Post #121 – 8/11/23 – Friday’s Sifters
Little lobs of news and info from around the world of women’s college hockey and beyond
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Friday’s Sifters
Coaching/Staff News At Bemidji x 2, King’s, Mercyhurst, St. Mary’s, Suffolk, ECAC Hockey
As expected there has been a late head coaching position open up, this time in D-III. There will probably be more movement on the D-I Assistant Coach side of things in the coming weeks as well. Here is what I have for this week.
Bemidji… Has 2 position announcements… In addition to announcing the program has posted its position for a 4th coach, Coach Scanlan has named Amber Fryklund Associate Head Coach. This marks Fryklund’s second tour of duty with the Beavers as she spent 9 years as an Assistant and Associate Head Coach from 2011-2019. You can read more on Amber’s hiring HERE. It’s nice to have you back in the game Amber!
Mercyhurst… Has searching for it 3rd Assistant Coach position.
King’s College… Has announced its new Head Coach – Josh Hoff. You can read more about his hiring HERE.
St. Mary’s (MN)… Will be looking for a new Head Coach as Sarah Murray has stepped down to take the Head Coaching position of the Shattuck St. Mary’s U19 Team.
Suffolk… Has announced former Boston University Assistant Coach Abby Ostrom as its new Head Coach. Abby takes over for Taylor Wasylk who left to become the Head Coach at Lindenwood University.
ECAC Hockey… ECAC Hockey is seeking applications for its Digital Media Internship. You can read more about the position and application process HERE.
In Other Coaching News… On the D-I men’s side, Colorado College has hired former Ohio State Women’s Assistant Coach Emily West. West, who played at Minnesota, helped the Buckeye’s to its first NCAA title in 2022. You can read more about her hiring HERE.
The Rochester Americans… Former Cornell standout Alyssa Gagliardi has hired by the Rochester Americans of the AHL as a Development Coach.
In Addition…
USA Hockey / Hockey Canada National Team Programs Underway… I was at both events this past week. USA Hockey has been using the Olympic Training facilities in Lake Placid – and what a renovation they did to the 1980 Herb Brooks Arena and the 1932 rink. For those who haven’t been to LP in a while, there has been major – to the tune of over $100 million – in renovations to both arenas. Herb Brooks arena is now a regulation sized sheet of ice with brand new red colored chair-backed seats and a new scoreboard. The 1932 rink has all brand new blue chair-back seats and looks very sharp. The Old Scoreboard with the USA 4 URS (Russia) 3 from 1980 is now on full display in the lobby of the arena.
Hockey Canada is using the brand new 1,200 seat Canada Games Park Arena. A 2 sheet, multi purpose facility that was built for conjunction with the Canada Winter Games (think Olympic Winter Games but only in Canada) on the Brock University Campus.
Union Dutchmen/Women No More… Union College will now be called the Union College Garnet Chargers. New Logo Below:
Busy Labor Day WKND
Labor Day Weekend you could say is the unofficial weekend to kick off the 23-24 hockey season. And there will be plenty of events happening so college coaches can get eyes on all the new teams.
The North American Hockey Academy (NAHA) will host its 23rd annual Labor Day Tournament. A total of 84 teams in the U14/U15, U16/U18, and U19/U22 age divisions will attend.
Premiere Ice Prospects will hold its 3rd annual (I think) Labor Day Girls Fest in Pittsburgh. This years team list hasn’t been made public yet, but if last year is any indication, we’ll upwards of 65+ teams in 3 age groups.
North of the border in Ontario the Etobicoke Dolphins are hosting an exhibition series at the U15, U18, and U22 levels. 30 teams, 10 in each age group will attend.
The National Girls Hockey League will host its Dawg Daze of Summer Invitational the weekend prior to Labor Day, Aug 25-27 in Connecticut.
Players – Check Your Email!
Players… with the 23-24 season almost here, it’s important that you check your email! And check the ‘JUNK’ folder too!
You don’t want to miss a note from a college coach – so check it early and often. Especially if you’re sending emails to schools in preparation for future events that you’ll be at.
Time is one of those things you can’t get back. And at this time of year, recruiting can move lightning fast sometimes. If coaches send you an email, it’s for a reason. Get in the habit of checking your email at least once a day if not more. I can assure you, the quicker you reply to an email from a coach, the better that coach is going to feel about you as a potential recruit. Coaches don’t want to deal with players who are always delayed in their reply.
So check your email often and reply as soon as you are able!
Until Next Time Everyone… Be Well and take Care,
-Streams for games in the ECAC can be found HERE. Subscriptions will be necessary to watch games.
-Streams in the WCHA can be found HERE. Subscriptions will be necessary to watch games.
-Streams in Hockey East this year can be found HERE. Hockey East once again is streaming all game live and for FREE.
-Streams for CHA games with the exception of Penn St. can be found HERE. Paid subscriptions will be necessary to watch games.
-Streams for NEWHA games can be found at each teams’ website. Subscriptions may be necessary to watch games.
NCAA Coaching Changes… Keep up with all the coaching changes across D-I and D-III HERE.
Recruiting Events/League Online Directory… Find all the recruiting events on WCH.org right HERE. Want to add your event? Click HERE to fill out our WCH.org event form.
Grant Kimball is founder and contributing writer at Women’s College Hockey.org and beginning his 4th season as an Assistant Coach with the Yale University women’s hockey program. Grant has developed an experienced perspective in the world of women’s ice hockey, having coached and recruited players from across the globe during his 25+ year amateur and NCAA coaching career. He has coached at 6 NCAA DIII and DI programs in the NCHA (D3), the CHA, WCHA, Hockey East, ECAC, and the Ivy League (DI). Beyond coaching, Grant served as a site representative for the 2019 NCAA quarterfinal of the D-I NCAA Tournament. He also currently serves as an Officer with the American Hockey Coaches Association as Vice President of Membership and sits on the AHCA’s Women’s Hockey Executive Committee.
