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.
With 14 first-place votes, Minnesota is again the top-ranked team in the USCHO.com Division I Women’s Poll. Second-ranked Wisconsin earned the other first-place vote this week. Boston College, Harvard, Cornell and Boston University remain in spots three through six, respectively. Mercyhurst is up two to No. 7 and Quinnipiac is also up a pair to … Read more
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
Wisconsin’s all-time leading scorer and two-time Olympic silver medalist Meghan Duggan is returning to the collegiate ranks as a new assistant coach at Clarkson. Duggan joins head coach Matt Desrosiers and newly hired assistant coach Britni Smith in guiding the Golden Knights. “I am very excited to welcome Meghan to our staff here at … Read more
Women’s D-I columnist Arlan Marttila previews the NCAA tournament field before Saturday’s quarterfinals.
Looking back at where the Wisconsin Badgers were one year ago on the eve of the final weekend of the regular season, most teams would not have viewed it as a negative place. The Badgers were ranked sixth at the time and in the midst of an eight-game winning streak. Senior Brianna Decker had won … Read more
After scoring 212 goals during its last NCAA Championship season in 2010-11, Wisconsin’s offensive output dropped to 103 goals a year ago. Brianna Decker, who tallied a point on more than half of those, is now gone. That doesn’t bode well for a return to potency this season. “The thing that helps us, especially in … Read more
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
Minnesota placed four skaters on the All-USCHO D-I Women’s teams, while Boston College placed three.
When Wisconsin lost at home to Minnesota on Sunday, it mathematically ended the possibility of the Badgers earning a third straight WCHA regular season championship. That isn’t entirely surprising; in the brief history of the league, no program has ever won the season nor the playoff crown in three straight years. But for a team … Read more
No team has been better over the last couple of seasons than the Wisconsin Badgers. Wisconsin dominated the top spot of all polls and rankings on its way to reaching the NCAA title game in both 2011 and 2012, winning the former to take its fourth NCAA crown before falling a couple of goals short … Read more
Picking the winner of the WCHA this season is a bit like shuffling a deck of cards and then trying to anticipate the order the various suits will appear. Obviously, there are eight teams in the league, not four, but to date, all of the circuit’s championship banners have been hung in Duluth, Minn., Madison, … Read more
One of the first thoughts Brianna Decker had Saturday morning after winning the Patty Kazmaier Award involves a specific burden that comes along with it. Decker, the junior center from Dousman, Wis., became the fourth Wisconsin player to receive the honor, which is bestowed upon the top college player in the nation for a given … Read more
Wisconsin may be without top defenseman Stephanie McKeough when it tries to defend its NCAA title this weekend. Andy Baggot reports in a special to USCHO.
Though she is having a down year points-wise, Wisconsin senior Hilary Knight will be a key component of the Badgers drive for another national championship.
Reading into the ECAC games during the Four Nations Cup, possible D-III teams going D-I, and whether Bemidji is as good as their current place in the standings indicates.
In this week’s WW, we look at the impact of Minnesota’s sweep of Minnesota-Duluth, BC’s speed, and how young players help and hurt their teams.
Cornell is off to a fast start, Hockey East is still in transition, and Wisconsin looks in good position to repeat as champions. Candace Horgan and Arlan Marttila discuss in this week’s edition of Wednesday Women.
Former Wisconsin, Olympic, and NHL star Mark Johnson and longtime Colorado College and Wisconsin coach Jeff Sauer were presented with one of hockey’s most prestigious awards on Wednesday night at the Xcel Energy Center. Johnson and Sauer were among four recipients of the NHL’s 2011 Lester Patrick Trophy for outstanding service to hockey in the … Read more