The UMD women’s hockey team knows what’s in front of it.
Long Island University.
Look, anyone connected to women’s college hockey knows that this season full of tremendous fifth-year talents and Olympians and national team players is going to culminate with the Frozen Four at Amsoil Arena.
But you’re not going to get too far talking to the Bulldogs about that now.
“I don’t think Coach (Maura Crowell) has mentioned it,” sixth year senior forward Naomi Rogge said this week. “Maybe once. I think we do a good job of ‘OK, what’s in front of us?’ and the road trip is in front of us.”
Last season, Minnesota won the WCHA regular season championship, and it was the Gophers earning the right to host a regional at Ridder Arena. Of course, it was UMD going into Minneapolis and ending Minnesota’s run. The Bulldogs were the ones going to the Frozen Four at Penn State, and it was UMD playing Ohio State in the national championship game.
So you won’t need to tell Crowell or her team that the margin for error is quite slim. Throw in the stacked rosters across the WCHA, and that margin only gets thinner.
UMD returns Rogge for a sixth year (she isn’t going to have her doctorate yet, so she tells me I can’t call her “Dr. Rogge,” which is unfortunate because I loved the idea). 2020-21 captain Ashton Bell is back after winning gold at the Winter Olympics with Canada. 2022 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award top-three finalist Gabbie Hughes is back, though with two new linemates.
(Crowell didn’t divulge those linemates, but Rogge eliminated herself by telling reporters that she’s on a line with Kylie Hanley, one of UMD’s tri-captains who has moved back to forward after spending a good chunk of last season on defense.)
AUDIO: Listen to my conversation with UMD women’s hockey coach Maura Crowell from this week.
The Bulldogs are on quite the trip, spending seven days out east. Crowell and Rogge talked this week about the importance of bonding, and this is certainly a great way to go about that. UMD plays Long Island Saturday and Sunday before heading upstate for games against St. Lawrence (Thursday) and Penn State (Friday) in Canton, N.Y.
Don’t worry, Rogge found a cat-sitter. And it wasn’t me, though I’ve performed the task before. And I’m told experienced cat-sitters are hard to find.
Penn State beat Wisconsin in its season opener Thursday (the Badgers got revenge Friday in a 9-1 thrashing), Long Island shared the NEWHA regular season title last season, and St. Lawrence is no slouch. This is a good early-season test for the Bulldogs before they are home to kick off the WCHA season Oct. 7.
Meanwhile, the NCHC held its annual Media Day on Thursday at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. Here are a few quick thoughts on the day.
1. Best wishes to UMD coach Scott Sandelin, who missed the trip to St. Paul because of a positive COVID test. He is hoping to be back at work early next week. Associate coach Adam Krause represented UMD at Media Day, and he’s been running practices with new assistant Cody Chupp since Sandelin began his quarantine.
2. Defending national champion Denver enters the upcoming season as the overwhelming NCHC favorites, but David Carle knows he has a lot of firepower to replace. Bobby Brink, Carter Savoie, Cole Guttman, and Brett Stapley were all significant offensive contributors who have moved on to the pros. Savoie’s departure wasn’t exactly expected from the outset of the offseason, but Carle is the first to understand that no one is going to feel sorry for the Pioneers’ fortunes.
Nor should they. This is still a loaded hockey team that will be there in the end. With the losses up front, perhaps people will more effectively notice how good a defensive team Denver is.
3. David Hrenak’s five-year run at St. Cloud State ended prematurely last March, as the goaltender was hospitalized with pneumonia and had to miss the Huskies’ NCHC playoff series with UMD, as well as the NCAA Tournament loss to Quinnipiac. Coach Brett Larson brought in Colorado College transfer Dominic Basse, and while his numbers at CC were never eye-popping, his size and skillset are, and it’ll be interesting to see if the change of scenery has a notable impact on his career prospects.
4. The NCHC is marking its tenth year of competition in 2022-23. Commissioner Heather Weems announced Thursday that the league will be putting together an All-Decade Team as part of the celebration, with fans getting to vote on the team. Look for other initiatives marking the anniversary throughout the season, which should be really enjoyable for fans across the conference.
5. Weems gave her first Media Day address, and she struck a chord of positivity during some times of uncertainty surrounding NCAA Division I athletics. Matt Wellens grabbed what I thought was the most significant and, frankly, excellent quote from Weems’ address.
“Obviously, the NCAA and its member institutions have aspects we need to modernize, but lately it seems we get so caught up in the business of sport that we forget about the meaning of sport. College athletics is at its essence about relationships and learning. For a great majority of student-athletes across this country, their athletic careers will end in graduation caps and gowns, but the friendships, mentorships, connections, growth and life skills gained from their participation will continue long after.”
Hit that one on the head.
6. Asked about the increased competition from top to bottom in the league, Miami coach Chris Bergeron offered a blunt assessment.
“We’re not living up to our end of the bargain,” he said. “Our responsibility is to be a functioning, relevant part of this league. In my three years here, we haven’t done that. We need to be more relevant in this league.”
I’ve respected Bergeron since I met him while he was at Bowling Green, because I don’t get a lot of coach-speak out of him. When times are tough, he doesn’t run from it. He holds himself, his staff, and his players accountable. It might not necessarily be for everyone, and I understand that, but you can hear his passion — for his program, for his players, and for the game.
For the record, I think Miami has one of the best goalies in the league in Ludvig Persson. Bergeron said he wants everyone around Persson to do a better job helping him “keep pucks out of our net.” But the coach also talked about the importance of the RedHawks possessing pucks themselves, noting that the analytics show Miami’s offensive zone time and shot margins are way too low.
7. Because the schedule maker is not a nice person, UMD will be the last NCHC team to see Colorado College’s sparkling new Ed Robson Arena. The building has fans throughout the league, possibly none bigger than the Tigers’ second-year coach Kris Mayotte. He’s excited to continue cultivating something special in Colorado Springs, and fifth-year senior captain Bryan Yoon is back to help the Tigers make progress this season.
Mayotte noted that he felt Yoon could have played for just about any program in the country, and it was especially meaningful to the coach that Yoon chose to return to Colorado College.
8. Good on Western Michigan. The Broncos are heading north next week, traveling to Anchorage to play Alaska-Anchorage in UAA’s return to men’s Division I hockey. Second-year coach Pat Ferschweiler said he feels it’s imporant for established programs to not only play the “newcomers” in DI, but he thinks they need to be willing to travel and “give these young men a chance to play home games.” Ferschweiler noted that the WMU staff empowers its players, and no agreement was made to go to Anchorage until the players said they were for the idea, which they did.
It’s an expensive proposition, but it can be great bonding for a team early in the season. The Broncos will bus to Chicago and fly direct to Anchorage, which is a very long day, but it’s a day the players and coaches will spend together.
Western Michigan is easily the biggest name heading to Anchorage this season. Only Alaska-Fairbanks, Arizona State, and Lindenwood are heading there as Division I opponents.
In addition to UAA, Lindenwood plays Division I men’s hockey for the first time this season (though the Lions only have four home games out of 32 scheduled). Stonehill begins a transition to Division I this season, as well. It’s the second year for St. Thomas in Division I, and Augustana joins next season. With so many new programs here and on the horizon, these are great times to be a fan of men’s college hockey.
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