Women’s D-I in general
United States Olympian Karen Thatcher has joined Colgate’s women’s hockey program as an assistant coach. A 2006 Providence graduate, Thatcher helped the Americans win the 2008 and 2009 world championships and played on the silver medal-winning 2010 Olympic team. “The addition of Karen Thatcher is a great step forward for our program,” Colgate coach Scott … Read more
Former Bemidji State coach and CHA commissioner R.H. “Bob” Peters will have the rink at the new Bemidji Regional Event Center when it opens in the fall. Robert H. Peters Rink will be christened Oct. 15 when Bemidji State’s men’s and women’s teams open play at the $60 million, 4,000-plus-seat arena. Peters coached the Beavers … Read more
Five of the six women’s Division I All-Americans are from teams playing in the Frozen Four. Minnesota has two of them — goaltender Noora Raty and defender Anne Schleper. Also on the first team: Cornell defender Laura Fortino, Mercyhurst forward Vicki Bendus, Minnesota-Duluth forward Emmanuele Blais and New Hampshire forward Kelly Paton. Minnesota, Minnesota-Duluth, Cornell … Read more
Okay. As brackets go, the template for the NCAA Divison I womens’ hockey tourney is a short one. However, that doesn’t mean that the field of eight is a dull one, void of intrigue. Observers of the scene will ask, where’s Wisconsin? Granted the question comes strictly out of habit. The defending champion Badgers stumbled … Read more
Not-So-Instant Classic You didn’t miss that epic overtime game played last Sunday, did you? No, not the one that Sidney Crosby ended barely eight minutes into extra time. We refer, of course, to the mammoth endurance test between RPI and Quinnipiac in the ECAC quarterfinals, the one settled by the Engineers’ Laura Gersten early in … Read more
Championship Weekend After months of practice and games, we’ve finally reached championship weekend. All five conferences will decide their tournament champions this weekend. Each conference has four teams remaining, except for the MIAC. The MIAC has had a busy week as they were the last conference to wrap up its regular season last weekend and … Read more
Wisconsin has halted planning on a project that would give its women’s hockey team a new home rink that would double as a practice rink for the school’s men’s team. The proposed facility was to be built adjacent to the Kohl Center and include new locker rooms for both teams. “This project has been very … Read more
No. 1 Mercyhurst has three forwards among the 10 finalists for the 2010 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award. Juniors Vicki Bendus and Jesse Scanzano and sophomore Bailey Bram were voted among the top 10 by Division I women’s hockey coaches. The other finalists: Minnesota-Duluth senior forward Emmanuelle Blais, St. Cloud State senior forward Felicia Nelson, Dartmouth … Read more
With the Harvard Crimson’s 5-1 win over Princeton of Game 1 of the ECAC Hockey playoffs, head coach Katey Stone passed former Minnesota and Colby head coach Laura Halldorson for the all-time lead in D-I women’s coaching victories. The 16th-year head coach – all at Harvard – has guided the Crimson to a 338-142-27 (.693) … Read more
Four of the five Division III women’s hockey conferences have wrapped up regular season play and will be starting their respective conference tournaments this weekend. The MIAC is the lone conference left to finish up its regular season Gustavus Adolphus has the inside track to the conference regular season crown, leading St. Catherine by one … Read more
The end of the regular season, which was last week for three of the four D-I leagues (all but the CHA, that is), meant a renewal of that rite of late winter. Senior Day. (That is not to be confused with Senior Moment, of which your correspondent is all too well acquainted). Routinely celebrated during … Read more
Conference Battles This weekend all across the country, teams are gearing up for their respective conference playoffs. Some teams have already clinched berths, while some are still looking to solidify their positions. Every conference except the MIAC will be playing its final games of the regular season this weekend. There are some great battles in … Read more
Hands up, anyone who thinks you can name the top NCAA D-1 goal-getter in the land. Does it matter that we didn’t specify the gender? Any hands still up? You can use it to pat yourself on the back, if you guessed that it’s St. Cloud State senior sniper Felicia Nelson. The pride of St. … Read more
Harvard leads the way with four nominees among the 45 names unveiled Wednesday as candidates for the 2010 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, the prize for the nation’s top women’s college hockey player. Forwards Kate Buesser and Liza Ryabkina, defender Leanna Coskren and goaltender Christina Kessler represent the Crimson on the list, which will be pared … Read more
New Kids On The Block The Manhattanville women’s hockey team started off the 2008-2009 season much like every other season in the program’s history. The Valiants started the season 13-1 before going on to finish the season 7-6, including a loss in the ECAC East semifinal to Salve Regina. Manhattanville coach Eric Lang wasted no … Read more
Goal in Mind Everybody loves a big upset (unless of course you are cast in the role of the forlorn favorite), so last week’s surprising 2-1 win by Niagara over No. 1 Mercyhurst caught plenty of notice across the hockey spectrum. The architect of all that eyebrow arching was junior netminder Jenni Bauer, a self-described … Read more
Fans at Camp Randall Stadium say the atmosphere for outdoor hockey was much like you’d find on a Wisconsin football Saturday. Todd D. Milewski reports.
Playing at Camp Randall Stadium was an “awesome experience” for the Wisconsin and Bemidji State players who took part.
St. Catherine Continues to Impress in MIAC The St. Catherine women’s hockey team got off to a strong 9-1 start this season and few people took notice as the Wildcats never cracked the top 10 in the USCHO.com rankings. Granted, St. Catherine didn’t play an all-world schedule in the first half of the season but … Read more
Notre Dame associate coach Andy Slaggert has been named the recipient of the Terry Flanagan Award, presented to an assistant coach for his career body of work. Slaggert is in his 17th season with the Fighting Irish and has served under three head coaches — Ric Schafer, Dave Poulin and Jeff Jackson. The award is … Read more