Nicole: Welcome to the first Wednesday Women of the year. This week I’m joined by Nate Wells, a freelance journalist from Minnesota who has covered women’s college hockey for The Athletic, Minneapolis Star Tribune, and a large number of other outlets over the last decade. Nate and I often message each other about our observations and after we chatted during last Tuesday’s Minnesota/St. Cloud game, it seemed like a good time to bring some of those thoughts public. Thanks for joining me Nate!
In my WCHA season preview I talked about how important it was going to be for the Gophers to replace the leadership of Taylor Heise and a few weeks into the season, that seems like an even more prescient statement. Minnesota is a team in need of an identity. Heise had an outsized personality both on the ice and in the locker room and it feels like so far, this squad is struggling a bit to be a team without her and Grace Zumwinkle leading the charge. What have been your impressions so far?
Nate: First of all, thank you for inviting me this week, Nicole! I’m honored to be here.
As strange as it is watching WCHA hockey on a Tuesday night, it’s taking that same adjustment to feeling out this year’s Minnesota team. Undefeated through five games and only allowing two goals, one being in the final minute of regulation, is nothing to be disappointed with. Lucy Morgan, coming in from St. Lawrence, and Skylar Vetter have been a solid goaltending duo. Abbey Murphy continues to show why she is an Olympian/USWNT mainstay and someone who finds herself in the middle of the action.
And yet I would agree that the Gophers are figuring out this season’s identity. It’s not “we’re here for unfinished business” after losing Heise, Zumwinkle, and ⅔ of their top-six. Brad Frost is taking a long view with a number of players entering new roles, which includes Murphy being the focus. So far I can’t see where it is yet.
Honestly, Minnesota’s defense and goaltending might be their 2023-24 identity. The Gophers have shown it can control play and limit scoring chances with a blue line led by Madeline Wethington. That will keep Minnesota in most games against Wisconsin and Ohio State.
However, how far this team goes beyond controlling play. It depends on creating more Grade A chances and building scoring depth to match those teams. Someone like Josefin Bouveng or Peyton Hemp stepping up in new roles goes a long way as teams are able to match and focus on shutting down Murphy. We saw it with St. Thomas and St. Cloud State to various successes (Murphy’s 1.40 goals per game leads the conference). Ohio State in Columbus is next up for Minnesota, which will be a solid measuring stick for where the Gophers are and want to be.
Tuesday hockey aside, I was happy to see Minnesota and St. Cloud State get a chance to showcase nationally. BTN broadcast the game. What did you think of the broadcast and getting more women’s college hockey in the national spotlight?
Nicole: I’m always happy when there’s women’s hockey on tv. Friday’s Quinnipiac vs. Brown game was also on NESN and I heard the Bruins broadcast did a promo, so I’m hoping that brought more attention to it. There are just far too few tv broadcasts of women’s college hockey or even high-quality streams. I wouldn’t be so down on some of the stream if it weren’t for bad rinks with poor camera set ups, shoddy camera work, bad announcers and costly subscriptions. I’d like to see this sport get more recognition and for that to happen, people have to be able to see it and watching it has to not be painful and an exercise testing the limits of your devotion to the sport.
Considering three of the best teams in the country are Big Ten schools (Minnesota, Ohio State and Wisconsin), it’s actually pretty pathetic that more women’s hockey games don’t get televised on Big Ten Network (BTN). On the men’s side BTN made a point of making a college hockey showcase night on Thursdays. Obviously that being a Big Ten league, there’s a closer relationship in terms of figuring out scheduling, but I feel pretty confident in saying that if BTN wanted to do a men’s and women’s double header or highlight women’s hockey on another night of the week, those programs (and Penn State) would work to make that possible.
We watch a lot of sports in my household and any time I have to go through my cable guide to find what we’re planning to watch and I scroll through pages of fringe or niche sports like padel, bowling, cornhole, ultimate frisbee and so many more, it just reminds me of all the sports and activities that are giving that opportunity and given actual production value and air time when no one wants to give that to women’s hockey. It’s both infuriating and depressing.
As for Tuesday’s game, I think Sloane Martin does a good job preparing for the games and handling hockey play by play. Generally they pair her with a former player, who adds in color. It does sometimes feel like those former players rely on their own experience heavily and don’t do a ton of additional research, which can be frustrating – the context of what’s happening elsewhere in the league and nationwide and what has happened in the past is often missing from these broadcasts. And generally in women’s hockey broadcasts, we don’t see enough technical explanation or breaking down of plays. It’s all very surface and the broadcasts suffer from the fact that viewers are treated like they are brand new to hockey overall, so everything gets very dumbed down and the same info is repeated game after game.
I actually feel like BTN Volleyball broadcasts do a great job of balancing the fact that they know the sport is growing and bringing in new audience members that need to learn things with doing more technical analysis of plays. Shoutout to Emily Ehman, who does volleyball color and brings a true excitement to her broadcasts. She’s just always clearly excited to be watching very good volleyball and it draws the audience in. Here’s hoping BTN can find that balance for women’s hockey.
I don’t know, but I’m very done with any sort of “just happy to be here” attitude when it comes to women’s hockey. There should be more games on tv and they should be aired and produced with the same level of care and professionalism as men’s hockey and other sports get. Anything else is just simply unacceptable.
That’s probably more than you were bargaining for with that question, but do you have any thoughts about the broadcast I didn’t cover?
While we’re at it, let’s talk about the other team that played in that televised Tuesday night game, St. Cloud State, who went out east and won the Ice Breaker tournament at Sacred Heart last weekend, with a 2-0 win over Northeastern in the first game and a 5-0 win over Lindenwood in the second.
The Huskies are 7-2 to start the season, with losses to Mercyhurst and Minnesota. They are up to XX in this week’s polls and look like they’re going to push to be a fifth WCHA team to make the NCAA Tournament at the end of the year. I talked a bit in my season preview about how SCSU is sort of stuck in that fifth spot in the standings in the conference with Wisconsin, Ohio State, Minnesota and Minnesota Duluth ahead of them and how those big teams sort of limit their potential ceiling. What are your thoughts on what St. Cloud can do this year? Will they give UMD a serious fight for fourth in the standings
Nate: You touched on most of my thoughts as far as the broadcasts go. I’m happy to see more games and teams being broadcast. In addition to the two we mentioned, the Sacred Heart-Lindenwood Ice Breaker game was shown on SNY in the New York City area. Ohio State-St. Thomas was locally shown in the Twin Cities as the WCHA increases the number of games broadcast in its footprint. At the same time, these games exist in a vacuum rather than as part of a big picture.
Going back to the Ice Breaker, I was not surprised to see the western Huskies shut out the eastern Huskies. Both Jojo Chobak and Sanni Ahola, who has yet to allow a goal in four starts, are overachieving their high expectations. Just as impressive was the way SCSU won, out-shooting Northeastern and killing a 5-on-3 penalty in the third period with a one-goal lead. That is a total team effort against Hockey East’s best program over the past 6 seasons and changes the perception nationally.
It speaks to the WCHA as a whole where a team like St. Cloud State can take a large step forward and possibly be in the same spot of the standings. Even with the NCAA Tournament expanding to 11 teams, I find it tough to see a path for the WCHA to get five bids. So much needs to go right. SCSU’s loss to Mercyhurst doesn’t help.
Still, the Huskies being a fringe top-ten team and dangerous opponent night in and night out makes series with Minnesota State, St. Thomas, and Minnesota Duluth more interesting than ever. And what do you know, SCSU travels to Mankato this weekend.
I’ve always felt what separates the middle of the pack from the top is the consistency of winning games against teams they are favored. SCSU did that last year while struggling against the top tier. Defeating Northeastern and taking Minnesota’s best shot is a great first step. Let’s see if the Huskies can take the next and find ways to beat the opponents ahead of them.
Nicole, you know Wisconsin as well as anyone. The Badgers look to be up to speed early with some lopsided scores. What is your take on the defending national champions?
Nicole: I got a lot of questions on Friday as top-ranked Wisconsin was held scoreless by Bemidji State through the first two periods of their weekend series, despite holding a 34-6 shot advantage. But to me, that was a typical game against the Beavers, who have given Wisconsin fits and starts for years. Their particular brand of defense just really matches well against what the Badgers try to do and Wisconsin isn’t always able to keep from getting frustrated and in their own heads about it.
I actually thought UW looked as good as they have in a while in the face of Bemidji clogging the middle of the ice, forcing them outside, blocking shots and lifting sticks. They needed to force their way into the middle a little more, which they did in the second, but this wasn’t one of those games where they attempt 100+ shots and only a third or so of them are on frame. All of which is to say that I did not watch Friday’s game and think, “uh oh, Wisconsin is in trouble.”
We’ve yet to see the Badgers really get tested by a similarly strong team – they first face off against one of the other top teams in the WCHA in mid-November – but what I think bodes most well for them is the depth and creativity of their scoring. Just two players on this team have not tallied a goal so far – defenders Anna Wilgren and Laney Potter (but they have nine and five assists, respectively). Nine players have three or more goals. Wisconsin has definitely put up some lopsided scores, so I’m not going to read too much into how high-scoring some of the players are, but the fact that third and fourth line players are not just scoring goals, but scoring them in important situations – like Katie Kotlowski’s goal on Friday to put UW up 2-0 – should be giving opponents pause.
Players like Marianne Picard and Sarah Wozniewicz on the third line have shown marked improvement this season and Mark Johnson said he’s seen the payoff from work they put in over the last year after not being content with their playing time last season.
The biggest thing out of this weekend for Wisconsin was an injury to KK Harvey. The hit she took looked incredibly scary both in real time and when I saw a replay, but it appears what they are calling a “lower body injury” might not be as bad as first feared, so she was not on crutches on Saturday, walking on her own with a slight limp onto the bench during warmups. Time will obviously tell with that, but I’m curious your thoughts on if you think the Badgers are still the #1 team in the country without her? That is to ask, how important is she to Wisconsin’s long-term success this season?
Nate: Harvey may be the most important player to the Badgers, but that doesn’t mean Wisconsin doesn’t find success without her. At the moment, I would give the nod to the Badgers. Wisconsin has the depth and the luxury of its returning core to withstand an early injury to Harvey. These other teams are searching for an identity. Wisconsin knows what it is in late October.
Long-term? It gets muddier as the season continues. Each contender aims to peak at the right time, something Wisconsin knows better than anyone. Mark Johnson’s team has the fewest questions to answer among the group, however, I am curious to see how teams like Ohio State and Minnesota match up line for line against the Badgers’ depth.
Or even one another. Ohio State made big noise in the offseason bringing in an all-star team of transfers. It’s a different squad than the one who nearly repeated as national champs and one that is entertaining to watch under Nadine Muzerall’s tutelage.
Nicole: I’m excited to watch Minnesota at Ohio State this weekend. I feel like I don’t have a good handle on what to expect from the Buckeyes this year yet. There were some bobbles that very first weekend against Colgate, which were to be expected, and they seemed to have a pretty easy time handling UMD. Now that we’re a few weeks in and they’re playing a team that usually matches up particularly well with them style-wise, I feel like it will help me gauge how they matchup relatively to the other top teams in the country. I’ll be paying a little extra attention to their defense, to see how it has evolved and also who seems to be emerging as their big playmaker(s).
Nate: I’m curious to see if the all new Joy Dunne-Kiara Zanon-Hannah Bilka line ends up being that group up front. There is an abundance of riches in Columbus. Haven’t even mentioned Cayla Barnes, Olivia Mobley, Jenn Gardner, Makenna Webster, or Kelsey King. Coaches have their hands full figuring out the best way to match up.
I’m also curious to see how Muzerall matches up against Abbey Murphy this weekend with the last change and how effective it will be. Who wins a battle says a lot about where the two teams are in late October. The only thing I’m certain about how this weekend goes with Ohio State is that the Buckeyes will be a much different team when OSU heads to Minneapolis in January and Madison to end the regular season.
We’ve touched on several teams and players in the WCHA. A month into the season, has anyone stepped out of the shadows and surprised you? Two for me that have in different ways are Hailey Armstrong of Bemidji State and Mannon McMahon of Minnesota Duluth. Armstrong has five of BSU’s eight goals. She is nearing the Beavers’ leading goal total of all last season. McMahon, on the other hand, is someone under the radar at times and overshadowed by other players on the Bulldogs. She’s no longer that, captaining a team with a number of new players.
Nicole: I’m not sure this quite answers your question, but the freshmen at St. Thomas have been absolutely outstanding. Going into the season, they were certainly impressive on paper, but you and I both know that doesn’t always translate, so I’m really interested to see how they keep growing.
Five of the six women on the top two forward lines and one of the top defensive pairing are rookies. Ella Boerger, Rylee Bartz and Cara Sajevic lead the team in scoring. Ellah Hause leads the team in blocks and is second in the conference. Bartz is second in the WCHA in shots and fourth in shots per game. The team is just generating more offense in every metric, but most importantly, thus far is scoring 3.3 goals per game compared to last year’s 1.5 goals per game.
Bemidji goalie Abbie Thompson has bided her time behind Hannah Hogeson and Kerrigan Dowhy and has really stepped up when finally getting her shot as the starter this season. The pesky, shut down defense that the Beavers pride themselves on doesn’t work without a goalie that can anchor it and she sure seems to be up to the challenge.
I also want to shout out transfers CC Bowlby and Katie Kaufman, who are obviously new to the conference, but are already outpacing their own previous outputs paired together with Klára Hymlárová on the top line at St. Cloud.
I’m not interested too much in trying to guess the league’s final standings, but I do love some reckless far-too-early predictions, so I thought I’d ask who your outstanding players are so far? Let’s go with a Forward, Defender, Goalie and Rookie.
Nate: Great choices all around. One of the fun things watching St. Thomas in year 3 of D1 play is seeing the program’s development play out in real time. Seeing the Tommies’ young core already making a difference gives hope for the future.
As far as outstanding players goes, Murphy takes it for forward. I wouldn’t be shocked if a Lacey Eden or a Hannah Bilka ends up with it, but it’s easier for Murphy to stand out than a number of players on Wisconsin and Ohio State. Harvey is my outstanding defender over Cayla Barnes.
Goaltender is extremely tough given how many teams are currently rolling platoons. It’s hard to pick one, let alone one from a team. I keep waiting to see more from Raygen Kirk of Ohio State and am interested in Eve Gascon’s development at UMD. Whoever takes it is going to be someone who ends up grabbing the number one role through play or injury, but if Sanni Ahola is in a 1A/1B while being literally perfect then good luck. So let’s just say Kirk.
Looking forward to seeing how wrong I am in February.
