Kelly Pannek returns to the Gophers a humble world champion.

It’s difficult to encapsulate everything that happened to Kelly Pannek since the last time she put on the Gophers’ “M” for a game. It was March 17, 2017 in a 3-4 loss to the eventual national champion Clarkson Golden Knights. It capped off a season where she led the nation in points and was a top-10 Patty Kazmaier Award finalist. That was just 18 months ago.

Since that game, the Gopher captain received a somewhat unexpected invite to the Team USA senior camp, participated in a boycott that changed women’s hockey, won gold at the 2017 World Championships, made the Olympic roster, and won gold at the Olympics.

GANGNEUG, REPUBLIC OF KOREA – FEBRUARY 7: Team USA Portraits – PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games. (Photo by Andre Ringuette/HHOF-IIHF Images)

Looking at her skill set and her impressive on-ice vision, it seems almost inevitable she’d be carrying the accolades she has, but it wasn’t a given to Pannek. “I didn’t know where I stood [prior to Worlds],” she says standing in Ridder arena, not far from a mural of Gopher Olympians that has yet to add her face. “I’d made a few camps, and I’d been a part of the program itself for a while, but never felt like I was at that point where I’d be getting a chance to be on the team.”

Pannek had never received an invite to a U.S. Women’s Team senior camp. Then the call came. “After getting that call it was crazy. It was a whirlwind. I just tried to focus on surviving at that level, to be honest.” Though, she says, the speed with which she was thrust onto the national team helped her to not think ahead to the possibility of the Olympic roster. “I didn’t really think at all about what was going on afterward because I had no time to. I think I was a little naïve, and that was kind of a blessing.”

She made the U.S. roster for the 2017 Women’s World Championship, but she almost didn’t get the chance to prove she belonged on hockey’s biggest stage.

The U.S. Women’s National Team threatened to boycott Worlds, which were taking place in Michigan. The players protested the program’s compensation for women and an inequitable treatment of the girls’ and women’s programs compared to the boys’ and men’s programs. It was an unprecedented victory for the women’s program that resolved only days before the start of the tournament.

“It’s something the veterans really explained to us: This isn’t about us, this isn’t about our team,” she says. “I think it’s easy to have those doubts, like ‘Will I have another chance after this?’ But one thing we always talk about with Team USA is that you’re part of something bigger than yourselves. That was a moment where that was the most accurate it could be.”

Worlds was a jarring transition from college hockey. “Before my first shift, my family was in the stands, and they saw the first shift. They were like, ‘Can she do this? Is she going to be fast enough?’” she recalls. She didn’t register any points as the U.S. ran through the tournament with five straight wins to grab gold. But she played well. It was enough to get an invite to centralization and, eventually, the U.S. Olympic roster and a gold medal in Pyeongchang.

Kelly Pannek/Gopher Athletics)

Though, throughout that process, the Gophers weren’t far from her thoughts. “I tried to watch as many [games] as I could,” she says with a smile. “I lived with [Duluth goaltender] Maddie Rooney last year so we watched the games against Duluth. I made sure to keep in touch and ask how things were going, just to be a sounding board for some of the players last year, but also just to watch and be a big fan.”

Coming back to the University of Minnesota hasn’t been a difficult transition despite a wild year away. “I prefer it,” she says. “I was excited for my first day of school. It’s been exciting to be back with the team on a daily basis. It’s a different feel being in the college environment. It’s really fun.”

Her return after a year of growth sets up the Gophers to again be a powerhouse in the WCHA. She returns with Sarah and Amy Potomak, who weren’t on Canada’s Olympic roster, but participated in Team Canada’s centralization and didn’t play last year. Add returning talent and young standouts like Grace Zumwinkle and Taylor Heise, and the Gophers have a good shot at making Pannek’s run of success continue well into 2019.

The post Gopher Women – Pannek Attacks appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

“New” team enters league with long history, familiar faces

There’s nothing else like it in the U.S. The National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL), now in its fourth season of operations, has brought professional women’s hockey to the States. Players are finally getting paid. (Though, there’s room for growth.) Fans can finally watch top talent play post-collegiate hockey outside of annual international tournaments. And Minnesota is finally getting a team.

The league’s first three seasons featured four east coast teams, loads of Olympic talent, passionate fans, and lots of Minnesotans wondering when the State of Hockey would get a team. But, now, the Whitecaps have arrived in the NWHL Minnesotans have taken up the cause in droves. On the team’s season-opening shutout of the Metropolitan Riveters on October 6, the team was met by a rowdy sell-out crowd carrying signs and lining up to don Whitecaps sweatshirts and shirseys.

While the team is new to the NWHL, it’s far from a new organization. However, the team isn’t exactly new. The Whitecaps have been an outstanding training ground for Midwestern players since 2004, playing for years in the now-defunct Wester Women’s Hockey League (WWHL) and against Canadian Women’s Hockey League (CWHL) teams. But the team has been without a league since 2011. Though it has carried National Team talent like Hannah Brandt, Stephanie Anderson, and the Lamoureux twins, its seasons have been limited to practices and scattered exhibition games against high school, collegiate and, occasionally, NWHL teams.

Now, the team joins the NWHL with a refurbished roster, salaries, and a boatload of reasons for fans to head to St. Paul’s Tria Rink throughout the 16-game season. Though the season is young, people have already been showing up. The Whitecaps sold out the first two games and shocked the NWHL’s reigning champions with 4-0 and 3-1 wins.

THE TEAM

While some may predict the Whitecaps to sit outside the championship game in the team’s inaugural NWHL season, Minnesota is not a team to sleep on.

Logistically, the team will face challenges. They only play back-to-backs because of the travel involved in being the only team not on the east coast. Moreover, every back-to-back has them playing in different rinks each night. That could make for tough games on the back-end since most of the roster is holding down a full-time job during the week. (NWHL salaries are part-time salaries.)

There are also schedule oddities other teams aren’t dealing with, like not playing a single league game from January 20 through March 2, when the Whitecaps start their season-closing series on the road. That could be a real disadvantage heading into the playoffs.

On the ice, the biggest question the Whitecaps face is how their depth will measure-up against the league’s established teams. Each of the other four rosters faces turnover year-to-year because all NWHL contracts are for one year. Nonetheless, teams frequently retain some core players and coaches.

That’s not to say the Whitecaps enter the season without any chemistry. There are 16 players who have been with the Whitecaps before, and many of the players skated together in college. The roster features 19 Minnesotans and 17 former WCHA players. Though, only one skater has previously played in the NWHL.

MN Whitecap’s Kendall Coyne-Schofield by Rick Olson

The team is headlined by Olympic stars Lee Stecklein, Kendall Coyne Schofield, and Brandt. However, what might slip under the radar is the kind of talent the team will get from top collegiate skaters who haven’t been in the spotlight of the National Team or the NWHL yet. Those forwards include former Gopher Kate Schipper, former Bulldog Katie McGovern, former North Dakota standout Amy Menke, and veteran speedster Allie Thunstrom.

The lines are far from set in stone, but the Whitecaps opened the season with a top line featuring Brandt at center, flanked by Coyne Schofield and Schipper. It’s a fast line that has already shown great chemistry. It’s not hard to see this being one of the toughest lines to play against in the league, especially when Stecklein and Amanda Boulier are paired up behind them.

In net, the Whitecaps landed a pair of former NWHL goaltenders, including former two-time NCAA National Champion with the Gophers and 2018 NWHL Goaltender of the Year Amanda Leveille. Likely to share time with her is Sydney Rossman, who skated with the Connecticut Whale last year and is just one year removed from an impressive career at Quinnipiac. Last season, Rossman posted an .885 save percentage in 16 starts, but she was backstopping a team that struggled throughout the season en route to a 3-11-2 record. Former St. Cloud netminder Julie Friend is also on the roster.

THE COMPETITION

Boston Pride: The Pride has outstanding goaltending between former NWHL Goaltender of the Year Brittany Ott and Boston College standout Katie Burt. The blueline is led by Warroad’s Gigi Marvin. Up front, Boston has dangerous forward threats like Haley Skarupa, Amanda Pelkey, and Jillian Dempsey. The team should be better than its 4-8-4 record last season, in no small part because of Burt. The team struggled to keep pucks out of the net when Ott wasn’t between the pipes.

Buffalo Beauts: The big get for the Beauts — owned by Pegula Sports, which also owns the Sabres, Bills, and Rochester Americans — may be U.S. National Team goaltender Nicole Hensley and legendary Canadian netminder Shannon Szabados. They’re also carrying plenty of offensive in Julianna Iafallo, Kelly Babstock, and former Gopher Dani Cameranesi. However, the big threat in Buffalo is a deep blueline, led by Emily Pfalzer with Lisa Chesson, Jordyn Burns, and the underrated Blake Bolden.

Connecticut Whale: The only of the original four teams without an Isobel Cup looks like one of the weaker teams again this year. Yet, there’s plenty of talent and faces Minnesotans will recognize, like former Bulldogs forwards Michelle Löwenhielm and Katerina Mrázová. It’ll still be tough sledding for the Whale this year.

Metropolitan Riveters: Their partnership with the New Jersey Devils may serve as a blueprint for the partnership between the Wild and Whitecaps. (Both NWHL teams play in the practice facility of their NHL partner.) It’s served the Riveters well. They enter the season as the reigning Isobel Cup champions. The Rivs return players from last year’s squad, as well as Olympian Amanda Kessel, who played with the Riveters the season prior.

The team also carries a loaded blueline with Kelsey Koelzer, Michelle Picard, Kiira Dosdall, and former Badger Jenny Ryan. But there’s plenty of offense in long-time Riveter Madison Packer, Erika Lawler, Rebecca Russo, Miye D’Oench and others. Along with the Beauts, the Riveters are the team to beat.

The post Meet the Whitecaps appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Wisconsin won last year’s regular season title – Can the Badgers repeat?

Minnesota Hockey Magazine presents capsules on the WCHA women’s programs for the 2018-19 season.
BEMIDJI STATE

Coach: Jim Scanlan, 5th season

Last season: 16-19-3, 5th in the WCHA (9-13-2-1, 30 points)

Key losses: Six seniors graduated, including goaltender Erin Deters (12 starts, .916 save percentage) and Alexis Joyce and Emma Teres, who ranked fourth and fifth on the team in scoring last year.

Emily_Bergland_BSU_Photo_Services

Key returnees: Haley Mack and Emily Bergland, who tied Terres for the team lead at 11 goals, return. As do veteran defenders Melissa Hunt and Briana Jorde. However, one of the biggest impacts is expected from sophomore Clair DeGeorge, who spent part of the summer playing with the U.S. Women’s U22 team, where she made her presence felt against Canada with the opening goal in the final game of the three-game series.

Top newcomers: Five freshmen step onto the team, including Lexi Cheveldayoff and Ellie Moser, who have both previously received camp invites from USA Hockey.

Outlook: It’s a young team and a program that continues to be on the verge of making noise in the conference. They’re easily the favorite among the bottom tier in the conference, which includes Minnesota State and St. Cloud. It’ll be an uphill battle for the Beavers, but there’s no doubt there’s talent on this team. The top of their lineup will be sturdy defensively and has offensive threats that could turn a game.

MINNESOTA

Coach: Brad Frost, 12th season

Last season: 24-11-3, 3rd in the WCHA (13-8-3-0, 42 points), won the WCHA Final Face-Off, earning a berth in the national tournament where they were shutout by Wisconsin in the first round.

Key losses: The Gophers lost four seniors, but they were significant losses. Captain Sydney Baldwin and starting goaltender Sidney Peters both graduated. Add in seniors Cara Piazza, and Caitlin Reilly, the team lost 30 goals and 50 assists between the three graduating skaters.

Key returnees: The big story isn’t the return of impact forwards like Grace Zumwinkle and Nicole Schammel, who led the team with 17 goals each last year. It’s the return of Olympic gold medalist Kelly Pannek, as well as Sarah and Amy Potomak who spent part of last season centralized with the Canadian national team. Those are three major offensive threats. In her junior season, Pannek led the nation in points.

Top newcomers: As ever, the Gopher rookies are impressive. Seven freshmen join the program, including Amy Potomak; Taylor Heise, who led the U.S. U22 team over the summer with two goals and three points; and Grace Ostertag and Catie Skaja, who have both spent time with the national team. Another big add is junior goaltender Sydney Scobee, who transferred from the University of Vermont where she faced plenty of stiff competition in Hockey East.

Outlook: It should surprise no one that the Gophers are one of the nation’s most formidable rosters. The defense might not be as strong as past years, but it should be solid. The only real question mark is in net. Sophomore Alex Gulstene grabbed 11 starts last year behind Peters, but she’ll be competing with Scobee, as well as senior Emma May and junior Serena D’Angelo.

MINNESOTA DULUTH

Coach: Maura Crowell, 4th season

Last season: 15-16-4, 4th in the WCHA (10-11-3-2, 35 points)

Key losses: Duluth lost a whopping seven seniors, including Katerina Mrazova, who put up eight goals and 13 assists last year.

Key returnees: Despite the losses, the team’s youth took the reins last season. The offensive firepower between Naomi Rogge, Ashton Bell, Jalyn Elmes, Sydney Brodt, and Ryleigh Houston is formidable. Also returning is gold medal-winning goaltender Maddie Rooney. She could steal games during her sophomore year. Now, she returns from a year of playing against the best competition in the world.

Ashton_Bell_UMD_Athletics

Top newcomers: Duluth is going to have a young squad with nine freshmen vying for roster spots. (They also have eight sophomores.) Among those rookies are four players who have won gold with Team USA at a U18 Women’s World Championship tournament: Lizi Norton, Gabbie Hughes, Anneke Linser, and Maggie Flaherty.

Outlook: The team is without the top-tier firepower of the Badgers or the Gophers, but don’t sleep on their young stars just because their last names aren’t Clark or Pannek. They’re good. With Rooney in net, this team absolutely has the ability to surpass expectations. They start the season ranked fourth in the WCHA by coaches, but it’s not hard to see them finishing higher than that. Though, the young blueline will be tested in a year where the WCHA carries as much offensive talent as any year in recent memory.

MINNESOTA STATE

Coach: John Harrington, 4th season

Last season: 5-28-1, 7th in the WCHA (3-21-0-0, 9 points)

Key losses: Seven seniors graduated, including Lindsey Coleman and Hannah Davidson, who ranked fourth and fifth in scoring last year. Also departing is, ahem, key defenseman Anna Keys.

Key returnees: Seven is a good pile of seniors, but the team returns its top three offensive threats: Brittyn Fleming, Jordan McLaughlin, and Corbin Boyd. The team also keeps goaltenders Chloe Crosby and Katie Bidulka, who split time in net last year.

Top newcomers: Five freshmen will attempt to crack the roster, including Miss Hockey finalist Claire Butomac and Anna Wilgren, who twice won the Molly Engstrom Award for best defenseman in Wisconsin.

Outlook: Last season wasn’t great for the Mavericks, but Bidulka and Crosby held their own and, at times, kept the Mavericks competitive. Retaining both with a year more experience is a boon, as is getting freshman goaltender Abigail Levy, who will absolutely compete for time. But even with top performers returning, the Mavs only potted 57 goals in 34 games last year. They’re losing 18 goals in graduating seniors. Wins won’t come easy.

OHIO STATE

Coach: Nadine Muzerall, 2nd season

Last season: 24-11-4, 2nd in the WCHA (14-6-4-3, 49 points), made it to the Frozen Four and lost an overtime contest to Clarkson, the eventual national champions.

Key losses: Ohio State graduated six seniors. That group included Juliana Iafallo, whose 12 goals and 15 assists ranked fourth on the team in points. However, the biggest loss is undoubtedly the transfer of star goaltender Kassidy Sauve.

Key returnees: Top scoring threats Emma Maltais, Tatum Skaggs, and Maddy Field are all back in red. As is defenseman Jincy Dunne, whose star continues to rise. Despite the praise, she’s vastly underrated and should be a major player for the Buckeyes in her junior season.

Top newcomers: Of the seven freshmen, a handful have international experience and could make an immediate impact, including Finns Eve Savander and Sara Saekkinen, and Swiss Olympian Andrea Braendli. Defenseman Madison Bizal is another player to watch.

Outlook: Ohio State didn’t exactly surprise last year when it made a run to the Frozen Four, but, let’s say it surpassed rising expectations. Now, the expectations are high. The most lethal threats are back and Dunne anchors the team’s blueline. The biggest challenge will be replacing Sauve’s .938 save percentage posted in 32 games. Amanda Zeglen played well through seven games in net as a freshman, but Sauve was a next-level star who took on a major workload, playing 68 games over the last two seasons.

St,. Cloud State’s Janine Alder. Photo by Maddie MacFarlane.

CLOUD STATE

Coach: Eric Rud, 5th season

Last season: 8-20-5, 6th in the WCHA (6-14-4-1, 23 points)

Key losses: Three seniors graduated, including Alyssa Erickson and Emma Turbyville, who ranked fourth and fifth in scoring last season, respectively.

Key returnees: Goaltender Janine Alder split time last year between the Huskies and the Swiss Olympic team. Julia Tylke will be a leader among forwards this season, and the underappreciated talents of German forward Laura Kluge will also be crucial for the Huskies. Outstanding defender Abby Thiessen leads the blueline.

Top newcomers: Five freshmen look to crack the lineup, including Jenniina Nylund, who has spent time with Finland’s senior national team; and defenseman Olivia Hanson.

Outlook: They’re a step back from the conference’s top tier, but the Huskies will absolutely surprise some teams this year. Goaltender Emma Polusny showed she can hang with the best netminders in the conference last year, posting a .934 save percentage in 20 games. That earned her a trip to the USA Hockey National Team Evaluation Camp last month. Between her and Alder, they can steal games with either of two netminders. If those two can hold back the tide, the top line can score and St. Cloud can log some wins.

WISCONSIN

Coach: Mark Johnson, 16th season

Last season: 31-5-2, 1st in the WCHA (20-2-2-2, 64 points), made it to the Frozen Four but lost to Colgate in double overtime during the semifinals.

Key losses: The Badgers are down three seniors from last year. That includes Claudia Kepler who led the team with 22 goals last year and ranked second overall in the WCHA. Veteran leader Baylee Wellhausen also graduated.

Key returnees: The WCHA regular season champions come back with starting goaltender Kirsten Campbell, and top offensive threats Abby Roque and Presley Norby. They’re also getting Olympian Emily Clark and Annie Pankowski, who was a redshirt last year while she centralized with the U.S. National Team.

Top newcomers: The standout among the team’s five freshmen is Sophie Shirley, who spent last season centralized with the Canadian National Team. It’s no stretch to think she’ll make an immediate impact in the collegiate ranks.

Outlook: All this team did last year was turn opposing defenses inside out. Between Roque, Norby, Sam Cogan, Sophie Shaver, and Alexis Mauermann, they put up 53 goals. (That’s more than the entire St. Cloud roster and just four fewer than Minnesota State.) Add in the return of Clark and Pankowski with rookie Shirley and this Badger team could light up opponents even more than it did last year when the team averaged more than three goals per game.

The post WCHA Women – Badgers Dig In appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Minnesota gets its first professional women’s team

ST. PAUL — The Minnesota Whitecaps are joining the National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL), the league announced at a press conference featuring Governor Mark Dayton on Tuesday. Expansion has been teased previously, but this is the first expansion team to enter the league since it was founded in 2015.

“Make no mistake, when the league was formed in 2015, we would have loved to start with a team in Minnesota,” Commissioner and league founder Dani Rylan said. “This is the State of Hockey, and all the data shows this is where a lot of the talent exists.”

The NWHL is the US’s first paid professional league for women, but the pay doesn’t yet rise to the level of a full-time job so it’s bringing a team to the players. The Whitecaps, founded in 2004, has been purchased by the NWHL, which owns four of its five teams. The Buffalo Beauts were purchased by Terry Pegula, owner of the Buffalo Sabres and Buffalo Bills, in December 2017. The league declined to discuss the financial terms of the purchase.

The Whitecaps will begin NWHL play in the 2018-19 season at an as yet unannounced home rink. When the 2018 NWHL All-Star came to St. Paul, with the assistance of the Whitecaps and the Minnesota Wild, the game was played at the Tria Rink, the Wild’s new practice facility.

“I think it’s a huge thing for our state,” said Whitecaps captain Winny Brodt-Brown. “We have probably the most girls playing, and I think that’s just going to continue to grow. Because the girls that are playing youth hockey want to play high school. The high school players want to play collegiate. The collegiate players want to play professionally or on the national team. Players shouldn’t have to end their career at 22.”

With teams in Newark (formerly New York), Boston, Buffalo, and Hartford, teams were able to travel to weekend games by bus previously. Adding a team in Minnesota will change the complexion of the schedule and add expenses, but Rylan notes that another team and more league games will increase revenue potential. “We have a handful of investors in the league and then we have grown our revenue streams throughout the last three seasons going into our fourth season now. We’re ready to expand,” she said.

The league experienced financial hardships in the past. It cut player salaries in the middle of the second season. However, Rylan says the expansion won’t impact player salaries for the coming season, with players expected to once again make between $5,00 and $7,000 on one-year contracts. That was down from the start of the second season when former Gopher Amanda Kessel was the league’s highest-paid player at $26,000. Last year, the contract had skaters playing two preseason games, two practices per week, 16 regular season games, and up to two postseason games.

The Whitecaps may play more than other teams, as it already has four exhibitions scheduled against WCHA opponents.

Though the Wild and Vikings Women helped with the 2018 NWHL All-Star Game in St. Paul, there is no deal currently in place for the Wild to aid the Whitecaps. Rylan said the Wild have been “great friends and advisors” so far and she hopes the relationship will continue to grow. If the Wild got involved, it wouldn’t be the first NHL team partnering with an NWHL club. The league has a “strategic alliance” between the Metropolitan Riveters and the New Jersey Devils, in addition to having the Pegulas own one of the teams. “[The Pegulas] are building the blueprint for us as to what it means for an NHL club to own an NWHL club,” Rylan said. “That knowledge and that blueprint is going to be extremely valuable as we continue our conversations with the Wild or continue conversations with new markets.”

Rylan compared the Whitecaps’ potential for immediate success to that of the Las Vegas Golden Knights. The Whitecaps aren’t starting from scratch, but the team could immediately compete for the Isobel Cup with the wealth of talent available in Minnesota and surrounding areas. To boot, there’s no competition for local players who want to stay in the area and have the opportunity to play high-level competition. The state has five Division 1 women’s hockey programs and the Badgers aren’t far away. The US Olympic team featured six Minnesotans, 14 players from the WCHA, and five players who came to the national team from the Whitecaps, only one of which was originally from Minnesota. Rylan even noted there are Minnesotans in the league’s original four teams that have expressed interest in returning to the State of Hockey to continue their NWHL career.

Brodt-Brown has high hopes for what joining the NWHL can do for the Whitecaps and girl’s hockey in Minnesota. “We had a pretty good presence, but when you’re always playing for something it means a lot more,” she said. “Even when you’re playing U10 and playing for a championship, something’s on the line.”

The post Whitecaps Join NWHL appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Warroad’s Gigi Marvin is on a quest for Olympic gold

When Team USA hits the ice in February for the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, a Warroad, Minnesota native is likely to be one of the team’s unheralded leaders. Defenseman Gigi Marvin is a part of a class of veterans hoping to take Team USA to its second-ever gold medal in women’s hockey.

Warroad girls hockey players Emily, Haley and Lindsey Lorenson pictured here with Gigi Marvin (Photo by Jenna Lorenson)

Marvin, one of six Minnesotans on the centralization roster, started her decorated career in Warroad, where she was the recipient of the 2005 Ms. Hockey Award. Though she lives on the east coast, she still runs a camp in her hometown. “I know almost everyone in the youth program by name,” Marvin says via phone as the U.S. prepares for the 2017 Four Nations Cup.

“I just love children,” she says. “I love being able to share what I’ve learned. I’ve been taught by some really good hockey minds, and to be able to pass on some of the experiences I’ve had to kids is huge.”

A Big Year for USWNT

What she’s done for future generations of hockey players extends beyond camps. The U.S. National Team players staged a boycott of the 2017 World Championship, striving for equal treatment from USA Hockey. Deciding to skip a major tournament like Worlds didn’t come without risk. “I think that shows the degree to which it had to change,” Marvin says. “Because you had your best athletes willing to give up five games when they only get nine games every year. That’s unheard of.

“We literally train every day for only nine games, and ultimately for the Olympic gold medal game. So, we 100 percent knew what we were sacrificing, what we were letting go of.” But Marvin and her teammates believed the cause mattered too much.

“It was a no-brainer for us,” she says. “Was it scary? Yeah. There’s always uncertainty. But we knew without a doubt that this needed to happen, and change would come.

“The unity ran deep. It’s awesome. It wasn’t just us. Even more than us, it’s going to impact my niece, my cousins, the little girls I coach. I’m not going to reap the benefit of this really. Everyone who comes after us is going to.”

The Next Goal

Having scored a new contract – and a fifth gold medal at Worlds when a resolution was found before the tournament – Marvin is focused on the Olympics.  “It’s always big,” she says. “We don’t wake up and dream of playing in the World Championship, we dream of playing in the Olympics.”

Marvin’s career is brimming with success. She captained the Gophers to the Frozen Four her senior year. She won a Clarkson Cup in the CWHL with the Boston Blades. She won an Isobel Cup in the NWHL with the Boston Pride in a year when she was named Defenseman of the Year and made the first of two NWHL All-Star Game appearances.

But Olympic gold has eluded her so far.

She’s one of just six players on the centralization roster that will be making a third Olympic appearance. That group – US captain Meghan Duggan, Kacey Bellamy, Hilary Knight, and sisters Monique Lamoureux-Morando and Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson – laced up in 2010 alongside Jenny Potter, Angela Ruggiero, and Natalie Darwitz, the last three players on the National Team from the 1998 gold medal-winning roster. That was the first Olympics to feature women’s hockey and the last time the U.S. took home gold.

The team is determined to bring gold back to the United States. Canada has repeatedly managed to cause heartbreak for the U.S., despite the US winning seven of the last eight World Championships, including the last four consecutively.

Yet, Marvin says her advice for the team’s younger players is to not be overwhelmed by the excitement and their determination. “Simply take it in and enjoy every single day,” she says. “That’s the heart of it. If you go to work every day and you’re consumed by results or consumed by performance, that’s not enjoyable. You lose sight of the moments and memories you make with your friends, your teammates, your co-workers along the way.”

The post Golden Opportunity appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Minnesotans key to Merrimack’s new program

An early-season non-conference game on a rainy Sunday afternoon isn’t a recipe for a packed house. Nonetheless, people steadily filtered into Ridder Arena at the University of Minnesota on Oct. 1. But there was something a little strange happening. As they entered, fans closed their umbrellas and a parade of people removed coats to reveal blue and gold cheering colors instead of maroon and gold.

Those are the colors of the Merrimack Warriors, a program just kicking off its third season as a Division I school. Merrimack is walking the slow, arduous road any new program must take, but it’s starting to find success. At the core of the Massachusetts squad you won’t find players from its own hockey-rich state, but a handful of players from Ontario and Minnesota, which explains how a young program had a cheering section 1,200 miles from home in Minneapolis.

“This is actually a dream come true for me,” says Jessica Bonfe. “I’ve been wanting to play the Gophers ever since I committed here. I just wanted to come here and play in front of all my friends and family.” Bonfe is one of five Minnesotans on the team. She’s also a co-captain with fellow Minnesotan Paige Voight.

Prior to the second game of the weekend series, the co-captains were all smiles. Despite being outshot 57-19 in the series-opening contest, Merrimack grabbed a victory. “There are honestly no words to describe it other than it feels kind of like it was our national championship,” Bonfe says.

“It’s definitely the biggest win for our program,” says Voight. “It’s unbelievable.”

The elation is hard-earned. It’s been a difficult road building this program from nothing. Merrimack finished its first season in Hockey East’s basement. Year two, it only finished ahead of Maine. Through 10 contests this year, Merrimack is 3-5-2, and the junior co-captains are starting to see returns on what they’ve invested in the program.

“It is a lot different now,” Bonfe says. “Coming in, we didn’t have any upperclassmen. Being juniors now, it is kind of like we have, I don’t want to say ownership, but a higher level on the team.”

The first years of a new program are tough. The team has to build a culture and doesn’t have the luxury of built-in fans, systems, or leadership. “It was really hard,” Voight says. “Our coaches, they did a really good job. We went to them for everything, which most college coaches don’t have to deal with because that have that leadership and [upperclassmen]. They made us create the leadership we have today.”

“It’s a little wild,” says coach Erin Hamlen, a legendary player in her own right. She was a member of the US National Team and the first female player in the ECHL, among a host of other accolades. “I think year one and even part of year two, we were kind of the captains as coaches. That’s a hard situation to be in because we don’t want to. We want them to take control of the locker room and really let them lead the whole crew.”

For a team built out of the dust, Merrimack has taken large strides in three years, playing in one of college hockey’s toughest conferences, alongside two nationally-ranked teams and three more in the hunt. “For sure, [this season] feels different,” Hamlen says.

In six games this season against teams getting national ranking votes, they’re 1-3-2. They’re competing. “Certainly, we always feel that we have an opportunity to win, and we always want to put ourselves in the best position,” Hamlen says. “We know we still have a long way to go, so I don’t think there are any illusions from our fans or from us that we’ve reached the point where we are respected enough that people think they’re going to lose to us.”

Hamlen’s modesty masks how the team is competing, even if they aren’t feared. Even more important, the players appear to feel a sense of accomplishment in how far the program has come in just over two seasons. “If you ask any team, any freshman,” says Bonfe, “they’re going to have their struggles getting used to [college hockey] because it is a whole different experience from high school. So, the adjusting part for us was just hard because we were all new to the program, and there was no one there to guide us other than the coaches. Being there all together, we helped each other out and found our way.”

########

Editors Note: This article was reprinted from a full-featured Minnesota Hockey Magazine digital issue.  Like what you see?  Get a back issue or subscribe today on the PressPad mobile app platform for Minnesota Hockey Magazine via Apple Store and Amazon/Kindle.  Don’t miss out!  Get all 8 issues for this upcoming season sent directly to your email box, buy a single issue or pick up the printed version at many local stores.   Pick up this 96 page magazine at Bylerly’s, Lunds, Coborn’s, Mill’s Fleet Farms, Cub Foods, Hyvee’s, EconoFoods, EconoMarts and many other independent magazine distributors in Minnesota or contact Scott@MNHockeyMag.com.  

The post Rounding the Corner appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Menke taking young Hawks under her wing

North Dakota senior and Shakopee native Amy Menke has had a trying season. On the one hand, she was named an alternate captain for her senior season and she’s continued to be an offensive leader. She is ushering in the team’s next generation in a year where the Fighting Hawks are fielding six freshmen forwards.

On the other hand, her production has lagged in her final season. She’s putting up 0.70 points per game after a junior year in which she posted 1.14 per game. Meanwhile, the Fighting Hawks, once lodged at the bottom of top-10 polls, have fallen off the national polls and had to go to overtime of game three against Ohio State in the opening round of the WCHA playoffs.

From the outside, it might be easy to misunderstand the season. North Dakota has had some struggles, but the box score doesn’t tell the whole story for Menke.

“It’s hard to get frustrated when you know you’re still playing as hard as you can,” she said following a game at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis. “I guess it’s a little frustrating when the bounces don’t go your way. I think we’re still having fun. If anything, we’re still growing as a team.”

(Photo courtesy of Russ Hons)

Menke rides the line between not taking things too seriously and having an understanding of what is actually important. She’s able to see the forest for the trees even just moments after a loss, and this kind of levelheadedness is disarming. “I know even if I can just help out the younger players for the upcoming years, it’s still a victory for us,” she said only minutes removed from a loss to a team she calls their biggest rival. That’s also a team she was intimately familiar with growing up. “I’m not going to lie,” she said, “I’ve been to a few Gopher games as a kid.”

She is undoubtedly helping the younger generation. She’s frequently skated on a line with a pair of freshmen that includes Emma Nuutinen and the team’s leading scorer Ryleigh Houston. “I knew a lot of the pressure would be on us upperclassmen for the offense of the team because you know a lot [of freshmen] take until Christmas to really get in the groove of college hockey,” Menke said.

Her calm even surfaces while talking about her senior season, where the second half of the year can serve as an informal farewell tour to four years of college hockey.  “I know here [at Ridder], hopefully, we’re coming back for the playoffs. But it’s weird every time you play one of your friends. You’re like, ‘Well, that might be the last time I play them.’ It’s fun and it’s sad, but it’s kind of cool at the same time.”

With a berth in the Final Face-Off assured, the conference’s top four teams will be competing and being the bottom ranked of those four teams doesn’t faze Menke. “We know no team wants to take us in the playoffs,” she said. “No one wants to battle us because we fight hard and we compete hard. Teams don’t like to play us, I know.”

Their hopes for a NCAA berth go through the WCHA championship and at least two of the top five teams in the nation. Yet, they’re undoubtedly a team capable of surprising. It’s always a possibility with leadership like Menke, Canadian national team defenseman Halli Krzyzaniak, Gracen Hirschy, senior goaltender Lexie Shaw, and other upperclassmen who are leading the way this year and laying the groundwork for the program’s future success.

The post Calm, Cool & Respected appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Get up to speed with Dustin Nelson’s women’s WCHA  postseason primer

The WCHA playoffs start this weekend, featuring three teams that rank in the top four nationally. It’s yet another year where a WCHA team could grab a national championship, but with more parity in the conference this year, there’s also the chance for a significant upset.

No. 1 – University of Wisconsin Badgers

(Photo by David Stluka)

The Badgers are the team to beat. They’ve been number one in the nation since the first preseason poll and lead the nation and the WCHA in almost every statistical category.

With an in-conference record of 22-2-4-3, the only team that was able to split their season series with them was the Gophers. They’re the only team in the nation that allowed less than one goal per game on average at 0.91 per game. Amazingly, it was even less when starting Ann-Renee Desbiens was between the pipes. She leads the nation with a 0.741 goals-against average.

The Badgers start the playoffs with a series against the eighth-ranked Mavericks. In four games against the Mavs this season, the Badgers went 4-0 with a 16-2 goal differential. There’s an expectation that they’ll be able to march through the first two rounds with relative ease.

PLAYER TO WATCH:

Annie Pankowski, Jr, F — Though Desbiens is the one who is capable of single-handedly stealing games, Pankowski has been outstanding after an early-season slump. Considering she didn’t score at all in the first nine games of the year, it’s amazing she finished the regular season ranked seventh in points.  She put up 20 goals and 16 assists in the final 20 games of the year. 

The post It’s Playoff Time appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Minnetonka’s Presley Norby adjusting well to unfamiliar role with Badgers

MADISON — For a rookie, the learning curve can be steep. It’s why preseason rookie of the year predictions are so rarely correct in college. But Badger freshman and 2016 Ms. Hockey Award winner Presley Norby is taking that curve with aplomb.

Now halfway through the season, Norby is looking less and less like a freshman skating on a line with seniors Sarah Nurse and Sydney McKibbon. “I definitely feel a lot more confident,” she said after the Badgers’ record-breaking “Fill the Bowl” game. “I’m just more comfortable with the team, more comfortable with being in college, more comfortable with all the little things in school.

“With time, you experience new things and learn how to deal with them and have some adversity.”

Norby isn’t just embracing the opportunity to learn on and off the ice in Madison; she has excelled on a team where it can be difficult to stand out. Through 22 games, she has posted five goals and 15 points, which ranks fourth among all WCHA freshmen and seventh on the team. Additionally, her average of 3.26 shots per game leads all conference rookies.

Presley Norby winds up for a shot for Minnetonka in the 2015 Girls Class 2A state championship game against Hill-Murray. (MHM Photo / Jonny Watkins)

She’s already making big contributions to the nation’s No. 1-ranked team, but from afar, her arrival seems unlikely. She captained a strong Minnetonka team during her senior year of high school and won the 2016 Ms. Hockey Award. Crossing lines in the Border Battle isn’t the most well-worn path for a Minnesota high school standout. The last four Ms. Hockey Award winners — Taylor Williamson, Sydney Baldwin, Dani Cameranesi, and Hannah Brandt — all committed to the Gophers, as did seven of the eight winners prior to Norby.

“It seems like everyone from Minnesota goes to the U of M, but I actually visited [Madison] first of all my recruiting trips,” Norby says. “When I went here, I kind of compared everything to here and nothing really measured up for me. The coaching staff, facilities, campus, atmosphere of the school, just all the little things combined.”

It wasn’t just the little things, though. There was also a really big thing. There was the 2014 “Fill the Bowl” game that influenced her. The game set a NCAA attendance record, which was broken by the 2016 installment of the “Fill the Bowl” game. “I was actually at this game two years ago when I wasn’t committed yet and I was like, ‘Wow, I want to play in one of these games,’” she said. “How do you go in that arena and not want to be on the ice as a person that loves hockey? I said, this is a great atmosphere and a great campus and it’s really something that I want to be a part of.”

Her on-ice talent stood out immediately upon entering college hockey, grabbing the WCHA Rookie of the Month honor for September and October. But even with early honors, she’s maintained focus on learning and improvement. “We have a lot of really good leaders on this team,” she says. “Because my two linemates are both senior captains, they teach me a lot, even in the classroom and off the ice.

“I’ll ask a lot of questions. Or I won’t have to ask a question; they’ll let me know. But that’s part of the process. It’s also part of being a freshman and letting them lead. It’s OK for them to tell me what to do.”

It might seem like a small thing, but it can be a trying transition. Roles change between levels, but Norby has gone from being a captain of her high school team and an alternate captain of Team USA at the U18 Women’s World Championship, to being a rookie. “It’s definitely new to have a new role on a team,” she says. “I’m transitioning from being a leader to almost being a follower. But I’m also trying to keep those leadership qualities within myself, to do the little things right, work hard, try my best every day, be on time, just do all the little things that a leader would do and just kind of follow in our older leaders’ footsteps.”

So far, so good. The Badgers have incredible talent with upperclassmen like Nurse, McKibbon, Annie Pankowski, Emily Clark, Jenny Ryan, and Ann-Renee Desbiens. But it’s their depth that makes them almost impossible to shut down. Freshman like Norby, Abby Roque, and Mekenzie Steffen have been a significant part of the Badger attack, which comes in waves.

“It’s definitely a big transition [coming to college], but in hockey, there’s a lot of roles being played,” Norby said. “I kind of expected my role here and I’m just trying to do the best at that.”

The post Following to Lead appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

After lean times Minnesota State is rounding the corner

EDINA — Through the first half of the first semester, Minnesota State was predictably near the bottom of the WCHA. They swept a non-conference series against RIT and tied St. Cloud State. Otherwise, it was a loss-filled start to the season that saw them go 0-10-1 through their first 11 conference matches.

But then something happened.

The Mavericks started rounding the corner. Since that rough start, they’ve gone 3-2-0 in-conference and 4-4-1 overall. And it hasn’t been easy. They had to beat a resurgent Ohio Sate, a defensively sound Bemidji State, and the nationally-ranked Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs.

Minnesota State sophomore Corbin Boyd (Minnetonka) scored twice against No. 2 Minnesota in a Jan. 8 game at Edina’s Braemar Arena. (Photo courtesy of Minnesota State University Athletics / Mark Vasey)

Most recently, they returned from the midseason break and gave the Gophers a run for their money in the woefully named U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Museum Women’s Face-Off Classic at Edina’s Braemar Arena. The Mavericks outshot the Gophers in the first period and closed the gap to 4-3 in the third when Corbin Boyd scored her second of the game (and season) with just 57 seconds remaining.

“I think we’ve gotten better and we’ve gained some confidence by those wins and it has made us a better team,” said second-year coach John Harrington after the game. “It’s such a big thing to have the confidence that you can win hockey games.”

Their success is one of the big variables as the second half kicks off. With wins against tough competition logged, could their continued success shake up the middle of the WCHA standings?

It may just be three conference wins, but don’t underestimate how significant that is. They didn’t win a single in-conference game last season. To find the last time the Mavericks beat a WCHA opponent you have to track back to the 2014-15 season and a Feb. 2 game against St. Cloud.

“I think it’s our experience,” Harrington said. “Last year, we only had one senior. We had 21 freshmen and sophomores. I think the one thing is just having that year under our belt, where we’re familiar with the league. We still only have three seniors on our team. We’re still a young team.

“We’ve had a lot of young players not only get the experience of being in the league but the experience of playing in a lot of situations. That’s helped us and certainly, we’ve had a couple freshmen who have come in and made some solid contributions.”

He may be underselling just how reliant they are on the team’s youth. Though their senior class includes goaltender Brianna Quade — who Harrington calls “the backbone” of the team — there is reason to believe their recent success matters.

Last year’s team included just four total upperclassmen. Of their 24 players this season, seven are juniors, eight are sophomores, and six are freshmen.

And it’s not just the raw numbers. The production is coming from their youth as well. Four of their top seven scorers are sophomores, including Emily Antony, who leads the team in goals (5) and points (12), as well as Boyd, who shares the team lead with Antony for assists (7). There isn’t a single senior in those top seven.

And having just three seniors is itself a rarity. Inside the WCHA, only Ohio State has fewer. After that, it’s UMD with five and the Gophers and Badgers with six each. The Mavericks are a young team and they’re getting key contributions on both offense and defense from young skaters.

“They compete real hard. They’re fast,” said Minnesota coach Brad Frost after the Gophers’ 5-3 win at the Hall of Fame Game. “They’re improving. You can see why they beat Duluth and you can see why they’ve gotten some conference wins this year.”

Nonetheless, the Mavericks are goal starved. Carrying an underwhelming 5.3 shooting percentage, they’re averaging just 1.27 goals per game, down from last year’s 1.52. But the defense is notably improved. They’re allowing just 3.14 goals against per game, which is the school’s lowest mark since the 2013-14 season when Danielle Butters (.924 save percentage in 30 games) and Erin Krichiver (.943 save percentage in eight games) made a huge difference in net.

Even more importantly, they’re not allowing as many shots to opponents. Last season they allowed 34.75 shots against per game, which was their best mark since prior to the 2012-13 season. This year, they’ve tamped that down to 29.75.

“They come at you hard on the forecheck with two and in their d-zone, it seems like they’re always on you,” said Frost. “It doesn’t maybe look as structured, but you just don’t have a lot of time and space with the puck. They do a nice job.”

Minnesota State might not be challenging for the national championship, but they’ve made some major strides. It’s starting to show up in the standings and in their underlying numbers.

With a team sporting 14 sophomores and freshmen, and only three seniors, they’re a team that could become a frustrating presence for the top dogs in years to come.

The post Mavs’ Changing Tide appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.