The WCHA women’s conference this week announced its year-end awards, All-WCHA Teams and All-Rookie Team. Minnesota junior forward Hannah Brandt was named Player of the Year after a 21-goal, 29-assist campaign for the Gophers. Brandt is also one of three finalists for the 2015 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award. Senior Rachel Ramsey, a teammate of Brandt’s … Read more
The WCHA is as competitive as its ever been, but Minnesota is still the team to beat. Arlan Marttila previews the WCHA tournament.
The regular season is over, and the road to a national championship begins. Candace and Arlan take a look at results from the final weekend in the regular season, and ponder what said results mean for the first round of the conference tournaments.
Mercyhurst coach Michael Sisti has been appointed to the NCAA Women’s Ice Hockey National Committee. Sisti, who replaces St. Cloud State coach Jeffrey Giesen, starts in the role immediately and his appointment will run until Sept. 1, 2016. “Over the years, I have been fortunate to serve as a member on the Women’s Ice Hockey West … Read more
Having sisters in college at the same time attending different schools at the same time, but Molly and Morgan Illikainen wanted to forge different paths.
In their final discussion of the first half, Candace and Arlan look at whether Harvard and Cornell are back to being threats, ponder Minnesota’s shellacking of St. Cloud, and look at which teams are in contention and what games are the ones to watch in the second half.
A lot of teams enter this season missing key cogs from previous years, but the top teams, such as Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Boston College, seem to be off to a great start regardless, while teams in the rung below, such as Vermont and Bemidji State, made some noise in the first weekend of full action. Candace and Arlan take a look in their first Wednesday Women column.
It is a season of change in the WCHA. For the first time since the league’s inaugural season of 1999-2000, it doesn’t have the defending national champion. That doesn’t necessarily indicate that its days as the country’s top league are over, however, as half of the WCHA is ranked in USCHO’s preseason poll, including the … Read more
Minnesota has been chosen to finish atop the WCHA women’s standings with six first-place votes in the league’s preseason coaches’ poll. The Gophers have advanced to the NCAA championship game the past three seasons, winning twice. Wisconsin, which finished second in the poll, garnered the other two first-place votes from the league’s head coaches. In … Read more
Maine has named Kendall Newell to the coaching staff as the Black Bears’ new assistant coach. Newell spent the past four seasons as head coach of the Banff Hockey Academy female prep team in Banff, Alberta. During her time with Banff, Newell compiled a 109-76-8 coaching record, winning back-to-back regular-season championships in the Alberta Junior … Read more
New coaches hope to rebuild at St. Cloud, Bemidji
St. Cloud State announced Tuesday that Eric Rud has been named the new women’s head coach, the fourth in school history. A former assistant coach with the St. Cloud State men’s team from 2005 to 2010, Rud has served as an assistant coach at Colorado College since 2011. Between his time at St. Cloud State … Read more
St. Cloud State has fired women’s hockey coach Jeff Giesen after eight seasons.
This promises to be a transitional year in the WCHA, as players like Brianna Decker, Jocelyne and Monique Lamoureux, and Noora Räty that have formed the identity of the conference have completed their eligibility. Their former schools all bring in strong recruiting classes, so while the personnel losses leave the door open a crack for … Read more
While many contending teams view the Olympic year as an additional challenge that results in the absence of key players, for St. Cloud State an Olympic year represents opportunity. The Huskies parlayed a talented senior class and depleted rosters of some conference foes to finish a program-best third in the WCHA in 2009-10, the previous … Read more
Shera Fetter will be coaching alongside her husband, Jim Fetter, this season as the former Elmira women’s assistant is the new assistant at St. Cloud State, where Jim has been an assistant the past two seasons. “That’s probably the bonus [coaching with her husband], but she’s somebody that I interviewed before and with different circumstances, … Read more
St. Cloud State announced Wednesday that the National Hockey and Event Center has been renamed the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. According to a school-issued news release, the university is working with sponsors on commercial naming rights and naming opportunities within the arena. “Just as Herb Brooks saw Division I hockey as important to the … Read more
No win comes easily for building teams. With a slowing of the action due to the Four Nations Cup, only four games were played in Minnesota last weekend. I was able to catch the front end of a series bringing Maine to Bemidji State, as well as game two of Lindenwood visiting St. Cloud … Read more
St. Cloud State’s women’s hockey team is finally headed home. Stranded by Hurricane Sandy in Providence, R.I., after a series there last weekend, Huskies players and staff were scheduled to fly home from Boston on Wednesday. Their flight departed 15 minutes late, but they’re still scheduled to practice when they arrive back on campus. [blackbirdpie … Read more
The St. Cloud State women’s team is currently stuck in Providence due to the storms caused by Hurricane Sandy, according to a school-issued news release The Huskies were in town to play Providence on Oct. 27-28 and were slated to fly out of Boston on Oct. 29, but the incoming storms cancelled flights out of … Read more