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September 23, 2025 • 12 mins
The Women, who've won back to back Hockey East Regular Season Titles, look not only to three peat, but get back to the NCAA's with the toughest schedle in program history. Starting with St. Cloud State at home this weekend.
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Episode Transcript

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Speaker 1 (00:00):
We have high expectations this year.

Speaker 2 (00:02):
Back to back regular season champions.

Speaker 1 (00:04):
In Hockey East.

Speaker 2 (00:06):
We have lofty goals to keep raising our program. A
solid opponent like Saint Cloud is a good measure nationally
to see where we're at, and we are looking to
have a strong non conference record this year and hopefully
have a great weekend against Saint Cloud.

Speaker 1 (00:26):
Questions with Tia.

Speaker 3 (00:29):
Obviously, she's been being a tandem with Megan the last
couple of years, So what does the strategy for goaltending
look like this year with Tia and you know, a
couple of other faces in the see we.

Speaker 2 (00:39):
Got we can lean on Tia for sure and her experience.
Really happy with our other two goaltenders. They saw action
in our exhibition game with Quinnipiac. But you know, when
you're returning your first team All Star goaltender, I think
that's something we're going to look to rely on right
away and go from there. So I really like our
freshman Taylor Belchez. She's looked well. She'll need a little

(01:01):
more seasoning and then, but she'll get in this year too.

Speaker 4 (01:05):
What about picking up Julian Peller in the transferport one
of the top freshmen league last year.

Speaker 2 (01:10):
How she impact you guys, She's got I think if
you talk to our team, she's got a lot of
speed and skill. Every practice she does something offensively that
you know, we we haven't had a lot of that
on our team over the years, So I think it's
a welcome addition. She's fit right in, working hard and
part of the team.

Speaker 3 (01:30):
Coach, your senior class has stayed together all four years.

Speaker 1 (01:34):
What can you say to that experience.

Speaker 3 (01:36):
And just having that as a group of kids to
leave them?

Speaker 2 (01:41):
And I would say that group, this group, here are
these seniors they I think they know they've learned from
some good leaders over the past years. They have experienced
they can lean on, and they'll evolve as seniors from.

Speaker 1 (01:56):
When they were their freshman year.

Speaker 2 (01:57):
So I think any good measure of a team is
student athlete led.

Speaker 1 (02:03):
They lead themselves. Uh and I'm.

Speaker 2 (02:05):
Just showing up and coaching. It makes life a lot easier.
I think they know that. But no, this this group,
they've they've evolved and we just have to see how
we react when adversity hits and go from there.

Speaker 4 (02:21):
What does that say to.

Speaker 3 (02:22):
You, though, that you've been able to retain.

Speaker 4 (02:23):
Them with the culture that's been built here in the
building makes them want to stay.

Speaker 2 (02:28):
And be here through their corporate You're going to have
to ask them if it you know, if it was
you know, I really don't know. You're making me blush.

Speaker 1 (02:38):
Uh, yeah, I really.

Speaker 2 (02:39):
I We try to create as as a coaching staff,
we try to create an environment, uh, for growth, and
environment that they enjoy the game they're playing and all
the while understanding it's a challenging environment, but uh, you
know that's that's part of it, and accepting it and
being basically comfortable in an uncomfortable environment for growth.

Speaker 3 (03:02):
When you're in the recruiting trail, how often and how
exciting is it to be able to mention.

Speaker 1 (03:07):
The draft now and.

Speaker 3 (03:08):
Sort of say, hey, we get girls to go on
and play professional hockey And that conversation wasn't five years.

Speaker 2 (03:13):
Ago that you were able to have that, right, Well,
that's certainly for the growth of women's hockey. That's a
great thing. It's really nice that some of our players
are drafted. We're really looking to get to know players
and I think they already know that information. I don't
really have to even repeat it, but it's something that
I think going forward is going to be more of
a touch point. But yeah, we're happy that and those

(03:37):
players are going to be coming back to training with
us shortly too, so that's a good thing too.

Speaker 1 (03:41):
But yeah, we're on the holistic side.

Speaker 2 (03:45):
We're happy with the growth of women's hockey and I
think that's we're a part of that in some way,
which is great.

Speaker 3 (03:51):
With the growth of your program and the success, how
has that increased the talentble of players that you're able
to now get that maybe you couldn't get.

Speaker 2 (03:59):
It's actually it's funny, thanks for asking that. It's actually
shrunk the number of people we've had to look at.
So maybe traditionally we're looking at maybe fifty names.

Speaker 1 (04:09):
Now it's thirty. We can fill our class with less names.

Speaker 2 (04:12):
It's just it we're able to land those recruits a
little bit maybe easier in some ways. So we're happy
with our upcoming classes here, the one we'll be signing
here in November, and even we're two years out so
we finished that class already to for twenty seven, so
you know, and then the transfer portal could potentially play
a role there. You have to be open to that,

(04:33):
and certainly that's been something that's helped this over the years.

Speaker 4 (04:37):
What about the current freshmen that you have, what do
you like about that group and what have you seen
from them.

Speaker 2 (04:41):
I'm just really happy with their work ethic, They're they're
they're gonna they're gonna grow as the season goes on.
We need our two freshman defensemen to really, you know,
eight minutes up at some points this season.

Speaker 1 (04:54):
So yeah, it'll be a group.

Speaker 2 (04:56):
You'll see them, You'll see them evolve as the season
goes on. We don't have to technically rely on them
right now, but we're going to.

Speaker 1 (05:03):
Need them at some point.

Speaker 3 (05:04):
Did you know you were getting into eight straight years
with the Grimley when.

Speaker 1 (05:08):
You started that whole process four years. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (05:12):
Yeah, it's a neat thing with the Grimley family, and
they clearly established back here. This is their the bar here,
this is the lounge. This is the Grimley Lounge. We
call it because the whole family's there every weekend. But yeah,
it's neat. Their parents if you don't know, their parents
met here at Yukon and played so mom was a
field hockey player, dad's ice hockey. Here we go, you know,

(05:35):
a couple of children and they're both attending here. That's
kind of a neat story. So they they probably love
Yukon more than I do.

Speaker 1 (05:42):
I don't know. And is she one of the two
defendmen that you're saying, yeah, yeah, they need to be going.

Speaker 2 (05:50):
We only have seven defense so we need all seven
of them to play and contribute.

Speaker 5 (05:58):
Important that they have foundations clear and actually to build
on to continue what you've done here.

Speaker 2 (06:05):
I think it's it's great to be able to lean
on them.

Speaker 1 (06:08):
They're not even seniors yet.

Speaker 2 (06:10):
I can't believe it's actually his third year right now,
but yeah, they we're going to lean on them a
lot offensively and hopefully can provide that.

Speaker 1 (06:17):
And Claire's Claire's very.

Speaker 2 (06:22):
If your teammates described, we're very hard working, very committed,
wants to get better, willing to do whatever it takes
to just continue to elevate her game. So great first year,
hoping to build on that or sophomore year.

Speaker 6 (06:35):
Does Claire's performance as a freshman kind of make it
easier to push those freshmen that you need a little
bit more out of coming into this year just using her.

Speaker 2 (06:43):
As an example, Yeah, I think it's it's an example
of it doesn't matter how long you've been here, you
can make a contribution at any point in your career.

Speaker 1 (06:52):
So it could be your freshman year, it could be
your senior year.

Speaker 2 (06:54):
You're going to be able to have the opportunity to
evolve and change your role. You're not just pigeonhole into
something for the whole year. You're gonna be able to
if you contribute and make it painfully obvious that you
earn substantial minutes here, You're going to be able to
do that as a freshman that she would be the
best example of that.

Speaker 3 (07:14):
This may be a little in the leads, but in
terms of Hockey East getting into be a conference that
has multiple bids, Yeah, how did you navigate building a
schedule and just sort of approaching that so that a
regular season Hockey East championship should probably lead to a
berth as well.

Speaker 2 (07:30):
In the NCAA Durnet as a league, we kind of
we mirrored what the men have been doing for a
number of years. We have an unbalanced schedule, so we're
some teams were only we're playing three times, some teams
were only playing twice. What that does is it opens
up to ten non conference games. So now we have
ten non conference games that we can use and build

(07:52):
We used.

Speaker 1 (07:52):
To have seven.

Speaker 2 (07:53):
It wasn't really mathematically enough. Ten will give us a
better chance at more bids in the NCAA tournament. We
still have to perform, we still have to win more games,
but collectively thirty more games for our league is going
to give us an opportunity to you know, just a
better mathematical opportunity to have more teams in a bid.
It hasn't been selecting opponents on cover work out. It's

(08:16):
up to It's up to each program and where they're at.
We want to this will be this. The eight straight
games we're about to play are probably the eight hardest
I can think of as far as ranked opponents that
we've had in the thirteen years I've been here. So
we're you know, it sounds like a great.

Speaker 1 (08:33):
Idea right now.

Speaker 2 (08:33):
If you want to come back after eight games, I'll
let you know where it's at.

Speaker 1 (08:37):
So we'll say maybe. But I think we're no matter what,
we're going to.

Speaker 2 (08:41):
Grow and be better from it, regardless of what the
record is. So I'm always looking ahead and we'll go
from there.

Speaker 6 (08:47):
And if I told you thirteen years ago you have
a schedule that you have now.

Speaker 2 (08:52):
The only thing I would agree is thirteen years ago,
I would not have my hair.

Speaker 1 (08:56):
I already knew that.

Speaker 2 (08:57):
I didn't know I'd be sitting in this lobby with
this utiful hockey arena.

Speaker 1 (09:01):
The schedule I know.

Speaker 2 (09:03):
I think I thought for sure if we could as
a program build to that. I thought there was so
much potential here and it's nice to see that it's
coming to fruition.

Speaker 1 (09:13):
Do you just.

Speaker 4 (09:14):
Look at who you can get and try and get
the best possible teams on the schedule, or do you
have to try and balance the thought with well, I
think we can play these guys competitively and maybe even
get a win.

Speaker 2 (09:25):
You're trying, I think you want to have You want
to find the best possible opponent and have success against them.

Speaker 1 (09:32):
So what you're looking for and you want it. You
want to try to get.

Speaker 2 (09:36):
Teams from each of the other leagues if possible, So
W C, H A, E, C, A C. You know
all of them, so if you can cherry pick out apart,
you're in a good spot. It just helps your strength
to schedule and that will help you with the national rankings.
And then we're very familiar with Hockey East and what
we need to do there and what we can do.

Speaker 3 (09:54):
There is that familiarity to with other coaches as far
as building relationships to get those games.

Speaker 1 (09:59):
Is a hard schedule, I can yeah, but I think
this is a nice spot to come and play. I
mean this is great.

Speaker 2 (10:09):
Yeah, we coaches know each other and we all need games,
so there's a definitely and most of the time it's reciprocal.
So like next year, we will go back to Saint
Cloud just like they're coming to us here. So as
long as you're doing that, I think you're in a
good spot, you'll be able to get games.

Speaker 5 (10:23):
So what excited you most about this year's team.

Speaker 2 (10:26):
It's just it's another chapter in a steady climb of
our program. I'm excited with what we have. I see
a lot of potential and I believe in the team.
And I wouldn't have booked a schedule like this if
I didn't believe we could be in a great spot.
So we were trying to be the best. We have
to play the best, and we have to keep getting

(10:46):
better as a program, and that's what we're doing.

Speaker 5 (10:49):
Is there a personality this program where this particular team
is kind of embraced a certain style attitude.

Speaker 2 (10:58):
We have an identity about our on ice identity. We
want to play fast, hard, smart and with character. So
I think those words mean different things with that acronym FHSC.
If you look inside our jerseys, it's literally inside the
collar of it. But that's just a little inside there,
like that's something that we can always get back to

(11:19):
and talk about from time to time. That might be
the only thing I could think of right there. But
every year the team's different in some way. It's almost
like you're starting over every year. You have to teach
certain things every year. You have to evolve every year.
You might be starting from a higher position in a
different year, but you're basically almost doing the same things
every year. We've added a few things systematically that are

(11:41):
a little different, but again, we're starting over. John wouldn't
always said that, right, you start over every year. This
is coach McKenzie saying it. I don't know if I
have as much weight as him, but that's kind of
what happens.

Speaker 6 (11:55):
So kind of pickybacking off of that, is there something
in this group that you'd say, if you're coming here
to Scotto Family Ice Forum every weekend, this is something
you want to be here to see I think you're
seeing a nationally ranked team that is fun to watch, competitive,

(12:17):
will represent yukon the right way, and.

Speaker 1 (12:21):
Fun to watch. I'll yell at refs if that makes
it better or I can do that, but yeah, it's.

Speaker 2 (12:32):
You know, we've had some big crowds here. We've had
some really good attendance the past few years. I hope
that continues, and I and we're really we're just excited
to have an opponent that has never been here before.

Speaker 1 (12:42):
So it's great
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