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Post #90 – 6/5/23 – Monday Headlines

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The Impact of The 4th Coach at D-I

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Monday Headlines

NCAA coaches were out in force this past weekend at various events. Toronto and Bloomington, Minnesota seemed to be the hotspots. I made my way to through both Toronto and Bloomington (without delay thankfully).

Coaches On The Move

There has been a little movement with some recent D-III and D-I coaching changes.

In D-III, the University of Dubuque has added Michael Kuruc III as an Assistant Coach.

And Hilbert College will have a change in leadership as Head Coach Cole Klubec has departed his position. A search is underway for his replacement.

In D-I, Kate Leary, who played for the Boston College Eagles, will be leaving her assistant position at Merrimack College and returning to her alma matter in the same role. That leaves two open asst. positions for Merrimack.

Shelly Picard, former 2014 US Olympian, is leaving her assistant position at Princeton and has been named an assistant coach with Long Island University. Princeton now has an open asst. position to fill.

St. Cloud State University has advertised its job posting for a full-time assistant Coach. This is a posting for St. Cloud’s 4th full-time coach.

4th Full-Time Coach at D-I

Back in January the NCAA legislated an additional 4th full-time coach would be allowed in women’s and men’s D-I hockey beginning July 1. The NCAA also legislated the volunteer coach designation removed from the rule book.

Which begs the question: Will all D-I women’s hockey programs get a 4th coach?

The answer is a little harder to come by. Yes, some will make that hire soon, just as St. Cloud has advertised for. But it will come at a cost. And not just a financial one.

Full-Time employees at institutions means more money spent. What constitutes ‘full-time’ at one school, may not at another. Employment laws regulations differ from school to school and state to state.

Another cost is time in managing that extra person. Head Coaches now have a new voice to account for, a new personality to manage. The staff dynamic could change drastically with someone unknown and new. Or may be it won’t. Most staffs have a volunteer coach, and it’s conceivable, that person may slide into the new 4th coach role.

It will be interesting to see how the 4th coach plays out with D-I programs. One aspect a lot of coaches have discussed is the impact to D-III.

D-III has always had issues filling positions. There just isn’t a huge pool of qualified coaches to fill them. Take away 44 people to fill the 4th coach spot at D-I, and now D-III programs could really struggle to find coaches.

What the fourth coach will do is certainly open the door for more females, recent graduates perhaps, to get into coaching – be it at D-III or D-I.

Until Next Time Everyone… Be Well and take Care,

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

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

-Streams in Hockey East this year can be found HERE. Hockey East once again is streaming all game live and for FREE.

-Streams for CHA games with the exception of Penn St. can be found HERE. Paid subscriptions will be necessary to watch games.

-Streams for NEWHA games can be found at each teams’ website. Subscriptions may be necessary to watch games.

NCAA Coaching Changes… Keep up with all the coaching changes across D-I and D-III HERE.

Recruiting Events/League Online Directory… Find all the recruiting events on WCH.org right HERE. Want to add your event? Click HERE to fill out our WCH.org event form.

Grant Kimball is founder and contributing writer at Women’s College Hockey.org and beginning his 4th season as an Assistant Coach with the Yale University women’s hockey program. Grant has developed an experienced perspective in the world of women’s ice hockey, having coached and recruited players from across the globe during his 25+ year amateur and NCAA coaching career. He has coached at 6 NCAA DIII and DI programs in the NCHA (D3), the CHA, WCHA, Hockey East, ECAC, and the Ivy League (DI). Beyond coaching, Grant served as a site representative for the 2019 NCAA quarterfinal of the D-I NCAA Tournament. He also currently serves as an Officer with the American Hockey Coaches Association as Vice President of Membership and sits on the AHCA’s Women’s Hockey Executive Committee.

Post #50– 8/30/21 – More D-I Starts, 3-Part Mutual Respect series, Sifters

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In This Post…

  • D-I Schools Start The Year |
  • Observations: 3-Part Mutual Respect Series |
  • Sifters |

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.

WCHACHAECACHockey East NEWHA
Bemidji St. – Aug. 23 Syracuse – Aug. 20St. Lawrence – Aug. 25 Boston College – Aug. 30 Franklin Pierce – Aug. 18
Mankato – Aug. 23Lindenwood – Aug. 23Colgate – Aug. 26Merrimack College – Aug. 30 Saint Anselm – Aug. 23
St. Cloud St. – Aug. 23 Mercyhurst – Aug. 23Cornell – Aug. 26Providence College – Aug. 30 Saint Michael’s – Aug.23
Ohio St. – Aug. 24Penn State – Aug. 23Clarkson – Aug. 30UCONN – Aug. 30Post Univ. – Aug. 30
MN-Duluth – Aug. 30 Rochester Inst. of Tech – Aug. 23 Quinnipiac – Aug. 30Univ. of Maine – Aug. 30Sacred Heart Univ. – Aug. 30
RPI – Aug. 30Univ. 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.