Women's Hockey
Women's Hockey
WOMEN'S HOCKEY: Huskies Picked 4th In Preseason Poll
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Women's Hockey picked fourth in WCHA preseason coaches' poll. |
Defending national champ Wisconsin picked to win WCHA
Coaches pick defending WCHA champ Minnesota second and UMD third in preseason coaches poll; Season starts Friday as WCHA Stars face Team USA in St. Paul; Three teams play exhibition games this weekend.
MADISON, Wis. -- Defending national champion University of Wisconsin is without its head coach and many familiar faces, but the Badgers are the preseason pick to win the Western Collegiate Hockey Association women’s title, according to a poll of league coaches.
The Badgers collected six first place votes and 48 points in the poll of the eight coaches and edged out defending WCHA champion Minnesota, which placed second with 43 points and two first place votes. Minnesota Duluth, with 38 points, was selected to finish third. All three of those teams qualified for the National Collegiate Athletic Association Frozen Four last season.
St. Cloud State was picked to finish fourth, followed by Ohio State, North Dakota, Minnesota State, Mankato and Bemidji State.
Wisconsin’s sophomore forward Brooke Ammerman received five votes and is the coaches’ pick to be preseason player of the year. Ohio State sophomore forward Natalie Spooner is the pick of two coaches for player of year and Minnesota Duluth senior forward Saara Tuominen also received a vote.
Wisconsin’s Brianna Decker, a forward, received six votes and is the coaches’ choice as preseason rookie of the year while Ohio State’s forward Hokey Langan and Minnesota Duluth goalie Jennifer Hars each received a vote.
With the Winter Olympics in February, many rosters are juggled this season. Wisconsin coach Mark Johnson has taken a sabbatical to coach Team USA and his job at UW has been filled by veteran assistant coach Tracy DeKeyser. Johnson’s 22-member Team USA roster is filled with 15 current and former WCHA players, including UW’s Hilary Knight and Meghan Duggan and North Dakota’s Monique and Jocelyn Lamoureux who are all underclassmen. Currently there are 33 current and former WCA players listed on national team rosters and planning to play in the Games in Vancouver, B.C. in February.
Eric Means, who takes over at Minnesota State, Mankato, joins DeKeyser as a new voice behind the bench in the WCHA this season.
Poll results:
1. Wisconsin (6 first place votes) 48 points
2. Minnesota (2) 43
3. Minnesota Duluth 38
4. St. Cloud State 29
5. Ohio State 23
6. North Dakota 20
7. Minnesota State, Mankato 16
8. Bemidji State 7
(Coaches could not vote for their own teams in poll and points were awarded on a 7-6-5-4-3-2-1 system)
Player of year: Brooke Ammerman, Wisconsin, 5 votes; Natalie Spooner, Ohio State, 2; Saara Tuominen, Minnesota Duluth, 1
Rookie of year: Brianna Decker, Wisconsin, 6 votes; Hokey Langan, Ohio State, 1; Jennifer Hars, Minnesota Duluth 1.
This Week in the WCHA
Games for Friday, Sept. 25: University of Manitoba at North Dakota, 7:07 p.m., (ex)
WCHA All Stars vs. U.S. National Team, 7 p.m., St. Paul Xcel Energy Center Games for Saturday, Sept. 26: U.S. National team at St. Cloud State, 7:07 p.m. (ex)
Minnesota Whitecaps at Bemidji State, 2:07 p.m. (ex), canceled
Wilfrid Laurier at Ohio State, 4:07 p.m. (ex)
University of Manitoba at North Dakota, 4:07 p.m. (ex)
WCHA season opens as All Stars face Team USA Friday
The initial on-ice action of 2009-10, scheduled for Sept. 25-26, will be highlighted by a WCHA All-Star Team taking on the U.S. Women's National Team on Friday at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul at 7:07 pm CT. St. Cloud State head coach Jeff Giesen will serve as head coach of the WCHA All-Star Team while Bemidji State's Heather Farrell and North Dakota’s Maria Lewis will serve as assistant coaches. Wisconsin's Mark Johnson is the head coach for the 2010 U.S. Women's National Team.
The 2009-10 WCHA All-Star Team
(Note: players listed with name, year, WCHA team (hometown) (2008-09 statistics for all games)
Goaltenders: Alyssa Grogan, So., Minnesota (Eagan, MN) (16-2-2, 1.67 gaa, .923 sv%); Ashley Nixon, Jr., St. Cloud State (Blaine, MN) (11-14-3, 2.85 gaa, .909 sv%; Zuzana Tomcikova, So., Bemidji State (Bratislava, Slovakia) (5-22-4, 3.09 gaa, .917 sv%).
Defensemen: Brittany Haverstock, So., Wisconsin (Halifax, Nova Scotia) (39 gp, 2-15–17); Danielle Hirsch, Sr., St. Cloud State (Bloomington, MN) (34 gp, 2-18–20); Kelly Lewis, Jr., North Dakota (Forest Lake, MN) (36 gp, 7-12–19); Jaime Rasmussen, Sr., Minnesota Duluth (Garden Grove, CA) (38 gp, 9-12–21); Shannon Reilly, Jr., Ohio State (Chanhassen, MN) (35 gp, 5-14–19); Anne Schleper, So., Minnesota (St. Cloud, MN) (40 gp, 7-19–26); Holly Snyder, Sr., Minnesota State (Kenosha, WI) (36 gp, 6-13–19).
Forwards: Brooke Ammerman, So., Wisconsin (River Vale, NJ) (40 gp, 27-27–54); Emmanuelle Blais, Sr., Minnesota Duluth (Lasalle, Quebec) (33 gp, 10-4–14); Mallory Deluce, Jr., Wisconsin (London, Ontario) (41 gp, 12-20–32); Laura Fridfinnson, Jr., Minnesota Duluth (Arborg, Manitoba) (39 gp, 20-14–34); Jasmine Giles, Sr., Wisconsin (Ottawa, Ontario) (41 gp, 16-29–45); Caitlin Hogan, Sr., St. Cloud State (Oakdale, MN) (37 gp, 14-17–31); Christina Lee, Sr., Minnesota State (Maple Plain, MN) (36 gp, 14-19–33); Laura McIntosh, So., Ohio State (Waterloo, Ontario) (36 gp, 11-28–39); Holly Roberts, Sr., St. Cloud State (St. Cloud, MN) (37 gp, 9-11–20); Natalie Spooner, So., Ohio State (Scarborough, Ontario) (30 gp, 21-9–30); Emily West, Jr., Minnesota (Colorado Springs, CO) (40 gp, 19-21–40); Alyssa Wiebe, So., North Dakota (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan) (36 gp, 13-15–28).
Team Staff
Head Coach: Jeff Giesen, St. Cloud State.
Assistant Coaches: Maria Lewis, North Dakota; Heather Farrell, Bemidji State.
Athletic Trainer: Stef Arndt, St. Cloud State.
Equipment Manager: Paul Hickman, Wisconsin.
Public Relations: Celest Stang, St. Cloud State.
Ticket Information
WCHA All-Stars vs U.S. National Team
Friday, September 25, 7:00 pm CT
Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, MN
http://www.xcelenergycenter.com/index2.jsp
Tickets for the game between the WCHA All-Stars and the U.S. Women’s National Team on Friday, Sept. 25 at 7:00 pm CT are available now via the Xcel Energy Center’s official web site and box office.To visit the Xcel Energy Center’s official web site go to: http://www.xcelenergycenter.com/index2.jsp. Then click on the Sept. 25 Qwest Tour link in the schedule of events.
Xcel Energy Center will also host the final pre-Olympic matchup between the U.S. Women’s National Team and archrival Canada at 7:00 pm CT on Wednesday, Dec. 30.
This will be the third time Xcel Energy Center has hosted the U.S. Women’s National Hockey Team in preparation for the Olympics. Against the same opponents, Team USA played in Saint Paul on Sept. 30, 2005 and Dec. 30, 2005, respectively, as part of their training for the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Torino, Italy. On Oct. 6, 2001, they faced off against the WCHA All-Stars in preparation for the Winter Games in Salt Lake City.
St. Cloud State will also host the U.S. Women's National Team on Saturday at the National Hockey Center while exhibition contests over the weekend will feature North Dakota hosting the University of Manitoba in games Friday and Saturday and Ohio State hosting Wilfrid Laurier in Saturday afternoon games. A Bemidji State game against the Minnesota Whitecaps on Saturday was canceled.
The first regular season action will occur the weekend of Oct. 2-4. Defending national champion Wisconsin, under interim coach Tracy DeKeyser will open this season's 112-game league slate at home at the Kohl Center in Madison against North Dakota. In non-conference play, Minnesota plays host to Syracuse, Bemidji State travels to Mercyhurst, Minnesota Duluth hosts Robert Morris, Ohio State heads to Boston University, and St. Cloud State entertains Niagara. Minnesota State, Mankato, under new head coach Eric Means, will host an exhibition matchup with the Minnesota Whitecaps on Oct. 2.
Other 2009-10 conference openers, by team, are: Bemidji State (Oct. 10-11 vs Wisconsin), defending WCHA champion Minnesota (Oct. 9-10 at Ohio State), Minnesota Duluth (Oct. 10-11 vs St. Cloud State), Minnesota State (Oct. 17-18 at North Dakota), Ohio State (Oct. 9-10 vs Minnesota), and St. Cloud State (Oct. 10-11 at Minnesota Duluth).
The battle for the 2008-09 WCHA regular season championship will again consist of a 28-game schedule for each of the league's eight clubs, with each team playing the other seven four times - twice at home and twice on the road.During the course of the season, there will be a total of eight weekends that will consist of all eight member teams engaged in WCHA play. They are Oct. 16-18, Dec. 11-13, Jan. 15-17, Jan. 22-23, Jan. 29-31, Feb. 5-8, Feb. 12-13 and Feb. 19-20. The league schedule concludes Feb. 20.
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