Simms scored on a penalty shot with 18 seconds left in the third period Sunday to tie the game against Ohio State, and then at the 2:49 mark in overtime, she scored on a rebound to give the Badgers a 4-3 victory and its eighth national title.  

There was a video clip on social media that showed Badgers head coach Mark Johnson on the bench asking who wanted to take the penalty shot and Simms’ hand went up right away. 

“I can’t really say it was initially my choice,” Simms said with a laugh. “I had everyone on the bench screaming ‘Simms, you do it,’ so I was like ‘You know what, whatever.’ Coach is going to need to see my hand go up for me to actually go. After that, everyone just really instills confidence within me, and I actually have to thank all my teammates for that because I was super nervous going into that moment, obviously. But they all calmed me down and reminded me to just be confident in what I do and what I decide to do, and it (ended up) working out for us.” 

When asked about that video clip, Johnson talked about the mentality needed to be able to score on a penalty shot in that crucial of a situation. 

“Most (people) don’t want to go out there and embarrass themselves,” he said. “I’ve had players that don’t want to take penalty shots even though they were awarded one because they’re thinking negatively. They think they’re going to miss it. If you’re lining up for your birdie putt and you think you’re going to miss it, you’re probably going to miss it. I wanted to see who wanted to step up and own it. Who felt comfortable in the setting, because you can’t have one ounce of negativity in your mind as you pick the puck up. It’s got to be all positive, because if you think about what’s going on, you’re going to miss your putt and you’re going to miss the shot. That’s what the ultimate pressure in our game is about, and you can’t get any more pressure than that. 3-2, you’re down, national championship game. If you miss, the game is probably over other than maybe we get something off a faceoff on the power play.

“Laila (Edwards) came back, she was adamant that their player had their glove on the puck inside the crease, which your team is awarded a penalty shot. Then it comes down to who wants to step up. So, a couple players mentioned Kirsten and then the ownership is hers. ‘I’ll take it.’ ‘Okay, go get it.’

“I looked away. I didn’t even watch. I was like (goalie) Ava (McNaughton). I was asking several people after. I don’t know if I was playing, I would take the shot just because you’ve got to be as free as you can be right in that moment. You can’t be thinking about anything other than I’m going to score.” 

Familiar foes in the national title game
This was the third year in a row where Wisco faced OSU for the national title. After coming up short last year, the Badgers got the job done this time around. The Badgers also finished the season with a stellar record of 38-1-2, with the only loss coming against the Buckeyes back in November.  

“Obviously, we found a way to win,” Johnson said. “I don’t think we played one of our better games, but as I told the team a few minutes ago, we figured out how to get to the finish line. I’ve always said Monday always comes. Well, Monday’s coming tomorrow, and we’ve got the national championship trophy back in Madtown. So, it’s a good day.” 

While the Badgers were celebrating, the Buckeyes were visibly distraught with a few players lying face down on the ice and attempting to come to grips with what just happened as they were just seconds away from back-to-back national titles and their third overall in program history.  

“There’s not a lot to really say after a tough loss,” said OSU coach Nadine Muzerall. “Fantastic human beings (her players). I thought they played phenomenal tonight. I think it was just more of the way we lost, with 18 seconds left. It was just an unfortunate outcome. A debatable penalty shot, hard to challenge it when we’d already used our timeout. Very exciting hockey game though.” 

When asked about Simms’ penalty shot, which came because OSU’s Maddi Wheeler covered the puck with her hand in the crease, Muzerall explained what the officials told her after a video review. 

“The covering of the puck, she (the referee) just said she (Wheeler) had her hand covering it,” Muzerall said. “It’s not like she just swatted it away. She actually put her hand over it, and then you kind of lost sight of it because it went under her. I get that it was a penalty shot. I just question the actual penalty shot. And we didn’t have enough proof to rule against it in that quick moment. But we were contemplating if the puck moved back on her penalty shot, and I already used a timeout, so I didn’t want to go down, possibly 6-on-3.” 

The first period was a tight one throughout as both teams generated decent chances early on, but made some key defensive plays near the net to keep it at 0-0. The Buckeyes got on the scoreboard first thanks to a great individual effort by Joy Dunne. With OSU trying to kill a penalty, the sophomore zoomed past three Wisconsin players and deked out McNaughton for a shorthanded goal to make it 1-0 at the 8:22 mark.

However, just 12 seconds later, Wisco cashed in on its power play as Edwards did almost the same thing to Buckeyes goalie Amanda Thiele, beating her to the left post, just before a diving OSU player could knocked the puck away.  

OSU answered back though as Sloane Matthews skated into the Badgers zone along the far boards and beat McNaughton top shelf to put the Buckeyes back up 2-1 at 14:44. The Buckeyes would maintain that slim lead going into the second.  

Just 10 seconds into the second, the Buckeyes struck again. OSU’s Makenna Webster skated around the Badgers net and tried to feed Jocelyn Amos in front, but the puck deflected out to a waiting Emma Peschel, who blasted a shot past McNaughton to make it 3-1 Buckeyes.

Wisco wouldn’t go away though. At 5:27, the Badgers’ Caroline Harvey trimmed the deficit to one goal. Harvey got a pass across the slot from Simms and sniped it past Thiele to make it 3-2 heading into the third.  

After struggling to get good chances throughout the last period of regulation, the Badgers got a great one in the last 1:50 as the Buckeyes were whistled for too many skaters. With McNaughton on the bench for the extra attacker, Wheeler committed her penalty, Simms was given a penalty shot and she buried it to tie things up at 3-3 and force overtime. 

The post Simms Steps Up appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

One of the big series finds St. Cloud State — the most surprising team in the NCHC, if not the whole country — at home on its Herb Brooks National Hockey Center ice to take on perennial CCHA contender Michigan on Friday and Saturday.

The Huskies sputtered through their non-conferemce schedule with a meager 2-4 record, but now we suspect St. Cloud State coach Brett Larson was using those non-conference games precisely as they were intended, to work newcomers into his lineup and juggle units for the regular season.

That suspicion gains credibility when you check out the Huskies once the shooting started in the NCHC. Forget the 2-4 start, because St. Cloud State has zoomed through six games to take sole possession of first place, most recently disassembling University of Minnesota Duluth with the same sure-handed force that might have been deployed to disassemble that Thanksgiving turkey on your platter.

Huskies bite the Bulldogs
Scorewise, both games on the big rink at St. Cloud lived up to the intense rivalry tendencies of Huskies-Bulldogs games over the last decade, although this time both games saw some uncommon rough stuff to end both of the St. Cloud victories last Friday and Saturday night, by 2-1 and 6-5 scores.

The first game was scoreless until Jack Reimann scored late in the second period for St. Cloud State, and UMD’s Matthew Perkins scored midway through the third period to tie the game 1-1. That put Joe Molenaar in the spotlight. Molenaar has been a trusted, loyal soldier throughout his career at St. Cloud State, but he’s never given Larson reason to expect big goal numbers. Until this year. Molenaar, who scored only two goals last season, scored the game-winner with 2:19 remaining against UMD. It was his fifth goal in the last four games. 

The first game boiled over in lost tempers in the final minute as a couple of 5-on-5 scraps broke out. The second one came at the final horn and ended with UMD captain Luke Loheit switching from peacemaker to aggressor, delivering a face-to-face cross-check that earned him a 5-minute major, game misconduct and, because the official time of 20:00 didn’t leave much for punishment, he was also suspended for the next game (last Saturday).

Unlike the defensive shutdown battle, both teams hit the ice running in game 2, and it veered back and forth. Jack Rogers staked the Huskies to a 1-0 lead at 1:46. But Blake Biondi, getting a chance to center the injury-ravaged first line, scored on a power play at 8:56 for a 1-1 tie. Veeti Miettinen — who Larson *did* expect to score this season — regained a 2-1 lead for the Huskies on a power play at 17:46, only to see Anthony Menghini tie it 2-2 in the final second of the opening period.

That pattern resumed in the second period when Tyson Gross gave the Huskies their third lead of the night at 10:38, but UMD defenseman Owen Gallatin countered that in the last minute of the middle period for a 3-3 standoff.

St. Cloud State broke through for two goals in a row to open the third period, with Kyler Kupka scoring at 0:39 and Miettinen at 3:20 for a 5-3 cushion. That made eight goals in Miettinen’s last eight games. UMD battled back for a goal by Quinn Olson to cut the deficit to 5-4, but Jack Ingram made it 6-4 with 2:56 remaining. The Bulldogs weren’t about to concede, and with 1:48 to go, Gallatin scored his second of the game to cut it to 6-5. But the Bulldogs, who never led, couldn’t get the equalizer and went down to extend their exasperating streak to 0-7-1 in their last 8 games.

A look at the men’s hockey conference standings
With their early growing pains providing valuable experience, the Huskies sit in first place alone with a 6-0 conference record, leaving North Dakota (4-0) second in NCHC standings. North Dakota, however, can take satisfaction from moving up to the No. 1 rank in the U.S. College Hockey Online rankings.

St. Cloud State stays at home on its Olympic-sized — 200 x 100 feet — ice surface to take on Michigan, which like Minnesota, is finding it a challenge to string victories together in the Big Ten. The Wolverines, bristling with new talent, is only 2-4-2 in the Big Ten. The top three in the Big Ten are Michigan State (5-0-1),Wisconsin (4-2) and Notre Dame (3-1-2). Michigan State, definitely the surprise team in the Big Ten, swept Wisconsin 4-2 and 3-2 to make the Badgers’ stay at No. 1 short as they plunged to No. 6. The Spartans visit Mariucci Arena this weekend to face Minnesota.

In the CCHA, the standings show nearly everybody tangled up and deadlocked. Bemidji State lost 5-1 at Minnesota State Mankato. In their second game, Bemidji State came back to rally from a 5-2 first-period deficit to cut the deficit to 6-4 after two, then rallied for three unanswered goals late in the third period to escape with a 7-6 victory. Jackson Jutting scored at 13:58 and Lleyton Roed tied the game at 14:48 before Jutting scored the game-winner at 15:46. The three goals in the span of 1:48 was enough for the victory and the hop into first place in the CCHA.

It doesn’t get easier for Bemidji State, as the Beavers make a Thanksgiving weekend trip to its closest Hwy. 2 rival — North Dakota. Another pair of CCHA highlights this week show Michigan Tech at MSU Mankato, and St. Thomas is at home to face Lake Superior State.

Women’s hockey updates
In the WCHA women’s competition, Ohio State swept Wisconsin in a battle of undefeated league-leaders, winning 3-0 and then 2-1 on Hannah Bilka’s short-handed goal at 1:17 of overtime. Jennifer Gardiner, who scored the first goal in the second game, had two goals in the 3-0 opener.

Minnesota swept two games at Duluth, both by 3-1 counts, with Abbey Murphy scoring a goal in both games and Peyton Hemp scoring an empty-netter with 0:15 left. Hemp also scored the final goal in the second game. 

The WCHA gets a chance to flex its power this weekend with an array of games against Eastern foes. UMD stays home in AMSOIL Arena to take on Colgate, which is ranked No. 2 in the country behind Ohio State.St. Lawrence is at Ohio State. Minnesota and St. Thomas travel to Washington D.C. for a weekend tournament. The Gophers face Harvard on Friday afternoon and Cornell on Saturday afternoon. Flip-flop those opponents and days for the Tommies as they face Cornell and Harvard.

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Last season, the Gophers defeated UMD all five times they played, four in the regular season and once in the playoffs. Doubtful that even that landslide completely made up for the sting Minnesota felt when its previous season ended on home ice in a 2-1 loss to the Bulldogs in the 2022 NCAA West Region final.

That’s the sort of thing that is hanging in the balance whenever these two teams meet.

“It’s always a good game,” said UMD defenseman Nina Jobst-Smith. “A lot of players on both teams played against or with each other growing up. That helps raise the level of intensity to some extra animosity. That always makes it more fun. They’re quick, and very offensive from their forwards back to their defense, and they’ve got good goaltending.”

But none of the players, or coaches, involved with the two programs can recall the intensity that was born when the UMD program was born 25 years ago. Minnesota had already been playing for a couple of years, with only Division III Augsburg as an area competitor. When UMD started its hockey program, it was also the first year that enough other Western teams started that the Western Collegiate Hockey Association also started. Both the WCHA and the Bulldogs are celebrating their 25th anniversary this season.

The first time coach Shannon Miller took her Bulldogs team to face the Gophers, UMD won the Dec. 3, 1999 game 5-4. That led to a very interesting bit of intrigue between the two. Minnesota coach Laura Halldorson used her influence to get the first-year WCHA champion invited to participate in a coaches association four-team, postseason invitational tournament in spring of 2000 at Northeastern.

Several times during that season, I asked Halldorson: Since UMD was surprisingly strong, wouldn’t it be great for the WCHA if the top two teams could go to that tournament to make it two East against two West teams? Halldorson was less than tactful when she said, “No. There will be only one West team and it will be us.”

As fate would have it, UMD went on what still stands as a school record 22-game unbeaten streak that first season, and knocked off the Gophers to win the WCHA title, earning the slot in the invitational tournament. That caused Halldorson to pull in all her chips and get the Gophers invited, too, so it ended up being two East and two West teams.

I told Miller that it would be good for the WCHA to have two representatives, but Miller disagreed.

“She insisted all year that there would be only one West team in that tournament, so now she should have to live by what she said,” Miller said at the time.

After I wrote Miller’s comments, Halldorson decided not to speak to me during or after that tournament. 

Tournament organizers put UMD and Minnesota against each other in the semifinals of the tournament. Minnesota won that game on the way to winning the invitational tournament championship.

One year later, in the 2000-01 season, the NCAA decided to start holding an NCAA championship for Division I women’s hockey teams, structuring a full regional playoff to determine the four entries. UMD, in its second season, won that first national championship with a powerful team led by goaltender Tuula Puputti, plus Jenny Schmidgall and Maria Rooth — the two top goal scorers in UMD history — plus Hanna Sikio, Erika Holst, and defensemen Navada Russell, Brittny Ralph, and Pamela Pachal.

UMD also won the second and third NCAA tournament championships. The Bulldogs were national champions in the first three national tournaments ever held, starting in their second year of operation.

Of course, that didn’t sit well with anyone connected with the Gophers, who worked feverishly to find a way to get an NCAA title of their own. They finally managed, and reached an elite level of play they have never wavered from. But while they were getting there, Miller led the Bulldogs to two more NCAA championships.

So, in what amounted to the dark of night, the Gophers unceremoniously started referring to that first and only invitational tournament title as a “national championship,” which closed the gap on their reviled “Duluth Branch.”

In later years, Gopher teams caught up and slipped ahead of UMD. Thanks to a team with U.S. Hockey Hall of Famers Krissy Wendell and Natalie Darwitz, the Gophers even went undefeated through a whole season, culminating with an NCAA title. But while nobody else seemed to notice, except me, there is one banner hanging in Ridder Arena amid the six legitimate NCAA National Championship banners, which proclaims 2000 as a “national championship” year.

That would give Minnesota seven national championships, to UMD’s five. But it also means that if you count up all the NCAA national tournaments, there would be one more “championship” than there have been NCAA national tournaments. Current Gopher women’s coach Brad Frost defends the sleight-of-hand, insisting in retrospect that the 2000 invitational tournament at Northeastern was, indeed, a national tournament.

Not true, Brad.

“I never knew that background,” said current UMD coach Maura Crowell. “They can’t just do that, can they?”

That’s just another reason why this weekend’s series between the U of M Gophers and the UMD Bulldogs has that little extra edge, which players on either team might be unable to explain.

In the WCHA, both Minnesota and UMD are rebuilding a bit, while Wisconsin and Ohio State have run off side-by-side to stand tied for first place. This weekend, while Minnesota (5-2) is at UMD (6-2), Wisconsin (8-0) is facing Ohio State (8-0) for the early lead.

In the ranking, Wisconsin is No. 1 in the women’s poll after being unrated to start the season.

Men’s hockey upate
The St. Cloud State men’s team, which struggled a little against a deceivingly tough early schedule, got everything back in order just at the right time to start the NCHC regular season, and reeled off sweeps of 3-2, 6-0 against Miami and 3-2, 3-0 against Western Michigan. SCSU coach Brett Larson said he thought those two teams would be tough later in the season and has warned his troops to not be complacent this weekend when Minnesota Duluth — his alma mater — comes to town for a series.

“We get Duluth when they’re sure to be in a bad mood, having lost twice to North Dakota,” said Larson, who coached at UMD in two terms, helping them win three NCAA men’s titles. “I think the league is going to be tough as ever, and it will be no surprise if any of the eight teams beats any of the others. There are no upsets in the NCHC. You’ve got to be ready every game.”

St. Thomas just made its presence felt in the CCHA, hitting the road to Bowling Green and sweeping. First, the Tommies won 4-1 behind two goals from Liam Malmquist in the first period. Then they followed that up with a 4-3 with two goals in the third period after Cooper Gay scored twice early for the Tommies.

The post Women’s Hockey Rivalry: Gophers vs. Bulldogs appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

The University of Minnesota, for example, has a backlog of traditional rivals that go back to Michigan, Michigan State and North Dakota from the early days of college hockey. More recently, the expansion of Division I college hockey teams within Minnesota has led to ferocious rivalries mainly with the University of Minnesota Duluth, and still more recently, Wisconsin and St. Cloud State, along with Minnesota State Mankato and Bemidji State, and St. Thomas arriving on the DI scene.

By going into the Big Ten Conference, the Gophers pretty well forfeited the intensity of the rivalries with North Dakota, UMD and the other in-state colleges, in exchange for keeping Wisconsin and renewing acquaintances with Michigan and Michigan State. Another thing that is certain is that even if the Gophers don’t consider some of those in-state foes as huge rivals, all of them point to the Gophers as the team they most want to beat.

Gophers goaltender Justen Close got the tip of his pad on this shot by UMD’s Luke Bast (38). (MHM Photo / John Gilbert)

In the middle of November, the Gophers can’t take a weekend off from running a gauntlet of those big rivalries. After a banner season that ended as the NCAA Frozen Four runner-up, the Gophers enjoyed some early weeks as the No. 1-ranked team in the country — despite the signing of five defensemen and three prize forwards that are, frankly, impossible to replace.

The Gophers opened with tune-up victories over Bemidji State and a pair against St.Thomas — including a breathtaking 6-5 overtime win in their season opener against the Tommies. Then things got serious, as Minnesota split a series at North Dakota, then returned to 3M Arena at Mariucci and felt the sting of a pair of setbacks pinned on them by Wisconsin, 5-2 and 3-2.

That set up last weekend’s home-and-home series against UMD, which began under a cloak of emotion as the teams paid pregame tributes both nights to Adam Johnson, a quick and skilled center who played for Hibbing/Chisholm and UMD. Johnson died Oct. 28 after a tragic incident during a game in England when an opponent’s skate made contact with Johnson’s neck.

Tributes have been constant from all around the world, and a celebration of life for Johnson was held in Hibbing earlier this week. Without a doubt, the emotional drain for the Bulldogs left them running on empty for their first game against the Gophers last weekend, losing 5-1 at Mariucci to the speedy Gophers.

The next night, the rivalry shifted to Duluth where UMD rebounded with a 4-3 shootout victory at AMSOIL Arena, which the NCAA counts as a tie. Both games were sellouts, with more than 10,000 at Mariucci and 7,345 at AMSOIL.

Time for a breather? It would be nice, but the Gophers go right to Ann Arbor to face Michigan. For any team, facing North Dakota, Wisconsin’s rejuvenated Badgers, UMD and Michigan on consecutive weekends should earn a trip to Acapulco. But not in the crazy world of college hockey’s biggest rivalries.

“We knew it would be a tough series against Duluth,” said Gopher coach Bob Motzko, after the Bulldogs came back from a lethargic first game for a high-speed and intense rematch. “We knew they’d be better in the second game. And we’re not close to getting into our offensive rhythm yet. They had a quick start and we took two really bad penalties. On the road, you have to be disciplined.”

Rhett Pitlick continues his flight as UMD secures shootout victory. (MHM Photo / John Gilbert)

Back-and-forth between Gophers, Bulldogs
UMD, on the other hand, is also rebuilding a bit, and the experience gained early by the Bulldogs, who started off 3-0-2 with both of the ties being shootout wins, got another shot at the game-deciding plan, which counts for an extra point in league play but is only for deciding official ties in interleague play.

In the second game of the weekend between UMD and the Gophers, the Bulldogs’ Jack Smith scored his first collegiate goal for a 1-0 lead, but Jimmy Snuggerud tied it with his sixth goal of the season for Minnesota. Midway through the second period, Snuggerud took a cross-checking penalty in front of UMD’s goal — one of the bad penalties Motzko later referred to. It was made worse when UMD’s Cole Spicer showed the merits of getting a chance to center the first line and drilled a power-play goal to regain the lead at 2-1. Minnesota again tied it, when Aaron Huglen scored a power-play goal after UMD coach Scott Sandelin might have had a gripe about the hooking penalty Kyler Kleven was assessed to create that Minnesota power play.

Minnesota took a 3-2 lead when Jaxon Nelson scored later in the second period, which ended with Connor Kurth took a last-minute penalty for hooking. The overlapping power play gave UMD’s top sniper, Ben Steeves, a small opening, which was all he needed to drill a perfect pass to the top of the right circle from Luke Loheit at 0:53 of the third period for a 3-3 tie. It stayed deadlocked through to the end of regulation and 3-on-3 overtime, which was mostly 4-on-3 because Minnesota’s Rhett Pitlick was called for an extra man, and then UMD’s Carter Loney was called for tripping Snuggerud as he tried to break out of the Minnesota end to give the Gophers the extra skater.

But repeated blocks of Gopher missiles and some huge saves by UMD goaltender Matthew Thiessen held the tie, and it was on to the shootout, where Thiessen again was the star. Brett Olson skated in and beat Gophers netminder Justen Close inside the left post on the first try, and Thiessen made a big save on Brody Lamb at the other end. Steeves then skated in and whistled a shot past Close on the second UMD try, so when Thiessen went down and stacked the pads to block Pitlick’s shot and send him flying across the crease, UMD had regained its form with a 4-3 shootout victory (though officially a tie).

UMD sophomore Cole Spicer celebrated his goal that gave the Bulldogs a 2-1 lead in Saturday night’s 3-3 tie with Minnesota. (MHM Photo / John Gilbert)

Familiar foe for UMD’s Spicer
Spicer’s goal in the game was another contribution to the rivalry scenario.

“I played two years at the U-18 team in the U.S. Development program,” Spicer said. “When I was there, I was teammates with Snuggerud and Ryan Chesley of the Gophers.”

So, matching goals with Snuggerud was a special treat for Spicer, a sophomore who didn’t play much last year after transferring from North Dakota. Spicer grew up in Grand Forks, and his family has a tradition of great athletes who all played for the Fighting Sioux back in the day when that nickname was proper.

“I committed to North Dakota when I was 14 years old, because my dream growing up was to play there,” Spicer said. “I left high school after one year and played on a Triple-A team in Michigan, then played my junior and senior years on the U-18 team. A year ago, I went to North Dakota and enrolled as a freshman, but they told me because of COVID, some older players had stayed for a fifth year, and they brought in some older junior players, so they wanted me to go back and play another year in junior.”

To say that was a disappointment would be an understatement, so Spicer decommitted at UND and opened his recruiting channels again. UMD associate head coach Adam Krause called Spicer, followed by a call from Sandelin, according to Spicer.

“I accepted their offer right away, because I love the whole culture at UMD,” Spicer said. “Coach Sandelin might have great players or not, but he manages to win. We’ve got a big family here. I’m living with four other guys, and we get together and have other players over to our place every Sunday to watch football and have a lot of laughs. Everybody is a great guy on this team, and I don’t regret what happened to me at all.”

Spicer, who was placed between grad students Quinn Olson and Loheit on the first line when Dominic James suffered a season-ending injury two weeks into the season, now has four goals and is seeing quality time on both the power play and penalty kills. And as rivalries go, he has another one coming up imminently.

North Dakota comes to Duluth for a series to open the NCHC regular season at AMSOIL Arena.

The post Rivalry: Gophers vs. Bulldogs 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.

Gopher and Badger alums to face off in a true border battle

It’s not unusual for teams from neighboring states and communities at any level of sport to square off in what has been commonly dubbed a “Border Battle.” What is rare, however, is for these battles to literally be contested on the border.

Such is the case on Friday, Jan. 20 when a who’s who of University of Minnesota alumni hosts a star-studded collection of former Wisconsin Badgers on the banks of the St. Croix River. The outdoor contest in Stillwater’s Lowell Park is one of the warm-up acts for Saturday’s Hockey Day Minnesota festivities.

Friday’s events begin with a team of firefighters taking on the police at 4:00 p.m. followed by a 6:00 p.m. meeting between the Minnesota Whitecaps women’s pro team and the Korean National Team. The puck drops on the Gopher/Badger reunion party at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and will be played concurrently with Minnesota’s game at Wisconsin that night.

The players are looking forward to getting back to their outdoor roots and sharing the experience with old friends and former foes.

Former Gopher Jordan Leopold in his Minnesota Wild debut on Tuesday, March 3, 2015 in a Minnesota win over the Ottawa Senators at Xcel Energy Center. (MHM Photo / Jeff Wegge)

“Outdoor hockey is in our blood,” former Gopher All-American and Hobey Baker Award winner Jordan Leopold said. “All of us guys grew up on the outdoor rinks, or the ponds or whatever it may be. So to get an opportunity to go out and go into a man-made ice arena right next to the bridge, right next to the river, is pretty cool.”

Leopold’s “pond” was Golden Valley’s Wesley Park, roughly a mile from his childhood home. It’s where he honed the skills which propelled him to a 12-season, eight-team NHL career after winning a national championship with the Gophers in 2002.

“I’d get off the school bus and go walk down there, go skate, come back home and go to practice. That was kind of my routine every day. Then also I went up to my grandparents’ lake place, shoveled off a rink and was up there all weekend skating, snowmobiling or whatever it may be.”

Former Wisconsin star, Paul Ranheim’s “pond” was at Edina’s Creek Valley Elementary School where his dream of leading the Hornets to a state championship was born.

“That’s where I went every chance I got,” said Ranheim whose dream was realized as a senior in 1984. “We spent every weekend there. We’d get dropped off with a bag lunch and a, ‘See you later.’”

One of the alumni game’s elder statesmen, the 50-year-old Ranheim was lured into participating by a fellow former Badger. “I got a call or a text from my old teammate, Tom Sagissor, and he says, ‘You’re playing in the alumni game and you’re on my line,’” Ranheim said. “I said, ‘Alright, but you better pass the puck to me.’”

Less than 24 hours after skating side-by-side, however, the pair will have opposing interests on that very rink. Ranheim, an Eden Prairie high school assistant coach, and his Eagles play Sagissor’s son, T.J., and the rest of the Stillwater Ponies at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday.

Will Eden Prairie players be there on Friday night watching Ranheim with interest, much like Minnesota Wild players did nearly a year ago when Wild assistant coach Darby Hendrickson and former assistant Andrew Brunette skated in the Stadium Series alumni game?

The 1988 First-Team All-American and Hobey Baker Award finalist laughed at the notion.

“I hope they’re home resting for the game the next day so they don’t get to actually see what the old coach looks like,” Ranheim said. “He’s a shadow of his former self.”

Eden Prairie assistant and former Badger Paul Ranheim looks on as his Eagles host Prior Lake on Jan. 7, 2016. (MHM Photo by Jonny Watkins)

A veteran of 15 NHL seasons with five teams, including the Calgary Flames who drafted him in the second round (No. 38 overall) of the 1984 NHL Draft, Ranheim said he’s not doing anything special to prepare for the reunion.

“I’m not doing sprints and Herbies,” Ranheim said. “I’m on the ice every day so it’s not like I haven’t been on skates for a while. I just hope it isn’t too fast paced. I hope it’s more of a casual, gentleman’s game.”

The 36-year-old Leopold, meanwhile, has taken some time off, but the 1999 second-round pick (No. 44 overall) by the Anaheim Mighty Ducks says he’s not worried.

“I’ve kind of taken a good eight months off of hockey just coaching my kid,” Leopold said. “I haven’t really worked out a bunch but, you know, when you go out there it’s like riding a bike.

“The muscles may be a little bit sore but more than anything it’s the laughs, it’s seeing the guys, having a couple adult beverages, it’s all about good fun.”

While Ranheim says he’s really looking forward to meeting some of the younger former Badgers he never played with, Leopold is most eager to reunite with the guys from the 2002 Frozen Four title team.

“We don’t get to see each other that much anymore. we all have kids, lives jobs,” Leopold said. “Then you’ve got guys on the other side who I grew up either watching or playing against too.”

Although Leopold and Ranheim played in vastly different eras and never faced one another in college, the two met twice on NHL ice on Feb. 23 and March 24 of 2003, Ranheim’s final season and Leopold’s rookie campaign.

Both players, though, are simply excited about the opportunity to enjoy night playing the game they love outdoors with their friends and share a few laughs along the way, all the  while adding a unique layer to an old, bitter rivalry.

“Playing old Bucky Badger right on the border is,” Leopold paused. “I guess you can’t say you do that every day.”

Border Battle Rosters

The post A Rivalry Renewed appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

No. 3 Wisconsin swept Minnesota State in WCHA women’s action with a pair of shutout wins at the Verizon Wireless Center, but the intriguing aspect of the series was found on the benches. Minnesota State coach John Harrington and Wisconsin coach Mark Johnson, teammates on Herb Brooks’ gold-medal-winning 1980 “Miracle on Ice” team, went head-to head in a first-of -its-kind matchup. Photographer Jaylynn Nash captured some of the action on and off the ice on Saturday.

[See image gallery at minnesotahockeymag.com]

The post Gallery: Gold Medal Matchup appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Forever-linked Johnson, Harrington to go head-to-head from the bench

They have trained together, played together on the most inspirational gold medal team in U.S. Olympic history and beat the USSR hockey juggernaut in the “Miracle on Ice.”

They have signed countless autographs while sitting by one another at memorabilia shows and stood next to one another while their teammates lit the Olympic torch. They have heard thousands of people go to the way-back machine and tell them where they were that February weekend in Lake Placid, N.Y. in 1980.

But they have never coached against one another – until this weekend in Mankato, Minn. when Mark Johnson leads the unbeaten University of Wisconsin women’s hockey team against first-year coach John Harrington and his über-young Minnesota State Mavericks.

“It will be awkward to see him on the other bench,” Johnson said. “The only time I ever coached against him was at fantasy camp at Lake Placid last March. My team won the gold medal.  John’s didn’t do so well.”

Johnson chuckled. He knows what a competitor Harrington is.  Sure enough, Harrington had a response for Johnson.

“I needed to fire my general manager who picked the fantasy team. Neal (Broten) was my GM and we had a poor draft,” Harrington said.

When it was suggested that Harrington has a tough time losing – at hockey or golf, or trivial pursuit, for that matter – the man known as “Bah” interrupted. “Mark is as competitive as I am. He just does it with a different demeanor than me.”

The friends and ex-teammates will come at this weekend’s Western Collegiate Hockey Association series with different perspectives. Johnson’s Badgers, an NCAA Frozen Four finalist last year, are unbeaten in eight games this season, have outscored opponents 42-2 and have registered a program-record (and WCHA record-tying) six-straight shutouts in league games.

Minnesota State head coach John Harrington (right). (WCHA.com photo)

Harrington’s Mavericks have yet to win a WCHA game and are 2-7-1 overall. The Mavs dropped a pair of games last weekend at Ohio State while skating 17 freshmen and sophomores. “We have two seniors and one hurt her ankle and the other had a concussion,” said Harrington. “We have a lot of growing pains, but our team is getting more accustomed to the pace of the league and getting better each week. But here comes Wisconsin who hasn’t allowed a goal to anyone and we are averaging 1.1 goals a game.

“I just hope Mark takes it easy on us,” Harrington said. The tone in his voice said Harrington’s team won’t roll over for the Big Red.

Harrington and Johnson have come a long way since being fresh-faced kids who stood on the podium at Lake Placid 35 years ago with gold medals around their necks, while the national anthem played and the country’s sports fans became hockey fans filled with patriotic frenzy.

They were “Bah” and “Magic” then. Harrington was a member of the Conehead Line with Mark Pavelich and Buzz Schneider, while Johnson earned the nickname Magic for his play as the Olympic team’s leading scorer. Now they are they are called grandpa around their families. Both are 58 years old, but still are in great shape physically – probably below the weight they played at in Lake Placid. Harrington works out religiously and Johnson ran his seventh Ironman Triathlon with his son Patrick over Labor Day weekend.

Both are hockey guys, lifers in a sport they love. They aren’t living in the past as characters in the movie “Miracle.” They have forged careers in the sport they love.

Before they became teammates on Herb Brooks’ 1980 Olympic team, Harrington and Johnson played against each other in the WCHA. Johnson played for his dad, the iconic Badger Bob Johnson, at Wisconsin, scoring 40 goals as a freshman in his hometown of Madison, Wis. and winning a NCAA title in 1977. Mark was an All-American who scored 125 goals and had 256 points in three seasons at UW.  Harrington was an overachieving, walk-on from Virginia, Minn. who played at Minnesota Duluth and became a force in the WCHA while playing on a line with fellow Iron Ranger and future Olympian Pavelich.

Following their collegiate careers, Johnson was the leading scorer on the U.S. Olympic team with 11 points, including two goals against the Russians, and Harrington was credited with an assist on Mike Eruzione’s go-ahead, game-winning goal against the Soviet Union in the “Miracle on Ice” semifinal win. Harrington also played on the 1984 U.S. Olympic Team, while Johnson went on to an 11-year career in the National Hockey League, including a 1983-84 season with Hartford when he was the Whalers’ leading scorer with 87 points and tied an NHL All-Star Game record with three assists.

Johnson and Harrington are the only two members of the 1980 U.S. Olympic team to be actively coaching, after Mike Ramsey left the Minnesota Wild’s NHL organization two years ago. Both proudly consider themselves career coaches. Harrington has won titles as a Division III coach, a European pro coach; and, he won a pool B title as Team Slovenia’s head coach at the world championships. Johnson has 368 career victories in 13 seasons at Wisconsin, fourth best all-time in women’s collegiate hockey and 18 wins away from tying former Minnesota Duluth coach Shannon Miller for third place.

“All kidding aside, this will be exciting, coaching against Mark,” said Harrington. “He is one of the great coaches in women’s hockey. I have watched his games in the past as a fan but now, when I study his team on video more closely, I am impressed at how well they do the little things. They have a lot of talented players, but they are just a well-coached team.”

After Johnson’s playing days ended in 1993, he returned to Madison and started at the bottom of the coaching rung. Johnson was an assistant coach at his alma mater, Madison Memorial High School. The next year he coached at Verona High School and in 1995 took a pro job in the Colonial Hockey League with the Madison Monsters, where he coached current North Dakota coach Brian Idalski.

In 1996, the legendary Jeff Sauer hired Johnson to be an assistant coach with Wisconsin’s men’s team, a position he held until 2002 when Sauer retired. There are many folks in Madison today that still wish Johnson succeeded Sauer, but UW athletic director Pat Richter chose to hire Mike Eaves, a former teammate of Mark’s. Johnson then applied to be coach of the UW women’s program, got hired and has experienced great success.

With Johnson on the bench the last 12 years, the Badgers have won four NCAA titles, five WCHA playoff titles and four WCHA regular season crowns while producing four Patty Kazmaier Award winners.

The success has not gone unnoticed. Johnson was named coach of the U.S. Olympic team in 2010 and the American women collected the silver medal, losing 2-0 to Canada in Vancouver, B.C. He has become the face of women’s hockey to many people in North America, but Mark is not the outgoing salesman of the game that “Badger Bob” was. He is more a teacher, quietly explaining the game to anyone who will listen.

You have to ask both Johnson and Harrington if you want to talk about what happened in the Olympics in 1980. Harrington said his new team has yet to ask to see his gold medal. Aside from signing DVDs from the movie “Miracle” or politely talking with fans who bring up Lake Placid in 1980 at the rink, they are unlikely to talk about the past. Harrington sold his Olympic jersey and other gear last year to help finance his daughter in nursing school. They still do the occasional autograph show to sign memorabilia and coached together at the 1980 team fantasy reunion camp last winter. But both guys are very much coaches now, concerned with the present and not living in the past.

Johnson, whose daughter Mikayla is a winger on his team, said “he was very pleased” with his third-ranked team’s two shutout wins over No. 6 Bemidji last week. “Bemidji has a good team. They can limit your chances, have a good goalie and some seniors that can score. When we got (Sarah) Nurse back (from missing two games with an illness) we had a complete team and a good effort.”

Now it’s a road trip to face his old friend and the Mavericks.

Wisconsin head coach Mark Johnson. (WCHA.com photo)

“I think it will be fun,” said Johnson.  “Of all the players on the (1980 U.S. Olympic) team, you are closer to some more than others and Bah is one of those I have always been friends with. We have kept in contact over the years. When he was coaching at St. John’s (in Collegeville, Minn.), we’d talk a lot and we have kept in contact regularly.”

Harrington was an assistant coach at Denver and St. Cloud State (men’s team) before becoming the head coach at St. John’s from 1993-2008, where he led the Johnnies to a 241-142-31 record, five MIAC regular-season titles, five NCAA Division III tournament appearances and four MIAC playoff titles. He coached pro players in Switzerland and Austria and coached the Slovenian national team before taking a scouting job with the Colorado Avalanche. During his tenure with the Avs, Harrington helped out as a volunteer assistant with St. Cloud State’s women’s team and enjoyed the experience.

When the Minnesota State job opened up, Harrington applied for the job, conferred with his old buddy Mike Hastings, the Minnesota State men’s coach, and then called Johnson.

“We’ve had other talks about coaching over the years, but last spring at fantasy camp in Lake Placid, I talked to him about the women’s game and how he enjoyed it and the transition he made from coaching the men (as an assistant) at Wisconsin to becoming the women’s coach,” said Harrington.

“We just talked about the women’s game, in general, and about the league,” recalled Johnson. “I am glad it all worked out for him. He is a very knowledgeable coach. I am sure he is finding his way around the league right now, but he has had a lot of success over the years and I am sure he will there.”

This weekend’s games will be the second women’s series held at the renovated Verizon Wireless Center after years at old, rickety All Seasons Arena, and it will be the first series overhead with a large jumbotron scoreboard overhead.

“It is awesome,’’ said Harrington. “It is a good-looking arena now. Everyone who has seen the place is very impressed.”

“The move to the big rink will give him a fresh start. It was a good time for John to go in there,” Johnson said. “Obviously moving downtown and them renovating their facility downtown and bringing the women’s program back to that facility is a step that’s going to be really positive for that group to start over.”

In future years, there may be bragging rights at stake when Harrington and Johnson go head-to-head. This weekend, it may be more of a reunion, a time to catch up with an old friend who is starting a rebuilding project.

“John has a great track record with a lot of different programs,” said Johnson. “It will be his first time with the women’s side, but I think he’ll do a good job and have an opportunity to put women’s hockey on a different level in his city.”

The post Golden Boys appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Leveille’s 34 saves leads Minnesota back to Frozen Four final

Minneapolis — Backstopped by superb goaltending from Amanda Leveille, the Gophers climbed into the national championship game in women’s hockey for the fourth consecutive year Friday.

Minnesota, which won NCAA titles in 2012 and ’13 before falling in the final a year ago, rallied with three goals within 8 minutes, 1 second of the second period and knocked out Wisconsin 3-1 in the women’s Frozen Four opener in front of 3,400 at Ridder Arena.

For long stretches early on, this looked like Wisconsin’s game. The Badgers built a lopsided early advantage in shots on goal, then grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first minute of the second period.

But that was all Leveille, a 5-foot-7 junior from Kingston, Ontario, would yield.

“We had our opportunities,” Badgers coach Mark Johnson said, “but we didn’t capitalize.”

That was never more evident than late in the second period, when Leveille, with Minnesota leading 2-1, left a tantalizing rebound in the right faceoff circle and Wisconsin center Blayre Turnbull got a bead on it.

Leveille, at the opposite corner of the net for the earlier save, had a long way to travel for Turnbull’s quick shot, but she got there.

“A little bit of luck,” Leveille said.

“Somehow, she slid across and made that glove save,” Gophers coach Brad Frost said. “And we were able to score shortly after that to go up 3-1. It could have been 2-2 there and they have the momentum; instead it’s 3-1 and we were able to hang on.”

The Badgers outshot Minnesota 12-7 in the first period and 10-3 in the third and finished with a 35-23 edge.

“In the first, Amanda made two or three saves, just back to back to back, to keep it 0-0,” Frost. “That was obviously huge.”

Brandt says she has seen numerous good games from Leveille, but Friday was near perfection.

“That’s the best game I’ve ever seen her play,” Brandt added.

Wisconsin outshot Minnesota 35-23, including 10-3 in the final period, but Leveille made the key saves to raise her season record to 27-3-3.

“Their elite players, their go-to players, seemed to come up big in the big moments when they needed a boost,” Johnson said.

Goals by Hannah Brandt, Maryanne Menefee and Kelly Pannek erased a 1-0 deficit and allowed Minnesota to extend its season record against Wisconsin to 4-0-1.

None proved bigger than Brandt’s, which came on a rebound 8:53 into the second period to draw Minnesota even.

Until then, the Badgers seemed in control.

“Wisconsin is really, really good,” Frost said. “They’re playing unbelievable hockey, and it took us awhile to get our legs. Once Hannah scored that goal you could just feel the tide turn a little bit.

“They came off the ice and I said, ‘Did you guys hear the crowd?’ They were too involved in the game, but I heard it. It felt like the roof was going to blow off the place. It was just awesome, but it took that goal to really get us going.”

Minnesota, seeded No. 1 entering NCAA play, advanced to the final with a 33-3-4 record while the fourth-seeded Badgers finished with a 29-7-4 mark.

The post Gophers roll over Badgers appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.