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The post The Sieve & The Scribe: Ep. 11 (Audio) appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

“She didn’t stick out,” said Natalie Darwitz, Gophers women’s hockey assistant coach who watched the practice. “She fit right in and looked like one of the guys. It’s a huge compliment to Crystalyn.”

Crystalyn Hengler celebrating a Section 2AA title with Eden Prairie in 2018 and in her current role on the Gopher blue line. (MHM Photos / Rick Olson)

Hengler kicked off the weekend as the female hockey player invited to skate with the Minnesota Wild during the team’s practice Friday morning at TRIA Rink. She got in on some of the early drills with the Wild.

“It was an awesome experience,” Hengler said. “They’re really fast-paced. They’re bigger than I thought they would be when watching them on TV.”

She talked a lot with Wild assistant coach Bob Woods about various drills the Wild runs during practice. Woods talked to her about things he wants the defensive corps to work on, Hengler said.

“That was actually really helpful,” Hengler said. “I can bring some stuff back to college with me and share those things with my teammates.”

The Gophers women’s hockey team is 14-5-1 overall this season, with Hengler a staple on the blue line. She has two goals and seven points in the 20 games, and 10 goals, 32 points in 112 career games at Minnesota. She had a pair of assists in the team’s last victory, a 2-1 score over Minnesota-Duluth on Dec. 11.

Hengler is an offensive defenseman going back to her five years with Eden Prairie High School when the 2018 Minnesota Ms. Hockey semifinalist scored 27 goals and 108 points in 147 career games. She helped lead the team to state multiple times, including to a Class 2A state title in 2016.

She brings a super skillset to the Gophers blueline, with a quick-release shot to get pucks to the net efficiently, Darwitz said.

“Off the ice, she’s just a super character person,” Darwitz said. “Does things the right way, is a great teammate. Just a joy to coach.”

One Wild player Hengler particularly connected with Friday was defenseman Matt Dumba. Hengler said Dumba asked about her ethnicity, and the two had a perfect vantage point to see all the young girls from Minnesota Unbounded watching in the stands.

“I think it was pretty cool when you’re sitting with another person of color on the bench looking out into the stands full of color, different shades, faces, races,” Dumba said. “It’s sometimes a real lonely feeling being in a hockey world, being different. To see that gave me a smile and warmed my heart to see these girls here today.”

Wild defenseman Matt Dumba enjoys a chat with Hengler at Friday’s practice at Tria Rink. (Photo courtesy of Jessi Pierce / NHL.com)

Friday, Hengler had a lot of support in the stands and along the glass from many of her Gophers teammates, three of her coaches, her mom and her brother. One of those coaches was Darwitz.

Hengler was also supposed to make the “Let’s Play Hockey!” call before the Florida Panthers versus Minnesota Wild game Saturday afternoon, but that game was postponed due to Covid-19 safety protocols issues involving the Panthers. The plan is to have Hengler make the call, along with holding the other Girls’ Hockey Weekend activities, whenever the make-up game gets scheduled.

The Girls’ Hockey Weekend clinics for girls’ hockey players went on as scheduled Friday night and Saturday afternoon (moved up after the postponed Wild game) at Xcel Energy Center. About 50 girls each for the 8U, 10U and 12U levels participated in on-ice clinics and dryland training led by Minnesota Hockey personnel, and Minnesota Whitecaps and WCHA players.

Thirteen Gophers women’s players helped with the clinics Friday night alone, Darwitz said. They volunteered “without batting an eye,” and during their finals week, too, she said. It didn’t take much prodding from Darwitz.

“I said to our team, ‘hey, you have no idea that little eyes that are on you,’” Darwitz said. “’Male, female, it doesn’t matter. They want to emulate you and be wearing the same sweater you are and do the same moves you are doing.

“’Getting out there in the public eye and doing these camps and clinics, not only is it going to do so much for you, it’s going to do now triple for the game and those little girls.’”

Hengler is the fifth player from the Gophers women’s hockey program to skate with the Wild, though she’s the first one to participate while still a collegiate player. Krissy Wendell skated in 2017, followed by Hannah Brandt in 2018 and Lee Stecklein in 2019.

Darwitz was retired when asked to be part of the inaugural Girls’ Hockey Weekend in 2016.

“I told Wayne Petersen of the Wild that I was able to set the bar low for everybody else,” Darwitz joked.

Minnesota Unbounded players following Crystalyn Hengler’s every move during Friday’s Minnesota Wild practice at Tria Rink. (Photo courtesy of Jessi Pierce / NHL.com)

Watching Hengler brought back memories of that weekend for Darwitz. It all comes back to growing the game, and both Darwitz and Hengler acknowledged how great it is that the Wild put together a weekend like this, since few organizations do. Having Hengler skate with the Wild is a way to help grow the game, too. It’s all about having role models to look up to and someone to emulate on the ice, Darwitz said, adding that for her it was Neal Broten until Cammi Granato came along.

“Now the same for people of color or different backgrounds,” Darwitz said. “They see Crystalyn out there and think, ‘you know, I can do this, too.’ So I think that’s pretty special.”

Hengler’s advice and encouragement for young girls playing hockey? Have fun.

“I’ve grown some lifelong friends through the sport throughout my time playing it,” Hengler said. “Just have fun with it. Don’t be too serious, especially at a young age. Just find the little things that make you happy when you play.”

The post This One’s for the Girls appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Funding Will Help Grow and Advance Sled Hockey Across U.S.

USA Hockey announced today that Rochester Minnesota’s Rochester Sled Hockey program is among 10 sled hockey programs nationwide that will equally share $250,000 in grants provided by Labatt USA through its Pass it Forward initiative.

“We’re grateful to Labatt for providing funding to help further the development of sled hockey,” said Dave Ogrean, executive director of USA Hockey. “The substantial number of applications we received shows the desire all across the country to continue to grow sled hockey. It was not an easy task for our selection committee to settle on the 10 recipients.”

“When we began working with USA Hockey to figure out how Labatt could help support sled hockey, we learned that awareness and access are the sport’s two biggest challenges,” said Lisa Texido, brand manager of Labatt USA. “Everyone deserves the chance to play hockey and this ‘Pass It Forward’ initiative helps bring access to hockey to more athletes who want to play the game.”

Each of the 10 programs will receive $25,000 to be used for items such as sleds, stick, ice time and uniforms. Rochester is one of five previously established USA Hockey sled programs to receive the funding with five newly created programs receiving assistance as well.

The post Rochester to benefit from Labatt Blue’s “Pass It Forward” initiative appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

A road map to hockey development

The top hockey organizations around the world recognize the value of practice, rest and games. Here in Minnesota we seem to feel that games take priority over the other two in spite of all academic research to the contrary.

USA Hockey is correctly promoting the Long Term Athlete Development model (LTAD), which comes out of human development research and outlines general pathways of physical, mental, and social development of our kids. Building sport programs around the LTAD pathways has long been the practice of sport federations around the world except for the USA where games seem to have taken over in many of our programs with a nod to practice and little consideration for rest.

LTAD is a road map to maximize athlete development by providing age appropriate training and protocols that follow the human development track of the kids in sport. As enticing as it may be, playing three to four games a week in youth hockey is actually preventing kids from reaching their potential as an athlete.

At a high level these guidelines will help to reset a program that is the most beneficial for kids.

3-1 practice to game ratio at pee wees/u12 and bantams/u14

Create pond hockey type of experiences for all kids at the indoor arenas

Have a mastery approach to the program instead of a win/loss focus

Through age 14 play two other sports and take time away from hockey

There are challenges to this approach but our kids are worth it. They will be better athletes, students, and all around kids that are healthy, motivated and fun to be with.

Illustration by DonnaJo Nelson

The post Games, Practice and Rest appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

**Minnesota Hockey release**

St. Paul, MN – September 3, 2014 – Minnesota Hockey today announced the host sites for the 2015 Minnesota Hockey State and Region Tournaments. For the second consecutive year, The Drive to State is presented by Select Heartland Chevy Dealers, and will be highlighted by 14 State Tournaments hosted by eight communities. Region Tournaments will be played February 27 through March 1, followed by State Tournaments being played March 13 through 15.

The 14 State Tournaments will be played at eight locations throughout Minnesota. Plymouth (Junior Gold A, Junior Gold B, Junior Gold 16), Duluth (Bantam AA, Bantam A), Rochester (Bantam B, Peewee B), New Ulm (14U B, 12U B) and Stillwater (19U B, 14U A) will host multiple tournaments. The 2015 Minnesota Hockey State Tournament locations are as follows:

Minnesota Hockey’s Region Tournaments will take place at 27 locations in Minnesota as teams look to qualify for State. The Metro League playdowns to determine Junior Gold State participants will once again take place at the Schwan Super Rink in Blaine. The 14U B Region Tournaments will be added if needed later this season. The Minnesota Hockey Region Tournament locations are as follows:

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Minnesota Hockey today announced it will continue its premier partnership with Rink Systems, Inc. of Albert Lea, Minn. Known for creating some of the most technologically sound arena and rink equipment in North America, Rink Systems, Inc. will continue as a presenting partner of the Minnesota Hockey Hard Divider Program.

Through this partnership, Minnesota Hockey will once again be able to offer a one-time $2,500 subsidy to Minnesota Hockey affiliated associations that register to purchase a “hard divider” system for the 2014-15 season. As was the case last season, Minnesota Hockey associations will now be able to purchase a set of boards, valued at $7,900, for just $5,400.

The Minnesota Hockey Hard Divider Program is designed to aid community based associations and their home rinks in promoting the growth of ice hockey through the implementation of cross-ice hockey. During the 2013-14 season, 20 associations took advantage of the discount and now utilize the dividers in their primary community arenas. Associations who took part in the program last season are once again eligible this season if they would like to purchase a second set of boards to allow for three “mini-rinks” on one sheet of ice. Rink Systems will also offer mini-nets at a discounted rate for programs that take advantage of the Hard Ice Divider subsidy.

Not only a major component of player development through the American Development Model, cross-ice hockey provides a more efficient way to use ice time and space. Most importantly, the smaller playing surface gives children a greater sense of enjoyment when playing hockey. Cross-ice hockey allows players to increase the number of times they touch the puck, their puck possession time and overall speed in playing situations – all of which translate into quicker development of individual skills and a passion for the game.

“We couldn’t be more pleased with how successful the partnership with Rink Systems was during the 2013-14 season,” said Dave Margenau, President of Minnesota Hockey. “To see 20 associations take advantage of the subsidy and use them to host cross and half ice tournaments at the Mite/8U Girls level was exciting to see. The boards offer a realistic playing experience for the kids while promoting small area games and practices.”

Rink Systems, Inc. is a family-owned and operated business based in Albert Lea since it was founded in 1993. The goal of Rink Systems, Inc. has been to increase the popularity of skating and hockey in this country and throughout the world. In order to accomplish this objective, it has developed and gathered products of the best technical specifications available in the industry. Rink Systems, Inc. is a proud member of STAR: Serving The American Rinks.

Minnesota Hockey, a USA Hockey affiliate, is the governing body of youth hockey in Minnesota. With over 67,000 registered players and coaches, it is the largest state governing body for hockey in the United States.

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The Bears finished the season with a 35-10-4 overall record.  The regular season included tournament championships in White Bear Lake and Rochester.  They also took home 3rd place trophies in Cloquet and Maple Grove.  Then the playoff run started…

The Black and Orange opened District 2 play as the #4 seed.  They went on to defeat Highland Central, North St. Paul, and Stillwater to earn the D2 Championship.  In the North Region, they defeated Virginia and Cloquet to set up a match up with their friends to the east, Mahtomedi.  In the most exciting game to date, the Bears prevailed 5-4 in triple overtime to win the North Region Championship and punch their ticket to the State Tournament.

In the State Tournament the Bears opened with a victory over Eagan Blue 7-1, followed by a 3-2 win over a highly skilled and fast Minneapolis Purple squad.  This set up the State Championship game versus pre-tournament favorite Edina White.  The title game was yet another nail bitter with many lead changes.  The game was tied at 4 late in the third when the tenacious and determined Bears took the lead 5-4 with under three minutes to play.  They had to withstand the buzzing Hornets offense over the last two minutes to secure the State PeeWee B Title.  Icing on the cake for an amazing playoff run!

The State Champion Bears are Ryan Dehling, Charlie Rapheal, Ben Boldt, Cody Grahn, Tony Rossini, Nick Denault, Paul Moris, Chance Johnstone, Michael Rittenhouse, Sam Yobbie, Jacob Oczak, Roddy Schultz, Jack Montgomery, Colby Rautenberg, Nathan Thies, and Seth Valento.  Coaches are Steve Oczak, Kelly Rittenhouse, Sam Schultz, Steve Moris, and manager Meg Rapheal.

The post Bears’ Champion “ship” docks in Two Harbors appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

The action kicks off this weekend with the Ted Brill Great 8 and HP 18 Festivals being held at Wakota Arena in South St. Paul beginning Friday. For over 30 years, the Ted Brill Great 8 has provided high school seniors the opportunity to showcase their skills and abilities to coaches and scouts from junior, collegiate and professional teams. Rosters and schedules for the Great 8 can be found here. Information on the HP 18 Festival can be found here.

The three-day tournament has expanded from two region teams (outstate & metro) to eight teams that represent the Minnesota State High School League’s (MSHSL) eight sections. Seniors from Class A and Class AA teams in each section are selected by the coaches. Each coach has the ability to nominate players, and a vote is held to determine the 17 player roster made up of two goalies, six defensemen and nine forwards.

“We’re thrilled to begin another spring and summer filled with showcasing the best high school hockey players our state has to offer,” said High Performance Director, Mike MacMillan. “The Ted Brill Great 8 is the best way to start it off, recognizing these senior players for their hard work and growth over their tremendous careers. Each year, Minnesota produces the most Division 1 hockey players in the country and our Reebok High Performance Programs provide the opportunity for those coaches to see our top players perform.”

Organized by the Minnesota High School Hockey Coaches Association and Minnesota Hockey, the Ted Brill Great 8 is designated as a national development program by USA Hockey. Players are evaluated by qualified personnel, and 20 players are selected to represent Minnesota in the Boys’ CCM National Invitational Tournament April 25 through 28 in Plymouth, MN.

Reebok Minnesota Hockey High Performance events for the top hockey players will continue throughout the spring and summer:

Event   Date    Location       
Reebok HP 16 & 17 Festival      April 4-6       Plymouth Ice Center – Plymouth
Reebok HP Final 54/CCM NIT      April 24-27     Plymouth Ice Center – Plymouth
Reebok HP 15 Festival   April 25-27     Braemar Arena – Edina
Reebok HP 15 Summer Girls Camp  June 7-12       National Sports Center – St. Cloud
Reebok HP 15 Summer Boys Camp   June 14-19      National Sports Center – St. Cloud
Reebok HP Herb Brooks Foundation National Prep Camp     July 8-11       Schwan Super Rink – Blaine
Reebok Dave Peterson Goalie Camp        July 24-27      Schwan Super Rink – Blaine
Reebok HP Model Camp    July 27 – Aug. 2        Mariucci Arena – Minneapolis
Reebok HP 14/15 Fall Festival   September 26-28 Braemar Arena – Edina

The post RELEASE: Reebok MN Hockey High Performance Season Kicks Off appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Blake goalie Anna Kruesel and teammates hold off the Green Wave in defending Class A title  (Photo / Debbie Koberinski)

The battle for the 2014 Class A title didn’t disappoint, with drama building, and neither team wanting to be denied.   The Blake Bears valiantly trying to defend their 2013 state title against the top seeded first time qualifier East Grand Forks Green Wave saw both teams get the momentum, but could not maintain, leading to an entertaining up and down the ice game.   East Grand Forks started out quickly, jumping out to a quick two goal lead, the tension mounted, with Blake cutting the lead in half midway through the second period.

Coach Shawn Reid said the momentum changed in the second period, “A big part of the shift was  moving Sylvie Wallin up to forward, as we saw this generate some offense with Carly nearly scoring”.  They would soon be rewarded by the change as Sophomore phenom Carly Bullock  would notch her 5oth goal of the year.  The tension of the game mounted and with just under 3 minutes to go in the second period, Haley Mack went in all alone, with the puck not being quite settled was able to get a decent shot off, only to be stopped by a sprawling Anna Kruesel.

Blake nearly tied the game three minutes into the third period as Sylvie Wallin used her speed to go in alone on Madi Galstad, breaking around the defender with Galstad coming up with the stop.  Blake would be given an opportunity as a questionable tripping call on Haley Mack would give them a power play that would yield the tying goal.   Wallin’s shot from the top of the circle would bound off Galstad  and find it’s way into the back of the net.   Wallin would add another and get  the go ahead goal at the 10:56 mark on a scramble out front knocking in a rebound from 10 feet out.

Both teams had scoring chances with power play opportunities and traded scoring chances with the goalies coming up large.   With the goalie pulled, Wallin nearly iced the game, shooting from 150 feet and her shot glancing off the outside of the net causing an icing.  Blake would then call a time out setting up a frantic 50 seconds with both teams having opportunities.  With ten seconds left, the Green Wave nearly tied the game as Haley Mack’s shot from 15 feet out just glanced off Kruesel.The Wave out shot the Bears 31 to 24 but ended on the short end as Blake successfully defended their State Championship, winning for the 5th time in five tries.  Kruessel, when asked how does it feel being a state champion “It’s a really good feeling, just awesome”.

Reid was obviously pleased with the results saying “Internally this was not unexpected, we set out with lofty goals from the first day at the start of the season. and this is what we set out for”.  He later said ” Our players worked all season long believing this could happen”.

For the first time entrants Green Wave, coach Scanlan felt the key was “We had plenty of opportunities to get that third goal in the first period and if we had done sow, I think the outcome would have been different.   We tried to add to our lead, but their goalie came up with some big stops”.

When asked what he told his girls after the game, Scanlan said ” I told them  I am very proud of these young ladies, how they represented our school and community.  They are a championship team, and championship teams walk together forever. I told them you didn’t lose the game, we played to win,that’s what we focus on, we play to win,  but Blake made one more play than we did”.   Scanlan later reiterated how the team from the first practice on was locked in and ready to go  “It was a joy for me to coach this club”.

WINGERS REPEAT IN THIRD PLACE CLASS A GAME

Nicole Schammel scored twice as the Red Wing Wingers jumped out to a 4-0 lead before cruising to a 5 to 2 victory over St. Paul United on Saturday morning, capturing the third place game.  United fought hard, but could not overcome the experience of Red Wing, with the Wingers repeating it’s third place performance from last year by defeating the first time entrant.  In last years tournament, the Wingers were defeated by the Blake Bears, who then went on to win the 2013 tournament.  

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