report back to your coaches. If you’re playing college hockey, conduct yourselves well across campus, in public, and online – You can’t hide from being a college hockey player, people on campus and off, know who you are. Each interaction you have impacts the reputation of your program. Positively interact with other departments around campus, especially those within the athletic department. Out to dinner with teammates after practice? Be extra careful what you say at the table and be nice to your servers and waitstaff. Who knows, you or your team photo might go up on the wall there! Keep it clean online with social media posts. Be funny, engaging, creative and above all – POSITIVE!
Until Next Time…
Grant Kimball is founder and contributing writer at Women’s College Hockey.org and beginning his 3rd 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 amatuer 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.
NCAA Coaching Changes…Keep up with all the coaching changes across D-I and D-III HERE.
Give Someone a Stick Tap… Know someone in women’s college hockey who’s work needs some recognition? Nominate them for WCH.org’s monthly ‘Stick Tap’HERE or Email us at: womenscollegehockey@gmail.com
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.
In This Post…
Mailbag Monday #3|
Today’s Pipeline Post #51|
Mailbag Monday #3
Click on the link below to watch this week’s version of Monday Mailbag!
Great questions Pete. We hope this helps!
Be sure to tune in next Monday for another addition of Mailbag Monday. Remember you can submit your questions HERE, email them to us at womenscollegehockey@gmail.com, or send us a Tweet to @WMNSCollHockey and use the hashtag #MailbagMonday.
Post #51
In This Post…
Part I – Mutual Respect Series – Hockey Parents |
Beginning today we start our 3-part series on mutual respect within women’s hockey. We’ll take a look at three key participant groups – Youth hockey Parents, Players, and Club / High School coaches. We’ll identify some situations that commonly occur and ways in which we can show a bit more mutual respect to those we deal with throughout the hockey season. Enjoy!
Youth Hockey Parents
Let the coaches, coach… It’s hard. You see something that makes you go cross-eyed and scratch your head. “What in the world are my daughter’s coaches doing,” you think to yourself. Before you get too frustrated and wind up telling your own daughter how YOU think she should be playing – try asking the coach first what her/his thoughts are. Sometimes parents can wind up undermining the coaches efforts and possibly confuse their own daughter without knowing it. Best to get all the facts first. Your daughter may not know who to listen to if she has 2 sets of people telling her what to do. So before coaching your daughter, ask to talk with the coach. You can frame your question as, “Hey I noticed you did x, y, or z in the game the other day. I wanted to ask you first so I don’t mix messages with my daughter. Can you help me understand what you want from her?” Any coach would not only welcome the conversation but respect you for understanding her/his position. By doing this, you are clearly respecting the boundaries between coach, player and parent.
Use your words to be supportive, acknowledge great effort, and encourage… Hockey is an exciting game that elicits instant knee-jerk emotional reactions. Sometimes it’s hard not to voice that excitement out loud. So when the occasion presents itself and something exciting happens – be that positive voice in the crowd! Let it be known, appropriately of course, that someone other than your daughter just made a great play. Her parents will appreciate you for it! As fast as hockey is, mistakes happen. You don’t want to be that parent who lets everyone in the building know who just made a mistake, believe me, they saw it too. And especially if it’s not your own daughter! Probably best to watch your comments about the officials as well. They have a tough job as it is. If you don’t have something positive to say, best not to say it. The more you praise, the better everyone will feel around you, and the more respect you’ll earn as someone other parents will enjoy being around.
Be a positive organizer… Pizza parties at the team hotel, pool parties at someone’s house in the summer, if it’s positive and for the good of the team – go for it! If you are getting people together – make sure it’s for a positive purpose and for everyone to enjoy. As they say, misery loves company too, and the disgruntled hockey parent is one person you don’t want to commiserate with. You know this person… the one who always complains about the coaches decisions or lack of ice time their daughter gets. Some of the stuff that goes on from parents these days is down-right diabolical. Respect your daughter, her experience, and her teammates enough to stay away from the negativity. There is no need to corral a group of parents to plan and take down your daughter’s youth coach because she or he is not working on the PP breakout enough. You have an out, it’s called the end of the season when you have a choice to return to the club or not. Be the type of parents who bring people together, not pull teams apart!
Until Next Time…
Grant Kimball is founder and contributing writer at Women’s College Hockey.org and beginning his 3rd 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 amatuer 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.
NCAA Coaching Changes…Keep up with all the coaching changes across D-I and D-III HERE.
Give Someone a Stick Tap… Know someone in women’s college hockey who’s work needs some recognition? Nominate them for WCH.org’s monthly ‘Stick Tap’HERE or Email us at: womenscollegehockey@gmail.com
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.
In This Post…
Busy Recruiting Weekend|
New NCAA Waiver Adds Exhibition Game
Sifters
Busy Recruiting Weekend
NCAA coaches will be putting on the miles this weekend as there are 3 major recruiting events taking place.
In Burlington, Vermont the North American Hockey Academy is hosting its 21st annual NAHA Labor Day Tournament Friday to Sunday. A total of 16–U14, 24–U16, and 19–U19 teams are participating between 5 arena locations. Some arenas are requiring masks for spectators, players, and coaches. etc. while some others are not. You can find which arenas are requiring masks etc. HERE as well as the tournament website with scores, schedules, rosters, and standings HERE.
In Pittsburgh, PA, also Friday to Sunday, it’s the 1st Annual Pip Premier Ice Prospects Labor Day Girls Fest. A total of 16–U14, 18–U16, and 20–U19 teams from around the country will compete. 3 arena locations with multiple sheets are being utilized. We have not heard of any mask mandates at this event yet. You can find tournament info with schedules, standings, and team rosters HERE.
The National Girls Hockey League also has a Labor Day event this weekend in Connecticut for it’s Blue Division teams at the U12, U14, U16, and U19 age groups. You can find scores, schedule, rosters, standings as well as COVID protocols for areas HERE.
There is a 4th major event going on north of Toronto where the ‘top’ 80 — 2004’s and 2005’s will get together as part of the U18 High Performance Team Ontario camp (tryout). The OWHA has unfortunately, due to COVID, closed this event. No scouts, coaches, or spectators will be allowed. It does not look like a live stream will be available either.
NCAAAddsWaiver For Exhibition GM
The NCAA Division I Committee for Legislative Relief announced on August 27th it was granting a waiver to allow D-I Women’s and Men’s hockey teams to play 1 additional exhibition game during the 2021-2022 season against any NCAA institutions in any division. You can read the full text from the NCAA below.
We imagine with Canadian University teams either choosing to or not being allowed to travel to the US, many NCAA schools will take advantage of this. Ivy League schools already have a waiver from the Ivy League allowing them a 2nd scrimmage for this season only and thus, won’t be able to use this NCAA waiver.
Sifters
WCHA Announces Partnership With B1G+ and BIG Ten Network… The WCHA has agree to a streaming partnership for all 8 WCHA member schools for the 2021-2022 season. Part of the package includes every regular season WCHA game as well as the WCHA playoffs streamed on the B1G+ streaming platform. Select games between between member Big Ten schools, Minnesota, Ohio State, and WIsconsin will also be televised on the Big Ten Network as well. There is one other Big Ten school – Penn State – who doesn’t appear to be part of the Big Ten Television package as far as we can tell. Details of the new deal can be found HERE.
Kristi Kehoe Promoted to Associate Head Coach… Lindenwood Assistant Coach Kristi Kehoe has been promoted to Associate Head Coach, announced earlier this week by Head Coach Shelly Looney. You can read more on her promotion HERE.
New Assistant at Merrimack Coming Soon… Although not officially announced yet, sources close to the program indicate a person has been hired and will be in place shortly.
Vermont Adds New Director of Operations… Colby College ’20 grad and former goaltender San Roman has been named new Director of Operations at Vermont. You can read more about San HERE.
New Operations Director For the Crimson… Alicia Scarpa has been named as the women’s hockey director of operations at Harvard. Both the women’s and men’s team shared an operations person in prior years. You can read more on Scala’s hire HERE.
Early Unofficial Top 10… ESPN Sportscaster and College Hockey media personality John Buccigross tweeted his Women’s Preseason #CawlidgeHawkey D-I Top 10. Media and conference pre-season polls will be out soon.
Women’s Preseason #CawlidgeHawkey Top 10 1 Wisconsin 2 Northeastern 3 Ohio State 4 Minnesota Duluth 5 Colgate 6 Princeton 7 Minnesota 8 Harvard 9 Providence 10 Penn State pic.twitter.com/0gdvVfXwxB
Grant Kimball is founder and contributing writer at Women’s College Hockey.org and beginning his 3rd 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 amatuer 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.
Beginning today we start our 3-part series on mutual respect within women’s hockey. We’ll take a look at three key participant groups – Youth hockey Parents, Players, and Club / High School coaches. We’ll identify some situations that commonly occur and ways in which we can show a bit more mutual respect to those we deal with throughout the hockey season. Enjoy!
Youth Hockey Parents
Let the coaches, coach… It’s hard. You see something that makes you go cross-eyed and scratch your head. “What in the world are my daughter’s coaches doing,” you think to yourself. Before you get too frustrated and wind up telling your own daughter how YOU think she should be playing – try asking the coach first what her/his thoughts are. Sometimes parents can wind up undermining the coaches efforts and possibly confuse their own daughter without knowing it. Best to get all the facts first. Your daughter may not know who to listen to if she has 2 sets of people telling her what to do. So before coaching your daughter, ask to talk with the coach. You can frame your question as, “Hey I noticed you did x, y, or z in the game the other day. I wanted to ask you first so I don’t mix messages with my daughter. Can you help me understand what you want from her?” Any coach would not only welcome the conversation but respect you for understanding her/his position. By doing this, you are clearly respecting the boundaries between coach, player and parent.
Use your words to be supportive, acknowledge great effort, and encourage… Hockey is an exciting game that elicits instant knee-jerk emotional reactions. Sometimes it’s hard not to voice that excitement out loud. So when the occasion presents itself and something exciting happens – be that positive voice in the crowd! Let it be known, appropriately of course, that someone other than your daughter just made a great play. Her parents will appreciate you for it! As fast as hockey is, mistakes happen. You don’t want to be that parent who lets everyone in the building know who just made a mistake, believe me, they saw it too. And especially if it’s not your own daughter! Probably best to watch your comments about the officials as well. They have a tough job as it is. If you don’t have something positive to say, best not to say it. The more you praise, the better everyone will feel around you, and the more respect you’ll earn as someone other parents will enjoy being around.
Be a positive organizer… Pizza parties at the team hotel, pool parties at someone’s house in the summer, if it’s positive and for the good of the team – go for it! If you are getting people together – make sure it’s for a positive purpose and for everyone to enjoy. As they say, misery loves company too, and the disgruntled hockey parent is one person you don’t want to commiserate with. You know this person… the one who always complains about the coaches decisions or lack of ice time their daughter gets. Some of the stuff that goes on from parents these days is down-right diabolical. Respect your daughter, her experience, and her teammates enough to stay away from the negativity. There is no need to corral a group of parents to plan and take down your daughter’s youth coach because she or he is not working on the PP breakout enough. You have an out, it’s called the end of the season when you have a choice to return to the club or not. Be the type of parents who bring people together, not pull teams apart!
Until Next Time…
Grant Kimball is founder and contributing writer at Women’s College Hockey.org and beginning his 3rd 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 amatuer 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.
NCAA Coaching Changes…See all the coaching changes in one spot –HERE– on our google sheet. Announcements on new hires and recent openings can be found below in the Sifters section.
Stick Taps Section… We need your ‘Stick Taps’ suggestions! Have someone in the world of women’s college hockey you think deserves some recognition? Let us know who they are and why you think they’re so deserving! You can fill out our online submission form right HERE or Email us at: womenscollegehockey@gmail.com or tweet at us: @WMNSCollHockey. Stick Taps go out the first post of every month so stay tuned!
Online Directory of Recruiting Events/Leagues… We received several messages from event and league organizers wishing to get their events/league weekends/showcases listed in our online directory. So – we’ve created a google sheet with all the events that present good scouting opportunities we’re are aware of. You can find that list HERE. If you run a recruiting event or league and want to have us list it in our online directory, please click HERE and fill out our WCH.org recruiting event form.
D-I Schools Starting-Up
By the end of Friday this week, 14 more D-I programs will have joined Franklin Pierce and Syracuse University and started classes for the 2021-2022 D-I season. Just about under 40% of D-I teams will potentially be on the ice this week back in session ]. Whether or not teams are on the ice, is an entirely different story. Ice needs to be laid down, lines need to be painted, equipment needs to be handed out, NCAA compliance meetings need to be held, medical physicals have to occur, COVID protocols need to be met, and classes have to begin. Needless to say there’s a lot that goes into getting a team on the ice. Check below to see who starts class this week.
WCHA
CHA
ECAC
Hockey East
NEWHA
Bemidji St. – Aug. 23
Syracuse – Aug. 20
St. Lawrence – Aug. 25
Boston College – Aug. 30
Franklin Pierce – Aug. 18
Mankato – Aug. 23
Lindenwood – Aug. 23
Colgate – Aug. 26
Merrimack College – Aug. 30
Saint Anselm – Aug. 23
St. Cloud St. – Aug. 23
Mercyhurst – Aug. 23
Cornell – Aug. 26
Providence College – Aug. 30
Saint Michael’s – Aug.23
Ohio St. – Aug. 24
Penn State – Aug. 23
Clarkson – Aug. 30
UCONN – Aug. 30
Post Univ. – Aug. 30
MN-Duluth – Aug. 30
Rochester Inst. of Tech – Aug. 23
Quinnipiac – Aug. 30
Univ. of Maine – Aug. 30
Sacred Heart Univ. – Aug. 30
RPI – Aug. 30
Univ. of New Hampshire – Aug. 30
Univ. of Vermont – Aug. 30
Observations – 3 Part Series On Mutual Respect
There is a tremendous amount of excitement as the 2021-2022 hockey season begins. Not only for NCAA programs, but for minor/youth players, coaches, parents, and everyone who plays a part in women’s hockey alike. We all want to get back to what was normal prior to the pandemic. We miss that sense of enjoyment we get from hockey. One of the ways we can ensure that enjoyment, is in how we treat one another. The better we treat one another, the more we enjoy the game. No matter what your role is within the game, we can all show a little more mutual respect between one another.
So, beginning tomorrow we’ll introduce part 1 of our 3-part ‘More Mutual Respect’ series and take a look at ways in which Parents can be more mutually respectful of one another this season. We’ll follow that up over the next two Tuesday’s, September 7th and 14th, with posts about how Players and Club/High School Coaches can be more respectful as well. Club and High School coaches who intersect with NCAA coaches during the recruiting process will definitely not want to miss this post.
Sifters
College Hockey Season Update… The AHCA, American Hockey Coaches Association met last week to begin it’s 2021-2022 season. One item of note that came up was how conferences and the NCAA will treat COVID related games that do not get played. The Hockey Commissioners association met to discuss possible options. Football conferences, such as The Big 10, have determined how they will handle certain situations should a team not be able to compete due to COVID. We expect all D-I hockey conferences to announce how to handle such situations. The NCAA on the other hand, does not recognize forfeits and no contest games. It will be interesting to see how the men’s and women’ ice hockey committees handles these situations for the NCAA National Tournament. As always, we’ll keep you posted.
Northern Michigan University Talking Women’s D-I Hockey… As it has been talked about before, Northern Michigan University has voiced its desire to have a D-I women’s NCAA program again. Just two days ago an article that appeared in the Brainerd Dispatch where AD Forrest Karr was quoted, “To me it’s an obligation that we have in the state of Michigan to help grow the sport.” You can read the full article HERE. Michigan did have a D-I NCAA program at Wayne State University, where yours truly worked from 2003-2007 under then Head Coach Jim Fetter. But the program fell prey to statewide budget cuts in 2011. No women’s D-I team in the state has existed since.
Coaching Hires Continue… We are just a few weeks away from the start of the season and there are still a few coaching positions both at D-I and D-III left to be filled.
LIU… Head Coach Rob Morgan announced he has filled one of his two open Assistant positions with former Brown alum Erica Kromm. She played for the Bears from ’07 – ’11. You can read more on Kromm’s hire HERE.
St. Anselm College… Head Coach Jen Kindret recently announced the hiring of Vinnie Ferrainola as its new full-time Assistant Coach. Ferrainola comes to St. A’s after spending the 20-21 season as Director of Hockey Operations for women’s hockey at Robert Morris University. You can read more his hire HERE.
Concordia University Wisconsin… has hired Ellie Tabaka, former player at Augsburg College ’20 and will assume the Assistant Coaching duties. You can read more on Ellie’s hire HERE.
RIT, Merrimack, and LIU… still have Assistant positions to announce.
At Division III… There are several Head and Assistants positions that need to be announced. Trinity College has a job posting for it’s Full-Time Assistant Coaching position. Anyone interested in applying can do so HERE.
RMU Update… And speaking of Robert Morris, it appears there will be no hockey played for either the women’s or men’s team for the 2021-2022 seasons. However, the school athletic department announced a ‘Hockey Is The Goal’ fundraising campaign on August 18 to help reinstate the women’s and men’s programs. An amount to get to was never announced.
Muddying the waters a bit is a story on TribLive about a lawyer representing a few RMU hockey players, who has alleged, “…a university official ordered an athletic department employee to “get rid of” text messages and emails about the school’s decision to eliminate the men’s and women’s ice hockey programs.” You can find that story HERE.
Upper Midwest HS Elite League Schedule… The Girls Minnesota High School Elite League gets back into action for the Fall of 2021 September 7th. You can find the entire league schedule HERE. The schedule spans 7 weeks this year culminating the the Girls NIT Tournament October 22-24, 2021.
Ontario U18 Camp… Women’s minor hockey in Ontario is looking more normal as the weeks go by. One sure sign is the OWHA announcing its annual U18 High Performance Invitational Camp September 3-5 in Allston, ON at the Nottawsaga Resort. Eighty players born 2004 and 2005 will be invited. This event in preparation for the Female U18 Canadian National Championships Oct. 31 to Nov. 6, 2021 in Dawson, Creek, BC. Ontario will have 2 team entries – Red and Blue.
World Championship Update… Today the US meets Finland at 3pm EST and Canada meets the Swiss at 7pm EST. Winners of today’s semi-final matchups face one another for the World Championship tomorrow, Aug. 31 at 7:30 EST. The US’s lone loss in the tournament so far was to Canada 5-1 in the prelim round. Canada remains undefeated. Placement games for all other countries have been taking place, Russia takes on Japan tomorrow at 12:00pm EST in the final placement game.
Until Next Time…
Grant Kimball is founder and contributing writer at Women’s College Hockey.org and beginning his 3rd 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 amatuer 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.
NCAA Coaching Changes…Keep up with all the coaching changes across D-I and D-III HERE.
Give Someone a Stick Tap… Know someone in women’s college hockey who’s work needs some recognition? Nominate them for WCH.org’s monthly ‘Stick Tap’HERE or Email us at: womenscollegehockey@gmail.com
Recruiting Events/League Online Directory… Find all the high value recruiting events we’re are aware of HERE. Want to add your event? Click HERE to fill out our WCH.org event form.
In This Post…
Mailbag Monday|
Last Week’s Pipeline Post #49|
Mailbag Monday #1
Today’s Mailbag Monday question is:
1. How important is it to attend college/university specific camps/clinics if you are interested in a particular school? 2. If you are not set on a particular school is it better to attend showcases or school specific camps?
Russ from Greensboro, NC
Great question Russ. Your question would have been timed perfectly had we started Mailbag Monday’s earlier in the Spring when summer recruiting got underway with camps/clinics, showcases, and exposure events. But nonetheless…
Question #1 – How important is it to attend college/university specific camps/clinics if you are interested in a particular school?
The short answer is – VERY IMPORTANT. Attending a college camp or clinic program could be the single most important college decision making exercise a recruit goes through to help them make-up their mind and pick a school – OR NOT!
Here’s why.
Attending a college’s camp or clinic automatically communicates to the coaching staff you have at least some interest in their program. Coaches LOVE when they know recruits have interest in their program and attending a college camp/clinic is a great way to show it. It’s always a good idea to send an email or call the coaching staff to remind them you have interest in the school and their hockey program. You’ll potentially stick out a little bit extra and perhaps the coaching staff will pay a little more attention to you during camp.
You actually get to be coached by the coaches! One of the hardest things for recruits to do in the recruiting process is evaluate their potential future coaches… as coaches. You can have all the emails, phone calls, texts, etc., it’s still extremely hard to determine if these people are the type of coaches you would enjoy playing for. What better way to evaluate your potential college coaches than to have them coach you at a camp? You’ll get to see how they communicate with you, other campers, as well as the other camp/clinic staff members. May you don’t want someone who is a bit of a ‘yeller & screamer’ or a coach who is too laid back. Going to a camp can also tell you a bit about their hockey knowledge and how they teach the game. Attending a camp is a great way to judge how you might be treated as a part of their program.
You put yourself on campus and in the physical environment. Pictures look great on the internet, but there is nothing like putting yourself in the exact physical environment of the school. A lot of college hockey camps take place right on their own campuses. Getting a chance to see what campus not only looks like but feels like could be crucial in making your college decision. Tough to do that from the internet.
Question #2 – If you are not set on a particular school is it better to attend showcases or school specific camps?
Great question Russ… there are a number of qualified answers we could give that might be acceptable. With out knowing your particular end-game in attending both, we’ll answer it this way.
If you are looking to become a better hockey player and improve your overall game, go to a camp that provides a structured hockey development experience you feel will help you improve as a player.
If you’re more interested in trying to catch the eye of a college coach with the hope of getting recruited, an exposure type showcase event is probably the right call.
Can you accomplish both development and exposure? Yes, you can, but most likely only at camps. Showcases are great for playing in front of many college coaches and showcasing your skills. They are not great on the hockey development end of things. There really isn’t a lot of teaching going on at a showcase. Camps can provide both hockey development and exposure (to a limit) at the same time. Only camps where many college coaches are part of the camp staff do you know what kid of exposure your getting. Don’t assume all college hockey camps are going to have 10-12+ other college coaches working at it.
Thanks for your questions Russ! Be sure to tune in next Monday for another addition of Mailbag Monday. Remember you can submit your questions HERE or email them to us at womenscollegehockey@gmail.com
Last week’s Post #49
D-I 2021-2022 Season Update
21-22 Season could in theory could start today… Hard to believe but yes, the NCAA D-I season here. Franklin Pierce University of the NEWHA begins classes today, Aug. 18. The NCAA rules allow teams beginning with the first day of classes or Sept. 15, whichever is earlier, to have up up to 4 hours of on-ice skill related activity per week. Most D-I programs will be up and running by Sept. 13th, that’s when Union and Dartmouth begin classes. Especially for the programs that did not have a season last year due to COVID, you can bet they’ll want to begin their seasons as soon as NCAA rules allow. There are also some programs that take a little slower approach and opt for a few days to go by, especially for freshmen, so everyone can get their bearings before jumping into the team schedule as to not overwhelm.
We went online and compiled a list of when each D-I school starts undergraduate classes… not taking into account COVID, some unknown delay like an athletic department policy, or scheduling error, here is a ‘fairly accurate’ (according to the internet anyway) list of dates when programs can get back on the ice if they so choose HERE.
NCAA 1st Official Practice Date… Contrary to the above mentioned 4-hours per week of on-ice skill work, Sept. 18 is actually the first official practice date in NCAA women’s ice hockey for the 2021-2022 season. That’s when all D-I programs, minus Ivy League schools, are allowed to begin their regular season allotment of up to 20-hours per week of required athletic activity–on-ice practice, strength & conditioning, team meetings, video sessions, team building, etc. The first official practice date for Ivy League institutions will be Oct. 1.
First D-I Games Just 37 Days Away… The first slate of games are scheduled for the weekend of Sept. 23-26 – just 37 days away. On Thursday Sept. 23, St. Lawrence travels to take on Penn State to kick off the 2021-2022 NCAA season. It’s customary for programs to schedule an exhibition game prior to the NCAA season beginning. After going through D-I online schedules, we are unable to find any exhibition games scheduled so far. Certainly we’re all hoping the season altering COVID restrictions are behind us and teams across all divisions (and in all sports) can have a safe normal season without interruption.
COVID Fallout – Large Rosters… As expected team roster sizes for the 21-22 season are bigger on average than in prior years. We went to every programs official website to look at 21-22 rosters that were posted. Thus far Harvard has the largest at 34 players. Not all teams are accounted for and there could be roster additions and even deletions as school begins. We’ll put together a comprehensive list once all teams rosters are finalised.
A 3rd Wave… Of Coaching Changes?
Historically the month of August and into September bring a few late coaching changes. A head or assistant coach leaves abruptly and bam, schools are left scrambling to find a replacement. This year is a bit different with more coaching changes than we’re ever seen. But that doesn’t mean we’re done with seeing some movement. Case in point, D-III Nichols College just announced an opening for their Head Coach position as Sam Fallon has resigned to take a similar position at a prep school. I expect a few more surprises. You can find our complete list of coaching departures and hires from this year HERE. As classes begin, programs are announcing recent hires… more on those below.
Mercyhurst University has hired Scott Spencer as an Assistant Coach. Spencer knows the CHA well as he was the first D-I Head Coach at Lindenwood University. Prior to Lindenwood, Spencer has coached at Ohio State, Robert Morris University, and Bemidji State on the men’s side. You can read more about his hire HERE.
Union College has filled its two Assistant Coach positions and has hired Chris Ardito and Breanne Wilson-Bennett. You can read Union’s official announcement HERE. Ardito comes to Union after having spent the past 3 seasons as the Head Girls Hockey Coach at Vermont Academy. Wilson-Bennett was a former player at Colgate during Head Coach Josh Sciba’s time as an Assistant at Colgate.
William Smith announced the hiring of former Dartmouth Assistant Coach Matt Cunningham as its next Head Coach. Cunningham spent the previous two seasons with ‘The Big Green’ in Hanover. You can read more on Matt’s hiring HERE. Cunningham who is originally from Phoenix, AZ played his college hockey for Minnesota State-Mankato. He will be the 3rd Head Coach in Heron history.
While not a NCAA coaching announcement, we’re glad to see former Robert Morris University Head Coach Paul Colontino land a new job in Hockey. Colontino was recently hired as Vice President of Hockey Operations and U19 Girls Head Coach at Selects Academy. You can read more on Colontiino’s delima to move to Selects HERE.
Sifters
RMU Update… Speaking of Paul Colontino and the Robert Morris program, it seems the RMU administration has put the brakes on a reboot of the program until the 2022-2023 season, if at all. Tim Benz of Trib Live gives an update on where things stand with both the women’s and men’s program. You can read that HERE.
North Dakota Women’s Program Lawsuit Gets A Boost… 11 former University of North Dakota women’s hockey team members sued The University of North Dakota System for shutting down the women’s hockey program back in March of 2017. Well, they got some good news last week. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit has reversed a 2019 decision by the North Dakota District Court which originally dismissed the case for what it called ‘a failure to state a claim’. The Eighth Circuit stated, “Ultimately, we conclude that the district court’s primary reasons for dismissing the complaint rested on an incorrect view of the law,”… “But given a level playing field, or in this case, a properly smoothed ice rink, the athletes may be able to state an actionable Title IX claim.”
Shortly after the University of North Dakota women’s hockey was shut down, a group of 11 former UND women’s hockey players sought legal action by filing a discrimination lawsuit against the University of North Dakota System and asked to reinstate the program on the grounds the decision was in violation of Title IX.
You can read more on this story HERE with an article that appeared in the Grand Forks Herald written by Brad Elliott Schlossman. Brad used to cover the women’s team during its existence.
2021 World Championships Get Underway… The IIHF officially announced the tournament is a go. 1,047 PCR tests were conducted in the Calgary bubble since teams arrived and all were negative.
Pre-Tournament games begin today, you can find today’s schedule HERE. Team USA takes on Russia at 2pm EST and Canada plays Finland at 6pm EST. Both games will be broadcast LIVE on the NHL Network. Get the full NHL Network Women’s World Championship telecast schedule HERE. It looks like all US and Canadian games will be broadcast live.
While official team rosters won’t be announced until tomorrow, IIHF.com did post a list of 250 players who came with each country to Calgary. You can find that list HERE. By our count, there are a total of 31 players who are listed on NCAA rosters, 1 U Sports player (U Sports is Canada’s version of the NCAA), and 5 players still in high school.
D-III Update… With D-I programs starting their seasons in a matter of days, the D-III season isn’t far behind. NCAA rules don’t allow D-III coaches to get on the ice with their teams until October 15th but you can bet teams will be getting organised well before that with Captains practices, strength & conditioning workouts, and plenty of team building, etc.
New this year for the NESCAC is the ability to begin practice when the Oct. 15th hits. It has been customary for NESCAC teams to begin practice Nov. 1.
We are hearing rumors that InStat, a video analytics company, has signed a few deals with D-III conferences for this coming season. InStat provides game video breakdown and scouting services to a bulk of the NCAA D-I and D-III women’s and men’s teams. This will make pre-scouting your opponent much easier as well as adding a level of player development. We can remember the days of VHS tape to tape recordings that had to be done and then Fed-Exed out to your next opponent. How times have changed.
Mike O’Grady, Head Coach at Chatham University announced the hiring of Lila Toczek as his new Assistant Coach.
Presenting Lila Toczek, Assistant @Chatham_WIH Coach❗️🏒 After a playing and coaching career at Buffalo State, Coach Toczek is bringing her talents to Pittsburgh🐅 👌 https://t.co/4zESNzgbbp
Tweet of The Week… Kelly Rider, Head Coach at Curry College, had one of the more interesting Tweets from college coaches this past week. Given WCH.org’s mission – which is in part to help educate parents, players, and coaches, her post seems very appropriate. Please take a look and click on the photo to expand. We’re not sure where she got the list from – but we’d love to know!
Hard for a coach to reach out or get back to players with feedback when they go to great lengths and can’t get rosters.
If you’re playing for fun that’s fine! But if you’re trying to get recruited DO NOT pay someone or to be in a showcase/tournament if there are no rosters. https://t.co/bFTDAyLf5S
Grant Kimball is founder and contributing writer at Women’s College Hockey.org and beginning his 3rd 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 amatuer 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.
NCAA Coaching Changes…See all the coaching changes in one spot –HERE– on our google sheet. Announcements on new hires and recent openings can be found below in the Sifters section.
Stick Taps Section… We need your ‘Stick Taps’ suggestions! Have someone in the world of women’s college hockey you think deserves some recognition? Let us know who they are and why you think they’re so deserving! You can fill out our online submission form right HERE or Email us at: womenscollegehockey@gmail.com or tweet at us: @WMNSCollHockey. Stick Taps go out the first post of every month so stay tuned!
Online Directory of Recruiting Events/Leagues… We received several messages from event and league organizers wishing to get their events/league weekends/showcases listed in our online directory. So – we’ve created a google sheet with all the events that present good scouting opportunities we’re are aware of. You can find that list HERE. If you run a recruiting event or league and want to have us list it in our online directory, please click HERE and fill out our WCH.org recruiting event form.
In This Post…
IIHF Women’s World Championship Stream Info|
What…
How to watch the IIHF Women’s World Championships:
Where…
In the United States ESPN + will stream all games of the 2021 IIHF Women’s World Championships that ARE NOT televised on the NHL Network.
In Canada, TSN Direct will be streaming all games live
TSN requires a Canadian physical address in order to subscribe.
fuboTV, a popular streaming service carries the NHL Network. They have a 7-day free trial which appears to include access to its entire 157 channel lineup. You can find their link HERE.
Worlds Schedule…
You can find a complete tournament schedule link HERE. Today’s games are:
Time
Group
Visiting Team
Home Team
2:00PM
B
Czech Republic
Denmark
6:00PM
A
Canada
Finland
9:30PM
A
USA
Switzerland
All times Eastern Standard Time. All games played at WinSport Arena
Lots of NCAA players and coaches taking the ice today for their respective countries. In additional Joel Johnson and Courtney Kennedy of Team USA, Denmark is coached by Peter Elander who spent time as the Associate Head Coach at the University of North Dakota and at Ohio State from 2010-2018. Elander, who is Swedish also was Head Coach of the Swedish Women’s Olympic Team in 2006 and 2010. Elander took over as Head Coach of the Senior Women’s National program for the Danes in 2019.
Until Next Time…
Grant Kimball is founder and contributing writer at Women’s College Hockey.org and beginning his 3rd 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 amatuer 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.
NCAA Coaching Changes…See all the coaching changes in one spot –HERE– on our google sheet. Announcements on new hires and recent openings can be found below in the Sifters section.
Stick Taps Section… We need your ‘Stick Taps’ suggestions! Have someone in the world of women’s college hockey you think deserves some recognition? Let us know who they are and why you think they’re so deserving! You can fill out our online submission form right HERE or Email us at: womenscollegehockey@gmail.com or tweet at us: @WMNSCollHockey. Stick Taps go out the first post of every month so stay tuned!
Online Directory of Recruiting Events/Leagues… We received several messages from event and league organizers wishing to get their events/league weekends/showcases listed in our online directory. So – we’ve created a google sheet with all the events that present good scouting opportunities we’re are aware of. You can find that list HERE. If you run a recruiting event or league and want to have us list it in our online directory, please click HERE and fill out our WCH.org recruiting event form.
D-I 2021-2022 Season Update
21-22 Season could in theory could start today… Hard to believe but yes, the NCAA D-I season here. Franklin Pierce University of the NEWHA begins classes today, Aug. 18. The NCAA rules allow teams beginning with the first day of classes or Sept. 15, whichever is earlier, to have up up to 4 hours of on-ice skill related activity per week. Most D-I programs will be up and running by Sept. 13th, that’s when Union and Dartmouth begin classes. Especially for the programs that did not have a season last year due to COVID, you can bet they’ll want to begin their seasons as soon as NCAA rules allow. There are also some programs that take a little slower approach and opt for a few days to go by, especially for freshmen, so everyone can get their bearings before jumping into the team schedule as to not overwhelm.
We went online and compiled a list of when each D-I school starts undergraduate classes… not taking into account COVID, some unknown delay like an athletic department policy, or scheduling error, here is a ‘fairly accurate’ (according to the internet anyway) list of dates when programs can get back on the ice if they so choose HERE.
NCAA 1st Official Practice Date… Contrary to the above mentioned 4-hours per week of on-ice skill work, Sept. 18 is actually the first official practice date in NCAA women’s ice hockey for the 2021-2022 season. That’s when all D-I programs, minus Ivy League schools, are allowed to begin their regular season allotment of up to 20-hours per week of required athletic activity–on-ice practice, strength & conditioning, team meetings, video sessions, team building, etc. The first official practice date for Ivy League institutions will be Oct. 1.
First D-I Games Just 37 Days Away… The first slate of games are scheduled for the weekend of Sept. 23-26 – just 37 days away. On Thursday Sept. 23, St. Lawrence travels to take on Penn State to kick off the 2021-2022 NCAA season. It’s customary for programs to schedule an exhibition game prior to the NCAA season beginning. After going through D-I online schedules, we are unable to find any exhibition games scheduled so far. Certainly we’re all hoping the season altering COVID restrictions are behind us and teams across all divisions (and in all sports) can have a safe normal season without interruption.
COVID Fallout – Large Rosters… As expected team roster sizes for the 21-22 season are bigger on average than in prior years. We went to every programs official website to look at 21-22 rosters that were posted. Thus far Harvard has the largest at 34 players. Not all teams are accounted for and there could be roster additions and even deletions as school begins. We’ll put together a comprehensive list once all teams rosters are finalised.
A 3rd Wave… Of Coaching Changes?
Historically the month of August and into September bring a few late coaching changes. A head or assistant coach leaves abruptly and bam, schools are left scrambling to find a replacement. This year is a bit different with more coaching changes than we’re ever seen. But that doesn’t mean we’re done with seeing some movement. Case in point, D-III Nichols College just announced an opening for their Head Coach position as Sam Fallon has resigned to take a similar position at a prep school. I expect a few more surprises. You can find our complete list of coaching departures and hires from this year HERE. As classes begin, programs are announcing recent hires… more on those below.
Mercyhurst University has hired Scott Spencer as an Assistant Coach. Spencer knows the CHA well as he was the first D-I Head Coach at Lindenwood University. Prior to Lindenwood, Spencer has coached at Ohio State, Robert Morris University, and Bemidji State on the men’s side. You can read more about his hire HERE.
Union College has filled its two Assistant Coach positions and has hired Chris Ardito and Breanne Wilson-Bennett. You can read Union’s official announcement HERE. Ardito comes to Union after having spent the past 3 seasons as the Head Girls Hockey Coach at Vermont Academy. Wilson-Bennett was a former player at Colgate during Head Coach Josh Sciba’s time as an Assistant at Colgate.
William Smith announced the hiring of former Dartmouth Assistant Coach Matt Cunningham as its next Head Coach. Cunningham spent the previous two seasons with ‘The Big Green’ in Hanover. You can read more on Matt’s hiring HERE. Cunningham who is originally from Phoenix, AZ played his college hockey for Minnesota State-Mankato. He will be the 3rd Head Coach in Heron history.
While not a NCAA coaching announcement, we’re glad to see former Robert Morris University Head Coach Paul Colontino land a new job in Hockey. Colontino was recently hired as Vice President of Hockey Operations and U19 Girls Head Coach at Selects Academy. You can read more on Colontiino’s delima to move to Selects HERE.
Sifters
RMU Update… Speaking of Paul Colontino and the Robert Morris program, it seems the RMU administration has put the brakes on a reboot of the program until the 2022-2023 season, if at all. Tim Benz of Trib Live gives an update on where things stand with both the women’s and men’s program. You can read that HERE.
North Dakota Women’s Program Lawsuit Gets A Boost… 11 former University of North Dakota women’s hockey team members sued The University of North Dakota System for shutting down the women’s hockey program back in March of 2017. Well, they got some good news last week. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit has reversed a 2019 decision by the North Dakota District Court which originally dismissed the case for what it called ‘a failure to state a claim’. The Eighth Circuit stated, “Ultimately, we conclude that the district court’s primary reasons for dismissing the complaint rested on an incorrect view of the law,”… “But given a level playing field, or in this case, a properly smoothed ice rink, the athletes may be able to state an actionable Title IX claim.”
Shortly after the University of North Dakota women’s hockey was shut down, a group of 11 former UND women’s hockey players sought legal action by filing a discrimination lawsuit against the University of North Dakota System and asked to reinstate the program on the grounds the decision was in violation of Title IX.
You can read more on this story HERE with an article that appeared in the Grand Forks Herald written by Brad Elliott Schlossman. Brad used to cover the women’s team during its existence.
2021 World Championships Get Underway… The IIHF officially announced the tournament is a go. 1,047 PCR tests were conducted in the Calgary bubble since teams arrived and all were negative.
Pre-Tournament games begin today, you can find today’s schedule HERE. Team USA takes on Russia at 2pm EST and Canada plays Finland at 6pm EST. Both games will be broadcast LIVE on the NHL Network. Get the full NHL Network Women’s World Championship telecast schedule HERE. It looks like all US and Canadian games will be broadcast live.
While official team rosters won’t be announced until tomorrow, IIHF.com did post a list of 250 players who came with each country to Calgary. You can find that list HERE. By our count, there are a total of 31 players who are listed on NCAA rosters, 1 U Sports player (U Sports is Canada’s version of the NCAA), and 5 players still in high school.
D-III Update… With D-I programs starting their seasons in a matter of days, the D-III season isn’t far behind. NCAA rules don’t allow D-III coaches to get on the ice with their teams until October 15th but you can bet teams will be getting organised well before that with Captains practices, strength & conditioning workouts, and plenty of team building, etc.
New this year for the NESCAC is the ability to begin practice when the Oct. 15th hits. It has been customary for NESCAC teams to begin practice Nov. 1.
We are hearing rumors that InStat, a video analytics company, has signed a few deals with D-III conferences for this coming season. InStat provides game video breakdown and scouting services to a bulk of the NCAA D-I and D-III women’s and men’s teams. This will make pre-scouting your opponent much easier as well as adding a level of player development. We can remember the days of VHS tape to tape recordings that had to be done and then Fed-Exed out to your next opponent. How times have changed.
Mike O’Grady, Head Coach at Chatham University announced the hiring of Lila Toczek as his new Assistant Coach.
Presenting Lila Toczek, Assistant @Chatham_WIH Coach❗️🏒 After a playing and coaching career at Buffalo State, Coach Toczek is bringing her talents to Pittsburgh🐅 👌 https://t.co/4zESNzgbbp
Tweet of The Week… Kelly Rider, Head Coach at Curry College, had one of the more interesting Tweets from college coaches this past week. Given WCH.org’s mission – which is in part to help educate parents, players, and coaches, her post seems very appropriate. Please take a look and click on the photo to expand. We’re not sure where she got the list from – but we’d love to know!
Hard for a coach to reach out or get back to players with feedback when they go to great lengths and can’t get rosters.
If you’re playing for fun that’s fine! But if you’re trying to get recruited DO NOT pay someone or to be in a showcase/tournament if there are no rosters. https://t.co/bFTDAyLf5S
Grant Kimball is founder and contributing writer at Women’s College Hockey.org and beginning his 3rd 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 amatuer 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.
NCAA Coaching Changes…See all the coaching changes in one spot –HERE– on our google sheet. Announcements on new hires and recent openings can be found below in the Sifters section.
Stick Taps Section… We need your ‘Stick Taps’ suggestions! Have someone in the world of women’s college hockey you think deserves some recognition? Let us know who they are and why you think they’re so deserving! You can fill out our online submission form right HERE or Email us at: womenscollegehockey@gmail.com or tweet at us: @WMNSCollHockey. Stick Taps go out the first post of every month so stay tuned!
Online Directory of Recruiting Events/Leagues… We received several messages from event and league organizers wishing to get their events/league weekends/showcases listed in our online directory. So – we’ve created a google sheet with all the events that present good scouting opportunities we’re are aware of. You can find that list HERE. If you run a recruiting event or league and want to have us list it in our online directory, please click HERE and fill out our WCH.org recruiting event form.
Recruiting Visits & Communication
It’s that time of year. Mid August is just about here and the desire for recruits to take unofficial and official visits grow with each passing day. Although the NCAA clearly defines what Unofficial visits are and what is allowed to occur, we would argue there are actually different types of unofficial visits. Every coaching staff has their own philosophy on how to structure and schedule their unofficial visits. But with literally hundreds of players asking coaches to take a visit, they all can’t be the same. We identify a few of those ‘different’ types of visits below as well as give a few tips on how to approach your communication with coaches on the visit subject.
Different types of ‘Unofficial’ Visits… You won’t find these defined in the NCAA manual, rather these visit types are actually based on the priority coaches have for the player who wants to visit and the amount of time available as well as which coaches will be around campus. 1) There are Unofficial visits that seem more like Official visits, 2) There are Unofficial visits with some or very little to no facetime with members of the coaching staff, and 3) There are visits where you won’t spend any time with the coaching staff at all–you are basically on your own.
We’ll call #1 ‘The Proper Visit’. This is the type of visit where you are invited to campus (the invite is key!) by the coaching staff and what occurs is more akin to what takes place on an ‘Official’ visit. That is to say recruits get a top notch experience with lots of facetime with the coaching staff, strength coach, perhaps athletic trainer, and even current players, other coaches in the department, academic or financial aid personnel. A tour of campus and athletic/team facilities led by one or even all coaches on staff, may be a driving tour of the area around campus. Of course–facetime with the coaching staff for a good discussion on how the recruit fits into the programs’ recruiting plans is the main event. Possibly even an overnight stay might be part of the visit plan depending on time if year. Bottom line, the coaching staff wants you there and they set everything up for you-usually.
Unofficial visit type #2, we’ll call this the ‘Soft Visit’. This is the type of visit where there is probably some facetime with a member (or entire) coaching staff, but not a ton. Or may be the coaching staff directs you to the admissions office for your campus tour and to set up academic meetings. An invite from the coaching staff could or could not happen, but the classic situation here–is when there is no initial invite from the program but rather the recruit basically invites herself to visit. One of the coaches may respond with – yea, sure – we can make that work. There is usually a discussion had at some point where questions can be asked/answered and potentially some direction from the staff on where they see the recruit fitting into their plans. But there are legit reasons why visits get set-up this way… 1) the recruit may only have a particular day to visit that conflicts with the coaches’ schedule. 2) The coaching staff may know absolutely nothing about the recruit and this is how they handle visits of this nature. 3) The player may simply just not be a high priority–and coaches do have to prioritize who they want to spend their time with. It can’t be everyone who wants a visit – that could be a full-time job in itself.
Visit type #3 is the ‘Self Directed’ visit… This type of visit happens when either a recruit has contacted the hockey program to see if visiting is possible but hasn’t gotten a reply back… or just wants to visit the school on her own and does not contact the hockey program she is doing so. In both cases – the recruit winds sets up all the appropriate appointments herself–tour of campus, academic meeting, may be financial aid, even potentially with the coaching staff. The coaching staff basically has no involvement, and unless the recruit communicates to the staff she would like to set up a time to chat about the hockey program, it’s doubtful the staff will even know you’re on campus. Sometimes the admissions office alerts coaches if a recruit indicates an interest in playing a sport (usually asked by admissions to the recruit). But as the name indicates, this type of visit is all directed by you.
Communication with Coaches About Visits… There are generally some Do’s and some Don’ts when communicating with coaches about visits to their school. Here are some tips that can help you in the process. And in doing so, you’ll learn some pretty important information which should help you in your process. You potentially are going to know exactly where you fall on that school’s priority list.
Do’s…
Use Email First… It’s a great respectable option to open up the lines of communication with coaches about your desire to visit the school–especially if you’ve never communicated with anyone on staff before. If you don’t have a prior relationship, email is best instead a text or a phone call. Be sure to add a bit about your hockey and academic background, like what position you play, what team you play for, what year you are graduating, your GPA, perhaps intended academic area of interest, as well as your contact info and preferred method of communication desired.
Communicate You Want to Visit Campus… Let the staff know you want to visit their school by asking if you can take an unofficial visit. Be sure to include what you might want to accomplish on the visit, like a tour of campus, athletic/hockey facilities, meet with the coaching staff and or a current player, admissions and or financial aid office etc. Asking does 2 things – one, it gives coaches a chance to see you are organized and two – it gives the staff a chance to respond and set something up with you.
Be Prompt If You Get A Response Back… If you get a reply back about your request to visit, be prompt in getting back to the coach who communicated with you and include any information the coach was asking for.
Be On-Time and Look Nice… You’ve got your visit date all set and a time to meet the staff… DON’T BE LATE! Things happen, so if your arrival time needs to adjust because of traffic, wrong turn, something unforeseen etc. be sure to communicate with someone on staff so they can be aware. Dress for the occasion… you are meeting for the first time people who could potentially change the trajectory of your life. Appearances matter, so dress like the visit is important to you. It’s not a formal event of course, but don’t show up looking like you just came from the gym either.
Don’ts
Leave Spelling/Grammar Mistakes… Make sure you proofread your emails and any written communication back to coaches. Eliminate spelling/punctuation mistakes, and PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE… make sure you address the email to the correct coaches at that particular school! You have no idea how many emails coaches get with the wrong names of coaches or the school.
Expect Coaches to Meet With You Because You Show Up On Campus… Often times recruits will just stop by campus, find there way to the hockey office, poke their head in and ask to meet and get shown around. Unless you’re a future olympian, this is generally not a good idea. Just because you took the time to visit campus on your own doesn’t entitle you to a sit down with the staff. Especially during the season, the days for coaches are jam packed and the schedule is tight. If you are coming to visit campus, send them a note and wait for a reply.
Ask for an official visit… Official visits are paid for by the school, so the staff decides who they will offer an Official visit to. Asking for one is a bit presumptive, especially if you’ve never communicated with a particular coaching staff before. Best to let the staff invite you on one rather than you ask for one.
Mailbag Monday
Mailbag Monday… There’s a new Women’s College Hockey Pipeline blog post coming on Monday’s where we’ll be answering your questions about women’s NCAA college hockey. Ever had a question about women’s college hockey but just never had the opportunity? May be a question about the recruiting process or how coaches plan practices? Now you can get your questions answered in our new ‘Mailbag Monday’ question and answer series. Each Monday we’ll select a few questions to answer submitted by our loyal readers. It’s easy, just click HERE to submit your questions by Friday and we’ll answer them the following Monday. So get those questions ready and ask away – Start HERE!
Stick Taps Go To…
With August now upon us, we will begin announcing our Monthly ‘Stick Taps’ winners during the first post of each month. Anyone connected to the game of women’s NCAA college hockey and who is doing ‘good work’, can be nominated. Who can nominate someone–YOU CAN–our loyal readers! There are lots of people in this game who deserve recognition of their work. All you need to do is fill out our ‘Stick Taps’ online nomination form HERE.
So, without further ado, the July Women’s College Hockey.org inaugural ‘Stick Taps’ go to: Joel Johnson for being named Head Coach of the 2022 US Women’s Olympic Hockey Team and Brian Idalski for being named Head Coach of the 2022 Chinese Women’s Olympic Hockey Team.
Joel Johnson, just named to his first Division I head coaching position in July taking over the University of St. Thomas program of the WCHA, is no stranger to USA Hockey. He served as Head Coach of the US Under-18 Team from 2015 to 2018 winning 4 Gold Medals. Also in 2018, Johnson led the US Under-22 Team to a 3-game series victory vs. Canada. In addition he helped guide the US Senior National Team as an Assistant Coach to a 4-Nations Cup victory. In 2019 he also helped lead Team USA to an IIHF World Championship. Johnson was just recently named Head Women’s Hockey Coach at the University of St. Thomas. Prior to that, Johnson spent the better part of his coaching career as the Associate Head Coach of the Minnesota Gophers Women’s program where he helped guide them to 6 NCAA National Titles.
Brian Idalski was the former Head Women’s Hockey coach at the University of North Dakota from 2007-2017 before the program was abruptly shut-down. Idalski, a U.S. citizen has never coached in an IIHF sanctioned event for USA Hockey, is no stranger to success behind the bench as a head coach. Idalski started his head coaching career at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point where he won 108 games during his five years there ending with two trips to the NCAA’s and a 3rd place finish in his final year. After 2 years as an asst. coach at St. Cloud University, Idalski took over as Head Coach of a University of North Dakota team that went winless the season prior to his arrival. During Idalski’s ten years at UND, he put the program on the national map as it became a nationally recognized and ranked. While at UND, he coached the fighting Hawks to 5 straight 20-win seasons, amassed an overall record of 169-156-39 which included 2 NCAA appearances in 2014 and 2015. The 2014 NCAA appearance included an EPIC triple OT loss in the 2014 NCAA quarter-final to Minnesota who went on to an undefeated season.
Congrats to Joel and Brian on their well deserved career achievements. Perhaps we’ll see these two outstanding coaches go head to head in Beijing?
Sifters
Idalski Heads Up Team China in 2022 Olympic Games… As mentioned above, former North Dakota Head Coach and current Vaneke Rays bench boss Brian Idalski has been named 2022 Women’s Olympic Head Coach for Team China. The move was announced by the Chinese State Administration of Sports in late July.
Brian Idalski, who led the Shenzhen KRS Vanke Rays team in last two seasons, will continue to serve as the head coach of #VankeRays in 2021-2022 season. He has also been appointed by the State Administration of Sports as head coach of Team 🇨🇳 for 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing! pic.twitter.com/PNlRFMKDSk
Here is a great piece by Grand Forks Herald reporter Brad Elliott Schlossman about Idalski’s rise to become China’s choice in Beijing–just click HERE.
IIHF Worlds Update… The IIHF World Championships are set to take place in Calgary in little less than 2 weeks after having been postponed back in May due to COVID concerns. The US is looking to defend its 2019 World Championship title, and 6th since 2012. The official IIHF Worlds event website can be found HERE. All Team USA games will be broadcast on The NHL Network – you can find that schedule below.
Team USA is coached by Joel Johnson, Head Coach at the Univ. of St. Thomas and assisted by Courtney Kennedy, Associate Head Coach at Boston College, and Brian Pothier. Pothier may be a bit unknown in the women’s coaching world but he does have a vast playing experience at the NHL/AHL level and has worked with Team USA Women’s teams in the past. You can find a link to his bio HERE.
Several NCAA players with eligibility remaining will play in this tournament for various countries. Rosters have not been named for each country except for Canada and Team USA. Here’s a look at who from Team USA Team Canada still have NCAA eligibility left. Once additional rosters are names, this list will be updated.
First
Last
Position
Country
Last Team
NCAA Years left
Cayla
Barnes
D
Team USA
Boston College
2
Natalie
Buchbinder
D
Team USA
Wisconsin
1
Caroline
Harvey
D
Team USA
NAHA White U19
4
Jesse
Compher
F
Team USA
Boston University
1
Brita
Curl
F
Team USA
Wisconsin
2
Lacey
Eden
F
Team USA
Wisconsin
4
Abbey
Murphy
F
Team USA
Minnesota
4
Grace
Zumwinkle
F
Team USA
Minnesota
1
Sarah
Fillier
F
Team Canada
Princeton
2
Ashton
Bell
D
Team Canada
Univ. MN-Duluth
1
Emma
Maltais
F
Team Canada
Ohio State University
1
Coaching Changes… Long time D-III coach Jackie MacMillan has decided to step down from her post as head coach at The College of St. Scholastica to pursue other opportunities. Assistant Coach Julianne Vasichek will take over and become the 2nd Head Coach in program history. You can read more on Jackie’s departure HERE.
Former Brown assistant coach Melissa Kraus (Paluch) has been named Associate Head Coach at Trine University. Head Coach Tom Hoffman made the announcement August 10. Kraus is returning back to the midwest as she was a star player at Lake Forest College and coached there for two seasons before heading off to Brown for the 19-20 season. You can read more on Kraus’ hire HERE.
Stonehill Hires Myers… Tara Watchorn has announced the hiring of assistant coach Megan Myers. Myers had spent the previous five season as an Assistant Coach at D-III Becker College. You can read more about Megan’s hiring below.
Conference Schedules Released… Hockey East and the NEWHA have finally revealed their season schedules. In Hockey East, the season begins September 24th with 3 games as LIU visits UCONN, Minnesota State travels to Merrimack, and Maine heads to Hamden, CT to take on Quinnipiac. You can view the composite Hockey East season schedule HERE. The NEWHA – New England Women’s Hockey Alliance has their composite schedule which you can find HERE. In addition to LIU @ UCONN the Sept 24-26 weekend, Sacred Heart hits the road and travels to the North Country to take on Clarkson.
Olympic Medal Payouts… Speaking of the Olympics, did you know many countries pay their medal winning athletes? In some countries – it’s a hefty payout. Here a list of the top paying countries and what they pay.
NCAA D-I Women’s & Men’s Conferences Tackle Social Justice Issues… Lastly, this story appeared on NCAA.org about NCAA D-I Women’s and Men’s hockey conferences joining together to make playing NCAA Hockey more Diverse, Equitable, and Inclusive. The story features UNH Goaltender Nikki Harnet. You can read her story and how NCAA conferences are trying to help HERE.
Until Next Time…
Grant Kimball is founder and contributing writer at Women’s College Hockey.org and beginning his 3rd 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 amatuer 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.
NCAA Coaching Changes…See all the coaching changes in one spot –HERE– on our google sheet. Announcements on new hires and recent openings can be found below in the Sifters section.
Stick Taps Section… We need your ‘Stick Taps’ suggestions! Have someone in the world of women’s hockey you think deserves some recognition? Let us know who they are and why you think they’re so deserving! Email us at: womenscollegehockey@gmail.com or tweet at us: @WMNSCollHockey. Our first Stick Tap goes out August first!
Online Directory of Recruiting Events/Leagues… We received several messages from event and league organizers wishing to get their events/league weekends/showcases listed in our online directory. So – we’ve created a google sheet with all the events that present good scouting opportunities we’re are aware of. You can find that list HERE. If you run a recruiting event or league and want to have us list it in our online directory, please click HERE and fill out our WCH.org recruiting event form.
What Makes A Good Event
In previous Pipeline posts, we’ve identified some of the frustrations NCAA college coaches have with some events and what they do – or do not – provide. There are plenty of events that fall well short of what might considered ‘a good event’ by NCAA coaches standards. Not providing printed rosters, too many teams participating, or too many rink locations, etc. are just some of the things that make events difficult for NCAA coaches to do their jobs.
In last weeks post about the Beantown Classic, we acknowledged tournament/showcase event operators don’t really have NCAA coaches as their main priority… getting a certain number of teams to pay the entry fee is. So, what actually makes a good showcase/tournament event? In no particular order, here are a few things NCAA coaches enjoy that make their jobs more efficient and will help the reputations of tournament/event operators.
NCAA coaches ‘mostly’ go where the talent is… NCAA Coaches are like mice following cheese, we’re always chasing who we think the best players are wherever they may be playing. Events that attract a competitive field of talent will get coaches to your event.
We put ‘mostly’ in quotes because there times when coaches will go to an event and watch a particular age group where they largely know nothing about who’s there, except knowing what the expected level of play is. Coaches can specifically identify players to add to a particular recruiting class list to continue to evaluate in the future. The Rush Showcase is a good example. This event (in non-COVID years) is held in Brampton, Ontario during early June with 600+ players entering grade 7-Post Grad from all around Canada, the US, as well as Europe. A great event to identify up and coming younger talent that coaches normally would not have watched during the previous hockey season. Plus, it’s all under one roof.
The less travel between arena locations the better… Preaching to the choir here, event operators dislike multiple locations too. NCAA coaches love it when they can stay at one arena location. That said, if multiple locations have to be used, NCAA coaches would rather see one entire age group play all their games on a particular day or for a whole event, at one arena location, rather than have an age group’s games be spread out over multiple arena locations, on multiple days, at multiple times. Bottom line – the less travel rink-to-rink coaches have to do, the better.
Printed rosters and coaches or player contact information… Can’t stress this one enough. Having printed, current, up to date team rosters or an event program and either coaches or player contact information is paramount. If the goal of an organization’s event is to provide opportunities for its participants to be scouted/evaluated by NCAA coaches and hopefully play NCAA college hockey- then do right by your participants and make it as easy as possible for that scouting/evaluation to happen. Dummy-Proof and professionalize your event!
Coaches love to see competitive games… Coaches want to see the best play against the best. While there is value in watching a more talented team play a weaker team, it certainly isn’t ideal for an entire event. Create schedules that have a competitive balance. Coaches can tell when organizations weaken their division or schedule so they can have a chance at ‘winning’ said event. Place all of your players into college hockey programs, and now you’ve really ‘won’.
Event format, time of year, and type of event… This one is important! There’s a bit to unpack here – so pay attention! #1 game format – 3 periods vs. 2 halves… Merritt to both, but if exposure to NCAA coaches is the priority for the event, you’d find most college coaches say ‘two halves’ is a better eval experience. Some events in the summer use this format already. We get not every event has the latitude to use the 2 halve method. But if using 2 halves, allow teams to defend each end of the ice. There is a big difference in how players manage the game when players have the ‘long change’. #2 Period length… Two-25 or 30 min. periods is a good amount of time for players to get into a rhythm. Running time under 25 mins, can be tough. #3 Zam times… 3 periods of play with ice cuts after each can make the game drag on. Ice cut after every 2 periods when 3 are being played, works ok, sometimes too. An ice cut after a half of less than 30 mins. probably isn’t needed.
Here is may be the most important. #4 Time of year and type of event… Understand that D-I coaches have to monitor how often they evaluate players and meet recruits face-to-face off of their campus. Under NCAA rules, D-I coaches get 7 ‘recruiting opportunities’ to evaluate players or meet them face-to-face off of their campus. No more than 3 of these 7 opportunities can be face-to-face meetings. This rule is per recruit coaches focus on to evaluate and per coaching staff, not per coach on staff. This rule goes into effect each year beginning Aug. 1 until the end of the academic year. However, from June 1 to July 31, D-I coaches are allowed an unlimited number of player evaluations. So, the timing of when your events occur does play a critical role in whether coaches decide to attend. Here’s how the type of event factors in. Games that are part of league play, like in the PWHL, JWHL, NEGHL, etc. or any other league event that is considered a ‘league contest’, each game played counts as 1 single evaluation opportunity of the 7 D-I coaches have. Tournaments, showcases, camps, and clinics are considered multi-day events by the NCAA and count only as 1 single evaluation opportunity no matter how many games are played during the event. Watch 7 players play 5 times at the NAHA Labor Day tournament–that’s only 1 evaluation used for every player evaluated at that event, not 5.
Running events are hard work and aren’t easy to run. But by doing most of what is mentioned above, you’ll have coaches that can do their jobs more efficiently and participants who feel like you have their best interests at heart.
Congrats Joel!
USA Hockey announced on Wednesday, July 28 that University of St. Thomas (WCHA) Head Coach Joel Johnson, will be the Head Coach of the 2022 US Women’s Olympic Hockey Team. This will be Johnson’s first trip behind the bench at the Olympics. Needless to say it’s been a busy month for coach Johnson taking over a new D-I program at St. Thomas and now being tabbed to lead the US as they prepare for Worlds and the Olympics. Joel becomes just the 5th Women’s Olympic Hockey Head Coach in US history as he joins some elite company in Ben Smith ’98, ’02, ’06, Mark Johnson ’10-current Wisconsin Head Coach, Katey Stone ’14-current Head Coach at Harvard, and Robb Stauber ’18. This is just the 3rd time a NCAA Women’s D-I Head Coach has named to lead Team USA. You can read more on Johnson’s hire from USA Hockey HERE.
August 1st Approaches
Official and Unofficial Visits for Recruits Entering Grade 11 Begin Sunday… Sunday is a big day in the NCAA recruiting world and in Division I women’s ice hockey as recruits who are entering grade 11 in the fall are allowed to take official as well unofficial visits on an institutions campus while being able to meet with members of the coaching staff as well as have off-campus contact with coaches. Prior to Aug. 1, recruits in entering grade 9 or 10 have been able to visit campuses on their own at their own expense. Contact with the coaching staff has been prohibited however until this Sunday.
Prior to about 2006 or 2007, the official visit was a major important part of the recruiting process. Recruits used it as a serious factor in their decision making process to get to see what like was really like as a potential player in a particular program. That went away when players began committing early. The official visit seemed to happen more often after the commitment was made during grade 12 to meet future teammates etc., it was more of a ‘fun’ visit. When the NCAA rules changes and allowed official visits in the junior year, the official visit became more important again.
Much like the June 15th call date, coaches have a priority list of recruits they will offer the opportunity for an official visit, and in a lot of cases, unofficial visits as well. With official visits, coaches use recruiting funds to pay for travel – and in the new post recruiting COVID era, dollars need to be spent wisely and budgeted against recruiting trip travel for the coaching staff. Why would a staff limit who they invite for an unofficial visits since they don’t have to pay for travel? Time. Every coaching staff has their own way of organizing and planning their visits, but unofficial visits can take just as much time as officials. The problem post COVID is there are more players who want to visit than ever and staffs have only so much man power and time to devote. So, to keep some sanity and eyes on the recruiting trail with evaluations, not everyone who wants an unofficial visit with time spent with the coaching staff will get the opportunity.
One thing we know for sure come Sunday, it’s going to be a very time for coaches.
Sifters
Krampade All-American Scholars Announced… The American Hockey Coaches Association announced its 5th Annual Krampade All-American Scholar Awards earlier this month. 385 women playing Division I hockey received this distinction by maintaining a minimum of 3.65 GPA in both academic semesters during 2020-2021. A full list of awards winners in each conference can be found HERE.
NCAA Players Dominate Hockey Canada Summer Camps… Hockey Canada recently announced its summer camp rosters for its National Development Team and U18 Next Gen Team (2003’s). 54 players either play at or will enter an NCAA program this fall. Of the 5 D-I NCAA conferences, the ECAC leads the way with 29 players attending camp. You can view the National Women’s Under-18 Team Summer Camp (NextGen) roster HERE and the National Women’s Team Development Team roster HERE.
Something Familiar, Something New… Minnesota Gopher Head Coach Brad Frost announced the addition of 2 Assistant Coaches who will be joining him behind the bench this season. Natalie Darwitz returns for her 2nd stint as an Assistant Coach with the Gophers. Natalie worked with Frost in 2008-09 and again in 2010-11 after the 2010 Olympics before moving on and eventually taking over as Head Coach at D-III Hamline University. Also coming to Ridder via Hamline will be Darwitz’ Assistant Coach Jake Bobrowski. Bobrowski is no stranger to women’s hockey in MN having coached at the Girls HS level for several years as a head coach and then as an Assistant on Darwitz’ staff at Hamline for the past 6 years.
USA Hockey Names U18 National Festival Roster… 32 players will tryout and compete at the USA Hockey Women’s National Festival in Blaine, MN Aug. 5-14. This group of 32 was selected from the U18 Select Camp that was recently held in St. Cloud. You can see the list of U18 Festival players HERE. Of the 32 players, 12 represent Minnesota, 5 from the Central, 5 from Michigan, 4 from the Mid-America, 2 from the New England, and 1 each from Massachusetts, New York, Northern Plains, and Pacific Districts.
Until Next Time…
Grant Kimball is founder and contributing writer at Women’s College Hockey.org. He currently beginning his 3rd 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 amatuer and NCAA coaching career. He has coached in 6 different NCAA DIII and DI conferences for various institutions 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.
NCAA Coaching Changes…See all the coaching changes in one spot –HERE– on our google sheet. Announcements on new hires and recent openings can be found below in the Sifters section.
Stick Taps Section… We need your ‘Stick Taps’ suggestions! Have someone in the world of women’s hockey you think deserves some recognition? Let us know who they are and why you think they’re so deserving! Email us at: womenscollegehockey@gmail.com or tweet at us: @WMNSCollHockey. Our first Stick Tap goes out August first!
Online Directory of Recruiting Events/Leagues… We received several messages from event and league organizers wishing to get their events/league weekends/showcases listed on our online directory. So – we’ve created a google sheet with all the events that present good scouting opportunities we’re are aware of. You can find that list HERE. If you run a recruiting event or league and want to have us list it in our online directory, please click HERE and fill out the WCH.org recruiting event form.
In This Post…
Website Update|
Beantown Observations|
Sifters|
Website Update
The goal of Women’s College Hockey.org, along with our Pipeline blog, was to create a comprehensive one-stop-shop educational online resource for anyone interested in learning what it takes to play NCAA women’s college hockey. We looked and researched to see if anything existed. We didn’t really find anything. Nothing existed if you were starting from scratch and knew nothing as to how to go about playing. No site that walked you through everything. Thus, Women’s College Hockey.org was born.
Prospective NCAA players, their families as well as Youth/High School/Club coaches now have a comprehensive resource to educate themselves about what it takes to play NCAA women’s college hockey. You’ll learn everything from what levels of play exist, how NCAA women’s ice hockey is organised, how the NCAA recruiting process works, as well as important NCAA rules and timelines to be aware of.
It all starts from our homepage where you’ll see menu options with dropdown page links taking you to different sections of our website.
Men’s college hockey has the website College Hockey Inc., an educational online resource for those interested in learning what it takes to play men’s NCAA D-I hockey and the path to the NHL. These guys are a little more than just a website however, having a 12-member board of directors and being financially backed by USA Hockey through a grant provided by the NHL. Whereas Women’s College Hockey.org, is a 1-man operation backed by passion and dedication to helping those who have no other option to turn to, for the information they seek.
But hey, if USA Hockey and the NHL want to financially back Women’s College Hockey.org – I’m all ears.
Until then, we’ll continue to update our pages and publish our popular Pipeline blog posts helping you navigate the world of NCAA women’s college hockey. Some website pages are complete, some are still in the works. Rest assured, our site will be fully functional for the coming hockey season. If you know of anyone looking for info about playing NCAA women’s college hockey – point them in our direction – they won’t be disappointed!
Beantown Observations
The 12th edition of the Beantown Classic tournament has come and gone which saw many NCAA D-I and D-III coaches come to evaluate the talent. Here’s a recap:
Canadians Come South… Last years event did not take place due to COVID and this years event was absent teams from outside the US. There were several Canadians – 41 by our count scanning rosters – who came down individually to compete on other teams. Players from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia inked Beantown rosters. 41 is a number we get just from looking at the previous team info from last season. The number is probably more like 60. There were Canadians who play on teams in the US, at Prep. School for example, that were hard to account for.
COVID Effect On Level of Play? Comments from various college coaches in attendance about the level of play ranged from, ‘pretty decent’, to ‘hard to watch at times – it’s summer hockey’, to ‘it’s awful’. Not super positive. Why so negative? A watered down field? Sure – there were over 1,900 players there. But perhaps we’re seeing some effects of COVID. Did COVID play a role in the delay of skill development and personal improvement for most? Could be. There wasn’t a uniform hockey season last year – most players probably didn’t get on the ice or have the ability work and train as much as they normally would have. With recruiting opening up for D-I coaches June 1 – a lot of players signed up for every showcase and exposure event they could fit into their schedule. Not enough time spent training and actually improving individual skills perhaps? Coaches can tell when their watching good hockey. Compete and pace level shows, puck management shows, passing shows, puck decisions/play away from the puck shows, scoring chances get created, etc. It seems like there was a drop off in those areas a lot of the time. Lack of teams – full teams – from Canada didn’t help either.
College Coaches Feeling Frustrated… Tournament operators who run events the size of Beantown are in it for one reason – to make money. Which is fine, everyone is entitled to make a living, even running hockey tournaments. The opportunity for girls to get recruited and play college hockey is not the major priority for these guys or events. So when some of the things that college coaches get to make their jobs more efficient–like having one arena to stay at vs. having to travel to 3 or 4, or having accurate rosters with coaches names and contact info available–go by the wayside and don’t get provided, it’s a frustrating experience for them. Yet again, Beantown provided no printed rosters, multiple arenas used for the same age group, missing roster information – like jersey numbers, names, positions, and no names of coaches or contact info, you bet college coaches left Beantown a bit frustrated. How easy would be it be to spend the twenty-two cents per page for some double-sided copies and a staple to create a roster packet for coaches? Heck, charge a buck or two and they pay for themselves. We get it, it’s a big event, we get teams won’t be on-time with their information. We know the schedule is a juggling act. But let’s be honest, if college coaches don’t come, Beantown doesn’t exist. Or at least not in the same way it currently does with 130 teams. What kind of value are teams receiving beyond their 4-game guarantee for the close to $2K entry fee? We spoke about this exact issue in a previous post. Events need to start serving the audience that allows them to bring in their revenue – just a little bit. Do so, and you have an event college coaches probably like/enjoy and will come back to.
Some Should Have Been in St. Cloud… The USA U18 Select Camp began Saturday in St. Cloud which obviously conflicted with Beantown. It looked there were a few players at Beantown that should have gotten the invite to St. Cloud by the way they played. Hard to think these players got missed.
The Dark Side… The dark colored numbers on dark jersey colors is still an issue. If you’re going to an event to give your players a chance to play in front of college coaches, PLEASE, have jersey numbers that contrast in color to the main jersey color so coaches can actually read them. We also saw multiple players who had to use tape on the back of the jersey to make the correct number. Come on coaches, managers, or whoever is in charge of the jerseys – do right by your players, get a jersey with a proper number.
Fashion Backward… We were surprised to see the number of adults–women and men–(we assume parents of players participating??) who wore baseball cap type hats BACKWARDS. It would be interesting to know where these backwards hat wearing folks are from… is this a west coast thing or a new fashion trend sweeping the country? Interesting to see nonetheless.
Sifters
Canada Is Opening Up… Canada announced earlier this week fully vaccinated US citizens may travel to Canada for non-essential purposes beginning August 9. Travelers will need proof of a negative COVID test result within 3-days of entering Canada and show proof of being fully vaccinated. This is good news for hockey. Each province will have to decide if teams from outside Canada will be allowed to play. The Ontario Women’s Hockey Association has been very mum on how it will handle the upcoming hockey season. There is speculation it will not allow US teams to travel to Ontario to play games or participate in tournaments. We posted links in last weeks post to each of the province’s Hockey COVID updates.
October Stoney Creek Showcase… With hockey opening back up across Canada, planning is in the works for an October 15-17 Stoney Creek Showcase event with 26 Junior/PWHL clubs and 34 U18AA/Midget clubs. No announcement has been made on when tryouts or league play may start for either the PWHL or Lower Lakes Female Hockey League. A mid-October event would certainly be heavily attended by NCAA coaches.
JWHL Plans… The Junior Women’s Hockey League, which operates with teams on both sides of the US/Canadian border, is planning to commence its season in late September/early October. US teams will play one another in the US at various locations. Canadian teams will do the same in Canada until early December or January. It’s expected by late 2021 or early 2022, teams will be allowed to cross borders and play games sanctioned by both USA Hockey and Hockey Canada. The JWHL Challenge Cup and JWHL Playoffs are scheduled to take place this season as well. Check out our Recruiting Event Online Directory dates & locations link at the top of today’s post.
USA Hockey Announces Olympic Centralization Roster… 3 goaltenders, 9 defensemen, and 15 forwards have been named to the USA Hockey Olympic Centralization Roster. A 23 player roster will be chosen to go to Beijing and compete in the 2022 Olympics in late December or early January. You can see the 27-player residency roster HERE. Of the 27 players named, 1 has yet to start her NCAA career. 8 players still have NCAA eligibility remaining and will be away from their college teams for 2021-2022. Of the 8, 4 have eligibility remaining at Wisconsin, 2 at Minnesota, 1 at BU and 1 at BC.
Coaching Changes Update…
Syracuse has named former University of Wisconsin standout Claudia Kepler as an assistant coach. You can read more on Claudia’s hire HERE.
SUNY-Morrisville is looking to hire an assistant coach.
Norwich University has hired former Vermont volunteer assistant coach Taylor Willard as their full-time Assistant Coach. You can read more on Willard’s hire HERE.
Until Next Time…
Grant Kimball is founder and contributing writer at Women’s College Hockey.org. He currently beginning his 3rd 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 amatuer and NCAA coaching career. He has coached in 6 different NCAA DIII and DI conferences for various institutions 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.
NCAA Coaching Changes…See all the coaching changes in one spot –HERE– on our google sheet. Announcements on new hires and recent openings can be found below in the Coaching Carousel Update section.
Stick Taps Section… We need your ‘Stick Taps’ suggestions! Have someone in the world of women’s hockey you think deserves some recognition? Let us know who they are and why you think they’re so deserving! Email us at: womenscollegehockey@gmail.com or tweet at us: @WMNSCollHockey. Our first Stick Tap goes out August first!
Online Directory of Recruiting Events/Leagues… We received several messages from event and league organizers wishing to get their events/league weekends/showcases listed on our online directory. So – we’ve created a google sheet with all the events that present good scouting opportunities we’re are aware of. You can find that list HERE. If you run a recruiting event or league and want to have us list it in our online directory, please click HERE and fill out the WCH.org recruiting event form.
In This Post…
Coaching Carousel Update |
International Update|
Beantown Classic Begins|
Sifters|
Coaching Carousel Update
D-III Trine University in the NCHA is looking for an assistant coach. Jessica Convery has left the program to pursue other interests.
Nicole Renault was added by Providence College as an Assistant Coach. Nicole was a former Asst. at Long Island University from their beginning in 19-20 until now.
Princeton University has added Shelly Picard as an Assistant Coach. Picard played at Harvard from 2011-2016 and replaces Melanie RUzzi who was hired as Brown’s new Head Coach. You can read more on Picard’s hire HERE.
Minnesota-Duluth has tapped Laura Schuler to fill its vacant assistant coach opening. This will be Schuler’s second tour of duty as an Assistant Coach with the Duluth. She was on staff with Shannon Miller as an Assistant Coach. You can read the press release HERE.
Dartmouth has announced the hiring of Nina Rodgers as an assistant coach to finalize its coaching staff. You can read more on Nina’s hiring HERE. Nina a MN native, spent 2 years at the Univ. of MN before transferring and finishing her career at BU where Liz Keady Norton was an Assistant Coach during Nina’s Senior year.
Mark Digby has been named Head Coach at Oswego State University. Digby was wearing the ‘Interim’ tag during the 2020-2021 season after longtime Head Coach Diane Dillion announced her retirement in June of 2020. Digby spent time with the men’s team at Oswego prior to being named as Associate Head Coach with the women’s program prior to the 19-20 season.
International Update
Future World Championships in August… Someone took notice and thought holding the top level IIHF senior women’s world championships in August was a good idea. So much so, that the IIHF will vote in September to keep the top level event in August during olympic years beginning in 2022. This allows for both the Olympics and World Championships to happen in the same year. Worlds traditionally has been held in April/May, but in an Olympic year, Worlds was NOT an IIHF scheduled event. You can read the story the IIHF announced back in June HERE.
Putting the sports’ best players on the world stage at a time when traditionally there is no hockey on TV, is a brilliant idea. Hockey in August has a good ring to it, it stays away from any major sport championship event (that we’re aware of) and it aligns well with most countries summer development camps. Would be interesting to see it happen.
Time for a U20/U22 Type of World Championship Event? And Speaking of IIHF events, is it time to create a U-20/U22 Women’s World Championship event? The men have the World Juniors in late December and early Jan. Perhaps an event in August during non-Olympic years could be done? Again – it aligns nicely with most county’s development camps as mentioned above. The IIHF already sponsors a U18 age level event. Other than the almighty dollar, budgets, etc., there are too many positives. One can hope…
2022 U18 World Championships In Sweden… Although not published yet on the IIHF website, the Swedish Ice Hockey Federation website lists the IIHF U18 event being held January 8-16 in the cities of Lingköping and Mjölby Sweden. The event was supposed to take place last year but was cancelled due to the pandemic.
2021 Canadian U18 National Championships… The annual event has yet to be officially scheduled and announced according to Hockey Canada’s website. However, in a September 3, 2020 update on HC’s website, a return to Dawson Creek, British Columbia in 2021 was being planned for. Unlike USA Hockey’s National Championships that occur in March/April with local club teams competing, the Canadian National Championships are basically provincial all-star teams with the best U18 players selected by their province after a lengthy evaluation and selection process. The Championship game is broadcast nationally on TSN. We’ll keep you updated on any announcements.
Beantown Classic Begins
One of the summer’s most popular tournaments for college recruiters begins this weekend in Marlborough, MA – The Beantown Classic. Upwards of 130+ teams in 4 different competitive age brackets takes place Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. While no Canadian registered teams are attending this year, there will be a contingent of Canadian players participating individually on various teams. Now that Canada has relaxed its COVID quarantine rules, Travel is easier for fully vaccinated Canadians as they don’t have to quarantine for 14-days upon their return to Canada. Beantown will be one of the summers largest and may be most important event for college coaches to scout – especially for DIII teams. Rarely do you get a collection of this many players in one locale. If an average team roster has 18 players on it – that’s 2,340 players to scout – which is what makes this event also such a challenge for college recruiters.
For a few weeks now the ‘come watch me play’ emails from prospective recruits have been filling up college coach email inboxes. Unfortunately, college coaches can’t possibly get to watch everyone who emails them. Truth is, most coaches have a plan heading into an event like this because of its sheer size. Some will only watch who’s on their own priority list, some will only watch a specific age group, some may do a combination both. Bottom line – this is not an easy event to scout for coaches. Add in multiple rink locations sprinkled 15-30 mins. away from one another and it can become a logistical nightmare.
Also absent from Beantown this year will be U.S. players at the ’22, ’23, and ’24 birth year selected for the USA Hockey U18 Select Team Camp beginning this weekend in St. Cloud. D-I coaching staffs will have to divide and conquer which events to send coaches to have coverage. It will be interesting to see how many scouts and from which schools, will be in attendance.
Sifters
2021-2022 Schedules… D-I conferences and some team schedules are being announced. Links to D-I NCAA conference schedules can be found below.
Robert Morris Reconsiders… Earlier this week Robert Morris University announced it was in talks with the Pittsburgh College Hockey Foundation as to how it could resurrect the women’s and men’s hockey programs it cut in May. You can read developing details HERE.
Canada Open to The USA by Mid-August… Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau remarked last night fully vaccinated Americans could be able to enter Canada for non-essential travel as early as mid-August per a Bloomberg news report. You can read that HERE. This is good news for hockey coaches. Obviously each province has to get its protocol in place with return to play, but all-in-all, good news for hockey with Canada on the verge of reopening.
Until Next Time…
Grant Kimball is founder and contributing writer at Women’s College Hockey.org. He currently beginning his 3rd 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 amatuer and NCAA coaching career. He has coached in 6 different NCAA DIII and DI conferences for various institutions 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 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.
Over the last several weeks we’ve reported all of the coaching changes taking place at the DI and DIII levels this summer. Why all the movement – due to what reasons you might ask? Interesting question.
Long-time assistants moving up to become head coaches is one reason. Keady Norton, Ruzzi, Watchorn, Kindret, and Johnson check that box. DIII Assistants moving up to the DI level is another logical guess. Although at last check, only 3 DI assistant hires out of 27 openings are coming from the DIII ranks. Thus far, Marty Sertich will stay at St. Thomas on Joel Johnson’s new staff, Elizabeth Wulf moves from Wesleyan to fill UCONN’s opening, and Mollie Fitzpatrick moves to Boston University from Norwich. Alums coaching at their alma mater, Sam Faber at UNH is the only one so far.
We’ve put together a google sheet to keep track of who has departed, who has been hired, and which jobs are still open. You can click HERE to to see the list which we will update as more announcements are made.
Time to Give Out Some ‘Stick Taps’
There are so many great people doing good things at every level in women’s hockey–minor/youth hockey, the NCAA,–coaches, administrators, equipment managers, athletic trainers, media personnel, and so many others. At WCH.org, we feel it’s time for them to get some recognition.
Coming in August, our blog will feature a new section called, ‘Stick Taps‘, taken from the hockey vernacular as an ode-to-all things-good-in-hockey. Each month, we’ll give out some Stick Taps to honor those good deeds done by the folks within our game who are making a positive impact. But we need some help!
We want to know form you–our loyal readers–who you think deserves some Stick Taps recognition. All you have to do is email us your suggestions and a little background info on your suggestion, to: womenscollegehockey@gmail.com or tweet at us to @WMNSCollhockey and use the hashtag #WCHsticktaps. Submissions should be made by the 25th of each month and we’ll announce our new Stick Taps the 1st of each month. We look forward to hearing from you!
So You Want To Run A Showcase
It seems like there are more recruiting exposure type events popping up than ever before. COVID has had something to do with that. NCAA DI coaches were stuck at home for 14+ months due to the NCAA recruiting ban. But the amount of recruiting events starting up has been steadily increasing over the years. It seems everyone is trying to get their piece of the summer event pie and make some $. Which is all well and good, but only to a point.
These events aren’t easy to run – especially since some of them have literally hundreds of players participating. Event operators would not be able to attract the kind of numbers they do, if not for the college coaches who show up to work these events. In blunt terms, college coaches are the hook so event organizers can market to the hockey playing masses–“Look, see all the NCAA DI and DIII coaches who will be working my event, come be seen!” And it’s a tactic that works quite well.
Running an event takes organization like no other, great communication, college coaches to staff the event, and good players to attract college coaches to come and evaluate/scout your event. All of this isn’t easy. We’re coming up on our 6th week of normal recruiting activities since the NCAA cancelled its COVID recruiting ban. Some of the reports we’re hearing from DI and DIII coaches about events they’ve worked or attended have been down right astonishing to hear. We’ll keep event names out if it, but here’s a sample.
Not paying coaches who worked an event
Event organizers lying outright about the ages and caliber of participants
The promise of lodging taken away after coaches arrived to work an event and the promise of 5 star accommodations which turned into a road-side motel
No roster information provided
Different pay scales for certain coaches who work the same event and do the same amount of work
Again, just a sample of what we’re hearing. So, if you do want to run a recruiting event and hire college coaches to work it, here are some things you can do to ensure you’re treating college coaches – and your event – right.
Don’t lie – about anything – ever. Communicate early and often. No detail is too small.
Put everything in writing (email) to coaches about what their work responsibilities are – and whattt you expect our of them. Spell it out.
Communicate what you are providing in terms of compensation. Explain pay scales, when coaches will be paid and how (check/Venmo etc.), whether its a stipend or a per game/practice amount. Define any travel expenses that are covered like lodging, meals, airfare/car rental, etc.
Pay well. In some cases, coaches have to take vacation time work private camps. You don’t want coaches losing money by working your event. Don’t assume their recruiting budget is covering their travel – in many cases, especially on the DIII side – travel to/from camps isn’t covered.
Provide a list of participants as early as possible to college coaches, those working your event and not. A talented player group will attract a good amount of coaches who will show up to scout and evaluate who’s there.
If you’re event spans most of the day, provide meals for your staff so they don’t have to leave the rink.
Provide participant contact information to coaches… there is a reason you’re having the event in the first place, right? To get them seen by college coaches. Well – give college coaches the info to contact your participants!
Provide rosters with accurate information – first/last name, position, birth-year or HS grad year, previous team, current team etc. This is vital for parents of participants – they want to know college coaches have this info!
The list could go on. We’ll provide an update as to the quality of events that took place this summer in a future post.
Sifters
Online Directory of Hockey Recruiting Events/Leagues… We received several messages since our last post from event and league organizers wishing to get their event on our list. So – we’ve created a google sheet with a list of recruiting events and leagues that present good scouting opportunities we’re are aware of. You can find that list HERE. If you run a recruiting event or league and want to have us list it in our online directory, please click HERE and fill our the WCH.org recruiting event form.
Mercyhurst Head Coach Mike Sisti… Received a contract extension. Terms were not disclosed. Sisti, who has been the only coach in Mercyhurst history, eclipsed the 500-win plateau this season and will begin his 23rd behind the bench this coming year. You can read the official announcement HERE.
Domencio Promoted… Providence Friars Assistant Coach Alison Domenico has been promoted to the position of Associate Head Coach. Domenico has been with the Frias for the previous 3 seasons. You can read Providence’s official announcement HERE.
Where is Canada at with Hockey? You can read where each province is at in regard to its restart of hockey. Just click on the province name for the most recent COVID update.
Hockey Canada Announces U18 Camp Dates and Selections… Hockey Canada announced it’s U18 Evaluation Camp will be held July 29-August 5. A list of camp attendees can be found HERE. Interesting to note there are 27 selections from the PWHL out of the 46 total selections. 10.8 % of camp is made up of 2005 birth dates (5 in total) all others are 2004 birth dates.
The Men’s Side of the WCHA Folds… As of July 1, 2021 the men’s hockey WCHA conference folded as 8 league members will move to the new CCHA. That left two Alaska schools, Fairbanks and Alaska-Anchorage the loan remaining teams in the WCHA. Fairbanks will operate as an independent this coming year as it weighs its options. Anchorage has suspended its men’s hockey program for the 21-22 season as the university figures out the best course of action. You can read the story HERE.
Grant Kimball is founder and contributing writer at Women’s College Hockey.org. He currently beginning his 3rd 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 amatuer and NCAA coaching career. He has coached in 6 different NCAA DIII and DI conferences for various institutions 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 NCAA Tournament. He also currently serves as an officer with the American Hockey Coaches Association as Vice President of Membership and is on the AHCA’s Women’s Hockey Executive Committee.
Family Advisors & Recruiting Services, Are They Worth It?|
Sifters|…
Coaching Carousel Update
As of July 2, there are 17 D-I and 3 D-III assistant coaching positions open or yet to be announced. Here are the programs that have filled positions thus far and those who still have openings.
Division I Head / Assistant Coaching Hires
Boston University – Hockey East – Has hired Kirstin Matthews as an Associate Head Coach and Mollie Fitzpatrick as an Assistant Coach.
Brown University – ECAC – Has hired Melanie Ruzi as its new Head Coach as well as Justin Simpson and McKenna Newkirk as Assistant Coaches.
Dartmouth College – ECAC – Has hired Elizabeth Keady-Norton as its new Head Coach and Stephanie Moberg as an Assistant Coach.
University of New Hampshire – Hockey East – Has hired Samantha Faber as an Assistant Coach
Quinnipiac University – ECAC – Has hired Brent Hill as an Assistant Coach.
St. Anselm College – NEWHA – Has hired Jessica Kindret as its Head Coach.
St. Thomas University – WCHA – Has hired Joel Johnson as it Head Coach as well as Bethany Brausen and Marty Sertich as Assistant Coaches.
Stonehill College – NEWHA (Start Fall of 2022) – Has hired Tara Watchorn as its Head Coach.
Division I & III Head / Assistant Coach Openings
University of Connecticut – Hockey East – 1 Assistant Coach – OPEN – We are hearing an announcement will be made in the next day or so.
Dartmouth College – ECAC – Has 1 Assistant Coach – OPEN. A selection has been made and an announcement coming soon.
Mercyhurst University – CHA – 1 Assistant Coach – OPEN
Merrimack College – Hockey East – 1 Assistant Coach – OPEN
University of Minnesota – WCHA – 2 Assistant Coaches – OPEN
University of Minnesota-Duluth – WHCA – 1 Assistant Coach – OPEN
Princeton University – ECAC – 1 Assistant Coach – OPEN
Providence College – Hockey East – 1 Assistant Coach – OPEN – Hearing a selection has been made and an announcement will be made shortly.
Stonehill College – CHA – 2 Assistant Coaches – OPEN
Syracuse University – CHA – 1 Assistant Coach – OPEN – A selection has been made and an announcement will be coming soon.
Union College – ECAC – 2 Assistant Coaches – OPEN
Long Island University – NEWHA – 2 Assistant Coaches – OPEN
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
Stoney Creek Cancels 2021 Showcases… Word came this week to NCAA coaches the 2021 Stoney Creek Bantam/U14, Midget/U16 and University/U19 Showcases have been cancelled. Usually held in the first 3 weeks of September, Stoney Creek usually attracts some of the best talent across each age level from around North America. Sighting a slow reopening from Ontario, there is just too much uncertainty as to when minor hockey will start back up.
In lieu of the Stoney Creek Showcases not happening, there are other events scheduled for September in the US that will take place. A list of events we are aware of for the 21-22 season is listed below beginning in September. We will update this list as time goes on.
Other events will be added once confirmed.
USA Hockey National Development Camps… The 16/17 camp ended today. Team Royal and Black led their respective groups with identical records of 3-1-0. According to Twitter, it looks like Royal took home the title.
Full standings can be found below. Links to team rosters and stats can be found HERE. 5 forwards, 4 defensemen, and 4 goalies will be selected to attend the U18 Select camp. These players will come from the 16/17’s and 15’s camps. The 15’s get underway July 10 with the U18 Select camp beginning July 16.
We will be curious to know how heavily scouted the event was by college coaches. We’ll have a recap next week.
FamilyAdvisors and Recruiting Services, Are They Worth It?
We were asked this exact question recently by one of our readers and feel it is a great topic of discussion. As the girls’ game grows, so too does the opportunity for youth/minor hockey players to enter into relationships with ‘Family Advisors’ and use ‘Recruiting’ service companies to help them with their college recruiting process. First, let’s define some terms and some NCAA rules.
The typical ‘Family Advisor’ is usually a person who helps guide recruits and their families through the college recruiting process. Usually for a paid fee, which can vary from under $100 in some cases all the way into the thousands, the Advisor provides a certain set of services–much of it the form of direct communication to provide advice, direction, player evaluation analysis, as well as being a conduit between the recruit/family and college coaches.
A ‘Recruiting Service’ is usually a company who helps market the player to college coaches and programs through emails and online account profiles for players to manage. These companies generally don’t provide a singular person the player/family has direct access to on a regular basis for specific communication. Generally these recruiting services allow players, for a fee, to create online profiles with personal, athletic, academic information, as well as uploaded video to be posted to their profile. Usually college coaches have free access to these player databases and can search by specific criteria like, GPA, height, geographic location, position, etc.
The actual ‘marketing’ these recruiting companies do often comes in the form of emails rather than phone calls, but sometimes both. Emails are tailored to specific schools, with specific players who might be a good fit foor that particular school and hockey program. Emails are then sent to college coaches with link to each player who fits the program and college coaches can access their online profiles.
Recruiting service type companies have different pricing structures, and with each comes a different set of services. Some companies have a trial free account to get started all the way to several hundreds of dollars even into the thousands.
NCAA Rules to Know… Under D-I NCAA Rules, recruits and their families are not allowed to enter into contractual agreements with ‘Agents’. Here is the ncaa rule on use of Agents below:
12.3.1 General Rule. [A] An individual shall be ineligible for participation in an intercollegiate sport if he or she ever has agreed (orally or in writing) to be represented by an agent for the purpose of marketing his or her athletics ability or reputation in that sport. Further, an agency contract not specifically limited in writing to a sport or particular sports shall be deemed applicable to all sports, and the individual shall be ineligible to participate in any sport.
20-21 NCAA manual, page 71
While prospective college hockey players are not allowed to have agents, they are allowed to have ‘family advisors’, even if she/he is also an agent. Bottom line, pay attention to the language used. An agent will render you ineligible, an ‘Advisor’ won’t.
Who should use a family advisor or recruiting service? A family advisor or recruiting service could be a good option if you A) Live in a geographically challenged area and have not been exposed to playing in front of college coaches. B) You are from outside North America and unfamiliar with how the US / NCAA college system works. C) You play boys hockey. D) You are completely freaked out by the process because you are uneducated about it and don’t know anyone who can help you become educated. If you fall into one of these categories, use of a family Advisor/Recruiting service could prove helpful.
Our take is this: Women’s College Hockey.org does not have a particular stance on whether prospective college hockey players should have a family advisor or use a recruiting service. It’s not up to us to tell you how valuable using one of those options may be. But we do get asked the question quite often and what we will say is this:
Do your homework before entering or signing into any agreement. Know what services you will be provided and the cost of each.
If thinking about using a family advisor, look at more than one and get references.
Know how recruiting service companies will ‘market’ you and how they decide to who they will market you to.
Utilize your current or former coaches as resources to ask questions and get opinions from.
Be careful of guarantees… A Family Advisor or Recruiting service will never get you a scholarship or spot on a college roster. your workin the classroom, on the ice, and how good of person you are will accomplish that.
Sifters
We’d love to hear from you! Have a specific topic you’d like to see Women’s College Hockey.org cover? More video of women’s hockey? Youth, High School, or Club hockey more often? Let us know what you’re interested in! Just drop us an email to: womenscollegehockey@gmail.com or tweet at us to @WMNSCollHockey. We love hearing suggestions from our readers – we’ll do our best to make it happen.
Hockey Canada… Has announced its National Teams’ Summer camp schedules. The Women’s U18 Team camp will be held July 29 – August 5, 2021 in Calgary, Alberta at the Markin McPhail Centre – Joan Snyder Arena. The camp will have 2 teams of U18 hopefuls. Also as a part of camp will be a team of 2003’s. You can see the complete camp Schedule HERE.
Cornell’s Derraugh to coach with 2022 Canadian Olympic Team… Cornell University Head Coach Doug Derraugh was named an Assistant Coach with Canada’s 2022 Women’s Olympic Team set to compete in Beijing, China. Hockey Canada made the announcement May 13 which can be read HERE. Canada is a country which centeralizes their team leading up to the Olympic Games, meaning they will spend the better part of the 21-22 season training, practicing, and playing together. A Cornell press release indicates Derraugh will be heading back to Ithaca after the World Championships at the end of August. It was not stated when Derraugh would leave Cornell for Team Canada and the Olympic Games.
North of The Border… Canada recently announced that Canadian nationals who are fully vaccinated can travel outside of Canada and return without having to quarantine for 2-weeks upon their return. Travelers must take a have a negative COVID test upon their return. Wondering if that means more Canadian players will be coming down to the US to participate in events like Beatown, etc.
Hockey East… Has 2 graduate internship opportunities for anyone looking to gain experience in media relations or business operations. You can find information HERE.
RMU Legal Representation… The women’s and men’s Robert Morris University hockey teams that were recently discontinued now have legal representation. Attorney Jeffrey L. Kessler, a partner in the New York City law firm of Winston & Strawn, will represent a coalition of Robert Morris University men’s and women’s players. Kessler has a good track record in high profile sports related cases having successfully defended Tom Brady against the NFL and received a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court decision versus the NCAA. You can read more HERE.
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
We’d love to hear from you! Have a specific topic you’d like to see Women’s College Hockey.org cover? More video of women’s hockey? Youth, High School, or Club hockey more often? Let us know what you’re interested in! Just drop us an email to: womenscollegehockey@gmail.com or tweet at us to @WMNSCollHockey. We love hearing suggestions from our readers – we’ll do our best to make it happen.
USA Hockey… Has released its national development camp schedules. Links are below:
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.
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.
As we reported last week, there seemed to be a groundswell of support across the Pittsburgh hockey spectrum to try and save the Robert Morris Women’s and Men’s hockey programs. There was a lot of chatter on social media about one effort in particular that hoped to get both sides talking at least. Murry Gunty, CEO of Black Bear Sports Group tweeted at RMU President Chris Howard among others in the hockey world, an open letter how his company can help save the programs.
Gunty’s company is based out of Maryland and is in the ice rink management business with 27 rinks in its portfolio. So, he’s no stranger to managing the economics of arenas and facilities. As of June 10, Gunty tweeted he had not been responded to.
Sean Collier who writes for Pittsburgh Magazine has a great piece on the inner workings of why this happened HERE. For now, players are looking out for themselves and looking for opportunities through the transfer portal. We will keep you updated as this situation progresses.
Recruiting, Too Much?
D-I coaches are now two weeks into being allowed back on the road and June 15th has come and gone. Needless to say, it’s been busy. The amount of events–camps, showcases, tournaments, combines, etc. scheduled during this short time period has been dare we say, may-be even a bit too much to make it all worthwhile? College coaching staffs are only 3 coaches deep, there’s only so much we can get to. And this is just in the US… the border between the US and Canada isn’t even open yet, imagine if it were? Coaches are having to be laser focussed on where they spend their time and recruiting money, you would think players might be the same way. We saw one email from a player sent to coaches and the dollar amount spent on all the events she’d be going to had to be at least $6-7K when you factor in entry fees/ travel, etc. That’s insane!
Just in Minnesota alone over the next week there will be 4 events–the MN 14 & 15 development camps, the 2nd Os weekend taking place in Edina, and the North American Female Elite Showcase in Blaine. That’s just in MN… nevermind what is going on elsewhere. Green Bay has the central district camp, Rochester, NY has the first annual 585 PIP Showcase, and the RinkSport College Development Camp starts on Saturday. At the end of the June into July you have USA Hockey’s National Development camps with the 16/17 camp June 26-July 2, the 15 camp July 10-15, and the Select U18 camp July 16-22. Sprinkled in there are two Beantown Showcases in Marlborough on consecutive weekends.
Camp and event/showcase operators have to try and make money, it’s how they make their living–understood. And unprecedented times, yield unprecedented environments, like we’re seeing now with all of these events out of the gate in June. But how is the quality of these events events going to be? USA Hockey events should be the best eval events of the summer–with a concentrated, hand picked (sort of) player pool of the best of tthe best representing every USA Hockey district. Yes, you have to be selected for USA Hockey events and we get that players/parents want to get in front of coaches, it’s a critical time. But the old saying, if you’re good – they will find you – holds true. Coaches get paid to make recruiting decisions, and if there is no decision to be made because they don’t like what they see, they won’t make one. Exposure if great, but only if you show well. Perhaps there is a better way to manage all of this ‘summer recruiting’ moving forward.
Point being, too much hockey all at once makes for watered-down events and poor evaluation opportunities for coaches. That doesn’t help hockey programs or participants. Hopefully coaches (and players) don’t get burned out too quickly!
Sifters
Coaching Carousel Continues… Justin Simpson has left RIT to become part of the Brown staff as an assistant coach. There’s a connection there as Justin worked at Providence while Ruzzi was an assistant for the Friars.
Frankel Wins Another… Northeastern Goaltender Aerin Frankel needs more space on her mantel as she picked up yet another award, winning the USA Hockey Bob Allen Women’s Player of the Year award. You can read the official announcement HERE.
Women’s Worlds Set – Again… Hockey Canada announced the IIHF Women’s World Championships will be held in Calgary, Alberta August 20-31, 2021. The event was originally scheduled for Halifax, Nova Scotia and was cancelled due to COVID concerns a few days before the event was to begin. You can read the official announcement HERE. We’ll have a list of NCAA players in the tournament as the event gets closer. There should be quite a few.
USA Hockey National Development Camp Lists Are Out… USA Hockey recently announced its player pools for its 2021 national player development camps coming up at the end of June/July. Lists of each camp are below:
16/17 Camp – 144 players – 48 D, 80 F, and 16G, (2004’s), June 26 – July 2
15 Camp – 216 players – 72D, 120 F, and 24G, (2006’s), July 10-15
The Women’s College Hockey.org Pipeline Blog is back! Once a week, we’ll bring you all the news, notes, and updates from around NCAA women’s college hockey, just as we did during the 20-21 season. We appreciate your patience during our time away in April & May. There is quite a bit of news to catch up on, so let’s get to it.
AHCA Convention Update
The annual American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA) convention was unfortunately was held virtually from May 10-13 again due to COVID. The annual event normally held at the Naples Beach Hotel in Naples, Florida is for women’s and men’s coaches, school athletic administrators, and college hockey’s stakeholders to meetup to discuss issues of importance affecting the sport.
The AHCA did have an in-person farewell weekend event with a few hundred AHCA members April 29 – May 1 at the NBH. Although an in-person convention did not happen, that did not lessen the work that got accomplished. The virtual event was superbly planned and executed with each division and genders having online zoom meetings as well as professional development seminar opportunities with guests such as Martin St. Louis. Here are the major topics & takeaways discusses by the D-I women’s coaching body.
Division-ITopics
NCAA legislation moratorium until the 2022-2023
Verbal offer date change
NCAA tournament bracket expansion & Single site NCAA tournament location recommendation
Patty Kazmaier Award voting timeline and presentation structure changes
Use of new NPI ratings formula for national tournament selection
Division-I Takeaways
+ NCAA legislation moratorium until the 2022-2023 cycle… New NCAA legislation is on hold until the 2022-2023 cycle. Legislation slated to take effect for the 20-21 season was tabled due to COVID. Those pieces could find their way into the 2022-2023 cycle, but remains unknown.
+ Verbal offer date change… Over the next year, the women’s coaching body will discuss a change that would allow coaches to make verbal offers to prospects beginning August 1 after a prospects grade 10 year. This is instead of June 15 which is the current date in place. The rationale: More time to get to know your recruits before making financial commitments and allowing prospects to get to know coaches and more about the institution.
Men’s hockey currently has this rule. Women’s coaches discussed this rule change at length two years ago, and there was much support, so much so, women’s coaches were under the impression the rule change would take effect our sport as well. That is until our women’s executive committee found the legislation was approved for men’s hockey only. It ‘slipped through the cracks’ as the women’s executive committee was told by our NCAA reps.
+ NCAA Tournament Bracket Expansion… The women’s coaching body is working on a request for a 10 team national tournament field. NCAA bylaws stipulate 50% of the tournament field must come from conferences with auto-bid and the other 50% come from at at-large berths. The newest D-I women’s conference the NEWHA and will complete its required 2nd full season with 6 teams after the 21-22 season. After which it will be auto-bid for the 2022-2023 season. That gives Division I women’s hockey 5 auto-bid eligible conferences, but out of compliance according to NCAA selection bylaws with an 8 team field. Upping the field to 10 makes a lot of sense with 5 eligible auto-bid conferences to make up the 50% bylaw requirement. However there are several factors, cost being one, when adding 2 more teams. Currently D-I women’s ice hockey is under-represented on a % basis of its membership that gets to compete for the national collegiate championship. That % sits at just under 20% which is the lowest % of any NCAA sport with as many teams in its membership.
+ Single site NCAA tournament location recommendation… As part of the push to get a 10 team NCAA tourney field, one angle as part of the proposal is making a change to the format of the tournament itself. Using this years’ tourney as an example, all games were held at one site – in Erie, PA. One site allows for ‘Bracket Integrity’. What’s bracket integrity? It’s when you have a true seeded field with a schedule such as #1 vs #10, #2 vs #9, #3 vs 8, #4 vs 7, and #5 vs #6. Rarely if ever has the D-I women’s tournament had bracket integrity. Why? It costs money to fly teams around the country. So to save, the NCAA would try to avoid any more than two flights in the first round. In doing so, you have teams that play one another in the 1st round who are a little closer geographically and in competitiveness than when bracket integrity exists.
+ Patty Kazamier Award voting timeline and presentation structure changes… Coaches will make a request of the Patty Kazamier organizers to make changes that will enhance the profile of the award, while making the event a little less burdensome for the teams and finalists involved. Coaches feel voting should take place after the national tournament is complete. Second, the award has been announced on the off-day before the national championship game in a very nice ceremony, but it can be a bit awkward if the winner lost the semi-final on the day before. Usually finalists are playing in the Frozen Four or in the national championship game. Announcing the winner at another date and time would make that senario go away. Also, it would help increase the awards’ profile by not sandwiching it in the middle of our sports marquee event – the national championship.
+ National Tournament Selection Criteria Change Coming… College hockey has used what is known as the Ratings Percentage Index or RPI, in selecting teams for the national tournament by the women’s ice hockey committee. A new method – called the NPI or NCAA Percentage Index – will be in the committee’s arsenal now. The NPI gives a 30% weighting to winning percentage and 70% to strength of schedule. Simply put, the NPI is cleaner math.
The RPI is calculated based on winning percentage, opponents’ winning percentage and opponents’ opponents’ winning percentage, and the NPI is calculated based on winning percentage and the opponent’s rating itself (rather than the combination of opponents’ winning percentage and opponents’ opponents’ winning percentage) as the measure of schedule strength.
There was a recommendation for the NPI to replace the RPI, but it was ultimately determined the selection committee should have use of both tools at its disposal to use.
NCAA News/COVID Update
Robert Morris Drops D-I Hockey Women’s & Men’s Programs… In a shocking development, Robert Morris University decided to drop its Division I women’s and men’s ice hockey programs effective immediately. The news broke May 26th and the decision was said to be part of new strategic initiatives outlined to position RMU as one of the most agile in the country. You can read the official story HERE on RMU’s website. A follow up story can be found HERE on USCHO.com.
RMU becomes the third D-I women’s program to close its doors behind former CHA conference member Wayne State Univ. in 2011 and the Univ. of North Dakota in 2017 of the WCHA. There has been been a groundswell of support to try and save the programs. A local rink management company along with management at the Pittsburgh Penguins have reached out to present a plan to RMU president Chris Howard.
As if recruiting wasn’t tough enough already for those in the class of 2021 or 2022, an entire team of D-I players just hit the transfer portal to try and hook on with another program. It’s June, and rosters are largely set heading into next year. But some space will be available for programs to take players. It’s just an awful situation that no one with the women’s or men’s RMU hockey programs could have anticipated. We will keep you updated as developments take shape.
Recruiting Opens Up for D-I Coaches… The NCAA ended its temporary COVID recruiting dead period June 1st. Coaches are back in rinks and traveling to evaluate players live for the first time since in 14 months. Numerous camps, clinics, showcases, and recruiting events opened or will open their doors soon. The Os Prospects/Futures event in Bloomington, Minnesota was just held June 4-6 and drew over 450 players with close to every D-I program in attendance. The first two weeks of June are proving to be very busy for player evaluations in anticipation of the June 15th call date for the class of 2023.
Important Date for NIL – Name, Image, Likeness Coming July 1… If you’re paying attention to NCAA news other than COVID restrictions, than you are sure to have heard about NIL or name, image, and likeness NCAA legislation and state laws being drafted to begin July 1. For those who don’t know a thing about the NIL issue, here is the jist.
Beginning July 1, 2021 the NCAA will allow athletes to be compensated for their ‘Name, Image, and Likeness’ without institutional or conference involvement. It has been long argued schools have profited off of their athletes but with no compensation back to the athletes themselves. That non–compensation system is changing. With NIL, we’re really talking about the sports that produce the millions in revenue some schools take in–Football and Basketball mostly – but others exist too – hockey being one of them.
So, what can student-athletes be compensated for? According to the NCAA, Student-Athletes can be compensated for the following:
Compensation for third-party endorsements related to athletics, without school or conference involvement.
Compensation for other student-athlete opportunities, such as social media, new businesses, and personal appearances, without institutional involvement or the use of trademarks/logos.
In May the NCAA updated its NIL plans which you can read HERE.
What does NIL look like? Here’s an example. Picture a car dealership that advertises on TV/radio that XYZ University star Junior Goaltender Sally Smith will be signing autographs from 10-2pm on a Saturday to try and help drum-up business. Now, Julie can be paid by the dealership for her appearance and not break NCAA rules doing so.
There are no federal/national laws that govern rules and compliance for NIL. So, states are left to come up with their own laws covering NIL. States with laws on the books are set to go into effect on July 1, 2021. There could be 50 different versions of NIL laws. The money some athletes (think name brand football/basketball names – both female/male) could make is substantial money, some predict in the six-figures. Imagine how this could play out in recruiting battles. Recruits could want to go to schools in states that have favorable NIL laws so they can optimize their own NIL.
Will NIL have an impact on women’s hockey? Tough to say. But you have to wonder how businesses within the sports themselves and in the locale of the school, will try and use NIL to their advantage.
Sifters
Coaching Carousel… There have been no shortage of D-I head and assistant coaching positions open to be hired. It’s been one of the most active off-season for openings we’ve ever seen. Here’s a rundown of what jobs were/are still open and or have been filled already.
Head Coaching Positions Filled/Open
Brown University – ECAC – Melanie Ruzzi (former Asst. coach at Princeton University)
Dartmouth College – ECAC – Elizabeth Keady Norton (former Assoc. Head Coach @ Boston University)
Stonehill College – NEWHA (new member in 2022-2023 season) – Tara Watchorn (former Asst. Coach at Boston Univ.)
St. Anselm College – NEWHA – OPEN
St. Thomas University – WCHA – Joel Johnson (Former Assoc. Head Coach at Minnesota)
Assistant Coaching Positions Filled/Open
Boston University – Hockey East – 2 Assistant Coaches – OPEN
Brown University – ECAC – 2 Assistant Coaches – OPEN
University of Connecticut – Hockey East – 1 Assistant Coach – OPEN
Dartmouth College – ECAC – 1 Assistant Coach – 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 New Hampshire – Hockey East – 1 Assistant Coach – OPEN
Princeton University – ECAC – 1 Assistant Coach – OPEN
Providence College – Hockey East – 1 Assistant Coach – OPEN
Quinnipiac University – ECAC – 1 Assistant Coach (Filled by Brent Hill)
Stonehill College – CHA – 1 Assistant Coach – OPEN
Syracuse University – CHA – 1 Assistant Coach – OPEN
Union College – ECAC – 2 Assistant Coaches – OPEN
In total there were 5 D-I head coaching positions open and 17 assistant positions. Those numbers represent a 11.9% and 20.2% turnover rate. While we not have data year-to-year on coaching turnover, we do know since 2001, there have been no fewer than 3 head coach opening to be filled.
UCONN Breaks Ground on New On-Campus Arena… The University of Connecticut broke ground in a ceremony for a new $70 million dollar, 2,600 seat rink facility on May 22. No completion date was given, but the state-of-the-art facility will feature women’s and men’s dry change & locker room areas, full athletic training facilities, a hydrotherapy area, players lounge, and video display areas. You can read UCONN’s official announcement HERE and video HERE.
Future Teams Take the Ice… St. Thomas University, a perennial D-III power in the MIAC will be making their D-I debut as a new member of the WCHA for the 21-22 season. St. Thomas makes the jump as the 8th team in the WCHA. The Tommies basically got kicked out of the MIAC and really had no choice but to move up to D-I in all sports with hockey as a part of it’s athletic profile. It’s a perfect fit geographically as 5 other teams in the WCHA reside in Minnesota. Adding the Tommies does however take away 4 non-conference games for each WCHA team. Teams will now play 28 regular season games and have up to 6 non-conference games to schedule.
Stonehill College, located just outside of Boston, MA will commence the building of its women’s hockey program with newly announced head coach Tara Watchorn. Stonehill plans to compete in its first season during 22-23 as a member of the NEWHA. Coach Watchorn will spend the 21-22 season recruiting her inaugural team.
With word of RMU shutting down both its women’s and men’s hockey programs, it was nice to hear about a potential school starting D-I hockey, albeit in an unlikely part of the country–Tennessee. Tennessee State University, one of the country’s historically black colleges and universities, is reportedly ready to conduct a feasibility study into starting women’s and men’s Division I hockey teams. As reported in the Nashville Post, TCU is potentially partnering with the Nashville Predators to see if this can come to fruition. It was unclear when the study would take place or when an announcement could come. You can read more HERE.
COVID Changing Youth Hockey Landscape… With the amount of players taking a gap year and with a continued growth in girls hockey, we wondered where would all these players play? Shattuck St. Mary’s recently announced in March it would be starting a second U19 girls hockey team. You can read the official announcement HERE. The team will be coached by Mitch Baker, former assistant coach at Union College.
With COVID shutdowns still going on in Ontario, we’re starting to hear about players leaving Ontario and coming to the US to play hockey and go to school for next season. A normal hockey season in Ontario is not looking so normal this coming year. Youth hockey and sports in general, are on track to go back to a normal way of life here in the US. Players are left to roll the dice and wait to see what the Ontario Women’s Hockey Association decides, which ultimately will come at the hand of the Ontario ministry of health and Hockey Canada officials. Another lost year of hockey development could be real troublesome for players and the sport itself.
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.
Northeastern’s Frankel Wins The Patty
Northeastern University senior goaltender Aerin Frankel won the 2021 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award on Saturday March 27. The event was televised on the NHL Network live at 2pm as an hour long special. The native of Briarcliff Manor, NY beat out Wisconsin forward Daryl Watts and Minnesota forward Grace Zumwinkle. Statistically Frankel was in a class by herself this year. With 23 games played this year she had an 0.81 GAA and a .965 Save % seeing just under 23 shots per game.
You can watch her video accepting the award HERE and her Patty Kaz intro video HERE. She is a senior and will have the NCAA extra year of eligibility to use. We assume she’ll be back for the Huskies next season.
Final Top 10 Polls
The final USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls of the season came out for the week of March 22. They are identical to each other. You will notice Minnesota is ranked 6th… and yes they did not get into the NCAA tournament. Keep in mind these rankings are not used by the NCAA selection committee to determine who gets into the tournament or not. These rankings are strictly for media purposes by the various entities.
That said, these rankings are decided by good ‘hockey people’ who know the game… sports writers, NCAA coaches, members of the AHCA membership. I can’t recall a time when a team ranked as high as 6th in any poll, much less both, was left out of the tournament. It will be interesting to hear the selection committee comment on the process this year during the AHCA Convention in May.
USCHO.com Top 10 Poll – March 22
#1 Wisconsin
#2 Northeastern
#3 Ohio State
#4 MN-Duluth
#5 Colgate
#6 Minnesota
#7 Boston College
#8 Penn State
#9 Providence
#10 Robert Morris
USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Top 10 Poll – March 22
#1 Wisconsin
#2 Northeastern
#3 Ohio State
#4 MN-Duluth
#5 Colgate
#6 Minnesota
#7 Boston College
#8 Penn State
#9 Providence
#10 Robert Morris
NCAA News
The D-I and D-III women’s coaching body as well as D-I conference commissioners held their monthly zoom meeting last week. The big topic of discussion was this year’s NCAA national tournament, the selection process, and the absence of Minnesota and Penn State. There was a spirited discussion about the transparency of the process as a whole. Also discussed… D-I hockey could be in position to better the sport given the recent inequities shown in women’s basketball. Fair and equitable treatment could come in the form of an increase in teams selected to the D-I national tournament 8 to 10. Currently, on a percentage basis, the women’s tournament is out of balance compared to that of men’s D-I hockey. The women’s currently have 8 selections that represent 22.22% of the total number of teams at the D-I level eligible to make the tournament (36). Men’s D-I hockey is at 26.66% of it’s membership which is 60 and slated to be 61 after the 21-22 season.
Future meetings later this month will take place between each of the D-I conference commissioners and the D-I coaches chairs of each conference to discuss national agenda items for its AHCA convention in May. More about that agenda and the convention itself later this month.
Sifters
Worlds Update… Multiple NCAA players are off to their countries respective training / tryout camps for the 2021 World Championships being held in Halifax, Nova Scotia May 6-16. Players heading to Canada needed to take into account a mandatory 14-day quarantine before heading off for camp. Team USA’s camp, which just ended March 30, was held in Blaine, MN. twenty-four players on NCAA rosters this season were invited. A total of 46 players total were involved. The U.S. has named their World Championship Roster and you can find it HERE.
The MN State Tournament… continues this week. The Class A and Class AA finals will be held tomorrow and can be seen live HERE. The Class A championship begins at 11AM CST with Proctor/Hermantown vs. Gentry Academy. The Class AA championship has Edina vs. Andover at 1PM CST.
5 OT’s for the North Dakota/MN-Duluth Men… the NCAA men’s tournament kicked off last weekend and it produced the longest NCAA tournament game ever and 4th longest game ever. #1 overall tournament seed North Dakota came back to tie MN-Duluth with less than two minutes to go in the game and eventually lost 3-2 in the 5th overtime. You can watch the game highlights below.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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:
Name
School
Maura Crowell
Minnesota-Duluth
Greg Fargo
Colgate
Dave Flint
Northeastern
Mark Johnson
Wisconsin
Jeff Kampersal
Penn State
Nadine Muzerall
Ohio 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.
#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.
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.
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.
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.
-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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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
#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.
NCAA Dead Period, Championship Attendance, Social Justice News
Post-Season Tournament Time
NCAA Weekly Polls…
Sifters
NCAA News…
There has been quite a bit of NCAA new over the past few weeks, so let’s get to it.
NCAA Dead Period Extended… The NCAA announced it would extend the temporary COVID recruiting dead period until May 31st. last week. You can read the official announcement HERE. As noted in the release, April 15 is the target date for the NCAA to give further guidance on the transition back to recruiting activities after June 1. If we had to guess, some kind of hybrid ‘quite’ and or ‘dead’ period model will be used. Meaning, we’ll probably see something like camps and clinics allowed first with in-person recruiting activities later in the summer. Unofficial and official visits may have to wait until the Fall.
Attendance Policy at NCAA Winter Championships Announced… The NCAA also announced it would allow 25% attendance for all its NCAA Winter sport championships – including the Women’s Frozen Four. This is as long as state and local authorities allow attendance at all. The WFF will be held in Erie, PA March 18-20 at Erie Insurance Arena home to the OHL’s Erie Otters. Capacity for hockey is listed at 6,716 and 25% would be 1,679. The NCAA’s announcement is HERE. We have yet to confirm if the WFF will have fans but if so, I would think 1,679 would be an easy number of tickets to sell out.
College Hockey Comes Together for Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion… A special group has formed representing every NCAA Division I women’s and men’s hockey conference in a new initiative called: College Hockey 4 Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion. On Feb. 11th Jennifer Flowers, WCHA Vice President, Women’s Commissioner and chair of CollegeHockey4DEI along with 26 other individuals representing student-athletes, coaches, and administrators announced their intentions to make a cultural change within college hockey to be more diverse, inclusive, and equitable. You can watch the press conference announcement HERE and for more information please go to CollegeHockey4DEI.com.
Post-Season Tournament Time…
Conference Post-Season Tournaments Set to Begin… Hockey East began its post-season tournament Thursday with a March Madness hoops tourney style ‘Opening Round Game’ between #9 Seed Holy Cross and #8 Seed UNH with the winner facing off vs. #1 Seed Northeastern on Sunday. You can checkout the Hockey East Tournament press release HERE for schedules and streaming information as well as bios on how each team did this year. The format calls for an opening round game Thursday evening followed by four quarter-final games Sunday Feb. 28 with 1 vs. 8, 2 vs. 7, 3 vs. 6, and 4 vs. 5. Winners moving on to the semi-final round held Wednesday March 3 with the championship game played Saturday March 6.
In the ECAC, just four teams have played conference games this season–Clarkson, Colgate, Quinnipiac, and St. Lawrence. #1 will host #4 and #2 will host #3 in the four-team semi-final format on March 5. The highest remaining seed will host the championship game Sunday March 7. Seedings are still to be determined as any team with the right combination of wins and help from other teams could claim the #1 seed and regular season ECAC title. You can read more on the tournament HERE.
In the College Hockey America, Mercyhurst University along with the Erie, PA Sports Commission will host the CHA’s annual postseason tournament March 4-6, 2021 at Erie Insurance Arena. You can read the official tournament announcement HERE for schedule and streaming info. The CHA still has one weekend left in their regular season which will determine the eventual tourney schedule. Erie Insurance Arena will be the site of the Women’s Frozen Four March 18-20.
Out west in the WCHA, the top four teams will travel to Ridder Arena on the campus of the University of Minnesota to play in the WCHA Final Faceoff March 6-7. This a departure from how the WCHA postseason playoffs usually work, where all eight teams made the field and the tournament was held over two weekends. You can read the WCHA official tournament announcement HERE. Wisconsin, MN-Duluth, Ohio State, and Minnesota round out the top four and meet next weekend in Minneapolis to crown the WCHA Champion.
NCAA Weekly Polls…
Weekly polls are out as of Feb. 22.
RANK
TEAM
1
Wisconsin
2
Northeastern
3
Ohio State
4
Minnesota
5
Colgate
6
Boston College
7
Minnesota-Duluth
8
Penn State
9
Clarkson
10
Providence
USCHO.com Poll
RANK
TEAM
1
Wisconsin
2
Northeastern
3
Ohio State
4
Minnesota
5
Colgate
6
Minnesota-Duluth
7
Boston College
8
Clarkson
9
Penn State
10
Providence
USA Hockey Magazine/USA Today Poll
Sifters…
Patty Kaz Finalists Named… The 10 finalist for the 2021 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, given annually to the top D-I women’s player at the Frozen Four, were announced earlier this week. Wisconsin’s Daryl Watts and Clarkson’s Elizabeth Giguere, both past winners of the award, have been named finalists along with eight other players. Northeastern leads the field with three finalists. You can find the entire list HERE.
ESPN to Televise 2021 Frozen Four… In a major boost to expanding television coverage for D-I women’s college hockey and for our sports signature event the Women’s Frozen Four (WFF), ESPN has announced it has entered into a multi-year contract to broadcast the WFF held in Erie, PA on its family of networks beginning this year. You can read ESPN’s announcement HERE. ESPN3 the online streaming service will carry the first national semi-final while ESPNU, ESPN’s cable and satellite TV college sports provider, will carry the second semi-final as well as the championship game. While not the first time the WFF has been on a well know cable channel and streamed online, this however the first time the event will appear on a network with as much reach as ESPN has.
AHCA Naples Convention… The American Hockey Coaches Association is putting together options for its annual convention held in Naples, FL at the Naples Beach Hotel and Golf Resort. A virtual online event and or an in-person event at the resort could take place. Just about every D-I/D-III women’s and men’s program, support staff, school administrators, conferences, officials as well as junior/youth/minor hockey programs and hockey related companies are members. COVID cancelled the convention last year. This year holds a bit more sentiment as the Naples Beach Hotel and Golf Resort which has been home to the AHCA Convention for 30+ years, will be closing its doors and re-developing the property. The AHCA acts as the official NCAA hockey coaches association for all NCAA matters.
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.
Hello everyone, Grant Kimball here, assistant women’s hockey coach at Yale University and welcome to Women’s College Hockey.org! Many of you started following my Bulldog Pipeline blog back in early October where we kept you updated with news, notes, and insight about our program at Yale as well as across the world of NCAA women’s college hockey. Since then, we’ve heard from many of you saying how much you enjoy our content, especially on the recruiting side with all the changes happening in the NCAA due to COVID.
So, in an effort to better serve and educate prospective players, coaches and fans about NCAA women’s college hockey welcome to your new home – Women’s College Hockey.org. Our new site is more robust which allows for additional content and special features like dedicated pages for advice to help you understand the recruiting process, view video clips of game highlights and coaches post-game reaction, league standings, and so much more. There may even be a podcast in our future!
The Bulldog Pipeline IS NOT GOING AWAY but it will get a new home as well on the official Yale Athletics Women’s Hockey website which can be found HERE–be sure to bookmark it! All previous content specific to our program from bulldogpipeline.com will migrate over.
Now you have two great online sources to keep you up to date with what’s going on in NCAA women’s college hockey AND with your Yale Bulldogs. We’ll continue to send emails of new posts once they go live. If you already signed up to follow the Bulldog Pipeline there is no need to do so again. And if you want to keep up to date with all that is going on in the world of Women’s College Hockey – sign up now and give us a follow so you never miss a post! Just go to the Home Page and enter your email address in the ‘Follow Us‘ box located in the right-hand margin of the page.
Okay… on to some women’s college hockey news! Happy reading everyone!
NCAA Weekly Polls…
Weekly polls are out as of Feb. 8 with no change at all between them except for the #8 and #9 spots.
RANK
TEAM
1
Wisconsin
2
Minnesota
3
Northeastern
4
Ohio State
5
Colgate
6-T
Minnesota-Duluth
6-T
Boston College
8
Penn State
9
Clarkson
10
Providence
USCHO.com Poll
RANK
TEAM
1
Wisconsin
2
Minnesota
3
Northeastern
4
Ohio State
5
Colgate
6
Minnesota-Duluth
7
Boston College
8
Clarkson
9
Penn State
10
Providence
USA Hockey Magazine/USA Today Poll
Sifters…
New National Goaltending Award Announced… The Women’s Hockey Commissioners Association announced a new D-I women’s national goaltender of the year award given annually to the top female goaltender. The winner will be announced at this years Frozen Four in March held in Erie, PA. On the men’s side they’ve had the exact same award named after former Wisconsin goalie Mike Richter since the 2013-2014 season. The Hockey Commissioners Association assumed the responsibility for the Richter Award this Fall and felt a women’s equivalent was long overdue. A ‘watch list’ of 21 names was announced last week. You can see who’d on that list HERE.
The Hockey Commissioners Association is made up of the commissioners of each women’s and men’s D-I conferences. They are heavily involved in the administration of NCAA D-I women’s and men’s college hockey as well as serving as a partner with the NCAA and the institutions their conferences represent.
D-III Winter National Championships Cancelled… All NCAA Division-III 2020-2021 Winter National Championships have been cancelled as per the NCAA last week. You can read the official story HERE. The NCAA said the reason for the cancellations were due to low sport participation, meaning there weren’t enough teams in their respective sports to have a bona-fide true National Championship. The NCAA set strict limits on how many teams in each sport must play this season in order to play and national tournament. No word yet on what will happen with Spring championships yet.
NCAA Contingencies for Winter Sports Announced… With the NCAA cancelling D-III Winter championships last week, they came out with a statement on contingencies for D-I Winter and Spring sport national championships. You can read the announcement HERE. Based on the number of teams competing in D-I hockey, a full 8-team field is expected to be selected.
One Site Location for Women’s D-I Championship… The NCAA announced it will hold the entire NCAA Women’s National Collegiate Championship at its Frozen Four site in Erie, PA March 15-21. All 7 games of the tournament, 4 qtr. final, 2 semi-final, and 1 championship game will be played at one site. Normally the 4 highest seeds would host a quarter-final game with the winners moving on to a single-site for the Frozen Four. Of course, this is all done to protect the health and safety of all participants in an environment where the NCAA can control what it wants – namely COVID testing. You can read the official statement HERE.
SAT Testing News… A big change from from The College Board, the company that administers the SAT Test… SAT Subject tests will no longer be offered and the optional Essay on the SAT will no longer be offered after the June SAT dates. You can read the official announcement HERE. Some additional SAT test dates were announced as well.
SAT/ACT Test Optional to Continue? A number of high profile institutions, Cornell and Harvard to name a few, have recently announced its extending test-optional policies beyond the ’20-’21 admissions cycle and into ’21-’22. No word if other institutions will follow suit, but you have to think with all the trouble students across the US and Canada have had to even register for a test date, more schools will go test optional.
Dartmouth and Brown announce Athletic Director changes… The Ivy League athletic director landscape has been upended with the announcements of Brown University Athletic Director Jack Hayes and Dartmouth AD Harry Sheehy will step down from their respective posts. Hayes has been at the Brown helm since 2012 and will move on to explore other opportunities, one of which starts March 1 in a new role with Bruin Sports Capital a private sports, entertainment and media company. Sheehy will depart Dartmouth after 45 years in competitive athletics, the last ten of which he spent with the Big Green. The news comes on the heels of both departments deciding to ‘restructure’ and cut various sport programs last Spring and Summer as the COVID-19 pandemic put a choke hold on college athletics. There has been an alumni groundswell of support as well as lawsuits to bring some of those sports back and some with success.
COVID Recruiting Update… Players & Parents Hang In There!
Recruiting in women’s hockey has been turned on its head and in many respects has come to a standstill for certain age groups. Needless to say, it’s been a bit messy. On March 12th, 2020 the NCAA announced the cancellation of the 2020 NCAA Women’s Hockey National Championship due to concerns over COVID. Shortly after that announcement the NCAA announced a temporary ‘COVID’ recruiting dead period which basically meant no off-campus recruiting for D-I coaches nor could recruits and or their families make trips to visit campuses in an official or unofficial capacity. Since then, the COVID recruiting dead period has been extended several times and is currently in effect until April 15, 2021.
As coaches we often tell our players to be patient… things will work themselves out in time. Well… whether you’re a player, a parent, or minor/youth coach reading this, I’d like to offer the same bit of advice – be patient with the recruiting process during COVID.
I’ve spoken to several club and high school coaches since the holidays on how the pandemic is impacting their players. Almost across the board, coaches have intimated their players and parents are on full out freak-out mode relative to their D-I recruiting situations and perceived loss of opportunity–mostly for those who are in grade 11. And the biggest complaint I heard is the lack of information coming from college coaches back to these players and parents. And there is good reason why college programs aren’t providing that info — because they don’t have it themselves, yet.
Part of this angst stems from a recruiting environment we were all used to prior to the pandemic where early commitments and back-and-forth communication was the norm. Players could call coaches on their own and get the info they wanted/needed to make decisions or just to know who had interest in them was nice to know because it meant you might have some options. Since June for those in grades 9 and 10, most of that has been taken away due to NCAA rules. Players in grades 11 and 12 have been subject to a whole new world of college recruiting in the COVID era where coaches won’t know how many spots they’ll need or what there roster could look like in a lot of cases until May or June this Spring. I’ve talked with plenty of college coaches of late, and the sense I get is they want to be patient. Not being able to see players play live doesn’t make for great recruiting decisions. And let’s face it – players haven’t really been able to play. Some yes, but this hasn’t been a normal hockey season of development. Add in a whole class of NCAA players who can come back and play next year and you have a new transfer market college coaches are now taking into account. Trouble is, college coaches won’t know who’s going to transfer in a lot of cases until this Spring.
When I first started coaching in the early 2000’s, coaches wouldn’t even call players for the first time until the summer between a players’ junior and senior year when the rules said we could. Official visits were a real and a vital aspect of the recruiting process which absolutely helped determine who we made official offers to… after the player came to campus. Players would actually take multiple visits to schools before making a decision and for the most part were patient with the process.
Then, all of a sudden the process changed and early recruiting/commitments became the norm. So too did the expectations of players, parents, and their club or high school coaches. Patients in the process went out the window. Enter the pandemic, a NCAA dead period that will last at least 13 months, and NCAA rules allowing current college players an extra year of eligibility… Welcome back to the early 2000’s and programs taking their time to make recruiting decisions.
Here is the reality for a lot of college programs–they don’t even have all of the info they want and need to make recruiting decisions. In part because watching live games of club and high school hockey has been off-limits due to the dead period. And also because the NCAA threw a nice wrench into the mix granting all players on a roster this year an extra year of eligibility. A lot of programs are still trying to hash-out what seniors may come back or transfer elsewhere. Chances are that won’t be known until sometime this Spring after the season is over.
The old saying ‘control what you can control’, really applies here – otherwise you are going to drive yourself nuts over-thinking all of this. You can’t control what the NCAA does nor a college program.
So if you want to be smart, use this time to your advantage and take control of your development. Do what you can to make yourself a better player so when the time comes for coaches to get back out on the road and watch games live, you’re ready and can show them how much you’ve improved. You might have to re-think your approach to your process like taking a gap year somewhere or you might have to consider other schools where you know there is an opportunity for you. Because there are still spots available out there – but you have to be good enough to get one. Case in point… when the Univ. of North Dakota dropped their program in March of 2017, all but a player or two found a home. That meant there had to be space on rosters and scholarship money available to give out – and there was. So, if you’re one of those players who’s in a holding pattern and haven’t heard much from the coaches you were chatting it up with this summer or early fall, take a deep breath, hang in there and be patient as you let this crazy process play itself out. Things will get better but it will take some time.
Sifters…
Transfers Make Debuts… A couple of recent transfers have made debuts with their new teams. Freshman forward Lacey Eden was supposed to suit up for Princeton this year but has found her way to Madison, Wisconsin and is now a Badger. She skated in her first game this past weekend in UW’s sweep in #1 ranked Minnesota. You can read her story HERE. Maureen Murphy suited up for Northeastern this past weekend after spending 2+ years at Providence College. The Hockey East executive committee granted her immediate eligibility beginning this Spring semester. You can read her story HERE.
A Change for the May Quiet Period… There has been talk D-I Coaches will try and request the NCAA to suspend its self-imposed May quiet period this Spring. D-I coaches in women’s hockey have long had what is called the May Quiet Period where from the Monday prior to the American Hockey Coaches Association convention (usually late April) and ending 12:01am June 1, coaches were not allowed to go off-campus to recruit and evaluate or meet face-to-face with perspective players and their families. So, with the NCAA COVID temporary dead period slated to end on April 15, that would give D-I coaches a 10 day stretch to get out and watch players play. Not exactly an ideal amount of time to make recruiting decisions. By April 15, D-I coaches will have gone a year + without being able to watch players live. We’ll keep you posted on future developments.
Both polls are out after last weekend’s games and they are identical. We have a new #1 and Penn State debuts at #10 in both polls for the first time this season. Congrats to coach Kampersal and his staff. Penn State is currently 6-1-1.
RNK
TEAM
#1
Minnesota
#2
Wisconsin
#3
Ohio State
#4
Northeastern
#5
Colgate
#6
MN-Duluth
#7
Providence
#8
Boston College
#9
Clarkson
#10
Penn State
USCHO.COM Top 10 Poll
RNK
TEAM
#1
Minnesota
#2
Wisconsin
#3
Ohio State
#4
Northeastern
#5
Colgate
#6
MN-Duluth
#7
Providence
#8
Boston College
#9
Clarkson
#10
Penn State
USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Top 10 Poll
Weekend Schedule…
Schedule in full swing… Once again we have a packed schedule over the next 5 days–24 games in all from today through Wednesday. NESN Plus will once again provide some televised Friday afternoon hockey at 2pm today with Holy Cross traveling to play Boston College. NESN Plus will also carry game 2 Saturday at 6:30pm. As always, streaming info is at the very bottom of each post. We’ll keep you updated throughout the weekend with scores and highlights if we can find them.
Notable Games… For the first time this year we’ll see the consensus #1 vs. #2 in what is known as the ‘Border Battle’ between #1 Minnesota vs #2 Wisconsin. This will be the 107th meeting all-time between these two programs. Both games will be in Madison and are set for a 3:07pm EST puck drop each day. Friday’s game will air on BTN+ and Saturday’s will also air on Fox Sports North as well as BTN+.
Also in the WCHA, #3 Ohio State travels to take on #6 MN-Duluth.
In the ECAC, #9 Clarkson and #5 Colgate will play a Saturday / Monday home-and-home series. Game one is set for Saturday 4pm at Colgate. Clarkson is coming its first two games of 2021 in a sweep of LIU while Colgate managed a sweep of ECAC opponent Quinnipiac. This will be the 5th and 6th games these two teams play against one another this year already… and 4 more are scheduled for later this year.
In the CHA, Robert Morris travels to play Mercyhurst for two games. Robert Morris is coming off getting swept by Penn State last weekend and the Lakers last played on Jan. 7 beating RIT 4-0.
And in Hockey East, #7 Providence takes its 7-1-1 record on the road to Merrimack Friday. On Sunday, the Friars return home to face Merrimack on the back-end of their home-and-home series.
And for the first time in quite a while we have some D-III hockey action to talk about as Concordia-Wisconsin travels to play Adrian College Friday at 4pm. You can watch that game live HERE. The same two teams will pack-up the busses after Friday’s game and head back to Wisconsin to play the very next day at 5pm CST.
Sifters…
COVID Postponements… Penn State will have to wait at least one more weekend to defend its new top 10 ranking as their next two series with RIT have been postponed beginning with this weekends’ games due to RIT COVID protocols.
Vermont’s series with Maine has been postponed due to COVID protocols within Vermont’s program.
The NHL, it’s back… The NHL began its 2021 season this past week and we saw some fans in the stands!
-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.
To clarify, the first ranking number you see will always be the USCHO.com poll and the second will be from the USA Toda/USA Hockey Magazine Poll.
How The Top 10 fared…
Consensus #1 Wisconsin hosted #4/3 Ohio State and split winning game 1 but losing game 2 in overtime. Both games had identical scores of 2-1.
#2 Minnesota played a home-and-home-and-home vs. St. Cloud Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The Gophers came away with the three-game sweep winning 2-1, 4-1, and 4-0. Taylor Heise paced the Gophers with a Hat-Trick on Sunday while linemates Emily Odena and Freshman Abby Murphy each chipped in with 3 assists.
#3/4 Northeastern hosted New Hampshire and took game one 3-1 Friday night. Saturday the series shifted to the Olympic sheet of the Whittemore Center at UNH and ended in a tie 2-2. Chavonne Truter for UNH tied the game with just under three minutes to go. After a scoreless overtime, UNH won the extra point in a 5-round shootout 1-0.
#5 Colgate hosted #NR/10 Quinnipiac for a pair of games and came away with two wins, 4-0 and 4-1. Colgate improves to 6-1-1 and Quinnipiac falls to 3-2 on the year. Colgate’s Danielle Serdachny had 4 points, two each game, to help Colgate secure the sweep.
#6 MN-Duluth was idyle.
#7/9 Providence traveled to Holy Cross Saturday and came away with a 5-2 victory. Providence went up 1-0, then found themselves down 2-1. Providence would then score 4 unanswered goals with Hayley Lunny, Sara Hjalmarsson, and Annelise Rice getting two points a piece on the day.
#8 Boston College played a home-and-home with Merrimack and swept both games 5-3 at home and 3-1 on the road in North Andover. BC forward Willow Corson had a three-point weekend to help BC move to 7-3-0 on the year while Merrimack falls to 1-5-0.
#9/7 Clarkson was Idyle
#10/NR Mercyhurst was supposed to host Sacred Heart, but those games were postponed.
In other games…
MSU-Mankato @ Bemidji… Mankato swept Bemidji 2-1 and 4-0.
Vermont @ UCONN… Vermont got the road sweep at UCONN shutting out the Huskies 2-0 Friday and on Saturday coming back from a two-goal deficit to win in OT. Freshman goaltender Jessie McPherson got her 2nd shutout of her career in as many games Friday. Vermont moves to 5-1-0 and UCONN stands at 3-5-1.
Penn State @ Robert Morris… The Nittany Lions of Penn State did something they never have – they swept Robert Morris. Penn State followed up Friday 3-2 win with a commanding 4-0 victory on Saturday.
Lindenwood @ RIT… Lindenwood got its 1st victory of the year downing RIT 2-0 on Sunday. Game 2 is set for Monday at 3pm est.
COVID Postponements… Due to COVID protocols at Sacred Heart, Mercyhurst postponed its game with the Pioneers. No make-up date has been schedule.
The National Women’s Hockey League is in final prep mode for its 2-week bubble season that begins with player arrival January 21.
The NWHL bubble is taking place in Lake Placid, New York with team arrivals scheduled to take place Jan. 21 through 23 in a staggered fashion. A final schedule will be made public soon. We do know the semi-finals and championship game will be broadcast on NBCSN Feb. 4 and 5. This will be the first time a major television network in the US will broadcast professional women’s hockey.
Sifters…
One More Opts-Out… Division III Finlandia University of the NCHA has opted-out of the 20-21 season sighting the health and safety concerns for the program. You can read the full announcement HERE. The Finlandia men’s team still plans to continue play this season. The Northern Collegiate Hockey Association is set to begin play after Jan. 14 and a full conference schedule is expected to come out soon.
Predetermined sites for all NCAA Winter Championships… The NCAA announced yesterday it will hold all Winter sport championships at predetermined sites, this includes D-III women’s and men’s hockey. Championship sites that have been previously announced can continue to host provided local and state health authorities say it is safe to do so. The women’s D-I championship is scheduled to be played in Erie, PA March 19-21. You can read the NCAA’s official announcement HERE.
A New #1… The USCHO.com Top 10 poll has been released and we have a new #1 – the Minnesota Golden Gophers. The Gophers had a 3-game sweep of Saint Cloud this past weekend, while previous #1 Wisconsin split with Ohio State. We’ll have a rundown of both polls tomorrow.
Both polls are out after last weekend’s games. Some variance between the two towards the bottom.
RNK
TEAM
1
Wisconsin
2
Minnesota
3
Northeastern
4
Ohio State
5
Colgate
6
MN-Duluth
7
Providence
8
Boston College
9
Clarkson
10
Mercyhurst
USCHO.COM Top 10 Poll
RNK
TEAM
1
Wisconsin
2
Minnesota
3
Ohio State
4
Northeastern
5
Colgate
6
MN-Duluth
7
Clarkson
8
Boston College
9
Providence
10
Quinnipiac
USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Top 10 Poll
Weekend Schedule…
It’s a packed schedule as the college hockey schedule is now back in full swing. As you can see below, we do have a few TV games on NESN, 2pm and 4:30pm today Friday. As always, streaming info is at the bottom of each post. We’ll keep you updated throughout the weekend with score and highlights if we can find them.
Sifters…
One More Team Begins Play Soon… St. Lawrence University is back on campus and will take part in the ECAC schedule. Players recently arrived on campus and are going through COVID protocol. If all goes well, SLU will play their first game vs. Colgate Jan. 22.
USA Wins World Junior Tourney… Team USA beat arch rival Canada 2-0 to win the gold medal at the IIHF World Jr. Championships. What a performance from USA goaltender Spencer Knight, he was spectacular. It doesn’t matter how good a team you have in front of you, teams need excellent goaltending if you want to win – as well as goal scoring. Very entertaining game to watch… it looked like the pace Team USA played at was a bit much for Canada to handle at times. And what an advertisement for NCAA college hockey… Congrats to the all NCAA coaching staff of Team USA, including Theresa Feaster, the first women asst. coach at a major men’s IIHF event.
COVID Recruiting… Interesting article about Wisconsin’s recruiting. You can read it HERE. It brings up a topic we posted earlier about – recruiting in the new COVID era for college hockey. This is a topic we are going to pick up again with a more in-depth post. Wisco is not the only school who will ‘wait and see’.
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.
How The Top 10 fared… Teams in the Top 10 went 6-0-0 this weekend as of Sunday evening. #1 Wisconsin squeaked by MSU-Mankato winning two 1-goal games, 3-2 and 1-0. It was the Badgers first set of games in a little more than a month. #3 Northeastern Swept Maine 3-0 on Sunday and 1-0 Monday. In the process, Northeastern goaltender Aerin Frankl recorded her 20th and 21st career shutout and is now the new program shutout leader. #4 Ohio State took two games from Bemidji State 4-1 in game one and 7-1 in game 2 where OSU had 68, yes–68– shots on goal. Mercyhurst won its lone game of the weekend, an exhibition game vs. D-III Adrian College which we talked about in our previous post. Mercyhurst went up 3-0 after two periods but Adrian came out strong in the 3rd, out-shooting Mercyhurst 7-5 and scoring two goals in the process making for a very entertaining period.
D-III Adrian College Continues D-I Swing… Up next for Adrian was another CHA opponent Robert Morris University as it continued on its New Year’s D-I swing Monday afternoon. Things didn’t go as well for Adrian as they did at Mercyhurst as Robert Morris proved to be too much. RMU forwards Lexi Templeton and Michaela Boyle paced the way for RMU with three points each and all three goaltenders for RMU saw action. We don’t have game highlights below at this time but we’ll post them once available.
Vermont swept Holy Cross in Burlington beating the crusaders 4-0 and 6-1. Vermont held Holy Cross to 16 and 17 shots on goal respectively. Vermont freshman goaltender Jessie McPherson earned her first career start, win and shutout on Friday. Not a bad way to begin your college career.
Quinnipiac fired 53 shots on net enroute to a 6-0 win vs. Long Island University Sunday. This was LIU’s first game of this season, while only the 3rd for the Bobcats. Quinnipiac and LIU will meet 3 additional times this season. In two weeks QU and LIU will play in a home-and-home series Jan. 16-17 and one final time Feb. 26.
COVID Postponements… #6 Minnesota-Duluth had to postpone it series with the #2 ranked Univ. of Minnesota Golden Gophers as Duluth did not have the minimum number of players required by WCHA return-to-play protocol. No timetable has been given for a makeup date. Duluth was supposed to travel to Minneapolis.
Hockey East announced Saturday’s game between #3 Northeastern and Maine would be rescheduled on Monday Jan 4. No reason was given as to why the game was moved to Monday. Game time is still set for 4pm and will air on NESN.
1980 Miracle On Ice Teammates Face-Off… Wisconsin Badger head coach Mark Johnson and Minnesota State Mankato head coach John Harrington, teammates on the 1980 USA Gold Medal Olympic Team, faced each other as their teams battled it out this weekend. You can imagine how competitive these two individuals are having not only been Olympic athletes, but major contributors as Team USA beat the Russians at the Olympics in 1980. We can only imagine the pre-game speeches. I’m sure neither likes losing, much less to one another, but in college hockey there are no ties. Coach Harrington came into this weekend having won the last game going back to Feb. of last season. This time around, coach Johnson now has the upper hand beating MSU-Mankato twice in close games.
Minnesota High School Hockey Revs Up, COVID Masks Mandatory… Minnesota High School Hockey started today. Monday 1/4/21 is the first official practice day with 1/14/21 the first official start day for games. COVID mask coverings will be mandatory to wear. Additionally, in almost all cases no spectators will be allowed at practices. For now, games will be without fans and concessions… AKA the snack-bar, will not be selling food items. Girls hockey will have an 18-game schedule followed by the state tournament playoffs. Tourney dates are TBD as of now.
NCAA Temporary COVID Recruiting Rules Update… On Dec. 18th the NCAA updated its temporary COVID dead period rules, some of which affect coaches like yourselves. D-I coaches are not allowed to have in-person contact with coaches or individuals associated with prospective student-athletes. With all of the COVID state travel restrictions, I doubt there is a lot of this happening in our sport, but nonetheless, the NCAA put it in writing. We’ll be putting together a ‘NCAA Rules You Should Know’ post very soon–should be very informative for coaches, players, and parents.
Welcome 2021… and good riddance to 2020. Wow – what a year it has been. No need to go into details, you know them all too well. But as a new year begins, we at the Bulldog Pipeline would like to wish everyone a healthy and safe start to a prosperous and joyful year ahead.
Great things are happening at Yale with our program and we can wait to get back to a more normal way of life and college hockey season. Happy New Year!
In almost a complete reversal from a week earlier, Holy Cross up-ended New Hampshire 5-2 for its third victory of the year. Holy Cross netminder Jada Brenon turned aside 49 of 51 UNH shots for the win and good for a .960 save %. It was just a week earlier on Dec. 23rd where Holy Cross found itself on the wrong side of a 6-2 loss against UNH. Holy Cross was a perfect 3-for-3 on the power play and 5-of-6 on the penalty kill while UNH only went 1-for-7 on the PP. These two teams will meet again in a home-and-home series in late February.
Weekend NCAA Schedule/Polls…
All Times are Eastern Standard Time, EST.
Observations…
D-III vs. D-I… NCAA Division III Adrian College is continuing their season against two D-I teams this weekend. Tonight, it’s facing nationally ranked (USCHO.com poll) Mercyhurst University and Monday will take on vs. Robert Morris University, another strong CHA opponent. RMU is a program that has been to the NCAA tournament and nationally ranked before. So you have one of the best programs in D-III going against some of the best in Division I. Should be an interesting match-up. For those who don’t know or follow D-III hockey all that much, you should. After many years as a D-I asst. coach, I got the opportunity to start a D-III program from scratch as the head coach at Aurora University and play in the same conference as Adrian. We took a beating, granted we were a brand new team, but they were tough, skilled, and well coached. I can tell you there is some excellent hockey being played at that level. Adrian College is just one of many D-III teams that have a long tradition of success with a quite a few D-III alumni playing on NWHL rosters.
The University of Wisconsin… The Badgers will finally get to play its 3rd & 4th games of the year this weekend vs. Minnesota State University-Mankato. After only playing its first series of the year back in late November, UW is still currently ranked #1 in both the USCHO.com and USA Hockey Magazine/USA Today Top 10 polls.
Long Island University… Head Coach Rob Morgan and the Sharks get their first game action of the year as they take on Quinnipiac Sunday. The Sharks are coming off the programs’ inaugural season in 2019-2020 as a D-I program where they won the New England Women’s Hockey Alliance playoff championship. LIU and Sacred Heart are the only NEWHA teams to play this season.
National Polls – Week of Dec 28…
Weekly Polls… With no games last week, there are no updated weekly polls.
What the Top 10 are up to…
Where Is The Top 10 This Week… As we mentioned above, #1 Wisconsin is back at it this weekend vs. MSU-Mankato for 2 games. #3 Northeastern and #4 Ohio State are back in action since before the holiday break. Northeastern hosts Maine while Bemidji travels to Columbus to face the Buckeyes. #10 Quinnipiac hosts D-III power Adrian College for one-game Friday.
#2 Minnesota, #5 Colgate, #6 MN-Duluth, #7 Clarkson, #8 Boston College, and #9 Providence are all idle this weekend.
Streaming info is below. TBA series previews will be updated as they become available.
Sifters…
Women’s Hockey On TV… The New England Sports Network (NESN) will televise each game of the Maine/Northeastern series this Saturday and Sunday. Games time are set for 4:30PM & 4PM. I will say NESN has done a great job of broadcasting women’s hockey games this season. Curious to know if the uptick in the amount of televised women’s games was a contractual obligation with Hockey East and would have happened anyway w/ out COVID? Anyway, it’s nice to see a major sports network broadcasting games.
Men’s World Junior Tourney… The IIHF Men’s U20 World Junior Championships are entering its playoff phase in Edmonton, Alberta. They are using a very similar bubble approach to hosting the event as did the NHL. Team Canada and Team USA came in first-place of their respective groups.
Sweden… Tre Kronor, who had won 54 strait preliminary round games dating back to 2006, has now lost two games in a row. They lost 4-3 in OT to Russia Dec. 30 and 4-0 last night to Team USA. That is quite a streak! Interestingly, Team Sweden’s loss in 2006 cam when the tournament was held in Sweden to Team USA in OT. Jack Johnson scored the winner.
Germany Moves to Quarter Finals… Team Germany is moving on the to Quarter Finals for the first time… ever with a thrilling 4-3 win over Switzerland. And they’ve done so with a shorthanded group too. Several players tested positive before the tournament began which gave Germany just 14 skaters through the first few games of the tournament. Credit Germany’s first round pick in the 2020 NHL draft Tim Stutzle – this kid is fun to watch.
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.
In an earlier post we reported women’s hockey will be back playing games Jan. 1. That has now changed and New Hampshire will travel to Worcester to take on Holy Cross at the Hart Center Rink. Puck drop is scheduled for 5pm. The game will be streamed live and can be viewed for FREE. All NCAA conference streaming information can be found below at the bottom of the post.
New Hampshire vs. Holy Cross Preview…
These two teams met just before Christmas on December 23rd with New Hampshire exploding for a four-goal second period enroute to a 6-2 victory. It’s been a short break for both squads as they were last two NCAA teams to play before the holiday break. Looking ahead, Holy Cross has a quick turnaround as they head up to Burlington, VT for a New Year’s series with Vermont Jan. 1 & 2. New Hampshire has the weekend off and return to action Jan. 8-9 vs. Northeastern in Boston.
Hockey East Cancels Games… Due to COVID testing date conflicts with the Boston University Women’s and Men’s teams returning to campus from the holiday break, each of their respective home-and-home series for this coming weekend have been cancelled. The women were set play New Hampshire and the Men vs. Northeastern.
Games Played Thus Far… In a quick scan of how the conference standings were matching up I began to notice how few games some teams have played. Of note, Wisconsin, Mercyhurst, Quinnipiac, Sacred Heart, Vermont, and Northeastern have only played 2 games thus far. In contrast, New Hampshire has played the most with 9 followed by Providence, Boston College, and MSU-Mankato with 8 and Holy Cross & UCONN with 7. If memory serves, 10 games played will be the magic number for NCAA tournament consideration this year. Normally, that number of games is 20.
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.
By The Numbers-Where This Years D-I Players Are From…
Yale Helping NWHL…
Sifters…
By The Numbers-Where This Years D-I Players Are From…
32 U.S. states, 16 countries, and 10 Canadian provinces. That is where the 773 rostered players on NCAA D-I teams from the 2020-2021 season hail from. Here is a breakdown by U.S. state below.
Here is how each US state, the Canadian provinces, and each country match up.
Here are the top 10 producing locations around the globe:
LOCATION
NUMBER of PLYRS
Minnesota
172
Ontario
135
Massachusetts
72
New York
52
Michigan
35
Illinois
26
British Columbia
25
Wisconsin
22
Quebec
20
Connecticut
19
Keep in mind there are 10 teams not playing this year and those rosters are not accounted forin the above numbers. 10 teams X 24 (ave. roster size) = 240 players missing. That said, the top 3–Minnesota, Ontario, and Massachusetts have long been major producers of D-I talent. The question of ‘who has the best talent?’ would be a fun comparison by location. You could rank each location by total points produced and number of goalie wins, GAA, and SV %. Might take some time, would be interesting to see.
Yale School of Public Health Helping NWHL…
The NWHL has partnered with Yale Pathology Labs to provide Yale’s emergency FDA approved COVID SalivaDirect PCR and RNA viral tests to NWHL players and staff for the upcoming NWHL bubble season. The SalivaDirect tests for the NWHL will be the first provided to a professional women’s sports league. The NWHL will be hosting its entire regular season and Isobel Cup playoffs in Lake Placid, NY for two weeks between January 23 – February 5, 2021. You can read more on the NWHL’s partnership with Yale HERE.
Sifters…
3 NEWHA Teams Opt-out of Return to Play… On Dec 16th. the New England Women’s Hockey Alliance announced only 2 teams, Sacred Heart and Long Island University, would be continuing to schedule games this season. NEWHA will not have a regular season schedule or championship playoff competition for 20-21. NEWHA had announced on Dec. 9 that 5 NEWHA members would play a condensed schedule beginning in January. However, as discussions continued, St. Anselm, Franklin Pierce, and St. Michael’s College announced they would not continue their season due to COVID. Post University announced it was cancelling its season back in October. Schedules for Sacred Heart and LIU can be found online. You can read more about the announcement HERE.
D-III NCHA Plans to Move Forward… The Northern Collegiate Hockey Conference is planning to have a season starting sometime in January. The announcement was made Dec. 23 just before the holiday. You can read it HERE.
NBCSN to Televise NWHL Playoffs… For the first time in the USA and for the NWHL, each game of the Isobel Cup semi-finals and championship game will be televised live on NBCSN and streamed on the NBC Sports app. Click HERE for game times and future schedules.
Give The Pipeline a Follow… Give the Bulldog Pipeline a follow! You can find us on Twitter and Instagram. Just click the link below!
How The Top 10 fared… There were no games involving Top 10 teams this week.
COVID Postponements… With only 1 game on the schedule this week, Holy Cross @ New Hampshire, there were no COVID cancellations or postponements.
Late Scheduling… We posted earlier about how late into December games were being scheduled and as far as we can tell, all due to COVID. Holy Cross travelled to play New Hampshire Dec. 23rd and there were 7 other games scheduled from Dec. 17-20. In a normal year, games are usually done by the first or second week into December with the odd game here and there around the 18/19/20 of the month. I wonder if some of the results we saw could be attributed to playing so late into the month?Arriving to campus in August and playing as late as some did makes for a long semester away from home and family. The holiday break is usually around 10-12 days or so. Bemidji last played on the 18th and is back in action on Jan. 1. New Hampshire and Holy Cross who played on the 23rd will also be in action on Jan. 1, now that is a quick turnaround.
USA Hockey Magazine/USA Today D-I Women’s Hockey Poll was the only poll to come out after last weekend’s games. Not a lot of movement with Providence being the only ranked team to play. They split with Maine winning game one 4-0 but losing game two 2-1. With the loss, Providence drops two spots to #9, idle Clarkson and Boston College moves up to #7 and #8 respectively. The full poll is below;
Sifters…
Recruiting Page Coming Soon… A few posts ago we announced a new page coming soon to the Bulldog Pipeline – a recruiting resource page. Think of this as your one-stop-shop for NCAA recruiting rules, documents and all sorts of resources to help you stay informed about how the D-I women’s hockey recruiting process works. Progress is coming along and it should be up and running shortly.
NCAA Hockey COVID Related News… NCAA Men’s hockey lost another team as the University of Alaska-Fairbanks announced Dec. 11 they would opt-out of there season due to COVID related health concerns. You can read the story HERE.
NCAA D-III St. Norbert College announced Dec. 21 its women’s and men’s hockey team won’t be competing this season due to COVID. The announcement was made HERE.
The United Collegiate Hockey Conference of NCAA D-III announced it will begin competition for its member teams on Feb 19, 2021 as long as its safe to do so. No word was given on a schedule. William-Smith announced it would opt-out back in November and will not be participating. You can read the UCHC’s announcement HERE.
Social Media Internship… The American Hockey Coaches Association is looking for a social media intern and has officially posted for the position. The AHCA is looking for someone to help build their social media online presence through sites like Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, etc. Interested candidates can read about the position below and download the file. The internship runs from Jan-May, 2021.ahca-social-media-postDownload
Give The Pipeline a Follow… And speaking of social media, the Bulldog Pipeline is on Twitter and Instagram. Be sure to give us a follow – just click the link below!
How The Top 10 fared… Providence was the only team to play games this weekend as Northeastern games vs. Holy Cross were cancelled. The #7 Friars split with Maine winning game one 4-0 and losing game two 2-1. Everyone else was idle and will be until after the holiday.
COVID Postponements… COVID protocol caused the postponement of the Ohio St. @ Wisconsin series. The Northeastern/Holy Cross has been cancelled, exactly why is not yet known. Neither the Hockey East Conference or Northeastern/Holy Cross websites are saying exactly why… yet.
Firsts… Vermont saw their first game-action of the 20-21 season this past weekend. They hosted UNH in a Saturday/Sunday series at Gutterson Fieldhouse. It was also the debut of a revamped Gutterson Fieldhouse complete with new scoreboard. You can read more about the upgrades HERE.
Recruiting during COVID has been quite the challenge for college coaches, namely being able to evaluate players in person. The in-person ‘eye test’ has long been the gold standard for coaches to get a sense of how a player, well… plays. Evaluating by video however, has become much more prevalent over the years thanks to the internet and savvy parents and coaches with their iPhones & tablets. And in a year when NO off-campus recruiting has been allowed for D-I coaches – watching video is all we’ve had to go by.
I’ll be honest… watching video has been downright tough to watch if not impossible at times. Rarely is there broadcast quality video angle used where coaches can actually see whos doing what out there. It’s been a struggle just to see the jersey numbers of who’s playing. LiveBarn is like looking through a fishbowl. But let’s be honest, most high school and club teams that are playing games don’t have a videographer or a crew to set up a legit streaming broadcast. So it is what it is – for now. But there are some things a player, parent, or coach can do to make the video more palatable for college coaches to watch so we can get something out of it.
Improve The Camera Angle… quite a bit of video we get from players is shown from an ‘off-center’ type of angle. Mom or Dad is perched in a corner somewhere or behind the glass at ice level videotaping the game from a full length-of-the-rink view. Not ideal for trying to evaluate the play. Try to position yourself as close to center ice as possible and as high up so the video is not being shot through the glass. But not too high otherwise it will be tough to see jersey numbers.
Do follow the puck… if you drew the short straw for your team as the camera person and want to do a good job on the video part – don’t watch the game. Follow the puck so it’s in the middle of your screen at all times. This ensures you’ll get an equal amount of space in the shot relative to where the puck is. Coaches will see more of who’s involved that way.
Use a tripod… A tripod will help stabilize your camera and allow you to follow the play better. It can feel like we’re on a ride at Disney otherwise. They make some great phone and tablet tripods that don’t cost an arm and a leg.
UNTUCK YOUR JERSEYS!!!… Can’t say this enough – players – don’t tuck your jersey in you pants. Coaches can’t see your number and thus don’t know who you are.
Jersey and number color are important… Watching a game where teams have similar jersey and number colors don’t work. I recall watching a game in September where a team had black jersey base color and dark purple colored numbers. Couldn’t see a thing and after a while of straining my eyes, didn’t watch.
Players, send video of you WITHOUT the puck… A lot of video we get are clips of the player carrying the puck or just her shots on net. 98% of the game is played without the puck and while true we want to know what a player does with the puck, we do want to see how she plays without it and in all three zones. This is how we get a idea of what her positioning and overall ‘hockey IQ’ is like. So–DO send video clips or periods of play where we can see her in 1)Breakout situations, 2) Def. zone play, 3) Faceoffs in all 3 zones, 4) Offensive Zone entries, 5) For-checking situations, and 6) special teams–penalty killing and powerplay
Use some video editing software… One of the things that is hard to sometimes pick up on is – who am I supposed to be watching? Oftentimes the video clips we get is of a shift or multiple shifts in a row and we don’t even know who we need to watch… Players, #1, in your email please let us know what number you’re wearing and what color jersey your team is. We love the shadow circles some editing programs allow you to place in the video to highlight yourselves – those are great. iMovie evan has a tool where you can zoom in on video too help improve the camera angle even after it’s been shot. It’s called the ‘Ken Burns’… google it and you find out how to use it.
Sifters…
D-III vs. D-I… As we reported in a previous post, D-III Adrian college was looking to schedule games vs. D-I opponents. It has happened on the men’s side a bit this year already. Well, Adrian has been able to schedule 2 D-I games vs. Mercyhurst and Robert Morris on Jan. 2nd and 4th. You can read the story HERE.
Social Media Internship… The American Hockey Coaches Association is looking for a social media intern and has officially posted for the position. The AHCA is looking for someone to help build their social media online presence through sites like Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, etc. Interested candidates can read about the position below and download the file. The internship runs from Jan-May, 2021.ahca-social-media-postDownload
It’s a light schedule of games until Dec. 23rd, just 10 games. There is 1 weekend series postponed due to COVID: Ohio State @ Wisconsin. Here is the schedule as of 12/18/20 at 6:45am. Thursday had one contest–Bemidji and MSU-Mankato. The complete slate of games is below.
National Polls for the week of Dec 14…
What the Top 10 are up to…
The Polls… The USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Top 10 polls came out Monday. Both polls have some flip-flopping with Northeastern dropping a spot to #3 in the USCHO poll and #4 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll. Providence moves up to #7 and Clarkson drops a spot to #8. Boston University has dropped out of both polls. Mercyhurst debuts in at #10 in the USCHO poll while Quinnipiac claims #10 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll.
Where Is The Top 10 This Week… Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ohio State, Colgate, MN-Duluth, Clarkson, Boston College, as well as Mercyhurst/Quinnipiac are all idle until play picks up after Christmas. The only two Top 10 teams to skate before the holiday break are Northeastern who takes on Holy Cross and Providence will host Maine. Ohio St. and consensus #1 Wisconsin were supposed to play in Madison, both games are postponed due to COVID.
This time of year is always interesting to play games. Mid-December usually means exam time and this year shouldn’t be much different. While COVID has presented challenges with online classes, students are still facing end-of-semester work loads. Players’ attention is more divided than ever with so much going on. The challenge of staying focussed as a player becomes that much harder. End of semester fatigue is real and so is the stress that comes with it. These players will be ready for a much deserved break when games are done and they can go home.
Vermont is set to play its first games of the year vs. New Hampshire at home. Vermont was set to start earlier in November but its athletic administration decided to postpone things until now. With the exception of Sacred Heart, the five remaining teams in the NEWHA are still waiting to commence play which will take place after the holidays.
New Hampshire will host Holy Cross for one game on December 23rd. This usually is not the norm to play this late into December. Most teams finish up early after the first weekend or around mid-month due to exams or institutional rules. Never have we seen a game played so late in the month. Of course, this hasn’t been your normal year.
Streaming for each conference is listed below at the bottom of the page. All Hockey East games are streamed for FREE. ECAC, CHA, and WCHA are all paid subscription based services that require a fee to watch. We haven’t found a NEWHA streaming service for the conference yet. Please refer to each teams website for stream details.
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.
How The Top 10 fared… Teams in the top 10 went 4-3-0 this weekend. #9 Boston Univ. dropped its lone game of the weekend to UCONN while #2 Northeastern and #9 Boston College split their home-and-home series, Northeastern winning game one and BC winning game two. #3 Minnesota swept MSU-Mankato, #1 Wisconsin, #4 Ohio St., #5 Colgate, #6 MN-Duluth, #7 Clarkson and #8 Providence were all idle.
COVID Postponements… COVID protocol caused the postponements of just two series, Minnesota/Ohio State and MN-Duluth/Wisconsin
Firsts… Mercyhurst, Merrimack, Quinnipiac and Sacred Heart all saw their first game-action of the 20-21 season.
Two coaching milestones were reached this past weekend. Mercyhurst head coach Mike Sisti notched career victories # 499 & 500 in a sweep of RIT. He is only the 2nd DI coach in NCAA women’s hockey history to amass 500 wins. Mark Johnson in #1 in D-I.
Cassie Turner, Head Coach of Quinnipiac University got her 100th victory in a sweep of Sacred Heart.
Understanding The Process-Coaches Want You, To Want Them!
In our fourth and final segment of ‘Understanding The Process’ we want to explain why it’s so important for coaches to select student-athletes who REALLY want to be a part of their school and hockey program.
When you consider all that a student-athletes goes through… a rigorous class day, a demanding hockey schedule with practices, video, travel/road trips, off-ice workouts, extra-curricular activities, time with friends etc., it takes a motivated individual to do it all at a high level and ENJOY what they do day-in-and-day-out. Because let’s be honest, if something isn’t enjoyable or you’re wishing you’d be elsewhere, there’s a little something that gets missed from the experience. Enjoyment should be a part of your college experience. That is why coaching staffs really like it recruits (who they are serious about) aren’t afraid to tell them their school is #1 on their list and they want to be there!
Players who attack life and the challenges they face head-on with enthusiasm, energy and a passion for the pursuit of excellence are the type of people coaches seek to be a part of their program. Often times in the recruiting process coaches get a player where they can just tell the player doesn’t seem to have that excitement for your school or your program, but wind up committing and coming anyway. These are the types of players where it’s like pulling teeth to get them to do anything and when they do what’s asked, it’s a half-assed effort. It’s a whole lot easier to ‘do what is being asked’ when you want to be there in the first place. We have news for you, every program in the country can be a tough place for someone who isn’t motivated to be there.
So, for you coaches who are advising your players, give them some help when it comes to communicating with a particular coaching staff… if they really like a school and feel it would be a tremendous experience on and off the ice, like it’s just the right fit all the way around… tell them TO TELL THE COACHING STAFF! Coaches love to hear when a player really wants to be at their school. If a coach has two equal players in terms of hockey ability but one is absolutely adamant about wanting to be at your school, who do you think the coach is going to want to take?
By having players who want to be at their school and a part of their program, coaches get to bypass the ‘pulling teeth process’ and have players who are motivated to immerse themselves in their program and have a truly enjoyable experience because the player wants to be there in the first place.
The NCAA schedule has 19 games between Thursday and Monday. There are 2 weekend series postponed due to COVID: Minnesota@OSU & Duluth@Wisconsin. Here is the schedule as of 12/10/20 at 10:20pm. Thursday’s slate of games are complete as you can see below. Video highlights, postgame reaction, and box scores from the weekend will be posted Tuesday next week.
National Polls for the week of Dec 7…
What the Top 10 are up to…
The Polls… The USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Top 10 polls are identical after last week’s games.
Minimal Movement… Providence moves up a spot to #8, BU loses 2 spots and is now at #10, and Boston College moves up one spot to #9. Your top 4 teams did not play–Wisconsin, Northeastern, Minnesota, and Ohio State. OSU had the week off while UW, MN, and NU had COVID postponements.
Where Is The Top 10 This Week… #1 Wisconsin and #6 MN-Duluth were to play in Madison–that has been postponed due to COVID. #2 Northeastern gets its first game action of the year in a home-and-home with #9 Boston College while #3 Minnesota’s series with #4 Ohio State is also postponed due to COVID. Minne was able to schedule a series with MSU-Mankato instead. #5 Colgate and #7 Clarkson and #8 Providence are all off this weekend. #10Boston University plays a single game at UCONN on Friday.
Series Previews & Streaming Info
Streaming for each conference is listed below. All Hockey East games are streamed for FREE. ECAC, CHA, and WCHA are all paid subscription based services that require a fee to watch. We haven’t found a NEWHA streaming service for the conference yet. Please refer to each teams website for stream details.
-International Games… Last week we mentioned the Swiss and German women’s national teams will meet for 3-games December 15-19 in Fussen, Germany pitting Yale alum and 2014 Swiss Olympian Phoebe Staenz against current Yale defensemen Tabea Botthof of Germany. Additionally we have learned Yale Sophomore Elle Hartje will play for the Slovak National Team in an event with Austria. We’re waiting to confirm the Austrian roster as Yale incoming Freshman ’20 Anja Trummer and Defensemen MeiLan Haberl have both played for the Austrian National Team.
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.
19 games dot the NCAA schedule this week beginning Thursday, the most this season. Will all 19 be played? We shall see. It’s a relatively light week for our players at Yale with exams approaching, Reading days began Monday and the exam period is from Dec. 11-18. Due to Ivy/Yale rules, we’ll let those enrolled focus on finishing the semester strong and catch back up with everyone after exams are over on the 19th.
Some D-I men’s program are scheduling DIII teams to help fill their out schedule. Bowling Green and Lake Superior State have both played Adrian College, and this weekend MSU-Mankato will play MSOE–Milwaukee School of Engineering. Minnesota played Hamline last year in an exhibition game winning 9-0 and outshooting Hamline 47-13. You had one of the best in DI play one of the best in DIII. One has to wonder how much DI teams are going to get out of playing these type of games, COVID and all. Adrian College Head Coach Shawn Skelly did tell me this morning he is actively seeking DI teams to schedule if he can get them. We’ll keep an eye on this.
The last DI conference to make a season scheduling announcement–the New England Women’s Hockey Alliance–has announced it will play a modified season schedule beginning in January. You can read the official press release HERE. Schedules will be released by each NEWHA league member soon.
America’s favorite shower curtain ring salesman – Dell Griffith
In honor of the Thanksgiving holiday and all things late 1980’s, we present one of the holiday movie classics and characters from the hilarious hit Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. In this Thanksgiving travel mishap adventure, (which every hockey parent/player/coach has experienced) America’s favorite shower curtain ring salesman Dell Griffith, played by the late Canadian hockey-loving actor John Candy, teams up with Neal Page, played by Steve Martin, as they try to make their way back home for Thanksgiving. You’ll just have to click the picture above to watch the scene. Knowing the stench hockey equipment makes, you will all relate!
Weekend Scores
In last Monday’s post we included video highlights from each series as much as we could find. Those will now come as part of Wednesday’s posts. Scores from the weekend are below, box scores included.
2 Monday games on the schedule for today, which are rare in college hockey. Lindenwood is at Penn State at 2:00pm and Clarkson is at Colgate at 5pm.
Providence sweeps BC behind a 70 save 2-game performance from JR goaltender Sandra Abstreiter.
Wisconsin splits with Ohio State winning the backend of their 2-game set 5-0 with 2-goals from Freshmen Sophie Shirley. Wisconsin’s graduate transfer goalie Kennedy Blair stopped 26 of 28 in game 2.
Minnesota swept Minnesota-Duluth while on the road. Gopher goalie Lauren Bench finished the weekend turning away 57 of 60 shots good for a .950% save percentage.
St. Cloud beat MSU-Mankato in its first game of the year 1-0 despite being outshot 37-12. Mankato turned the tables in game 2 for the weekend split earning its first win of the year 4-2 and outshooting St. Cloud 42-23.
Colgate, behind a 2-goal effort from forward Kristyna Kaltounkova, downed 5th ranked Clarkson 3-1 in game 1 of their series at Clarkson. Game 2 moves to Colgate Monday night at 5pm.
Due to COVID protocol, the RIT/Syracuse game on Sunday was postponed.
-The Winter Olympics in Beijing are quickly creeping upon us. The New York Times did a recent story on how the Chinese hockey federation is preparing their women’s program for 2022 and the impact COVID-19 is having . You can read it HERE.
-What a weekend for Sarah Fuller, soccer player turned kicker for the Vandy football team and the first female to ever play in a NCAA Power 5 football game. ESPN did a nice follow up story yesterday. You can watch it HERE.
Lastly, the New Zealand All Blacks Rugby Team paid tribute to the passing of soccer star Diego Maradona last week. If you know Rugby, a team performs a ‘Haka’ before each match. A Haka is usually performed in a group and typically represent a display of a tribe’s pride, strength and unity. Actions include foot-stamping, tongue protrusions and rhythmic body slapping to accompany a loud chant. You have to see how they respected their Argentinien match opponent in a classy move paying tribute to Argentina’s most beloved athlete. This was a match played just this past week. Notice it’s in a huge stadium and it’s pretty packed with fans. Stick taps to New Zealand and the All Blacks.
The NCAA schedule has 14 games on it between today and Monday. The CHA and ECAC get underway with its first league games of the year. There a number of games already cancelled due to COVID (4) as of now. Here is the schedule as it stands:
Series Previews: Video and series write-ups are below:
It’s early in the season, and with the way COVID is having an impact on games being cancelled or postponed, the more conference points a team can earn now, the better.
Quick Hitters…
-10 games played this year is all it will take to be in consideration for the NCAA tournament. 20 games is usually the norm.
-There are two media outlets that publish a ‘Top 10’ weekly poll after each week of play, USCHO.com and USA Hockey/USA Today. Needless to say, this year will be interesting to see how the votes come in given the trouble with games being played. The first USCHO.com weekly Top-10 poll was released after last weekend. You can find it HERE and USA Hockey / USA Today HERE.
-St. Cloud, which had games postponed due to COVID last weekend, is scheduled to see its first action of the season in a two-game series vs. MSU-Mankato. Wisconsin, RIT, Penn State, Lindenwood, and Clarkson are all scheduled to play their first games of the year.
-Wisconsin will travel to play Ohio St. for a two-game set in a rematch of last years WCHA playoff championship game, Ohio St. beat the badgers in OT 1-0. Wisconsin will be playing game 1 of its season while OSU split with Minnesota last weekend.
-Friday’s Providence @ Boston College game will be televised on NESN. Game time is 2pm. Saturday’s game at Providence will be streamed for free HERE. Game time is again 3pm.
-Streams for games in the WCHA this weekend can be found HERE. We believe subscriptions will be necessary to watch games in the WCHA.
-Streams for ECAC games between Clarkson and Colgate can be found HERE.
-Streams for CHA games between Lindenwood @ Penn State can be found HERE and RIT @ Syracuse HERE .
Before getting into our post for the day, we want to take a moment and wish all of our Women’s College Hockey Pipeline readers in the U.S. a very special and happy Thanksgiving. There have been thousands of you reading and watching our content. It’s exciting to see all of you take an interest in our program. A very happy Thanksgiving to all of you no matter where you are.
IN THIS POST…
Affordability/Financial Aid – Understanding The IVY Process – Part III…
NCAA/COVID Update…
Affordability/Financial Aid – Understanding the Process…
It’s no secret an Ivy education isn’t cheap. The average cost of attendance among Ivy schools that have hockey programs for the 20-21 academic year is around $78,000. In this post we’ll review how an Ivy education becomes affordable, lay out the financial aid process families can expect go through, and explain why an Ivy League education may be less expensive than a school who offers you a scholarship. In future posts, we’ll tackle the financial process for scholarship schools as well as non-scholarship schools that are not in the Ivy League.
Understanding Affordability
By its own rules, Ivy league institutions don’t offer athletic scholarships. So to help students offset the high cost of attending an Ivy, institutions offer what are called ‘need-based’ financial aid packages to qualifying students. Students qualify based on financial need which is determined by a review of the family’s financial situation. These packages are made up of three areas:
Cost of Attendance includes tuition, room, board (meal plan), books, sometimes travel, and personal expense costs.
Gift Aid includes any money the institution, any governmental or external financial awards. Gift aid in most cases does not need to be paid back. It’s not a loan.
Estimated Net Cost is the amount a student and family is expected to contribute towards the cost of the student’s education.
How much $ do students receive in financial aid? It varies. Financial Aid packages are evaluated on the family’s need and personal financial situation. Think of it as the more income a family makes usually = less financial aid given. Less income = more financial aid.
How how do schools help make things affordable? For starters, those who qualify for financial aid usually receive some amount of money from the institution, which is the main component of the gift aid portion of the package. I am sure many of you are asking, well I make xyz a year, what could I potentially qualify for? That’s a bit harder to determine as each of the Ivy’s calculate awards slightly differently. Theoretically, based on Ivy League financial aid rules, one package shouldn’t really vary much, but sometimes they do. As an example, some schools take into account how much equity you might have in your home… and other do not. But most school are very generous with packages for students who can get in and would attend. Some schools in fact will offer the chance to go to an Ivy virtually free a few thousand dollars per year if your income is at a certain amount. To find out how much you may qualify for at a particular school, best to visit the financial aid website and look for statistics on the percentage of students who qualify for aid and at what income levels those %’s exist at.
Ivy League schools typically evaluate yearly income and normal family assets such as the equity in your home, college savings plan accounts, student savings, stock investments, etc. to determine what’s called the ‘Expected Family Contribution’, a percentage of income the financial aid office feels parents and students should pay toward their child’s education. Some may think, well my daughter is bright and should get a lot of ‘academic’ money. Not so. Unfortunately, there no academic scholarship awards offered at any Ivy League School. The Ivies attract the best and brightest in the world – everyone is wicked smart. Players are welcome to apply for scholarships in their local community to help defray costs provided they are not based on athletic ability and are cleared by the institutions NCAA compliance department.
The Athlete Financial Aid Process
Knowing how much it may cost to attend an Ivy League school is needless to say, important. Once NCAA rules allow, most coaches will broach the subject of affordability with recruits and their parents as they try and answer the ‘can you afford my school’ question. And most coaches would agree it’s best to answer that as early in the process as they can so as to not waste anyone’s time. Bottom line, a school could want you to come and you could want to make a commitment, but if it’s not affordable–it just won’t work. And if it doesn’t work, that’s okay.
So how early can you know costs? U.S. families can get a really good ballpark estimate by using one of the cost estimator calculators found on most of the school’s Financial Aid websites. International recruits could have a tougher time using those calculators because some may not take into account an international physical address. International families could contact a financial aid officer and get direction on how to estimate costs.
Much like Ivies have a ‘pre-academic read’ process, the same holds true for Financial Aid. These reads can begin in the recruits’ grade 11 year, usually after Jan. 1st. This can sometimes be a bit of a selective process as there are only so many requests athletic departments can produce under Ivy League rules. Not every recruit a program has an intterest in will get one. The process usually entails some type of direct communication with that institutions F-A office requesting tax and other financial documents to assess the family financial situation. Once a package has been returned, you’ll know the costs to the penny.
Better Than A scholarship?
In some cases, yes–an Ivy financial aid offer could be more attractive than a partial scholarship. Simple math can get will get you down to net costs. Say you’re offered a 50% scholarship where tuition, room, board, and some fees are covered for two years. That means have to pay out-of-pocket for two more years to graduate. If it costs $50K per year to attend that’s $100K you have to come up with. If you go by the average cost to attend an Ivy today at close to $78K and subtract the average F-A award package of around $55K… do the math and you’re paying out of pocket $92K over four years – for an IVY education.
We find there is a BIG misconception out there that an Ivy education isn’t affordable. Most think you have to have oodles of $ to make it work. The reality is that just isn’t the case in most instances. No doubt there are those who won’t qualify for F-A and wind up paying the full-freight and are happy to do so knowing the value of the education they’ll receive. Most Ivy’s are committed to making it affordable for those who can get in.
NCAA/COVID Update…
College Hockey America is the latest conference to announce scheduling plans for the 20-21 season. You can read the official press release HERE. RIT will travel to play Syracuse on Friday. RIT had originally cancelled its season weeks ago but reversed its decision upon the state of New York approving COVID-19 protocols.
Hockey East had 2 more teams suspend hockey activities in the last 48-hours. On Tuesday Northeastern followed Vermont’s lead in pausing all athletic activities in five sports, including women’s and men’ hockey until Dec. 18th. This was due to a small cluster of positive cases among athletes. You can read the story HERE.
Also on Tuesday the University of Maine announced it would pause all hockey activity until Dec. 8th after positive cases among varsity athletes. It was not known if any of the positive cases were within the women’s or men’s hockey programs. You can read the story HERE.
Weekend NCAA Recap, Video Highlights& Observations
ECAC Makes Scheduling Statement & COVID Update
The Week Ahead…
NCAA HOCKEY is back! 19 games were scheduled this weekend and 13 played. Scores, box-scores and video highlights where available are below. It will be a slow week with Thanksgiving Thursday and no games on the NCAA scheduled until Friday. Yale University is off for the rest of the semester with students, faculty, and staff now home.
The Nutmeg Classic tournament held the weekend of Thanksgiving annually between UCONN, Quinnipiac, Yale and one other school from another conference would have been played this weekend. UCONN was set to host this year but the event was cancelled. The Nutmeg moves to Ingalls Rink at Yale next year in 2021. Why the name ‘Nutmeg’ you ask? The state of Connecticut is known as the Nutmeg state. You can find out how CT got its ‘Nutmeg’ nickname HERE.
Weekend NCAA Recaps & Observations…
Recaps:
Game 1 — Boston College 6 at UNH 2 | Box Score |Video Highlights Below
Friday’s highlights from BC’s 6-2 victory vs. UNH in game 1
Game 2 — UNH 1 @ Boston College 4 | Box Score | Video Highlights Below
Saturday’s highlights from BC’s 4-1 victory vs. UNH in game 2
Game 1 — Maine 2 @ Holy Cross 1 | Box Score |Video Highlights Below
Friday’s highlights from Maine’s 2-1 victory vs. Holy Cross in game 1
Game 2 — Maine 2 @ Holy Cross 3 | Box Score | Video Highlights Below
Saturday’s highlights from Maine’s 3-2 Loss vs. Holy Cross in game 2
Game 1 — Colgate 3 @ Syracuse 2 OT | Box Score |Video Highlights Below
Friday’s highlights from Colgate’s 3-2 OT victory vs. Syracuse in game 1
Sunday’s highlights from UCONN’s 1-1 tie and shootout win vs. Providence in game 2
Game 1 — Ohio St. 0 @ Minnesota 4 | Box Score | Video Highlights Below
Friday’s highlights from Ohio State’s 4-0 Loss to Minnesota in game 1
Game 2 — Ohio St. 2 @ Minnesota 1 | Box Score | Video Highlights Below
Friday’s highlights from Ohio State’s 2-1 Victory vs. Minnesota in game 2
Observations:
BC freshman Gaby Roy had 4 goals Friday and an assist Saturday in her first collegiate weekend.
Overheard on NESN’s broadcast Saturday between BC and UNH as to why BC didn’t wear health-protective COVID masks… if players wear a bubble, you don’t have to wear them. We’ll try to find out if there’s a mandate from NCAA or conferences.
The new NCAA 3v3 overtime protocol made its debut in 3 games. Colgate and Syracuse started OT with Colgate on a 4v3 PP and that’s where it ended as Colgate scored. Trine University and Concordia-WI had the first legit 3v3 action with Trine winning 2-1. Providence and UCONN played the full 5-minutes of 3v3 OT in game two if its series Saturday. UCONN won the shootout 2-0.
With 6 games being postponed due to COVID, we can bet the season schedule will be a wait-and-see kind of thing each weekend.
ECAC Makes Scheduling Statement & COVID Update
ECAC Hockey commissioner Steve Hagwell announced the 20-21 women’s ECAC conference will have four members–Clarkson, Colgate, Quinnipiac, and St. Lawrence. They are set to engage in ECAC league contests beginning sometime in January per an ECAC Hockey release which you can read HERE.
As of Monday the 23rd, we have learned that the Quinnipiac men’s program has paused all hockey activity due to two players testing positive. It is unclear if the women’s program has been effected.
Academics – Understanding The Ivy Recruiting Process…
NCAA Weekend Slate of Games…
Fall Semesters Winding Down…
As bleak as things seem, there does appear to be some light at the end of the pandemic tunnel. Recently announced is hope for two highly effective vaccines. Experts say ‘the average’ citizen could possibly get vaccinated by April. Should that be the case, life and college athletics we assume could get back to a more normal course of activity by next fall. But there is a lot that has to happen between now and then. In the short-term, we’ll work on keeping all of you connected with news and insight about the college hockey season.
Academics — Understanding The Ivy Recruiting Process…
We announced a 4-part series called ‘Understanding The Process’ to aid coaches and parents with an understanding in certain areas of how the recruiting process works. Our first installment was how coaches go about player identification and evaluation. You can find that in Post #2. In our second installment below, we discuss how the academic and admissions process works for a very specific group of schools, ‘The Ivies’ – Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton and Yale.
To be blunt, very few athletes would be admitted to an Ivy League school on their own without the ‘support’ of their head coaches in the admissions process. We’ll talk about the term ‘support’ later as it’s important to know. No knock against these athletes and their academic aptitude but getting into to one of these institutions is truly an accomplishment. Heck, there are students with 4.0 GPA’s and perfect test scores who still don’t get accepted! In the admissions process, athletes who want to apply to an Ivy will have different timelines and evaluation opportunities than normal students would. A word of caution… all information below is ‘general in nature’. We cannot speak to how recruitment, academics and the admissions process may work at a specific Ivy institutions.
The Academic Process…
The academic process for Ivy recruits has a few steps to it.
Step 1, Coaching Staff Academic Evaluation… for any player coaches have a real interest in, they’ll usually ask for transcripts and test scores as early as possible. It doesn’t matter how good of a hockey player a recruit is, if they aren’t close to having the grades and test scores a coach needs, most coaches won’t move ahead in the recruiting process. Does that mean someone after completing grade 9 with a decent but not great transcript and no SAT/ACT test get’s pushed aside? No, not at all. There is just only so much a coach can do with a recruit who is only in grade 9 or 10. But knowing where a student is trending academically can be reassuring for the coach. Coaches know what academic standards their admissions departments are looking for and know the ranges they can work with, most of the time. Some Ivy coaches get a little more leeway than others when it comes to academic standards. So what may work at one school, may not at another. Coaches are generally very careful about positioning whether or not someone is a good candidate for admission.
Step 2, Athletic Admissions Pre-Read… Under Ivy League admissions rules and beginning July 1 after the students grade 11 year, coaches can submit a player’s academic file to be evaluated by their admissions department for feedback to determine the likelihood of admissibility. Keep in mind this two weeks after June 15 with is the date coaches are allowed to communicate by phone/email/text with recruits. Important to note, this is not the official admissions decision, just a first-glance from admissions at the transcript, ACT/SAT scores, grades, and future class schedule. Turnaround time varies but generally it’s a quick process. There are usually three type of responses coaches get: 1) Continue to recruit 2) Recruit with some caution and 3) Don’t continue to recruit. Coaches may then communicate with their recruit to explain what admissions may be thinking and any next steps to take. These pre-reads are usually not for everyone though. Most coaches use them for players they are seriously considering making offers to or in many cases for players who have already committed to the program.
Step 3, Official Admissions Application Process & Head Coach ‘Support’… After a player has verbally accepted and committed back to the program, going through the official application process comes next. Most schools have a few different pieces to this process. The official application, teacher recommendation letters, student essay, and perhaps a personal interview all part of the official process. Some schools have different application options for students to apply to, different cycles like ‘single choice early-action’, ‘early decision’, are just a few. Coaches will direct players how to fill out the application and which cycle to apply for. As stated in Ivy League rules, all applications for regular decision must be submitted by January 1 – no later.
Head Coach ‘support’ as its called, is vitally important to a player winding up at an Ivy League school. Without it, it’s unlikely the athlete would get in on their own. And that’s because athletes are held to a different academic standard then traditional non-athlete applicants. Support of the head coach is ‘vouching’ for a specific player he or she would like as a part of their program and letting the admissions department know that. Coaches put their reputations with admissions and the school on the line when they support a player. Each admissions department has its own process of how they want their head coaches to let them know who they are supporting. Some coaches have to write letters, some may have a sit down chat with admissions, etc. Coaches can’t give their ‘support’ to just any player – only to players they feel have an excellent chance of getting in and they want in their program. Ivy coaches can only recruit so many recruits per year, they can’t take an unlimited amount.
A few things to keep in mind… Grades, Test Scores, Teacher Recommendations, and The Essay.
Players and parents often ask, what kind of grades and test scores does my daughter need for an Ivy? Our answer… too tough to say because each school has a different set of academic standards. Needless to say excellent grades in a challenging course load with honors and AP classes will go a long way. Coupled with high SAT/ACT scores (think high twenties and well above a 1200 on the SAT is also a good place to begin. Players should shoot for high GPA’s, north of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale, or high 80’s and above for those on a % scale. If you have one or two C’s early in grade 9 or 10, you could still be okay. D’s and F’s are almost always tough to get by admissions unless there is a compelling reason behind it.
One of the most important parts of the application process has to do with evaluating the transcript and determining the academic ‘rigor’ of the students course load… meaning did the student challenge herself or take easy classes? a 3.9/4.0 in cake-walk classes won’t hold as much weight as a 3.7/3.8 in honors and/or AP classes. You want to take the most challenging classes and achieve the kind of GPA’s mentioned above.
Equally as important are the several application short answer questions and the longer essay. Also heavily valued are the teacher and counselor recommendations. Have great grades and test scores, but wrote a poor essay? Or have a teacher recommendation that says you are a smart kid but don’t apply yourself? That is exactly the kind of combination that will get you denied. Write a coherent (and grammatically correct) essay that answers the question asked Also, really think about who you want to write your recommendation letters. Best to get one from a teacher where you did really well in their class and you know the teacher LOVES you and won’t sell you out. And…
NEVER WRITE YOUR ESSAY ABOUT HOCKEY!!!! EVER!!!!!. The school you apply to already knows you play hockey and are pretty good at it–that’s why you are applying. Write about why the school should be lucky to have you or an experience outside of hockey/sports that really articulates who you are and the type of person the school is getting. Match your personal values, dreams, aspirations with that schools resources and explain why the school is such a good match.
NCAA Weekend Slate of Games…
In the absence of what would normally be a preview of our games for the coming weekend, we are going to give you this weekend’s NCAA women’s hockey schedule of games. Full recaps to follow next week.
***Breaking NCAA News: Recruiting Dead Period Extended Until April 15, 2021***
DI and DIII Women’s Coaches Have Monthly Zoom w/ NCAA and Conference Commissioners, No New Women’s Cancellations or Postponements
At 6:20pm tonight the NCAA’s DI Council announced it is extending the recruiting dead period until April 15, 2021. It was set to expire January 1. You can read the NCAA’s announcement HERE. Interestingly the Ivy League’s University of Pennsylvania Athletic Director, M. Grace Calhoun, is the NCAA DI Council chair. The dead period means no off-campus evaluation or face-to-face contacts for DI coaches and no official or unofficial visits to campus for recruits and their families. DI coaches were hoping for a April 1 or earlier date leaving all of April when many high-level events take place.
We are coming up on more than 24-hours without a NCAA DI women’s hockey related COVID postponement or season cancellation. Needless to say it’s been a tough week for positive news. Women’s coaches across DIII and DI, the five D-I conference commissioners, along with members of the NCAA all met today for their monthly Zoom to discuss national tournament and recruiting issues. 10 games is the minimum needed to be played to qualify for the NCAA tournament. Conferences that start the year with at least 4 teams will retain its automatic bid. The ECAC stands at four, Hockey East at ten, WCHA at seven, CHA at five, and NEWHA at five as well. One piece of good news did come out as Hockey East commissioner Steve Metcalf announced all Hockey East women’s games would be streamed live FOR FREE this season. We’ll get the details and pass them along.
Men’s DI hockey took a bit of a COVID hit in the last 24-hours. Colorado College is pausing all hockey activity after a player tested positive. CC is scheduled to be a part of the NCHC bubble Dec. 1 in Omaha. Sacred Heart has postponed its games with AIC and Quinnipiac this weekend as well as games with Army slated for Nov. 27-28, after a few a small number of cases and contact tracing came back on the team.
Stay tuned tomorrow for our regularly scheduled post with an update on the program as we wind down the Fall semester and part-II of our Understanding the Process series on how academics play into our recruiting process.
Another ECAC Hockey member school has cancelled its 20-21 season. Union College becomes the 10th DI program to put hockey on pause for the 20-21 season. Athletic Director Jim McLaughlin made the announcement just before noon today. You can read it HERE. The ECAC is now down to 4 teams on both the women’s and men’s side–Clarkson, Colgate, Quinnipiac, and St. Lawrence.
RIT Reconsiders…
RIT which announced it was cancelling its women’s and men’s 20-21 hockey seasons on Nov. 9, is now reconsidering its decision. RIT president David Munson states as long as the state of New York accepts Atlantic Hockey and College Hockey America’s return-to-play plans, hockey for the 20-21 season will continue at RIT. Details can be found on USCHO.com HERE.
2021 Women’s & Men’s Beanpot Tourney Cancelled…
Another hockey casualty of the pandemic is not a hockey program, but an in-season tournament, The Beanpot. The 2021 four-school annual event in February between BC, BU, Harvard, and Northeastern has been cancelled. The Boston Globe has the story HERE.
Stay tuned later this week for our regularly scheduled post with an update on the program and part-II of our Understanding the Process series on how academics play into our recruiting process.
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) becomes the 9th women’s and men’s hockey program to cancel it’s 20-21 season due to COVID concerns. RPI, a member of the ECAC, made the announcement Monday afternoon. You can read the official announcement HERE.
This leaves the ECAC with five remaining schools planning, at least for now, to play—Clarkson, Colgate, Quinnipiac, St. Lawrence, and Union. The ECAC lost six schools when the Ivy League announced it would cancel all winter sports last week.
One has to wonder if more schools will follow the six Ivy programs, RIT, RPI, and Post University with cancelling their seasons. If you include St. Cloud and Vermont who have recently postponed upcoming games between Bemidji St., UCONN, BC, and BU respectively, that’s 15 programs affected already. 41% of DI teams impacted.
We’ll keep you updated on more COVID related developments.
Games have been postponed this Friday between St. Cloud and Bemidji in St. Cloud, MN as at least 8 St. Cloud players tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday. Players who tested positive and meet the criteria for mandatory quarantine must remain in quarantine for up to 14-days. St. Cloud is scheduled to play its next series Nov. 27-28 vs. Mankato in St. Cloud. You can read more on this developing story HERE.
The University of Vermont Athletic Department announced late Sunday evening it will not compete in any winter sports until Dec. 18. An article in the Burlington Free-Press [Read Here] links the decision not to any outbreak of cases with any one team, but more out of a “…most responsible course of action”. Vermont has seen a spike in cases statewide which has prompted a change in restaurant dining and travel restrictions, all recreational sports has been paused until Dec. 15t as well. High school winter sports, which usually begin in late November, have now been pushed to begin Jan. 11. As one of the largest employers in the state, you can bet UVM has been in close communication with VT state health officials in how to not make matters worse. I suspect teams traveling to UVM was a major concern as states in the new england region have cases surging.
Hockey East had just announced on Nov. 11 its 20-21 women’s and men’s return to play protocol and schedule. Looks like that will be getting a major adjustment. No word on if missed games will be made up.
As we stated in our previous post, we figured hockey would have the same game postponement issues as football. Looks like hockey is in for a bumpy ride.
We will continue to update and monitor any other related COVID college hockey developments.
It looks like NCAA DI and DIII teams are going to give it ‘the ‘old college try’ and start playing games. Some already have. DI women’s and men’s conferences have been announcing schedules over the last few weeks, and the puck finally dropped Friday night in South Bend on the men’s side as Wisconsin traveled and took on Notre Dame. I have to imagine a charter flight was involved for Wisco.
As it stands now (Sunday, Nov. 15) there are 8 DI women’s teams and 2 DI men’s programs who will not be playing hockey this year. Here is what we know.
Women
Ivy League–Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, and Yale
College Hockey America (CHA)–Rochester Institute of Technology
New England Women’s Hockey Alliance (NEWHA)–Post University
The WCHA and Hockey East have announced their intended schedules. Hockey East came out with a full season schedule while the WCHA announced a schedule through December. You can click the links below to find them. The ECAC and CHA have yet to announce anything official. The NEWHA hasn’t appeared to announce anything official but their official website does list games for Sacred Heart.
Ivy League–Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, and Yale
Atlantic Hockey Conference (AHC)–Rochester Institute of Technology
Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA)–Alaska Anchorage
The Ivy League announced Thursday evening it would cancel all winter sports. I doubt there were many who thought the Ivy League would have decided anything different. It was only a matter of time before they pulled the trigger. On both the women’s and men’s side the ECAC now drops to 6 teams from 12. Additionally on the women’s side, Post University made its announcement to cancel Winter and Spring sports back in October sighting safety concerns due to the pandemic. With Posts’ women’s team out, the NEWHA drops to 5 teams from 6. Post also decided to move to all-virtual classes and a hope to return to competition in 2021. The leadership at RIT made a similar announcement just a week ago on Nov. 9. to cancel all winter sports for the 2020-2021 season. You can read that HERE. The CHA now drops from 6 teams to 5. On the men’s side, Atlantic Hockey where the RIT men play will drop to 10 from 11. The University at Alaska-Anchorage in the WCHA cancelled its indoor winter sports season, details can be found HERE. And in doing so, likely cancelled the men’s hockey program altogether. 20-21 was supposed to be the men’s hockey teams’ last season. UAA announced an athletic restructuring in August that would cancel four sport programs, men’s hockey being one of them.
As we’ve seen with the college football season, I think college hockey can expect some of the same with game cancellations/postponements, etc. There are already a few games on the men’s side involving Army that were/will be postponed. Unlike football, hockey is an indoor sport and thus the chance for infection rises. But don’t expect any fans at any games this year, I haven’t heard of a conference allowing them. Interestingly, men’s teams in the NCHC will try an NHL-like bubble with all 8 teams heading to the University of Nebraska-Omaha to play games until late December. You can read more about that HERE.
The first games on the DI women’s side will happen Friday Nov. 20 as UNH hosts Boston College at 4:30PM. If you need your college hockey viewing fix, you can catch the game live on NESN – the New England Sports Network. And speaking of TV, with the NHL not having games until who knows when, I wonder if sports networks will add more women’s hockey to it’s scheduling line-up to fill the hockey void. Let’s hope so.
Player Identification/Evaluation – Understanding The Process…
NCAA/Team COVID Update…
Player Identification/Evaluation – Understanding The Process…
In this first installment of our 4-part ‘Understanding The Process’ series we tackle player evaluation and identification. In our last post we said these two pieces were the most important in the recruitment process. The reason… It’s tough to have success when you don’t recruit the right players. Identify the wrong players or do a poor job in evaluating and the next few years can be very difficult to recover from. Understanding the approach coaches at the DI or DIII level take will help you understand their mentality.
Let’s start with a point of clarification about the term ‘recruiting’. I’m sure you hear the term recruiting a lot… Coaches go recruiting’, ‘you guys done recruiting? ‘How’s recruiting going?’. Most people associate recruiting with evaluating and just watching players, which is partly true. But there is a difference. Recruiting is not just solely evaluating players. Recruiting is more about ALL of the things that happen after most coaches have identified a player they want and know they’ll have a strong interest in. Quite honestly, it’s the more ‘salesy’ side of the process. Ultimately recruiting is everything that helps a coach get someone to their school. So, think about a multi-step process with a ton of communication between the coaching staff, the player, her family, and anyone else important helping in her decision – like you as coaches.
OK—On to player evaluation.
Coaches are often asked by parents and youth coaches, ‘What do you guys look for in a player?’ The short answer is a lot of things. There is no one right definition of skills that each coach looks for. Each coach is different. Most coaches approach this answer with answering a few questions: 1) How many players at each position do we need to recruit in a given year and 2) What type of players do we want at those positions. Coaches do have a minimum fundamental skill set they are looking for that will translate well to their style of play. Here are a few fundamental skills coaches evaluate. Keep in mind, there aren’t a lot of differences if any when you’re looking between DI and D-III programs.
Skating ability… Very high on a lot of coaches lists of skills to eval. Having above average speed, quickness, and agility is certainly going to help. Good skaters can play an aggressive, attacking style. With the puck, a great skating forward need to evade defenders and move up ice with pace and attack the net/slot area to create offense. Forwards need to jump on loose pucks and close off time and space forechecking. Defensemen need to skate backwards almost as fast or faster than they can forwards while being able to have lateral mobility and smooth transitions backward to forward and vice versa. Defensive need to close gaps and get in lanes while defending. With the puck, defensemen need to begin the breakout moving their feet to start the attack up the ice. At the offensive end of the rink, defensemen need to be confident skaters on the blueline making themselves an offensive option, open up a shooting lane, jumping into an open space, etc.
Passing/Puck management/control/protection… Especially as a wing, coaches want players to be able to skate at top speed with the puck and make a play. Can you keep possession while being defended against and find an open player to keep the play alive? Do you give the puck away and panic? Can you catch a bad pass? Does the play always end with you or can you keep the play going? Defensemen have to be able to break the puck out and make a good first pass. Defensemen can’t get beat to pucks in their own end and present the puck to a forechecker and have it stripped. Offensively, Defensemen need to catch passes and be ready to distribute the puck while moving, like D to D along the blueline.
Shooting… Both forwards and defensemen need accuracy. Do you have proper shot mechanics? A quick release? Can you score? As a Defensemen, can your shot get to the net with some velocity or are you always hitting shin pads?
Play away from the puck… Can you defend in all 3 zones? Are you disciplined or running around? Do you take good angles when attacking the puck carrier?
COMPETE level… If you don’t consistently compete and work hard in all situations, it will be hard to get consistent ice time. What does it mean to compete? It means how hard are you working to accomplish the task at hand. How hard do you work to get the puck back? How hard do you work to keep the puck and keep the play going? Do you work hard every shift or do you take shifts or entire games off? Do you get beat easily and give up on a play or on a 1 on 1? How tough are you to play against?
Last one… can you play within a structure? This is a skill but it takes a bit more to uncover than just watching a few games. The college game at either the D-I or D-III level is a structured game with many systems coaches use in many different situations. It’s really important coaches answer this question before making someone a part of the program. Can you learn systems and be disciplined enough to execute it? If you just play by what ‘feels’ right and drift to wherever on the ice because you ‘felt’ you should be there or if you are positionally undisciplined, it will be tough to play in a structured program. Coaches have systems for all three zones with and without the puck, and they need players who are willing to be disciplined and buy into the learning process of ‘the why behind the what’ and be able to execute it.
As coaches watch players, they try and answer these questions and in doing so, coaches will even put players into categories or groups. Groups like, the offensive skilled forward who creates offense or is a pure goal scorer as well as responsible defensively enough to play in your top-9 somewhere. Then there are the ‘grinders’ who are more like a 3rd, 4th, or 5th line type player who are more defensive in nature or great forecheckers, can kill penalties but not a real threat to score. Defensemen might be those who coaches see in their top two pairs who can play a regular shift, match up vs. their opponent’s top line, manage a power play, kill penalties – the type who can do it all. There are also those who are purely defensive minded, can move the puck well, make good decisions, can kill penalties, but ay lack some offensive ability.
Bottom line, coaches look a the game in different ways and value certain skills more than others. Above are just some examples to know what coaches look for and how they think when evaluating.
Now through our evaluations, we’ll identify the players who make our list.
Player Identification
Girls/women’s hockey is kind of like NASCAR. You know certain events take place every year at the same time and place with generally the same teams. Unless its 2020 and there’s a world-wide pandemic. Then things change. More on that in a future post.
Most coaches identify players they think can fit certain team needs. They develop a really good comfort level through multiple evaluations over time. Some coaches wind up working a bit of a backwards process. Most D-I coaches are very specific in what they are looking for in terms of skills and how many players they are recruiting. This may be less true on the D-III side of things. A lot of D-III schools are enrollment driven – meaning they need to recruit a number of students each year to make the finances work out. Athletic Directors will tell coaches they have to recruit a certain number of players per year. This isn’t always the case at D-III, but certainly more common.
A lot of coaches will assess their program from a 30,000-foot view, a state-of-the-program-look if you will. They’ll ask questions like, based on our competitive goals, did we take a step(s) forward or backward this season? Second, they’ll define what their positional numbers and intangible needs are. How many G, D, and F’s do we want to bring in and what types of intangibles factors do we want—2 forwards, 3 defensemen, 1 goalie with leadership potential, who have high character and are absolute hockey junkies. Answering these types of questions tells coaches who they need to IDENTIFY.
Coaching staffs have certain goals for specific recruiting events/games they attend. Some are super organized with binders, folders, color coded groups – it can get pretty intricate. Coaches will usually have a plan for what they want to get out of an event. Some tournaments and showcases are great because they’ll get to see a handful of players they’re really interested in play against excellent competition. Others, they’ll see a large number of players in a particular age group for the very first time. No matter what the goal, coaches always have an eye out for who plays well and impacts the game.
So, how does someone get identified?
The easiest way to get identified and on a coaches list—find a way to positively impact the game. That doesn’t mean be a puck-hog and do everything on your own. That will get you identified alright… as a player coaches may not have any interest in. Honestly, just keep it simple. Make a play when you should make one. Pass and shoot when you should, defend well without the puck. Play the game the way it should be played. It sounds easy but, playing well at your position and showcasing the fundamental skill areas mentioned above in the player evaluation section goes a long way. Do that consistently over time, and you just went from being ‘identified’ to a player coaches are going to have a lot of interest in.
NCAA/Team COVID Update…
-The NCAA’s Division I Council announced last week student-athletes who compete in a 20-21 Winter sport will receive both an extra year of competition and an additional year in which to complete it. You can read the announcement HERE. Essentially winter sport athletes are getting a free year in 20-21 to compete and not have it count against their NCAA eligibility. How that will exactly impact Winter sport athletes in various conferences and divisions is unknown at this time.
-Division I and III coaches had their monthly Town Hall Zoom meeting earlier last week. There was a lot of talk about the recruiting dead period and looming January 1 expiry date. Sounds like the NCAA is eager to hear from coaches’ associations about what they want recruiting to look like after Jan. 1. Go back to normal or create a modified model. Each women’s DI hockey conference was asked to make recommendations which will be forwarded to the NCAA. Interestingly, DII and DIII schools have been allowed to recruit this whole time since the pandemic began.
Last week the Division III New England Small School Athletic Conference announced it was cancelling the winter sport season. You can read the announcement HERE. With the rise in positive cases and hospitalizations rising over the past few weeks, it will be interesting to see how DI schools and conferences handle start dates. As as a staff we have been watching a lot of video lately. There are some hockey events coming up with the MN NIT this past weekend and US/Canada Cup in Detroit the next weekend. The rumor out of Minnesota is the high school season will begin Nov. 30th.
Getting to play college hockey isn’t easy. You need to 1) meet the NCAA Eligibility Center academic standards, 2) be admitted by the school you apply to, and 3) receive an offer from a coaching staff to join their hockey program. These are just a few of the things players will need to even be considered to play college hockey. But there is so much more to the process as a player and since recruiting is not an exact science, trying to understand all of its nuances can be confusing. So, to help shed some light and understand how the recruiting process works, we’ve identified a few ‘key’ pieces, in somewhat of an order, we think you should pay attention to. We’ll expand on each one in the coming weeks, so stay tuned. You won’t want to miss this 4-part series.
1) Player Identification/Evaluation–Player Identification/Evaluation is number one because honestly, it’s what happens first and is probably the most important. Schools want to win and you can’t win without getting great players. 2) Academics–Coaches care about your academics. Who’s a great fit hockey-wise? That’s the easiest to answer. Can you get admitted to the school you want to go to? That is quite a bit trickier for some schools and easier for others, there is definitely a range. 3) Affordability/Financial aid/Scholarships–Know the difference between how scholarships and financial aid packages work. Know how an Ivy education can be affordable without being a millionaire. If you can’t afford where your daughter wants to go – it doesn’t matter how good of a player you may be. Know what to be prepared for. 4) Want The School and Let Them Know It.–Coaches want players who want to be at their institution and a part of their program. Telling them matters!
We’ll tackle Player Identification/Evaluation next week… stay tuned!
NCAA COVID Update…
-Yale University will have a direct impact on NCAA sports, such as Basketball and Hockey, potentially having their respective seasons. -Hockey conference commissioners are watching as the NCAA announced an update to its ‘Core Principles of Resocialization of Collegiate Basketball document — read it HERE
The Yale University Medical School teamed up with the NBA earlier this summer and developed a low-cost, quick turnaround time, saliva based COVID test called SalivaDirect. Each test cost are somewhere between $5-$30 and results are known in a matter of hours. In its resocialization updated document, the NCAA recommended SalivaDirect was one of the tests sport programs could use as they develop safe and effective testing protocols.
Hockey people are paying close attention to what happens with Basketball. We’re similar sports in that we play indoors, have indoor locker rooms, and have close personal contact with many groups of individuals–coaches, players, officials, school administrators, medical people, etc. The NCAA has recommended Basketball tests ‘Tier I’ individuals–players, coaches, trainers, and essential staff etc., 3 times per week once the season begins. Figure each DI Basketball program between players, coaches, and essential staff could be around 20-25 personnel. The math gets pretty pricey without a SalivaDirect option. Other tests on the market could be used but cost as much as $150. Put into hockey terms… teams with an average group of 28 players coaches, staff etc. and testing three times per week within a shortened 10 week season… could cost programs anywhere from $4,200 to $25,000 for SalivaDirect tests.
Until next time everyone… Enjoy your weekend and be well!
