Category Archives: Post Game Reaction

Post #37 — 3/23/21 — Wisconsin Wins 6th NCAA Title 2-1 in OT vs Northeastern

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In This Post…

  • Recruiting Rule of The Day
  • Wisconsin Wins 6th NCAA Title

Recruiting Rule of The Day…

12.1.2 Amateur Status

An individual loses amateur status and thus shall not be eligible for intercollegiate competition in a particular sport if the individual: (Revised: 4/25/02 effective 8/1/02, 4/23/03 effective 8/1/03, 4/29/10 effective 8/1/10)
(a) Uses his or her athletics skill (directly or indirectly) for pay in any form in that sport;
(b) Accepts a promise of pay even if such pay is to be received following completion of intercollegiate athletics participation;
(c) Signs a contract or commitment of any kind to play professional athletics, regardless of its legal enforceability or any consideration received, except as permitted in Bylaw 12.2.5.1;
(d) Receives, directly or indirectly, a salary, reimbursement of expenses or any other form of financial assistance from a professional sports organization based on athletics skill or participation, except as permitted by NCAA rules and regulations;
(e) Competes on any professional athletics team per Bylaw 12.02.12, even if no pay or remuneration for expenses was received, except as permitted in Bylaw 12.2.3.2.1;
(f) After initial full-time collegiate enrollment, enters into a professional draft (see Bylaw 12.2.4); or (g) Enters into an agreement with an agent.

Wisconsin Wins 6th NCAA Title

3:16 into overtime, Wisconsin Senior forward Daryl Watts intentionally shot the puck from behind Northeastern’s net banking the puck off a Northeastern defender and into the net giving the Badgers its 6th NCAA national title. You can watch the OT winner below.

Here is Watts’ postgame interview where she mentions intentionally trying to bank the puck off NU’s Frankel.

The game itself was a fantastic showing for women’s hockey in general, not just at the NCAA D-I level. And the game looked great on television. This one had everything: two highly skilled and great skating teams, officials that let both teams play, a fast furious pace, great goaltending on both sides, and of course – high drama as a national championship was won in overtime.

Wisconsin struck first after a scoreless 1st period. Skating hard to the net, McKenna Webster banged home a rebound off NU goaltender Frankel’s left pad from a Casey O’Brien shot at the 11:00 mark of the second period.

That lead was short lived as Northeastern’s Chloe Aurard tied the score at 1-1 just :39 seconds later as Aurard rifled a snap-shot past Blair’s glove hand high in the right top corner.

Game video highlights are below courtesy of NCAA.com

Wisconsin Postgame Press Conference |Northeastern Postgame Press Conference

Anyone could say you hate to see a team lose a national title game this way, it was an unconventional goal. But you do have to marvel at the level of thinking displayed by Watts to do what she did and in the moment she did it in. That’s Gretzky/Lemieux type stuff. Practice, sure… but in OT of the national championship game?

NCAA Tourney Notes:

  • Hats off to the NCAA staff and all the teams who were in Erie. We didn’t hear of any positive cases and no games had to be cancelled. Congrats to everyone on ensuring safety and health for all.
  • Kudos to ESPN for not only broadcasting the Frozen Four (and for years to come!), but having A.J. Mleczko and Clay Matvick in the booth. It doesn’t get any more professional that those two.
  • For anyone who knows or has followed Wisconsin head coach Mark Johnson over the years, you know how much of an even keel guy he is. The look of pure elation on his face as the Wisconsin staff embraced on the bench after the winning goal was priceless… perhaps there was a little bit of relief as well with everything this year of COVID has brought and at the same time, knowing now the season is now over too?
  • This game could have just as easily have been won by Northeastern. They took some punches but weathered each blow and returned some of those punches too. True to form, Frankel was outstanding. She ends the year with ridiculous numbers… .965 save % and 0.85 goals against average in 23 games played. Northeastern had a marvelous season going 22-2-1.

Thoughts on the season, a youth/minor hockey update, and what the Spring and Summer could bring for NCAA coaches… all in tomorrow’s post.

Until Next Time… Have a great weekend everyone!

Post #28 — 1/19/21 — Weekend Update, Scores and Highlights, COVID Recruiting, Sifters

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In This Post…

  • Weekend Recap…
  • Scores & Highlights…
  • COVID Recruiting Update…
  • Sifters…

Weekend Recap…

To clarify, the first ranking number you see will always be the USCHO.com poll and the second will be from the USA Toda/USA Hockey Magazine Poll.

How The Top 10 fared… Top 10 teams through Sunday’s games went 11-6-1-1-1 (W-L-T-OTW-OTL). #2 Wisconsin swept #1 Minnesota at home in Madison.

#3/4 Northeastern needed OT to beat Maine

#4/3 Ohio State split with #6 Duluth.

#5 Colgate beat #9 Clarkson at home in game one of that series.

#7 Providence swept its weekend series with Merrimack.

#8 Boston College swept its series with Holy Cross.

#10/NR Mercyhurst tied and lost to Robert Morris in OT

#NR/10 Quinnipiac swept its series with LIU.

All scores, game highlights, and postgame reaction can be found below.

COVID Postponements… Due to COVID protocols the Penn State @ RIT and Lindenwood at Syracuse series were postponed.

Conference Standings as of 1/18/21…

Friday Scores & Highlights – 1/15

Holy Cross 2
#8 Boston College 3
Box / Video Highlights / Postgame Video
#1 Minnesota 0
#2 Wisconsin 5
Box / Video Highlights / Postgame Video (MN)
#7 Providence 3
Merrimack 0
Box / Video Highlights / Postgame Write-Up
Concordia-Wisconsin 1
Adrian College 9
Box / NO Video Highlights / Postgame Write-Up
Robert Morris 2
#10/NR Mercyhurst 2
Box / Video Highlights & Postgame Reaction
UCONN 1
New Hampshire 0
Box / Video Highlights / Postgame Write-Up
Bemidji State 1
St. Cloud 3
Box / Video Highlights / Postgame Write-Up
Ohio State 0
MN-Duluth 2
Box / Video Highlights / Postgame Video
Penn State @ RIT – PPD
Lindenwood @ Syracuse – PPD

Saturday Scores & Highlights – 1/16

#10/NR Mercyhurst 2
Robert Morris 3 (OT)
Box / Video Highlights / Postgame Write-Up
Long Island Univ. 0
#NR/10 Quinnipiac 5
Box / Video Highlights / Postgame Write-Up
Minnesota 3
Wisconsin 6
Box / Video Highlights / Postgame Video (MN)
#9 Clarkson 1
#5 Colgate 4
Box / Video Highlights / Postgame Write-Up
Bemidji 2
St. Cloud 2 (OT) BEMIDJI Wins Shootout 1-0
Box / Video Highlights / Postgame Write-Up
#4/3 Ohio State 1
#6 MN-Duluth 0
Box / Video Highlights / Postgame Video UMD
Adrian College 4
Concordia-Wisconsin 1
Box / No Video Highlights / Postgame Write-Up
UCONN 4
New Hampshire 0
Box / Video Highlights / Postgame Write-Up
Penn State @ RIT – PPD
Lindenwood @ Syracuse – PPD

Sunday Scores & Highlights – 1/17

Merrimack 2
#7 Providence 4
Box / Video Highlights & Postgame Video
Maine 2
Northeastern 3 (OT)
Box / Video Highlights / Postgame Video
#NR/10 Quinnipiac 11
Long Island Univ. 0
Box / No Video Highlights / Postgame Write-Up

COVID Recruiting Update… Players & Parents Hang In There!

Recruiting in women’s hockey has been turned on its head and in many respects has come to a standstill for certain age groups. Needless to say, it’s been a bit messy. On March 12th, 2020 the NCAA announced the cancellation of the 2020 NCAA Women’s Hockey National Championship due to concerns over COVID. Shortly after that announcement the NCAA announced a temporary ‘COVID’ recruiting dead period which basically meant no off-campus recruiting for D-I coaches nor could recruits and or their families make trips to visit campuses in an official or unofficial capacity. Since then, the COVID recruiting dead period has been extended several times and is currently in effect until April 15, 2021.

As coaches we often tell our players to be patient… things will work themselves out in time. Well… whether you’re a player, a parent, or minor/youth coach reading this, I’d like to offer the same bit of advice – be patient with the recruiting process during COVID.

I’ve spoken to several club and high school coaches since the holidays on how the pandemic is impacting their players. Almost across the board, coaches have intimated their players and parents are on full out freak-out mode relative to their D-I recruiting situations and perceived loss of opportunity–mostly for those who are in grade 11. And the biggest complaint I heard is the lack of information coming from college coaches back to these players and parents. And there is good reason why college programs aren’t providing that info — because they don’t have it themselves, yet.

Part of this angst stems from a recruiting environment we were all used to prior to the pandemic where early commitments and back-and-forth communication was the norm. Players could call coaches on their own and get the info they wanted/needed to make decisions or just to know who had interest in them was nice to know because it meant you might have some options. Since June for those in grades 9 and 10, most of that has been taken away due to NCAA rules. Players in grades 11 and 12 have been subject to a whole new world of college recruiting in the COVID era where coaches won’t know how many spots they’ll need or what there roster could look like in a lot of cases until May or June this Spring. I’ve talked with plenty of college coaches of late, and the sense I get is they want to be patient. Not being able to see players play live doesn’t make for great recruiting decisions. And let’s face it – players haven’t really been able to play. Some yes, but this hasn’t been a normal hockey season of development. Add in a whole class of NCAA players who can come back and play next year and you have a new transfer market college coaches are now taking into account. Trouble is, college coaches won’t know who’s going to transfer in a lot of cases until this Spring.

When I first started coaching in the early 2000’s, coaches wouldn’t even call players for the first time until the summer between a players’ junior and senior year when the rules said we could. Official visits were a real and a vital aspect of the recruiting process which absolutely helped determine who we made official offers to… after the player came to campus. Players would actually take multiple visits to schools before making a decision and for the most part were patient with the process.

Then, all of a sudden the process changed and early recruiting/commitments became the norm. So too did the expectations of players, parents, and their club or high school coaches. Patients in the process went out the window. Enter the pandemic, a NCAA dead period that will last at least 13 months, and NCAA rules allowing current college players an extra year of eligibility… Welcome back to the early 2000’s and programs taking their time to make recruiting decisions.

Here is the reality for a lot of college programs–they don’t even have all of the info they want and need to make recruiting decisions. In part because watching live games of club and high school hockey has been off-limits due to the dead period. And also because the NCAA threw a nice wrench into the mix granting all players on a roster this year an extra year of eligibility. A lot of programs are still trying to hash-out what seniors may come back or transfer elsewhere. Chances are that won’t be known until sometime this Spring after the season is over.

The old saying ‘control what you can control’, really applies here – otherwise you are going to drive yourself nuts over-thinking all of this. You can’t control what the NCAA does nor a college program.

So if you want to be smart, use this time to your advantage and take control of your development. Do what you can to make yourself a better player so when the time comes for coaches to get back out on the road and watch games live, you’re ready and can show them how much you’ve improved. You might have to re-think your approach to your process like taking a gap year somewhere or you might have to consider other schools where you know there is an opportunity for you. Because there are still spots available out there – but you have to be good enough to get one. Case in point… when the Univ. of North Dakota dropped their program in March of 2017, all but a player or two found a home. That meant there had to be space on rosters and scholarship money available to give out – and there was. So, if you’re one of those players who’s in a holding pattern and haven’t heard much from the coaches you were chatting it up with this summer or early fall, take a deep breath, hang in there and be patient as you let this crazy process play itself out. Things will get better but it will take some time.

Sifters…

Transfers Make Debuts… A couple of recent transfers have made debuts with their new teams. Freshman forward Lacey Eden was supposed to suit up for Princeton this year but has found her way to Madison, Wisconsin and is now a Badger. She skated in her first game this past weekend in UW’s sweep in #1 ranked Minnesota. You can read her story HERE. Maureen Murphy suited up for Northeastern this past weekend after spending 2+ years at Providence College. The Hockey East executive committee granted her immediate eligibility beginning this Spring semester. You can read her story HERE.

A Change for the May Quiet Period… There has been talk D-I Coaches will try and request the NCAA to suspend its self-imposed May quiet period this Spring. D-I coaches in women’s hockey have long had what is called the May Quiet Period where from the Monday prior to the American Hockey Coaches Association convention (usually late April) and ending 12:01am June 1, coaches were not allowed to go off-campus to recruit and evaluate or meet face-to-face with perspective players and their families. So, with the NCAA COVID temporary dead period slated to end on April 15, that would give D-I coaches a 10 day stretch to get out and watch players play. Not exactly an ideal amount of time to make recruiting decisions. By April 15, D-I coaches will have gone a year + without being able to watch players live. We’ll keep you posted on future developments.

Until Next Time… Have a great weekend everyone!

Post #27 — 1/15/21 — mon / tues scores and highlights, ncaa polls and wknd schedule, sifters

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IN THIS POST…

  • Monday/Tuesday Scores & Highlights…
  • Polls and NCAA Weekend Schedule…
  • Sifters…

Monday Scores & Highlights

Lindenwood 5
RIT 1
Box / No Video Highlights / Postgame Write-Up
Long Island Univ. 1
Clarkson 5
Box / Video Highlights / Postgame Write-Up

Tuesday Scores & Highlights

Long Island Univ. 1
Clarkson 8
Box / Video Highlights / Postgame Write-Up
Providence 0
Northeastern 4
Box / Video Highlights / Postgame Video

Polls for the Week Jan. 11…

Both polls are out after last weekend’s games and they are identical. We have a new #1 and Penn State debuts at #10 in both polls for the first time this season. Congrats to coach Kampersal and his staff. Penn State is currently 6-1-1.

RNKTEAM
#1Minnesota
#2Wisconsin
#3Ohio State
#4Northeastern
#5Colgate
#6MN-Duluth
#7Providence
#8Boston College
#9Clarkson
#10Penn State
USCHO.COM Top 10 Poll
RNKTEAM
#1Minnesota
#2Wisconsin
#3Ohio State
#4Northeastern
#5Colgate
#6MN-Duluth
#7Providence
#8Boston College
#9Clarkson
#10Penn State
USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Top 10 Poll

Weekend Schedule…

Schedule in full swing… Once again we have a packed schedule over the next 5 days–24 games in all from today through Wednesday. NESN Plus will once again provide some televised Friday afternoon hockey at 2pm today with Holy Cross traveling to play Boston College. NESN Plus will also carry game 2 Saturday at 6:30pm. As always, streaming info is at the very bottom of each post. We’ll keep you updated throughout the weekend with scores and highlights if we can find them.

Notable Games… For the first time this year we’ll see the consensus #1 vs. #2 in what is known as the ‘Border Battle’ between #1 Minnesota vs #2 Wisconsin. This will be the 107th meeting all-time between these two programs. Both games will be in Madison and are set for a 3:07pm EST puck drop each day. Friday’s game will air on BTN+ and Saturday’s will also air on Fox Sports North as well as BTN+.

Also in the WCHA, #3 Ohio State travels to take on #6 MN-Duluth.

In the ECAC, #9 Clarkson and #5 Colgate will play a Saturday / Monday home-and-home series. Game one is set for Saturday 4pm at Colgate. Clarkson is coming its first two games of 2021 in a sweep of LIU while Colgate managed a sweep of ECAC opponent Quinnipiac. This will be the 5th and 6th games these two teams play against one another this year already… and 4 more are scheduled for later this year.

In the CHA, Robert Morris travels to play Mercyhurst for two games. Robert Morris is coming off getting swept by Penn State last weekend and the Lakers last played on Jan. 7 beating RIT 4-0.

And in Hockey East, #7 Providence takes its 7-1-1 record on the road to Merrimack Friday. On Sunday, the Friars return home to face Merrimack on the back-end of their home-and-home series.

And for the first time in quite a while we have some D-III hockey action to talk about as Concordia-Wisconsin travels to play Adrian College Friday at 4pm. You can watch that game live HERE. The same two teams will pack-up the busses after Friday’s game and head back to Wisconsin to play the very next day at 5pm CST.

Sifters…

COVID Postponements… Penn State will have to wait at least one more weekend to defend its new top 10 ranking as their next two series with RIT have been postponed beginning with this weekends’ games due to RIT COVID protocols.

Vermont’s series with Maine has been postponed due to COVID protocols within Vermont’s program.

The NHL, it’s back… The NHL began its 2021 season this past week and we saw some fans in the stands!

Streaming Info

-Streams for games in the ECAC can be found HERE. Subscriptions will be necessary to watch games in the ECAC.

-Streams in the WCHA can be found HERE for homes games at Bemidji, MSU-Mankato, MN-Duluth, and St. Cloud. Streams for home games at Minnesota, Ohio St., and Wisconsin can be found HERE. Subscriptions will be necessary to watch games in the WCHA.

Streams in Hockey East this year can be found HERE and all streams FREE of charge for the 20-21 season.

-Streams for CHA games with the exception of Penn St. home games can be found HERE. Penn St. home game are streamed on the Big Ten Network + and can be found HERE.

Until Next Time… Have a great weekend everyone!

Post #26 — 1/12/21 — wknd recap, scores and highlights, nwhl in lake placid, sifters

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In This Post…

  • Weekend Recap…
  • Scores & Highlights…
  • NWHL Set to Compete in Lake Placid Bubble…
  • Sifters…

Weekend Recap…

To clarify, the first ranking number you see will always be the USCHO.com poll and the second will be from the USA Toda/USA Hockey Magazine Poll.

How The Top 10 fared…

Consensus #1 Wisconsin hosted #4/3 Ohio State and split winning game 1 but losing game 2 in overtime. Both games had identical scores of 2-1.

#2 Minnesota played a home-and-home-and-home vs. St. Cloud Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The Gophers came away with the three-game sweep winning 2-1, 4-1, and 4-0. Taylor Heise paced the Gophers with a Hat-Trick on Sunday while linemates Emily Odena and Freshman Abby Murphy each chipped in with 3 assists.

#3/4 Northeastern hosted New Hampshire and took game one 3-1 Friday night. Saturday the series shifted to the Olympic sheet of the Whittemore Center at UNH and ended in a tie 2-2. Chavonne Truter for UNH tied the game with just under three minutes to go. After a scoreless overtime, UNH won the extra point in a 5-round shootout 1-0.

#5 Colgate hosted #NR/10 Quinnipiac for a pair of games and came away with two wins, 4-0 and 4-1. Colgate improves to 6-1-1 and Quinnipiac falls to 3-2 on the year. Colgate’s Danielle Serdachny had 4 points, two each game, to help Colgate secure the sweep.

#6 MN-Duluth was idyle.

#7/9 Providence traveled to Holy Cross Saturday and came away with a 5-2 victory. Providence went up 1-0, then found themselves down 2-1. Providence would then score 4 unanswered goals with Hayley Lunny, Sara Hjalmarsson, and Annelise Rice getting two points a piece on the day.

#8 Boston College played a home-and-home with Merrimack and swept both games 5-3 at home and 3-1 on the road in North Andover. BC forward Willow Corson had a three-point weekend to help BC move to 7-3-0 on the year while Merrimack falls to 1-5-0.

#9/7 Clarkson was Idyle

#10/NR Mercyhurst was supposed to host Sacred Heart, but those games were postponed.

In other games…

MSU-Mankato @ Bemidji… Mankato swept Bemidji 2-1 and 4-0.

Vermont @ UCONN… Vermont got the road sweep at UCONN shutting out the Huskies 2-0 Friday and on Saturday coming back from a two-goal deficit to win in OT. Freshman goaltender Jessie McPherson got her 2nd shutout of her career in as many games Friday. Vermont moves to 5-1-0 and UCONN stands at 3-5-1.

Penn State @ Robert Morris… The Nittany Lions of Penn State did something they never have – they swept Robert Morris. Penn State followed up Friday 3-2 win with a commanding 4-0 victory on Saturday.

Lindenwood @ RIT… Lindenwood got its 1st victory of the year downing RIT 2-0 on Sunday. Game 2 is set for Monday at 3pm est.

COVID Postponements… Due to COVID protocols at Sacred Heart, Mercyhurst postponed its game with the Pioneers. No make-up date has been schedule.

Conference Notes… NEWHA Announces Season Plans… Hockey East Video Update… WCHA Commissioners Corner Video… ECAC Season Promo Video… CHA Releases 2nd Half Schedule…

Friday Scores & Highlights – 1/8

Merrimack 3
Boston College 5
Box / Video Highlights / Postgame Video
#4/3 Ohio State 1
#1 Wisconsin 2
Box / Video Highlights / Postgame Video
MSU-Mankato 2
Bemidji 1
Box / Video Highlights / Postgame Write-Up
New Hampshire 1
#3/4 Northeastern 3
Box / Video Highlights / Postgame Video
Vermont 2
UCONN 0
Box / Video Highlights / Postgame Write-Up
Penn State 3
Robert Morris 2
Box / Video Highlights / Postgame Write-Up

Saturday Scores & Highlights – 1/9

#4/3 Ohio State 2
#1 Wisconsin 1 (OT)
Box / Video Highlights / Postgame Video
#8 Boston College 3
Merrimack 1
Box / Video Highlights / Postgame Write-Up
Penn State 4
Robert Morris 1
Box / Video Highlights / Postgame Write-Up
Vermont 3
UCONN 2 (OT)
Box / Video Highlights / Postgame Write-Up
MSU-Mankato 4
Bemidji 0
Box / Video Highlights / Postgame Write-Up
#NR/10 Quinnipiac 0
#5 Colgate 4
Box / Video Highlights / Postgame Write-Up
St. Cloud 1
#2 Minnesota 4
Box / Video Highlights / Postgame Write-Up
#3/4 Northeastern 2
New Hampshire 2 (OT) UNH Wins Shootout
Box / Video Highlights / Postgame Write-Up
#7/9 Providence 5
Holy Cross 2
Box / Video Highlights / Postgame Write-Up

Sunday Scores & Highlights – 1/10

#NR/10 Quinnipiac 1
#5 Colgate 4
Box / Video Highlights / Postgame Write-Up
Lindenwood 2
RIT 0
Box / Video Highlights / Postgame Write-Up
#2 Minnesota 4
St. Cloud 0
Box / Video Highlights / Postgame Video
Sacred Heart –
#10/NR Mercyhurst –
PPD

NWHL Set to Compete in Lake Placid Bubble…

The National Women’s Hockey League is in final prep mode for its 2-week bubble season that begins with player arrival January 21.

The NWHL bubble is taking place in Lake Placid, New York with team arrivals scheduled to take place Jan. 21 through 23 in a staggered fashion. A final schedule will be made public soon. We do know the semi-finals and championship game will be broadcast on NBCSN Feb. 4 and 5. This will be the first time a major television network in the US will broadcast professional women’s hockey.

Sifters…

One More Opts-Out… Division III Finlandia University of the NCHA has opted-out of the 20-21 season sighting the health and safety concerns for the program. You can read the full announcement HERE. The Finlandia men’s team still plans to continue play this season. The Northern Collegiate Hockey Association is set to begin play after Jan. 14 and a full conference schedule is expected to come out soon.

Predetermined sites for all NCAA Winter Championships… The NCAA announced yesterday it will hold all Winter sport championships at predetermined sites, this includes D-III women’s and men’s hockey. Championship sites that have been previously announced can continue to host provided local and state health authorities say it is safe to do so. The women’s D-I championship is scheduled to be played in Erie, PA March 19-21. You can read the NCAA’s official announcement HERE.

A New #1… The USCHO.com Top 10 poll has been released and we have a new #1 – the Minnesota Golden Gophers. The Gophers had a 3-game sweep of Saint Cloud this past weekend, while previous #1 Wisconsin split with Ohio State. We’ll have a rundown of both polls tomorrow.

Until Next Time… Have a great weekend everyone!

Post #25 — 1/8/21 — WED / THURS RECAP, NCAA POLL AND WKND SCHEDULE, SIFTERS

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IN THIS POST…

  • Wednesday/Thursday Recaps…
  • Polls and NCAA Weekend Schedule…
  • Sifters…

Wednesday Scores & Highlights

RIT 1
Mercyhurst 0
Box / Video Highlights / Postgame Write-Up
Sacred Heart –
Long Island Univ. –
PPD – COVID – Write-Up

Thursday Scores & Highlights

Mercyhurst 4
RIT 0
Box / NO Video Highlights / Postgame Write-Up
St. Cloud State 1
Minnesota 2
Box / NO-Video Highlights / Postgame Write-Up

Polls for the Week Jan. 4…

Both polls are out after last weekend’s games. Some variance between the two towards the bottom.

RNKTEAM
1Wisconsin
2Minnesota
3Northeastern
4Ohio State
5Colgate
6MN-Duluth
7Providence
8Boston College
9Clarkson
10Mercyhurst
USCHO.COM Top 10 Poll
RNKTEAM
1Wisconsin
2Minnesota
3Ohio State
4Northeastern
5Colgate
6MN-Duluth
7Clarkson
8Boston College
9Providence
10Quinnipiac
USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Top 10 Poll

Weekend Schedule…

It’s a packed schedule as the college hockey schedule is now back in full swing. As you can see below, we do have a few TV games on NESN, 2pm and 4:30pm today Friday. As always, streaming info is at the bottom of each post. We’ll keep you updated throughout the weekend with score and highlights if we can find them.

Sifters…

One More Team Begins Play Soon… St. Lawrence University is back on campus and will take part in the ECAC schedule. Players recently arrived on campus and are going through COVID protocol. If all goes well, SLU will play their first game vs. Colgate Jan. 22.

USA Wins World Junior Tourney… Team USA beat arch rival Canada 2-0 to win the gold medal at the IIHF World Jr. Championships. What a performance from USA goaltender Spencer Knight, he was spectacular. It doesn’t matter how good a team you have in front of you, teams need excellent goaltending if you want to win – as well as goal scoring. Very entertaining game to watch… it looked like the pace Team USA played at was a bit much for Canada to handle at times. And what an advertisement for NCAA college hockey… Congrats to the all NCAA coaching staff of Team USA, including Theresa Feaster, the first women asst. coach at a major men’s IIHF event.

COVID Recruiting… Interesting article about Wisconsin’s recruiting. You can read it HERE. It brings up a topic we posted earlier about – recruiting in the new COVID era for college hockey. This is a topic we are going to pick up again with a more in-depth post. Wisco is not the only school who will ‘wait and see’.

Streaming Info…

-Streams for games in the ECAC can be found HERE. Subscriptions will be necessary to watch games in the ECAC.

-Streams in the WCHA can be found HERE for homes games at Bemidji, MSU-Mankato, MN-Duluth, and St. Cloud. Streams for home games at Minnesota, Ohio St., and Wisconsin can be found HERE. Subscriptions will be necessary to watch games in the WCHA.

Streams in Hockey East this year can be found HERE and all streams FREE of charge for the 20-21 season.

-Streams for CHA games with the exception of Penn St. home games can be found HERE. Penn St. home game are streamed on the Big Ten Network + and can be found HERE.

Until Next Time… Have a great weekend everyone!

Post #24 — 1/5/21 — WKND RECAP, SCORES AND HIGHLIGHTS, SIFTERS

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In This Post…

  • Weekend Recap…
  • Scores & Highlights…
  • Sifters…

Weekend Recap…

How The Top 10 fared… Teams in the Top 10 went 6-0-0 this weekend as of Sunday evening. #1 Wisconsin squeaked by MSU-Mankato winning two 1-goal games, 3-2 and 1-0. It was the Badgers first set of games in a little more than a month. #3 Northeastern Swept Maine 3-0 on Sunday and 1-0 Monday. In the process, Northeastern goaltender Aerin Frankl recorded her 20th and 21st career shutout and is now the new program shutout leader. #4 Ohio State took two games from Bemidji State 4-1 in game one and 7-1 in game 2 where OSU had 68, yes–68– shots on goal. Mercyhurst won its lone game of the weekend, an exhibition game vs. D-III Adrian College which we talked about in our previous post. Mercyhurst went up 3-0 after two periods but Adrian came out strong in the 3rd, out-shooting Mercyhurst 7-5 and scoring two goals in the process making for a very entertaining period.

D-III Adrian College Continues D-I Swing… Up next for Adrian was another CHA opponent Robert Morris University as it continued on its New Year’s D-I swing Monday afternoon. Things didn’t go as well for Adrian as they did at Mercyhurst as Robert Morris proved to be too much. RMU forwards Lexi Templeton and Michaela Boyle paced the way for RMU with three points each and all three goaltenders for RMU saw action. We don’t have game highlights below at this time but we’ll post them once available.

Vermont swept Holy Cross in Burlington beating the crusaders 4-0 and 6-1. Vermont held Holy Cross to 16 and 17 shots on goal respectively. Vermont freshman goaltender Jessie McPherson earned her first career start, win and shutout on Friday. Not a bad way to begin your college career.

Quinnipiac fired 53 shots on net enroute to a 6-0 win vs. Long Island University Sunday. This was LIU’s first game of this season, while only the 3rd for the Bobcats. Quinnipiac and LIU will meet 3 additional times this season. In two weeks QU and LIU will play in a home-and-home series Jan. 16-17 and one final time Feb. 26.

COVID Postponements… #6 Minnesota-Duluth had to postpone it series with the #2 ranked Univ. of Minnesota Golden Gophers as Duluth did not have the minimum number of players required by WCHA return-to-play protocol. No timetable has been given for a makeup date. Duluth was supposed to travel to Minneapolis.

Hockey East announced Saturday’s game between #3 Northeastern and Maine would be rescheduled on Monday Jan 4. No reason was given as to why the game was moved to Monday. Game time is still set for 4pm and will air on NESN.

Friday Scores & Highlights – 1/1

Holy Cross 0
Vermont 4
Box / Video Highlights / Postgame Video
Bemidji State 1
Ohio State 4
Box / No Video/Write-up / Postgame Video

Saturday Scores & Highlights – 1/2

Holy Cross 1
Vermont 6
Box / Video Highlights / Postgame Write-up
Adrian 2
Mercyhurst 3
Box / Video Highlights / Postgame Write-up
Bemidji 1
Ohio State 7
Box / Video Highlights / Postgame Video
Wisconsin 3
MSU-Mankato 2
Box / Video Highlights / MSU-Postgame Video
Wisconsin Postgame Video

Sunday Scores & Highlights – 1/3

Wisconsin 1
MSU-Mankato 0
Box / Video Highlights / Postgame Video
Wisconsin Postgame Video
Maine 0
Northeastern 3
Box / Video Highlights / Postgame Video
Long Island Univ. 0
Quinnipiac 6
Box / Video Highlights / Postgame Write-up

Monday Scores & Highlights – 1/4

Maine 0
Northeastern 1
Box / Video Highlights / Postgame Video
Adrian 0
Robert Morris 7
Box / Video Highlights / Postgame Video

Sifters…

1980 Miracle On Ice Teammates Face-Off… Wisconsin Badger head coach Mark Johnson and Minnesota State Mankato head coach John Harrington, teammates on the 1980 USA Gold Medal Olympic Team, faced each other as their teams battled it out this weekend. You can imagine how competitive these two individuals are having not only been Olympic athletes, but major contributors as Team USA beat the Russians at the Olympics in 1980. We can only imagine the pre-game speeches. I’m sure neither likes losing, much less to one another, but in college hockey there are no ties. Coach Harrington came into this weekend having won the last game going back to Feb. of last season. This time around, coach Johnson now has the upper hand beating MSU-Mankato twice in close games.

Minnesota High School Hockey Revs Up, COVID Masks Mandatory… Minnesota High School Hockey started today. Monday 1/4/21 is the first official practice day with 1/14/21 the first official start day for games. COVID mask coverings will be mandatory to wear. Additionally, in almost all cases no spectators will be allowed at practices. For now, games will be without fans and concessions… AKA the snack-bar, will not be selling food items. Girls hockey will have an 18-game schedule followed by the state tournament playoffs. Tourney dates are TBD as of now.

NCAA Temporary COVID Recruiting Rules Update… On Dec. 18th the NCAA updated its temporary COVID dead period rules, some of which affect coaches like yourselves. D-I coaches are not allowed to have in-person contact with coaches or individuals associated with prospective student-athletes. With all of the COVID state travel restrictions, I doubt there is a lot of this happening in our sport, but nonetheless, the NCAA put it in writing. We’ll be putting together a ‘NCAA Rules You Should Know’ post very soon–should be very informative for coaches, players, and parents.

Until Next Time… Have a great weekend everyone!

Post #23 — 1/1/21 — HAPPY NEW YEAR! UNH / HOLY CROSS RECAP, POLLS AND WKND SCHEDULE, SERIES PREVIEWS, SIFTERS

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IN THIS POST…

  • Happy New Year!..
  • New Hampshire/Holy Cross Recap…
  • Weekend Schedule/Polls…
  • Series Previews…
  • Sifters…

Happy New Year!

Welcome 2021… and good riddance to 2020. Wow – what a year it has been. No need to go into details, you know them all too well. But as a new year begins, we at the Bulldog Pipeline would like to wish everyone a healthy and safe start to a prosperous and joyful year ahead.

Great things are happening at Yale with our program and we can wait to get back to a more normal way of life and college hockey season. Happy New Year!

New Hampshire vs. Holy Cross Recap…

New Hampshire 2
Holy Cross 5
Box / Video Highlights / Postgame

In almost a complete reversal from a week earlier, Holy Cross up-ended New Hampshire 5-2 for its third victory of the year. Holy Cross netminder Jada Brenon turned aside 49 of 51 UNH shots for the win and good for a .960 save %. It was just a week earlier on Dec. 23rd where Holy Cross found itself on the wrong side of a 6-2 loss against UNH. Holy Cross was a perfect 3-for-3 on the power play and 5-of-6 on the penalty kill while UNH only went 1-for-7 on the PP. These two teams will meet again in a home-and-home series in late February.

Weekend NCAA Schedule/Polls…

All Times are Eastern Standard Time, EST.

Observations…

D-III vs. D-I… NCAA Division III Adrian College is continuing their season against two D-I teams this weekend. Tonight, it’s facing nationally ranked (USCHO.com poll) Mercyhurst University and Monday will take on vs. Robert Morris University, another strong CHA opponent. RMU is a program that has been to the NCAA tournament and nationally ranked before. So you have one of the best programs in D-III going against some of the best in Division I. Should be an interesting match-up. For those who don’t know or follow D-III hockey all that much, you should. After many years as a D-I asst. coach, I got the opportunity to start a D-III program from scratch as the head coach at Aurora University and play in the same conference as Adrian. We took a beating, granted we were a brand new team, but they were tough, skilled, and well coached. I can tell you there is some excellent hockey being played at that level. Adrian College is just one of many D-III teams that have a long tradition of success with a quite a few D-III alumni playing on NWHL rosters.

The University of Wisconsin… The Badgers will finally get to play its 3rd & 4th games of the year this weekend vs. Minnesota State University-Mankato. After only playing its first series of the year back in late November, UW is still currently ranked #1 in both the USCHO.com and USA Hockey Magazine/USA Today Top 10 polls.

Long Island University… Head Coach Rob Morgan and the Sharks get their first game action of the year as they take on Quinnipiac Sunday. The Sharks are coming off the programs’ inaugural season in 2019-2020 as a D-I program where they won the New England Women’s Hockey Alliance playoff championship. LIU and Sacred Heart are the only NEWHA teams to play this season.

National Polls – Week of Dec 28…

Weekly Polls… With no games last week, there are no updated weekly polls.

What the Top 10 are up to…

Where Is The Top 10 This Week… As we mentioned above, #1 Wisconsin is back at it this weekend vs. MSU-Mankato for 2 games. #3 Northeastern and #4 Ohio State are back in action since before the holiday break. Northeastern hosts Maine while Bemidji travels to Columbus to face the Buckeyes. #10 Quinnipiac hosts D-III power Adrian College for one-game Friday.

#2 Minnesota, #5 Colgate, #6 MN-Duluth, #7 Clarkson, #8 Boston College, and #9 Providence are all idle this weekend.

Series Previews…

Holy Cross @ VermontVideo Preview
Bemidji @ Ohio StateVideo Preview
Adrian @ MercyhurstVideo Preview
Wisconsin @ MSU-MankatoVideo Preview
Maine @ NortheasternTBA
Long Island Univ. @ QuinnipiacTBA

Streaming info is below. TBA series previews will be updated as they become available.

Sifters…

Women’s Hockey On TV… The New England Sports Network (NESN) will televise each game of the Maine/Northeastern series this Saturday and Sunday. Games time are set for 4:30PM & 4PM. I will say NESN has done a great job of broadcasting women’s hockey games this season. Curious to know if the uptick in the amount of televised women’s games was a contractual obligation with Hockey East and would have happened anyway w/ out COVID? Anyway, it’s nice to see a major sports network broadcasting games.

Men’s World Junior Tourney… The IIHF Men’s U20 World Junior Championships are entering its playoff phase in Edmonton, Alberta. They are using a very similar bubble approach to hosting the event as did the NHL. Team Canada and Team USA came in first-place of their respective groups.

Sweden… Tre Kronor, who had won 54 strait preliminary round games dating back to 2006, has now lost two games in a row. They lost 4-3 in OT to Russia Dec. 30 and 4-0 last night to Team USA. That is quite a streak! Interestingly, Team Sweden’s loss in 2006 cam when the tournament was held in Sweden to Team USA in OT. Jack Johnson scored the winner.

Germany Moves to Quarter Finals… Team Germany is moving on the to Quarter Finals for the first time… ever with a thrilling 4-3 win over Switzerland. And they’ve done so with a shorthanded group too. Several players tested positive before the tournament began which gave Germany just 14 skaters through the first few games of the tournament. Credit Germany’s first round pick in the 2020 NHL draft Tim Stutzle – this kid is fun to watch.

Streaming Info

-Streams for games in the ECAC can be found HERE. Subscriptions will be necessary to watch games in the ECAC.

-Streams in the WCHA can be found HERE for homes games at Bemidji, MSU-Mankato, MN-Duluth, and St. Cloud. Streams for home games at Minnesota, Ohio St., and Wisconsin can be found HERE. Subscriptions will be necessary to watch games in the WCHA.

Streams in Hockey East this year can be found HERE and all streams FREE of charge for the 20-21 season.

-Streams for CHA games with the exception of Penn St. home games can be found HERE. Penn St. home game are streamed on the Big Ten Network + and can be found HERE.

Until Next Time… Have a great weekend everyone!

Post #19 — 12/22/20 — wknd recap, scores and highlights, covid recruiting, sifters

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In This Post…

  • Weekend Recap, Scores, and Highlights…
  • COVID Recruiting…
  • Sifters…

Weekend Recap, Scores and Highlights…

How The Top 10 fared… Providence was the only team to play games this weekend as Northeastern games vs. Holy Cross were cancelled. The #7 Friars split with Maine winning game one 4-0 and losing game two 2-1. Everyone else was idle and will be until after the holiday.

COVID Postponements… COVID protocol caused the postponement of the Ohio St. @ Wisconsin series. The Northeastern/Holy Cross has been cancelled, exactly why is not yet known. Neither the Hockey East Conference or Northeastern/Holy Cross websites are saying exactly why… yet.

Firsts… Vermont saw their first game-action of the 20-21 season this past weekend. They hosted UNH in a Saturday/Sunday series at Gutterson Fieldhouse. It was also the debut of a revamped Gutterson Fieldhouse complete with new scoreboard. You can read more about the upgrades HERE.

Thursday Scores & Highlights – 12/17

Bemidji 2
MSU-Mankato 2 (OT)
Box / Video / Postgame
Bemidji wins shootout 1-0 / 4 rounds

Friday Scores & Highlights – 12/18

Merrimack 0
UCONN 4
Box / Video / Postgame
Bemidji 3
MSU-Mankato 5
Box / Video / Postgame
Maine 0
Providence 4
Box / Video / Postgame
Ohio State –
Wisconsin – PPD
Box / Video / Postgame
Postponed due to COVID

Saturday Scores & Highlights – 12/19

UCONN 5
Merrimack 0
Box / Video / Postgame
Maine 2
Providence 1
Box / Video / Postgame
New Hampshire 2
Vermont 4
Box / Video / Postgame
Ohio State –
Wisconsin – PPD
Box / Video / Postgame
Postponed due to COVID

Sunday Scores & Highlights – 12/20

New Hampshire
Vermont
Box / Video / Postgame

COVID Recruiting…

Recruiting during COVID has been quite the challenge for college coaches, namely being able to evaluate players in person. The in-person ‘eye test’ has long been the gold standard for coaches to get a sense of how a player, well… plays. Evaluating by video however, has become much more prevalent over the years thanks to the internet and savvy parents and coaches with their iPhones & tablets. And in a year when NO off-campus recruiting has been allowed for D-I coaches – watching video is all we’ve had to go by.

I’ll be honest… watching video has been downright tough to watch if not impossible at times. Rarely is there broadcast quality video angle used where coaches can actually see whos doing what out there. It’s been a struggle just to see the jersey numbers of who’s playing. LiveBarn is like looking through a fishbowl. But let’s be honest, most high school and club teams that are playing games don’t have a videographer or a crew to set up a legit streaming broadcast. So it is what it is – for now. But there are some things a player, parent, or coach can do to make the video more palatable for college coaches to watch so we can get something out of it.

Improve The Camera Angle… quite a bit of video we get from players is shown from an ‘off-center’ type of angle. Mom or Dad is perched in a corner somewhere or behind the glass at ice level videotaping the game from a full length-of-the-rink view. Not ideal for trying to evaluate the play. Try to position yourself as close to center ice as possible and as high up so the video is not being shot through the glass. But not too high otherwise it will be tough to see jersey numbers.

Do follow the puck… if you drew the short straw for your team as the camera person and want to do a good job on the video part – don’t watch the game. Follow the puck so it’s in the middle of your screen at all times. This ensures you’ll get an equal amount of space in the shot relative to where the puck is. Coaches will see more of who’s involved that way.

Use a tripod… A tripod will help stabilize your camera and allow you to follow the play better. It can feel like we’re on a ride at Disney otherwise. They make some great phone and tablet tripods that don’t cost an arm and a leg.

UNTUCK YOUR JERSEYS!!!… Can’t say this enough – players – don’t tuck your jersey in you pants. Coaches can’t see your number and thus don’t know who you are.

Jersey and number color are important… Watching a game where teams have similar jersey and number colors don’t work. I recall watching a game in September where a team had black jersey base color and dark purple colored numbers. Couldn’t see a thing and after a while of straining my eyes, didn’t watch.

Players, send video of you WITHOUT the puck… A lot of video we get are clips of the player carrying the puck or just her shots on net. 98% of the game is played without the puck and while true we want to know what a player does with the puck, we do want to see how she plays without it and in all three zones. This is how we get a idea of what her positioning and overall ‘hockey IQ’ is like. So–DO send video clips or periods of play where we can see her in 1)Breakout situations, 2) Def. zone play, 3) Faceoffs in all 3 zones, 4) Offensive Zone entries, 5) For-checking situations, and 6) special teams–penalty killing and powerplay

Use some video editing software… One of the things that is hard to sometimes pick up on is – who am I supposed to be watching? Oftentimes the video clips we get is of a shift or multiple shifts in a row and we don’t even know who we need to watch… Players, #1, in your email please let us know what number you’re wearing and what color jersey your team is. We love the shadow circles some editing programs allow you to place in the video to highlight yourselves – those are great. iMovie evan has a tool where you can zoom in on video too help improve the camera angle even after it’s been shot. It’s called the ‘Ken Burns’… google it and you find out how to use it.

Sifters…

D-III vs. D-I… As we reported in a previous post, D-III Adrian college was looking to schedule games vs. D-I opponents. It has happened on the men’s side a bit this year already. Well, Adrian has been able to schedule 2 D-I games vs. Mercyhurst and Robert Morris on Jan. 2nd and 4th. You can read the story HERE.

Social Media Internship… The American Hockey Coaches Association is looking for a social media intern and has officially posted for the position. The AHCA is looking for someone to help build their social media online presence through sites like Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, etc. Interested candidates can read about the position below and download the file. The internship runs from Jan-May, 2021.ahca-social-media-postDownload

Until Next Time… Have a great weekend everyone!

Post #15 — 12/11/20

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IN THIS POST…

  • Weekend NCAA Schedules
  • National Polls
  • Series Previews
  • Sifters

Weekend NCAA Schedule…

The NCAA schedule has 19 games between Thursday and Monday. There are 2 weekend series postponed due to COVID: Minnesota@OSU & Duluth@Wisconsin. Here is the schedule as of 12/10/20 at 10:20pm. Thursday’s slate of games are complete as you can see below. Video highlights, postgame reaction, and box scores from the weekend will be posted Tuesday next week.

National Polls for the week of Dec 7…

What the Top 10 are up to…

The Polls… The USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Top 10 polls are identical after last week’s games.

Minimal Movement… Providence moves up a spot to #8, BU loses 2 spots and is now at #10, and Boston College moves up one spot to #9. Your top 4 teams did not play–Wisconsin, Northeastern, Minnesota, and Ohio State. OSU had the week off while UW, MN, and NU had COVID postponements.

Where Is The Top 10 This Week… #1 Wisconsin and #6 MN-Duluth were to play in Madison–that has been postponed due to COVID. #2 Northeastern gets its first game action of the year in a home-and-home with #9 Boston College while #3 Minnesota’s series with #4 Ohio State is also postponed due to COVID. Minne was able to schedule a series with MSU-Mankato instead. #5 Colgate and #7 Clarkson and #8 Providence are all off this weekend. #10Boston University plays a single game at UCONN on Friday.

Series Previews & Streaming Info

Streaming for each conference is listed below. All Hockey East games are streamed for FREE. ECAC, CHA, and WCHA are all paid subscription based services that require a fee to watch. We haven’t found a NEWHA streaming service for the conference yet. Please refer to each teams website for stream details.

MaineAtNew HampshirePreview
NortheasternAtBoston CollegePreview
Robert MorrisAtLindenwoodPreview
RITAtMercyhurstPreview
Holy CrossAtMerrimackPreview
St. Cloud StateAtBemidjiVideo
Boston UniversityAtUCONNVideo
Penn StateAtSyracusePreview
MSU-MankatoAtMinnesotaPreview
Sacred HeartAtQuinnipiacN/A

Sifters…

-International Games… Last week we mentioned the Swiss and German women’s national teams will meet for 3-games December 15-19 in Fussen, Germany pitting Yale alum and 2014 Swiss Olympian Phoebe Staenz against current Yale defensemen Tabea Botthof of Germany. Additionally we have learned Yale Sophomore Elle Hartje will play for the Slovak National Team in an event with Austria. We’re waiting to confirm the Austrian roster as Yale incoming Freshman ’20 Anja Trummer and Defensemen MeiLan Haberl have both played for the Austrian National Team.

Streaming Info…

-Streams for games in the ECAC can be found HERE. Subscriptions will be necessary to watch games in the ECAC.

-Streams in the WCHA can be found HERE for homes games at Bemidji, MSU-Mankato, MN-Duluth, and St. Cloud. Streams for home games at Minnesota, Ohio St., and Wisconsin can be found HERE. Subscriptions will be necessary to watch games in the WCHA.

Streams in Hockey East this year can be found HERE and all streams FREE of charge for the 20-21 season.

-Streams for CHA games with the exception of Penn St. home games can be found HERE. Penn St. home game are streamed on the Big Ten Network + and can be found HERE.

Until Next Time… Have a great weekend everyone!

Post #2 — 10/15/20 — understanding the recruiting process 4-part series, ncaa covid update

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IN THIS POST…

  • Understanding The Process…
  • NCAA COVID Update…

Understanding The Recruiting Process…

Getting to play college hockey isn’t easy. You need to 1) meet the NCAA Eligibility Center academic standards, 2) be admitted by the school you apply to, and 3) receive an offer from a coaching staff to join their hockey program. These are just a few of the things players will need to even be considered to play college hockey. But there is so much more to the process as a player and since recruiting is not an exact science, trying to understand all of its nuances can be confusing. So, to help shed some light and understand how the recruiting process works, we’ve identified a few ‘key’ pieces, in somewhat of an order, we think you should pay attention to. We’ll expand on each one in the coming weeks, so stay tuned. You won’t want to miss this 4-part series.

     1) Player Identification/Evaluation–Player Identification/Evaluation is number one because honestly, it’s what happens first and is probably the most important. Schools want to win and you can’t win without getting great players.
     2) Academics–Coaches care about your academics. Who’s a great fit hockey-wise? That’s the easiest to answer. Can you get admitted to the school you want to go to? That is quite a bit trickier for some schools and easier for others, there is definitely a range.
     3) Affordability/Financial aid/Scholarships–Know the difference between how scholarships and financial aid packages work. Know how an Ivy education can be affordable without being a millionaire. If you can’t afford where your daughter wants to go – it doesn’t matter how good of a player you may be. Know what to be prepared for.
     4) Want The School and Let Them Know It.–Coaches want players who want to be at their institution and a part of their program. Telling them matters!

We’ll tackle Player Identification/Evaluation next week… stay tuned!

NCAA COVID Update…

-Yale University will have a direct impact on NCAA sports, such as Basketball and Hockey, potentially having their respective seasons.
-Hockey conference commissioners are watching as the NCAA announced an update to its ‘Core Principles of Resocialization of Collegiate Basketball document — read it HERE

The Yale University Medical School teamed up with the NBA earlier this summer and developed a low-cost, quick turnaround time, saliva based COVID test called SalivaDirect. Each test cost are somewhere between $5-$30 and results are known in a matter of hours. In its resocialization updated document, the NCAA recommended SalivaDirect was one of the tests sport programs could use as they develop safe and effective testing protocols.

Hockey people are paying close attention to what happens with Basketball. We’re similar sports in that we play indoors, have indoor locker rooms, and have close personal contact with many groups of individuals–coaches, players, officials, school administrators, medical people, etc. The NCAA has recommended Basketball tests ‘Tier I’ individuals–players, coaches, trainers, and essential staff etc., 3 times per week once the season begins. Figure each DI Basketball program between players, coaches, and essential staff could be around 20-25 personnel. The math gets pretty pricey without a SalivaDirect option. Other tests on the market could be used but cost as much as $150. Put into hockey terms… teams with an average group of 28 players coaches, staff etc. and testing three times per week within a shortened 10 week season… could cost programs anywhere from $4,200 to $25,000 for SalivaDirect tests.

Until next time everyone… Enjoy your weekend and be well!