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
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
Ready or Not, The Youth and NCAA Season Is Here. The Women’s College Hockey Pipeline… Stay informed. Get educated. Become ‘HOCKEY-WISE’! Your leading online resource for NCAA Women’s College Hockey
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
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
Coaches Should Keep The Bigger Picture In Mind 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…
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
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
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’!
Hockey Canada and USA Hockey Announced Teams That Will Play A 3-Game Series Aug. 16-19 The Women’s College Hockey Pipeline… Stay informed. Get educated. Become ‘HOCKEY-WISE’! Your leading online resource
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 t
