NCAA Coaching Changes…Keep up with all the coaching changes across D-I and D-III HERE.
Give Someone a Stick Tap… Know someone in women’s college hockey who’s work needs some recognition? Nominate them for WCH.org’s monthly ‘Stick Tap’HERE or Email us at: womenscollegehockey@gmail.com
Recruiting Events/League Online Directory… Find all the recruiting events on WCH.org right HERE. Want to add your event? Click HERE to fill out our WCH.org event form.
In This Post…
Official Start of Season Begins Today
Lots Coming This Week
Sept. 18 – 1st Official Practice Day
Under NCAA rules, September 18 is the 1st official practice date for women’s ice hockey. With that, the 21-22 season kicks off for most D-I programs. Ivy league rules don’t allow their teams to begin until Oct. 1.
All teams across D-I, since their first day of classes, have had up to 4 hours per week on the ice to devote to skill work. Starting today, teams can use up to 20 hours per week (the NCAA maximum) for required on-ice practice, fitness training, team meetings, team/individual video sessions, etc.
Some teams are wasting no time in playing games. With the NCAA granting a waiver late this summer allowing NCAA teams to play each other, 2 exhibition games are taking place this weekend.
Sunday Syracuse @ RPI – 3pm EST – No stream info available – Live Stats
Lots To Come This Week
With the kickoff of the hockey season there is lots to come this week on Women’s College Hockey.org.
Monday = Mailbag Monday Video Edition… Jeff from Michigan asks a great question about conversations at the rink.
Tuesday = Part III of our Mutual Respect Series… Club and High School coaches won’t want to miss this.
Wednesday = Pipeline Post #54… The Adjustment Phase, Pre-Season Polls, NCAA Rosters, D-III Update, Sifters.
Thursday = NCAA Schedules, Weekend Previews.
It’s a jam-packed week and we can’t wait to get going. Enjoy your weekend everyone!
Until Next Time…
Grant Kimball is founder and contributing writer at Women’s College Hockey.org and beginning his 3rd season as an Assistant Coach with the Yale University women’s hockey program. Grant has developed an experienced perspective in the world of women’s ice hockey, having coached and recruited players from across the globe during his 25+ year amatuer and NCAA coaching career. He has coached at 6 NCAA DIII and DI programs in the NCHA (D3), the CHA, WCHA, Hockey East, ECAC, and the Ivy League (DI). Beyond coaching, Grant served as a site representative for the 2019 NCAA quarterfinal of the D-I NCAA Tournament. He also currently serves as an Officer with the American Hockey Coaches Association as Vice President of Membership and sits on the AHCA’s Women’s Hockey Executive Committee.
NCAA Coaching Changes…Keep up with all the coaching changes across D-I and D-III HERE.
Give Someone a Stick Tap… Know someone in women’s college hockey who’s work needs some recognition? Nominate them for WCH.org’s monthly ‘Stick Tap’HERE or Email us at: womenscollegehockey@gmail.com
Recruiting Events/League Online Directory… Find all the recruiting events on WCH.org right HERE. Want to add your event? Click HERE to fill out our WCH.org event form.
In This Post…
Labor Day Tourney Observations |
NCAA In-Season Events |
Sifters |
Labor Day Tourney Observations
Recaps
Labor Day weekend has come and gone and so too have the tournaments that kicked off the 2021-2022 amatuer hockey season. 60 teams from all over the US + 1 Canadian Province came to Burlington, Vermont to compete at the U14-U16-U19 age divisions. While in Pittsburgh, PA at the PIP Labor Day Girls Fest, a total of 54 teams faced-off against one another traveling from as far away as Anaheim to Boston and everywhere in between.
Hotel prices in Burlington were sky high. +$300 / night at area hotels was a common theme. Some coaches had trouble finding rooms and had to stay in nearby Plattsburgh, NY. The weather however, was a nice consolation. It was an all-Connecticut final in both the U19 and U16 divisions with the CT Polarbears beating the Mid-Fairfield CT Stars in each age group. The MN Jr. Whitecaps took the U14 Division title with a 7-0 win over Ironbound. The Jr. Whitecaps averaged just shy of 7 goals per game… while only giving up 3 goals total in 6 games.
From what we heard in Pittsburgh there was a larger contingent of D-I coaches in attendance, all but 3 D-I schools were there. Of course there was a great contingent of D-III coaches as well. Within 3 age groups, 6 champions where crowned – winners were: U19 Silver – Little Caesars, U19 Gold – MN Jr. Whitecaps, U16 Silver – Philadelphia Jr. Flyers, U16 Gold – MN Jr. Whitecaps, U14 Silver – Connecticut Jr. Rangers, U14 Gold – Chicago Mission.
The rumor was both events in VT and Pittsburgh were well run and with no major snafu’s.
Absent from this weekend’s’ slate of events NCAA coaches could get to was the Team Ontario U18 High Performance Camp being help north of Toronto. Many NCAA coaches might say this would have been the best of the three events to evaluate at. Why? A condensed topo-end talent pool and one location to manage. Quite a few D-I coaches (myself included) who were slated to go to Ontario found their way to Burlington instead, once news of the U18 HP event being closed due to COVID concerns became public.
First Look At New USA Hockey Rules
NCAA coaches caught their first glimpses of new USA Hockey rule changes regarding offsides and when a team is penalty killing. The changes are as follows:
Automatic offsides will be called… no ‘Tag-Up’ offsides is allowed. Ensuing faceoff at offending teams offensive blueline.
Teams killing a penalty may not ice the puck. If the puck is iced, icing will be called and ensuing faceoff will be in the defensive zone of the offending team.
Most NCAA coaches we talked to don’t care for the auto offsides. Most seem to be okay with no icing on PK’s. The Games were choppy and hard to get into a flow at times due to a lot of offside calls. Icing on the penalty kill seemed to have more of an affect on the parents in the stands than the players on the ice to be honest. We get the intent of both rules, make a smarter play. But the offside rule, really? If the intent is to make a smarter play, blowing the whistle doesn’t accomplish that, play stops. What about the defending team, who could retrieve the puck, regroup, breakout, attack etc., they don’t have a chance to make a smart play–it’s like the rule was only taken from the offensive perspective of the game.
And the auto offside faceoff location did not change – it’s still at its normal spot – at the offensive blueline of the offending team. Understood when icing occurs, the normal faceoff comes all the way down. I wonder if the faceoff location for the auto offside call should have been changed too. May be the ensuing faceoff should be at the offending teams defensive zone blueline instead? You are somewhat being rewarded by still getting the faceoff at your offensive zone blueline – even though you went offside.
Like most rule changes, it will take some time for players/coaches/officials (and parents) to adjust. We shall see if there is a positive impact.
NCAA In-Season Events
Here is the line-up of in-season D-I tournaments and special events. If we’re missing something send us an email so we can announce it.
DI in DC — Nov. 26-27 — Ohio St., Penn St., Univ. MN-Duluth, St. Lawrence University
World University Games — Dec. 10-17 — Northeastern University, Team Switzerland, Team China, Team Canada, Team Russia, Team Japan. You can find out more on this event HERE.
Battle At The ‘Burgh — Jan. 1-2 — Boston University, Penn State, Syracuse, St. Cloud State
Minnesota Hockey Day Outdoor Game — Jan. 23rd — Mankato vs. St. Thomas
Mayor’s Cup — Jan. 29 — Union College vs. RPI
The Beanpot — Feb 1 & 8 — Boston College, Boston University, Harvard University, Northeastern University
Sifters
Friars’ Domenico Named To Canada’s National Women’s Team Staff… Providence Friar Associate Head Coach Alison Domenico was named to Canada’s National Women’s Team coaching staff as an Assistant Coach for the 2021-2022 season including the Olympic Games in Beijing. Domenico was recently promoted to the position of Associate Head Coach at Providence after finishing her 3rd season as an assistant. Jim Midgley left Team Canada’s National Women’s Team to join the New York Rangers as an Assistant Coach on Aug. 24th. Gina Kingsbury, Director of Hockey Operations with Hockey Canada made the announcement of Domenico’s hiring September 1. Kingsbury is very familiar with Domenico as she has been part of Hockey Canada’s women’s coaching staff before. Both are alums of St. Lawrence.
Providence has not named a replacement for Domenico yet. In these types of situations, a program usually has the option to add someone as an NCAA emergency hire just for the year on a temporary basis. Head Coach Matt Kelly only used 2 coaches on staff last year. Perhaps that will be the case for this year? You can read more on Domenico’s hire HERE.
The Hunt For Coaches Continues… LIU, Merrimack, RIT, and RPI, have yet to name Assistant Coaches to their respective staffs as of yet. There are several D-III Assistant Coaching positions that have yet to be filled also–Nichols and Hamline need to hire head coaches.
COVID Updates… As the Delta COVID variant presses on around the US, athletic departments are being faced with major decisions about fan attendance. The RPI Athletic Department of the ECAC came out with a statement as follows: ‘As per Rensselaer’s plan to return to campus-based operations of August 13, 2021, external spectators are not permitted at this time. Only RPI faculty, staff and students who are fully compliant with the Institute’s COVID-19 protocols are allowed to attend games.’. Other athletic departments are most likely pondering potential adjustments to spectator protocol should the need arise.
Early Exhibition Games… In looking at various schedules, it appears teams are taking advantage of the new NCAA rule on exhibition games allowed to be scheduled vs. NCAA schools for this year. The earliest games we’ve noticed thus far:
Sept. 18 — UCONN @ Quinnipiac
Sept. 19 — RIT @ Mercyhurst
Sept. 19 — Syracuse @ RPI
Sept. 25 — Franklin Pierce @ Northeastern
Sept. 25 — Saint Michael’s @ Univ. of Vermont
RMU Update… Robert Morris University Athletics has announced that former RMU Men’s Head coach Derek Schooley has been named Head Coach and director of hockey operations for both the men’s and women’s programs effective immediately. From the story that appears on USCHO.com HERE, a total of $2.4 Million is needed to reinstate both programs by Dec. 15, 2021. Brianne McLaughlin-Bittle, former US Olympian and RMU goaltender has been named as a special assistant for hockey operations.
Perhaps RMU can follow in the footsteps of The University Alaska-Anchorage as their men’s program recently announced it had reached its fundraising goal and will be reinstating the program for the 2022-2023 season. They raised over $3.1 million.
The Hall Calls For Purple Eagles… Niagara University will induct the 2001-2002 Women’s Hockey team into the 2021 athletics hall of fame class. The announcement was made earlier this week. The 01-02 Purple Eagles went 28-6-2 that year winning the ECAC regular season championship, making it to the Frozen Four, and playing Minnesota to a 2-2 tie in the 3rd place game. The induction will be held Dec. 4th, 2021. The Purple Eagle program was cut after the 2011-2012 season.
Until Next Time…
Grant Kimball is founder and contributing writer at Women’s College Hockey.org and beginning his 3rd season as an Assistant Coach with the Yale University women’s hockey program. Grant has developed an experienced perspective in the world of women’s ice hockey, having coached and recruited players from across the globe during his 25+ year amatuer and NCAA coaching career. He has coached at 6 NCAA DIII and DI programs in the NCHA (D3), the CHA, WCHA, Hockey East, ECAC, and the Ivy League (DI). Beyond coaching, Grant served as a site representative for the 2019 NCAA quarterfinal of the D-I NCAA Tournament. He also currently serves as an Officer with the American Hockey Coaches Association as Vice President of Membership and sits on the AHCA’s Women’s Hockey Executive Committee.
NCAA Coaching Changes…Keep up with all the coaching changes across D-I and D-III HERE.
Give Someone a Stick Tap… Know someone in women’s college hockey who’s work needs some recognition? Nominate them for WCH.org’s monthly ‘Stick Tap’HERE or Email us at: womenscollegehockey@gmail.com
Recruiting Events/League Online Directory… Find all the recruiting events on WCH.org right HERE. Want to add your event? Click HERE to fill out our WCH.org event form.
In This Post…
Busy Recruiting Weekend|
New NCAA Waiver Adds Exhibition Game
Sifters
Busy Recruiting Weekend
NCAA coaches will be putting on the miles this weekend as there are 3 major recruiting events taking place.
In Burlington, Vermont the North American Hockey Academy is hosting its 21st annual NAHA Labor Day Tournament Friday to Sunday. A total of 16–U14, 24–U16, and 19–U19 teams are participating between 5 arena locations. Some arenas are requiring masks for spectators, players, and coaches. etc. while some others are not. You can find which arenas are requiring masks etc. HERE as well as the tournament website with scores, schedules, rosters, and standings HERE.
In Pittsburgh, PA, also Friday to Sunday, it’s the 1st Annual Pip Premier Ice Prospects Labor Day Girls Fest. A total of 16–U14, 18–U16, and 20–U19 teams from around the country will compete. 3 arena locations with multiple sheets are being utilized. We have not heard of any mask mandates at this event yet. You can find tournament info with schedules, standings, and team rosters HERE.
The National Girls Hockey League also has a Labor Day event this weekend in Connecticut for it’s Blue Division teams at the U12, U14, U16, and U19 age groups. You can find scores, schedule, rosters, standings as well as COVID protocols for areas HERE.
There is a 4th major event going on north of Toronto where the ‘top’ 80 — 2004’s and 2005’s will get together as part of the U18 High Performance Team Ontario camp (tryout). The OWHA has unfortunately, due to COVID, closed this event. No scouts, coaches, or spectators will be allowed. It does not look like a live stream will be available either.
NCAAAddsWaiver For Exhibition GM
The NCAA Division I Committee for Legislative Relief announced on August 27th it was granting a waiver to allow D-I Women’s and Men’s hockey teams to play 1 additional exhibition game during the 2021-2022 season against any NCAA institutions in any division. You can read the full text from the NCAA below.
We imagine with Canadian University teams either choosing to or not being allowed to travel to the US, many NCAA schools will take advantage of this. Ivy League schools already have a waiver from the Ivy League allowing them a 2nd scrimmage for this season only and thus, won’t be able to use this NCAA waiver.
Sifters
WCHA Announces Partnership With B1G+ and BIG Ten Network… The WCHA has agree to a streaming partnership for all 8 WCHA member schools for the 2021-2022 season. Part of the package includes every regular season WCHA game as well as the WCHA playoffs streamed on the B1G+ streaming platform. Select games between between member Big Ten schools, Minnesota, Ohio State, and WIsconsin will also be televised on the Big Ten Network as well. There is one other Big Ten school – Penn State – who doesn’t appear to be part of the Big Ten Television package as far as we can tell. Details of the new deal can be found HERE.
Kristi Kehoe Promoted to Associate Head Coach… Lindenwood Assistant Coach Kristi Kehoe has been promoted to Associate Head Coach, announced earlier this week by Head Coach Shelly Looney. You can read more on her promotion HERE.
New Assistant at Merrimack Coming Soon… Although not officially announced yet, sources close to the program indicate a person has been hired and will be in place shortly.
Vermont Adds New Director of Operations… Colby College ’20 grad and former goaltender San Roman has been named new Director of Operations at Vermont. You can read more about San HERE.
New Operations Director For the Crimson… Alicia Scarpa has been named as the women’s hockey director of operations at Harvard. Both the women’s and men’s team shared an operations person in prior years. You can read more on Scala’s hire HERE.
Early Unofficial Top 10… ESPN Sportscaster and College Hockey media personality John Buccigross tweeted his Women’s Preseason #CawlidgeHawkey D-I Top 10. Media and conference pre-season polls will be out soon.
Women’s Preseason #CawlidgeHawkey Top 10 1 Wisconsin 2 Northeastern 3 Ohio State 4 Minnesota Duluth 5 Colgate 6 Princeton 7 Minnesota 8 Harvard 9 Providence 10 Penn State pic.twitter.com/0gdvVfXwxB
Grant Kimball is founder and contributing writer at Women’s College Hockey.org and beginning his 3rd season as an Assistant Coach with the Yale University women’s hockey program. Grant has developed an experienced perspective in the world of women’s ice hockey, having coached and recruited players from across the globe during his 25+ year amatuer and NCAA coaching career. He has coached at 6 NCAA DIII and DI programs in the NCHA (D3), the CHA, WCHA, Hockey East, ECAC, and the Ivy League (DI). Beyond coaching, Grant served as a site representative for the 2019 NCAA quarterfinal of the D-I NCAA Tournament. He also currently serves as an Officer with the American Hockey Coaches Association as Vice President of Membership and sits on the AHCA’s Women’s Hockey Executive Committee.
NCAA Coaching Changes…See all the coaching changes in one spot –HERE– on our google sheet. Announcements on new hires and recent openings can be found below in the Sifters section.
Stick Taps Section… We need your ‘Stick Taps’ suggestions! Have someone in the world of women’s college hockey you think deserves some recognition? Let us know who they are and why you think they’re so deserving! You can fill out our online submission form right HERE or Email us at: womenscollegehockey@gmail.com or tweet at us: @WMNSCollHockey. Stick Taps go out the first post of every month so stay tuned!
Online Directory of Recruiting Events/Leagues… We received several messages from event and league organizers wishing to get their events/league weekends/showcases listed in our online directory. So – we’ve created a google sheet with all the events that present good scouting opportunities we’re are aware of. You can find that list HERE. If you run a recruiting event or league and want to have us list it in our online directory, please click HERE and fill out our WCH.org recruiting event form.
D-I Schools Starting-Up
By the end of Friday this week, 14 more D-I programs will have joined Franklin Pierce and Syracuse University and started classes for the 2021-2022 D-I season. Just about under 40% of D-I teams will potentially be on the ice this week back in session ]. Whether or not teams are on the ice, is an entirely different story. Ice needs to be laid down, lines need to be painted, equipment needs to be handed out, NCAA compliance meetings need to be held, medical physicals have to occur, COVID protocols need to be met, and classes have to begin. Needless to say there’s a lot that goes into getting a team on the ice. Check below to see who starts class this week.
WCHA
CHA
ECAC
Hockey East
NEWHA
Bemidji St. – Aug. 23
Syracuse – Aug. 20
St. Lawrence – Aug. 25
Boston College – Aug. 30
Franklin Pierce – Aug. 18
Mankato – Aug. 23
Lindenwood – Aug. 23
Colgate – Aug. 26
Merrimack College – Aug. 30
Saint Anselm – Aug. 23
St. Cloud St. – Aug. 23
Mercyhurst – Aug. 23
Cornell – Aug. 26
Providence College – Aug. 30
Saint Michael’s – Aug.23
Ohio St. – Aug. 24
Penn State – Aug. 23
Clarkson – Aug. 30
UCONN – Aug. 30
Post Univ. – Aug. 30
MN-Duluth – Aug. 30
Rochester Inst. of Tech – Aug. 23
Quinnipiac – Aug. 30
Univ. of Maine – Aug. 30
Sacred Heart Univ. – Aug. 30
RPI – Aug. 30
Univ. of New Hampshire – Aug. 30
Univ. of Vermont – Aug. 30
Observations – 3 Part Series On Mutual Respect
There is a tremendous amount of excitement as the 2021-2022 hockey season begins. Not only for NCAA programs, but for minor/youth players, coaches, parents, and everyone who plays a part in women’s hockey alike. We all want to get back to what was normal prior to the pandemic. We miss that sense of enjoyment we get from hockey. One of the ways we can ensure that enjoyment, is in how we treat one another. The better we treat one another, the more we enjoy the game. No matter what your role is within the game, we can all show a little more mutual respect between one another.
So, beginning tomorrow we’ll introduce part 1 of our 3-part ‘More Mutual Respect’ series and take a look at ways in which Parents can be more mutually respectful of one another this season. We’ll follow that up over the next two Tuesday’s, September 7th and 14th, with posts about how Players and Club/High School Coaches can be more respectful as well. Club and High School coaches who intersect with NCAA coaches during the recruiting process will definitely not want to miss this post.
Sifters
College Hockey Season Update… The AHCA, American Hockey Coaches Association met last week to begin it’s 2021-2022 season. One item of note that came up was how conferences and the NCAA will treat COVID related games that do not get played. The Hockey Commissioners association met to discuss possible options. Football conferences, such as The Big 10, have determined how they will handle certain situations should a team not be able to compete due to COVID. We expect all D-I hockey conferences to announce how to handle such situations. The NCAA on the other hand, does not recognize forfeits and no contest games. It will be interesting to see how the men’s and women’ ice hockey committees handles these situations for the NCAA National Tournament. As always, we’ll keep you posted.
Northern Michigan University Talking Women’s D-I Hockey… As it has been talked about before, Northern Michigan University has voiced its desire to have a D-I women’s NCAA program again. Just two days ago an article that appeared in the Brainerd Dispatch where AD Forrest Karr was quoted, “To me it’s an obligation that we have in the state of Michigan to help grow the sport.” You can read the full article HERE. Michigan did have a D-I NCAA program at Wayne State University, where yours truly worked from 2003-2007 under then Head Coach Jim Fetter. But the program fell prey to statewide budget cuts in 2011. No women’s D-I team in the state has existed since.
Coaching Hires Continue… We are just a few weeks away from the start of the season and there are still a few coaching positions both at D-I and D-III left to be filled.
LIU… Head Coach Rob Morgan announced he has filled one of his two open Assistant positions with former Brown alum Erica Kromm. She played for the Bears from ’07 – ’11. You can read more on Kromm’s hire HERE.
St. Anselm College… Head Coach Jen Kindret recently announced the hiring of Vinnie Ferrainola as its new full-time Assistant Coach. Ferrainola comes to St. A’s after spending the 20-21 season as Director of Hockey Operations for women’s hockey at Robert Morris University. You can read more his hire HERE.
Concordia University Wisconsin… has hired Ellie Tabaka, former player at Augsburg College ’20 and will assume the Assistant Coaching duties. You can read more on Ellie’s hire HERE.
RIT, Merrimack, and LIU… still have Assistant positions to announce.
At Division III… There are several Head and Assistants positions that need to be announced. Trinity College has a job posting for it’s Full-Time Assistant Coaching position. Anyone interested in applying can do so HERE.
RMU Update… And speaking of Robert Morris, it appears there will be no hockey played for either the women’s or men’s team for the 2021-2022 seasons. However, the school athletic department announced a ‘Hockey Is The Goal’ fundraising campaign on August 18 to help reinstate the women’s and men’s programs. An amount to get to was never announced.
Muddying the waters a bit is a story on TribLive about a lawyer representing a few RMU hockey players, who has alleged, “…a university official ordered an athletic department employee to “get rid of” text messages and emails about the school’s decision to eliminate the men’s and women’s ice hockey programs.” You can find that story HERE.
Upper Midwest HS Elite League Schedule… The Girls Minnesota High School Elite League gets back into action for the Fall of 2021 September 7th. You can find the entire league schedule HERE. The schedule spans 7 weeks this year culminating the the Girls NIT Tournament October 22-24, 2021.
Ontario U18 Camp… Women’s minor hockey in Ontario is looking more normal as the weeks go by. One sure sign is the OWHA announcing its annual U18 High Performance Invitational Camp September 3-5 in Allston, ON at the Nottawsaga Resort. Eighty players born 2004 and 2005 will be invited. This event in preparation for the Female U18 Canadian National Championships Oct. 31 to Nov. 6, 2021 in Dawson, Creek, BC. Ontario will have 2 team entries – Red and Blue.
World Championship Update… Today the US meets Finland at 3pm EST and Canada meets the Swiss at 7pm EST. Winners of today’s semi-final matchups face one another for the World Championship tomorrow, Aug. 31 at 7:30 EST. The US’s lone loss in the tournament so far was to Canada 5-1 in the prelim round. Canada remains undefeated. Placement games for all other countries have been taking place, Russia takes on Japan tomorrow at 12:00pm EST in the final placement game.
Until Next Time…
Grant Kimball is founder and contributing writer at Women’s College Hockey.org and beginning his 3rd season as an Assistant Coach with the Yale University women’s hockey program. Grant has developed an experienced perspective in the world of women’s ice hockey, having coached and recruited players from across the globe during his 25+ year amatuer and NCAA coaching career. He has coached at 6 NCAA DIII and DI programs in the NCHA (D3), the CHA, WCHA, Hockey East, ECAC, and the Ivy League (DI). Beyond coaching, Grant served as a site representative for the 2019 NCAA quarterfinal of the D-I NCAA Tournament. He also currently serves as an Officer with the American Hockey Coaches Association as Vice President of Membership and sits on the AHCA’s Women’s Hockey Executive Committee.
NCAA Coaching Changes…See all the coaching changes in one spot –HERE– on our google sheet. Announcements on new hires and recent openings can be found below in the Sifters section.
Stick Taps Section… We need your ‘Stick Taps’ suggestions! Have someone in the world of women’s college hockey you think deserves some recognition? Let us know who they are and why you think they’re so deserving! You can fill out our online submission form right HERE or Email us at: womenscollegehockey@gmail.com or tweet at us: @WMNSCollHockey. Stick Taps go out the first post of every month so stay tuned!
Online Directory of Recruiting Events/Leagues… We received several messages from event and league organizers wishing to get their events/league weekends/showcases listed in our online directory. So – we’ve created a google sheet with all the events that present good scouting opportunities we’re are aware of. You can find that list HERE. If you run a recruiting event or league and want to have us list it in our online directory, please click HERE and fill out our WCH.org recruiting event form.
D-I 2021-2022 Season Update
21-22 Season could in theory could start today… Hard to believe but yes, the NCAA D-I season here. Franklin Pierce University of the NEWHA begins classes today, Aug. 18. The NCAA rules allow teams beginning with the first day of classes or Sept. 15, whichever is earlier, to have up up to 4 hours of on-ice skill related activity per week. Most D-I programs will be up and running by Sept. 13th, that’s when Union and Dartmouth begin classes. Especially for the programs that did not have a season last year due to COVID, you can bet they’ll want to begin their seasons as soon as NCAA rules allow. There are also some programs that take a little slower approach and opt for a few days to go by, especially for freshmen, so everyone can get their bearings before jumping into the team schedule as to not overwhelm.
We went online and compiled a list of when each D-I school starts undergraduate classes… not taking into account COVID, some unknown delay like an athletic department policy, or scheduling error, here is a ‘fairly accurate’ (according to the internet anyway) list of dates when programs can get back on the ice if they so choose HERE.
NCAA 1st Official Practice Date… Contrary to the above mentioned 4-hours per week of on-ice skill work, Sept. 18 is actually the first official practice date in NCAA women’s ice hockey for the 2021-2022 season. That’s when all D-I programs, minus Ivy League schools, are allowed to begin their regular season allotment of up to 20-hours per week of required athletic activity–on-ice practice, strength & conditioning, team meetings, video sessions, team building, etc. The first official practice date for Ivy League institutions will be Oct. 1.
First D-I Games Just 37 Days Away… The first slate of games are scheduled for the weekend of Sept. 23-26 – just 37 days away. On Thursday Sept. 23, St. Lawrence travels to take on Penn State to kick off the 2021-2022 NCAA season. It’s customary for programs to schedule an exhibition game prior to the NCAA season beginning. After going through D-I online schedules, we are unable to find any exhibition games scheduled so far. Certainly we’re all hoping the season altering COVID restrictions are behind us and teams across all divisions (and in all sports) can have a safe normal season without interruption.
COVID Fallout – Large Rosters… As expected team roster sizes for the 21-22 season are bigger on average than in prior years. We went to every programs official website to look at 21-22 rosters that were posted. Thus far Harvard has the largest at 34 players. Not all teams are accounted for and there could be roster additions and even deletions as school begins. We’ll put together a comprehensive list once all teams rosters are finalised.
A 3rd Wave… Of Coaching Changes?
Historically the month of August and into September bring a few late coaching changes. A head or assistant coach leaves abruptly and bam, schools are left scrambling to find a replacement. This year is a bit different with more coaching changes than we’re ever seen. But that doesn’t mean we’re done with seeing some movement. Case in point, D-III Nichols College just announced an opening for their Head Coach position as Sam Fallon has resigned to take a similar position at a prep school. I expect a few more surprises. You can find our complete list of coaching departures and hires from this year HERE. As classes begin, programs are announcing recent hires… more on those below.
Mercyhurst University has hired Scott Spencer as an Assistant Coach. Spencer knows the CHA well as he was the first D-I Head Coach at Lindenwood University. Prior to Lindenwood, Spencer has coached at Ohio State, Robert Morris University, and Bemidji State on the men’s side. You can read more about his hire HERE.
Union College has filled its two Assistant Coach positions and has hired Chris Ardito and Breanne Wilson-Bennett. You can read Union’s official announcement HERE. Ardito comes to Union after having spent the past 3 seasons as the Head Girls Hockey Coach at Vermont Academy. Wilson-Bennett was a former player at Colgate during Head Coach Josh Sciba’s time as an Assistant at Colgate.
William Smith announced the hiring of former Dartmouth Assistant Coach Matt Cunningham as its next Head Coach. Cunningham spent the previous two seasons with ‘The Big Green’ in Hanover. You can read more on Matt’s hiring HERE. Cunningham who is originally from Phoenix, AZ played his college hockey for Minnesota State-Mankato. He will be the 3rd Head Coach in Heron history.
While not a NCAA coaching announcement, we’re glad to see former Robert Morris University Head Coach Paul Colontino land a new job in Hockey. Colontino was recently hired as Vice President of Hockey Operations and U19 Girls Head Coach at Selects Academy. You can read more on Colontiino’s delima to move to Selects HERE.
Sifters
RMU Update… Speaking of Paul Colontino and the Robert Morris program, it seems the RMU administration has put the brakes on a reboot of the program until the 2022-2023 season, if at all. Tim Benz of Trib Live gives an update on where things stand with both the women’s and men’s program. You can read that HERE.
North Dakota Women’s Program Lawsuit Gets A Boost… 11 former University of North Dakota women’s hockey team members sued The University of North Dakota System for shutting down the women’s hockey program back in March of 2017. Well, they got some good news last week. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit has reversed a 2019 decision by the North Dakota District Court which originally dismissed the case for what it called ‘a failure to state a claim’. The Eighth Circuit stated, “Ultimately, we conclude that the district court’s primary reasons for dismissing the complaint rested on an incorrect view of the law,”… “But given a level playing field, or in this case, a properly smoothed ice rink, the athletes may be able to state an actionable Title IX claim.”
Shortly after the University of North Dakota women’s hockey was shut down, a group of 11 former UND women’s hockey players sought legal action by filing a discrimination lawsuit against the University of North Dakota System and asked to reinstate the program on the grounds the decision was in violation of Title IX.
You can read more on this story HERE with an article that appeared in the Grand Forks Herald written by Brad Elliott Schlossman. Brad used to cover the women’s team during its existence.
2021 World Championships Get Underway… The IIHF officially announced the tournament is a go. 1,047 PCR tests were conducted in the Calgary bubble since teams arrived and all were negative.
Pre-Tournament games begin today, you can find today’s schedule HERE. Team USA takes on Russia at 2pm EST and Canada plays Finland at 6pm EST. Both games will be broadcast LIVE on the NHL Network. Get the full NHL Network Women’s World Championship telecast schedule HERE. It looks like all US and Canadian games will be broadcast live.
While official team rosters won’t be announced until tomorrow, IIHF.com did post a list of 250 players who came with each country to Calgary. You can find that list HERE. By our count, there are a total of 31 players who are listed on NCAA rosters, 1 U Sports player (U Sports is Canada’s version of the NCAA), and 5 players still in high school.
D-III Update… With D-I programs starting their seasons in a matter of days, the D-III season isn’t far behind. NCAA rules don’t allow D-III coaches to get on the ice with their teams until October 15th but you can bet teams will be getting organised well before that with Captains practices, strength & conditioning workouts, and plenty of team building, etc.
New this year for the NESCAC is the ability to begin practice when the Oct. 15th hits. It has been customary for NESCAC teams to begin practice Nov. 1.
We are hearing rumors that InStat, a video analytics company, has signed a few deals with D-III conferences for this coming season. InStat provides game video breakdown and scouting services to a bulk of the NCAA D-I and D-III women’s and men’s teams. This will make pre-scouting your opponent much easier as well as adding a level of player development. We can remember the days of VHS tape to tape recordings that had to be done and then Fed-Exed out to your next opponent. How times have changed.
Mike O’Grady, Head Coach at Chatham University announced the hiring of Lila Toczek as his new Assistant Coach.
Presenting Lila Toczek, Assistant @Chatham_WIH Coach❗️🏒 After a playing and coaching career at Buffalo State, Coach Toczek is bringing her talents to Pittsburgh🐅 👌 https://t.co/4zESNzgbbp
Tweet of The Week… Kelly Rider, Head Coach at Curry College, had one of the more interesting Tweets from college coaches this past week. Given WCH.org’s mission – which is in part to help educate parents, players, and coaches, her post seems very appropriate. Please take a look and click on the photo to expand. We’re not sure where she got the list from – but we’d love to know!
Hard for a coach to reach out or get back to players with feedback when they go to great lengths and can’t get rosters.
If you’re playing for fun that’s fine! But if you’re trying to get recruited DO NOT pay someone or to be in a showcase/tournament if there are no rosters. https://t.co/bFTDAyLf5S
Grant Kimball is founder and contributing writer at Women’s College Hockey.org and beginning his 3rd season as an Assistant Coach with the Yale University women’s hockey program. Grant has developed an experienced perspective in the world of women’s ice hockey, having coached and recruited players from across the globe during his 25+ year amatuer and NCAA coaching career. He has coached at 6 NCAA DIII and DI programs in the NCHA (D3), the CHA, WCHA, Hockey East, ECAC, and the Ivy League (DI). Beyond coaching, Grant served as a site representative for the 2019 NCAA quarterfinal of the D-I NCAA Tournament. He also currently serves as an Officer with the American Hockey Coaches Association as Vice President of Membership and sits on the AHCA’s Women’s Hockey Executive Committee.
