September 24, 2025 • 46 mins
This week's edition of the PodKaz from USCHO.com features the last two segments as hosts Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski look around at each of the five NCAA women's hockey conference at the start of the 2025-26 season.
Defending NCAA champion Wisconsin is the coaches' favorite in the WCHA, but how much with absences for the Olympics mean to the Badgers' chase of a repeat?
In NEWHA, Sacred Heart was picked to finish first after it won the playoff championship against Long Island and made its first NCAA tournament appearance.
Then Nicole and Todd reflect on the first weekend of the season and look ahead to a top-10 nonconference series in the weekend ahead.
The PodKaz is a production of USCHO.com. Have a question for us? Reach out to Nicole (@NicoleHaase) or Todd (@ToddMilewski) on social media or email todd.milewski@uscho.com.
Defending NCAA champion Wisconsin is the coaches' favorite in the WCHA, but how much with absences for the Olympics mean to the Badgers' chase of a repeat?
In NEWHA, Sacred Heart was picked to finish first after it won the playoff championship against Long Island and made its first NCAA tournament appearance.
Then Nicole and Todd reflect on the first weekend of the season and look ahead to a top-10 nonconference series in the weekend ahead.
The PodKaz is a production of USCHO.com. Have a question for us? Reach out to Nicole (@NicoleHaase) or Todd (@ToddMilewski) on social media or email todd.milewski@uscho.com.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Uscho dot com. Hi again, and welcome back to the podcast.
I'm Todd Maleski here with Nicole Hosey from us cho
dot com. This is our third of three episodes early
in the season looking around at the Division one women's
(00:24):
hockey conferences. Today we're going to be looking at the
WCHA and the New HA and let's start with the WHA. Nicole.
This is the conference that has had a stranglehold on
the national championship game over the last couple of years.
Well it's really been two teams. It's been in Wisconsin
and Ohio State and throwing it into Duluth a year before
(00:46):
that for good measure. Is there anything to tell us
that this year is going to be any different? I
guess yeah.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
I mean, don't you think the Olympics make it much
more of a wide open I guess situation. I think
it opens the door for both other I mean maybe
not that, maybe the rest of the conference or the
country things. No, because I do think it maybe opens
the door for someone like Dilute this year. But you know,
there are plenty of other teams that aren't missing as
won't be missing as many players as WHA teams will
(01:18):
be so I think that definitely changes the dynamic. Do
I think that those WHA teams are still going to
have a great season, Absolutely, but I do think it
throws a heck of a lot more question marks. And then.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
Yeah, and question marks on top of question marks. For
the one is that we don't know exactly which series
or start, which series will start the absences and which
of the games necessarily they will miss before the January
February window that will be most of the absence for
(01:53):
Olympic the players that are on the Olympic rosters. So yes,
I do think those are the equalizers this year. Is
that the question of can teams that are losing players
find the players that will fill in? I guess that's
the thing we know there there's depth on a lot
(02:14):
of the teams that are going to lose players, But
are they players that are capable of being a first
line forward or a first power play unit player that
haven't been given those opportunities in the past. And that
is what's gonna be fascinating to me when we get
into the January, end of January and then through February
when the games really start. The matter a lot is
get you're getting into regular season championship territory. How those teams,
(02:40):
I mean, we're talking about Wisconsin, Ohio State, Minnesota.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Will play each other in those final weekends.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
And we're yeah, there's going to be a lot of
a lot of intermingling, I guess between those seats. So
it could be an opportunity for for some of the
some of the other teams that have been in the
bottom half of the w c H to get a
few points here and there too.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
For sure, And like, I just think it opens the
door to to you know, the ECAC Hockey, some of
the teams that are currently ranked sort of in the
middle of the pole. I just think there's gonna be
chances to pick up points and pick up ground. I
think it's a twofold thing with the player the teams
that are gonna be missing a bunch of players. It's
not just depth, because they obviously like their incoming classes,
their younger players are obviously talented. It's about whether or
(03:24):
not they could accelerate at the rate that would them
Like obviously, you know, the players that are coming into
these programs like they're expected at some point will be
to be top line players, right, But maybe the plan
wasn't until their junior or senior years, so like, are
they are those players developed enough and are they prepared
to step into bigger roles? And the other thing is
that a lot of those teams run three four lines
(03:45):
constantly and just frankly won't be able to do that
when you're missing six players, Like it's a much shorter bench,
and so it's not just putting players in a different position,
but also more ice time period and so just the
transitions and all of that that sort of stuff. And
I think one of the things that for me is
the biggest question mark all around is like, so like
(04:06):
Wisconsin could be missing Ava McNaughton, but she could not
make the roster. Other players like it from different programs
could are in the mix that might not make the
final roster because there's is it thirty down to twenty three?
This is what we're expecting, you know? Same for umd
is ev Gascon and Caitlin Kramer. Are they going to
(04:27):
make that roster? And so it's not just knowing like
it's cut and dried that like Wisconsin's gonna be missing
KK Harvey and they have to figure that out. But
some of the other things that they have to figure out.
So it's not even like you can plan for that
for three months. You can't like start playing different lines
and be like you're the person that needs to step
up here, because I don't think anybody knows exactly what
that's gonna look like come late January early February, and
(04:49):
so I think the not just the question mark of
what's that gonna look like and how long will they
be gone and what does that look like in November
all that sort of stuff, but the will this person
even make Olympic final Olympic roster? And how do you
prepare if you start making different line matchups and then
that person is suddenly there or vice versa. You kind
of can't. There's too many contingencies basically, So the way
(05:13):
the ways that you can't plan or prepare for any
of this, I think probably it's pretty infuriating for some
of the coaches.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
Who are all going through it for the first time.
Other than I guess you know, you could lose a
player close to the start of the season that maybe
you weren't anticipating in past cycles when it was a centralization. Yeah,
this is uh, this is gonna be new for the
coaches who are gonna have to adjust on the fly
a lot of ways, and it'll give us a lot
(05:42):
to talk about as the season goes on.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
I know that fun for sure.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
It is. It's gonna be fun. It's gonna, like, like
I said, it's going to give players some new opportunities
and then you know, maybe they take that. If it's
a say it's a sophomore, they take that. And if
those opportunities are there again and the next season they're
they're more ready for it. And I think that's gonna
be something that could benefit a lot of those players,
(06:07):
younger players who are stepping into bigger skates.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
Yeah, And another sort of hypothetical is you know what
if you know your players are gone from from mid
January to mid February. Let's say, right your Olympic players
come back, they're probably exhausted. If someone has played spectacular
in the role and you're heading into the playoffs, do
you ride the momentum? Where do you fit those now
very tired international players back in with giving them enough
(06:34):
time to recover and also not messing with the chemistry
that you've built so these like I hate that. All
we've been saying is we don't know, and there are
so many questions, but like, this is what I mean,
because spend the next hour just coming up with questions
about like what happens when this happened. It's not like
a we're not fawning it off, like oh, I don't
know what to say. It's like there's there's literally infinite
(06:55):
situations that could arise, and every coach and every team
is going to both plan for them differently and then
execute them differently no matter how much they plan. And
so that's what I think is kind of infuriating from
a light. Let's talk about what this scene is going
to look like and lets some predict things, but is
going to make it amazing to watch? Like every weekend
(07:16):
should be a little bit chaotic, which as we know,
it's my favorite.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
So the more chaos, the more fun is how it
ends up being.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
Yeah, and.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
Wisconsin is the defending national champion, coming back after a
come from behind win against Ohio State in the just
a really incredible national championship game in Minneapolis last season,
Ohio State taking that into the offseason. Then Nadine Mazahl
said it on the WCHA Coaches Conference before the season
(07:52):
that you know, eighteen point nine seconds was basically burned
in their minds all summer, and that's a pretty good motivator.
And we saw what happen up and when they had
a motivator two years ago and they they ran off
a pretty good season and won the championship. It's UH,
Wisconsin picked for first and pretty much everything w c
(08:12):
h A. Also in the u c h O dot
com preseason poll UH unanimously there, Ohio state second, Minnesota third,
and the national poll House State Minnesota tied for second
in the WHA coaches preseason rankings UH and Duluth finishing
fourth in the coaches poll. There. I that's more of
(08:33):
the same, right, That's that's what we've come to expect
on of the w c h A. Is there any
We've been kind of teased a couple of times of
the last few years that Saint Cloud is ready to
make a jump, is ready to be there, and and
I think coaches are a little higher on Saint Thomas
this season. They're making progress, They're going into a new arena,
(08:54):
These are all the kind of things they're they're going
into it into this season where they first time full
time head coach and Bethley Brazen, who got the full
time position after being the interim the finished last season.
But do you think it's it's set that we're gonna
have a top four bottom four again, that's the same
(09:15):
characters as as a pastor, is this year with the
Olympics absences, that maybe we we find a different order
of things?
Speaker 2 (09:24):
That is an impossible question. In a vacuum, I would
have said, well that, like, knowing the Olympic stuff, I
would have said yes. But like you said, you also
have Saint Cloud State with a new coach in Mira,
and I don't want to pronounce her wrong, her name.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
Wrong, Yulos, I believe. I'm sorry, sorry, But.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
One of these things we'll get we'll get it right.
And so so you've got the two programs that I
think probably have the best opportunity in terms of their
roster and like where they've been in the last two
years sort of in in a little bit of transition,
and Saint Thomas is probably a little more secure than
Saint Cloud is. St does have the bonus that Mira
was an assistant underneath a dull sky like she she's
(10:04):
super familiar with it. She you know, as a former player.
I don't think there's gonna be a ton of growing
pains transition there, but there's just in yeah, Like if
you'd have asked me that before coaching changes and things
like that, i'd say, yeah, I think so too, but
now I don't know. And the other thing I would
say is that I was maybe like optimistically very high
(10:26):
on Minnesota Duluth heading into this season and they're series
this weekend. Definitely, I wouldn't say like kill bat or anything,
but like tempered it. I just I didn't expect them,
their defense and their goaltending to give up as much
as they did. And so it's funny because Matt Wellens
has been posting some stuff. Matt is the Minnesota de
(10:49):
Beat writer up and he was saying like he was
saying he doesn't think or their their podcast was saying
they don't think they're going to score a lot of goals,
and I was like, friends, they're gonna score. Like they
were really worried that they were going to play a
lunch of one O two O games like EV stopping
everything and I'm scoring one goal. And I was like, oh,
I think you guys are underestimating this team. And so
I overestimate. They overestimated you know, defense, and I you know,
(11:11):
I think the offense is okay. Friends, So yeah, I'm
still very high on Minnesota Duluth. I just think they
picked up a ton of really good pieces in the
off season. And again it's dependent on Creamer and Guesscon
being there. But I'm really high on Josie Saint Martin.
I thought she was like outstanding at e eighteens and
(11:32):
she just kind of disappeared last year at Ohio State,
Like I just don't it wasn't a good fit for
whatever reason. She already you know, went out and scored
this week this past weekend. Oh I think putting her
in a different situation where she's going to be more comfortable,
I expect her to have a huge breakout season. She
she alone, I think could be the difference made her
for them. But yeah, I the problem is the difference
(11:55):
between four and five and the w c h A.
It's not it's not a standard one step right, and
so if you're improving like that's that's the thing. It's
the same thing that happens in the wh or I'm sorry,
the ECAC. But maybe like not one through four, maybe
like from six to five or whatever it is. But yeah,
it's like, however much you improve the teams above, you
(12:16):
are also doing all of that, and so there's just
like a ceiling based on being a smaller school, having
different recruiting capabilities, having different you know, scholarship capabilities, all
that sort of stuff, Like they just how do you
compete with the state school with the kind of budgets
that you know, Minnesota and Wisconsin have. So I don't know.
I would like to say so I'm always wanting, I'm
(12:36):
always pulling for those teams, but you know, it's a
very long wited way of I guess maybe not, probably not.
I don't know. Do you do you see it different?
Speaker 1 (12:45):
I mean, history tells us that there's both in resources
and in in UH talent levels. The top four teams
are consistently the top four teams for a reason. So
that that's why even with a you know, a month
(13:05):
of maybe the gaps being smaller, I don't know if
that's enough for for a lot of change here. I
do see potential for Saint Cloud down the road, especially
as mira Ulos. I'm gonna get that right one of
these d's. It's more established we saw. I mean, Branandolski
(13:26):
did a lot there In a few years, He's gone
on to become the head coach of the p w
h L Vancouver expansion team. So it's it's a significant
change there, but one that can be lessened by the
fact that yes, Mira has experienced there as is bringing
(13:48):
in a I think a recognizable kind of system, So
that remains to be seen.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
I think the door is probably a little more open
that it is in any given year, but it's not
like it's hugely a jar, right Like, Yeah, I do
think that there's more opportunity. I think that's just like
sort of the theme of this season across the board
in every conference is there's just going to be more opportunities,
and I think the most successful teams are going to
be the ones that take advantage of it, whether that
(14:20):
is you know, at the top level, at the top
ranked teams with you know, freshman and sophomore is playing
a bigger role, whether that's a middle road team being
able to pick up more points and just make more
moves in the standings. I just think opportunity and who
can really capitalize on that and really take advantage is
the name of the game this season.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
There were some big gaps in the WHA and the
Stanley's last season eighteen points from Wisconsin to Ohio State
first and second, even though it was nine between Minnesota
and third and Duluth and fourth, and then twelve between
Duluth and fourth and Saint Cloud and fifth. So it
like you're saying that there's there's a lot to be gained.
(15:05):
They are a lot to be made up there if
you're looking at even if they.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
Pick up versus Yeah, it's still not enough to make
some of those jumps.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
So it's going to be difficult, and especially because I
mean we talked about the talent levels that hasn't gone
down this season. It's going I mean a lot of
it's going to be gone for a month. But I mean,
this is it's an all star team in the w
c h A again. I mean Kirsten Simms, Will Edwards,
(15:34):
KK Harvey for Wisconsin, Amman Murphy's back at Minnesota for
a fifth year, Joy Dunn's back at Ohio State. These
are all players that are gonna probably be in the Olympics.
So and and they're going to be uh with the
exception of done, they're gonna be moving on after the season,
so enjoy it while it's there, I guess is one
of the things. And yeah, I mean that's that's really
(15:57):
what it comes down to, is that this this is
the last ride for a lot of those players in
the college level before they go on to the Bros.
So I know they want to make the most of that.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
Yeah, absolutely, I think even you know, knowing that there's
time to be missed, Like there's reason a lot of
these players came back for a fifth year, right, Like
there were opportunities to maybe do some different things, and
you know, like Minnesota, you know, Abby wants to bring
that program back to the top, right, Like that's a
thing that's sort of been maybe gone unsaid the past
(16:29):
couple of seasons. But then Brad really kind of brought
it up in the Brad Frost, coach of Minnesota, brought
it up in the WKJA preseason call that like there's
an expectation of their program and they haven't met it
in recent years. But that's probably the most dynamic roster
they've had from top to bottom in several seasons. You know,
you were mentioning some of the returners. I also think
this is one of the most interesting, probably talented. It's
(16:52):
you know, it's hard to come here, but like one
of the best incoming classes across the board that we've
seen in a while. There's a ton of talent from
Europe that's here. As opposed to be maybe one or
two players that we might see, there's there's you know,
a dozen that have come across and are playing in
programs across the country. And we've got you know, it's
from the more you know, sort of well known Sweden, Finland, Chechia,
(17:13):
but also Austria, France, Hungary. We're just we're seeing more
and more players come over and so I there's probably
some bias for me because I'm very familiar with this
class because they iper saw several of them and the
you know, when UA teams were in Madison and now
I've been going every year. But still I just think
it's a really, really high ceiling class and it's fun
(17:34):
to know that these are players we're gonna see playing
internationally for several you know, years or cycles to come.
So you're you know, you're watching them now at eighteen,
but if they have a long career with their national team,
you could be seeing Thember two, three, more Olympics, and
so the idea that you get to pay like what
ten dollars a ticket or so to go see some
of this talent on the ice. When you watch a Wisconsin, Minnesota, Wisconsin,
(17:56):
Ohio State, you're seeing you know, ten future Olympians at
this point, like literally future coming February. But yeah, I
just there's a lot of really cool, really interesting, really
unique styles that are coming. And so seeing how those
players will integrate with some of the systems here and
(18:17):
how I feel like a lot of the particular in
the WCHA, they play a lot of the same way
that they've play in for several seasons, Like it works,
Why are you messing with it? And so when you
bring in like like a Dala Chapel chapovel Avova at Wisconsin,
that's their first international player, but she's learned a very
different style of hockey and they're not going to try
and change her completely. So how did they adapt to
(18:39):
having her there? How does you know Wisconsin and Ohio
State or Minnesota and Ohio State bring in some of
their international players and how does that change the game
that they play? Because I think it ends up being
a hybrid, you know, right.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
Last point on the WCCHA mentioned of briefly before, but
big things happening at Saint Thomas with a new arena,
uh Anderson Arena, which will also host the w c
h A Final Face Off tournament at the end of
the season. Saint Thomas also fully eligible for the NCAA
Tournament this season wasn't really a matter in previous years,
(19:15):
but now that they're waiting period is reclassification period is
over as a full Division one member and so they're
they're eligible. Now do you see this as a launching point?
I guess for for this program, it's it's had fits
and starts over the last few years, we know, and
had a a big change last season with coaching departure
(19:40):
and having to readjust mid stream. I think they're they're
gaining some some traction and it's just a matter of
how many years does it take for it to to
to get to a point where they are, you know,
fighting for one of those upper spots.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
I will say, I think I think hosting the w
SHA tournament is a mighty motivator and I think if
there is an upset this year, I could see it
being Saint Thomas. In terms of them wanting to, like
you said, just they're in a position to really put
their program in a place of prominence and really get
(20:22):
the attention. And that new facility is going to help
them with recruiting and just sort of all of the
things that you need to do step by step to
keep growing your program, right, And so I know that
they kind of have that circle as their big goal
this season, right, is to make that there. And so
if we're talking about you know, slightly more a jar
door is, I think they're really they're really hoping to
(20:43):
take advantage of that and really push it open. I
think Bethany's a spectacular coach for them. I think you know,
her enthusiasm and just what she brings and I think
you can tell the player's respector and so I kind
of hope that they had that chapter from before can
just be closed and they you know, they really can
just push forward. And I think that like that cycle too,
of just having promoted to D one and now they're
(21:06):
like they're really in it and these are all players
they're fully recruited, recruited to D one players and and
all that sort of stuff that comes with that. You know,
that process of whether it started your program or elevating
it or whatever. We're seeing that, you know, with a
couple of programs this season where you'll like you get
that strong that first class, the one that came and
really wanted to build and what they wanted to do.
(21:26):
So I think that if you know, if there's a
team that's going to surprise in the WCCHAM and money's
on Saint Thomas, I just think there's there's a lot
there and they're thrilled. It's not just that it's a
nicer facility, it's that it's a facility at campus like
they were they were in no man's land, and so
you know, it's not a huge campus to begin with,
and so like they're never gonna draw a massive there's
(21:47):
not just like not a community, a campus community to
draw a massive crowd from. And then you were asking
them to go to a not great facility nowhere near campus,
and so I just think it just means a ton
for them to be right there on campus in this
really nice new arena. I don't know, I do hope.
I think that it can be a launching pick for them.
I think you know, they've gotten a couple of you
eighteen players in the recruiting classes the past few seasons.
(22:11):
They've obviously got that pipeline of Switzerland players that they've
had coming over. They've got a really great goalie right
now in Danny Trump, and she's only a sophomore. So
uh yeah, I just you know, it's it's twofold. I
think all of the pieces are lining up for them
to you know, take a step. But you know, the
reality is, as we've just talked about, like, it's very
difficult to do that in the WCHA, and so they
(22:33):
could have all of that go right and they could
get more points and they could still end up in
the exact same spot in the standings, playing the exact
same series at the end of the year.
Speaker 1 (22:44):
It's a tough thing about the WCHA. About the ECAC
is that, Yeah, it's you've got a lot of teams
to try and climb over if you're in the midpacker
at the bottom. So there's a lot of work to
be done there and we will see how it goes.
That is our look at the WHA stay with us
after the break, we will look ahead to the new
haw season and we'll also then later in the show
(23:05):
look back at week one and look ahead to week two,
Stay with us on the podcast. We're back on the
podcast Todd Luski and Nicole Hose from us cho dot com.
Time to talk about the new ha Last season, Long
Island won the regular season championship by six points that
(23:28):
were Franklin Pearson's Sacred Heart, but got upset in the
championship game by Sacred Heart, the third seed to have
Sacred Heart go on to the NCAA Tournament as the
auto bid. It was a season where we saw really
a surprising or a couple of surprising things in the
(23:52):
postseason with Post sweeping Franklin Pearson the first round of
the playoffs with two one nothing games after Posts really
had a rough regular season, but good on them for
getting things together for that postseason run in the first round,
and then you know, Sacred Heart going to l i
(24:15):
U and winning the championship there to move on in
the NCAA Tournament. What I guess, what do you think
is there anything that carries over in your mind from
from last season to this season. I mean, we're looking
at teams that some of the teams that lost a
lot of players, yeah, and some of the teams that
maybe are rebuilding and coming into another cycle of players.
(24:36):
How is that going to impact the way you look
at things around the conference this season?
Speaker 2 (24:42):
A good question. So one of the things that makes
do how great in my opinion, is that, like I
personally think you could put the team that I picked
like second or third, could also finish like six or seventh.
Like it's just kind of a really wide open conference,
like as you pointed out with the postseason, and so
lu as one or shared the regular season title for
(25:03):
the last four years, but only one one tournament in
that time. They've had four different tournament winners over those
last four seasons. And so the fact that it's just
so wide open is what makes it so fun. You've
got some younger programs, You've got programs that are, you know,
trying to to find their footing. And so I just
think that like for those of us that love chaos,
(25:24):
like Neuha is where it's at. And in this situation
like this year, we've got, like you mentioned, sort of
turnover for me, like Long Island lost kind of a
really large class to graduation, right, like kind of their
foundational players, particularly some of the ones that then got
the fifth year as well. And so in the coaches
pulled their pick second, But I like, on paper, I
(25:45):
feel like they've got a lot of questions to figure
out before before they get Like before I believe that
they're gonna get their their fifth Street championship. But then
you look at a team like Stonehill, who is in
their fourth season, which means their foundational class or seniors year, right,
and obviously they surprised and made it to or won
the championship and made their their NCAA debut, but they're
(26:06):
so they're looking to get back to that and kind
of as the seniors like really set their mark and
sort of do that leaves the program better than you
found it scenario right, But I imagine that it's Sacred
Hearts Conference to lose, just in terms of what they
gained by winning that huge overtime victory getting to the
NCAA tournament. They have a ton of returning players that
(26:29):
just really like to me, they have the advantage they
have an early experienced roster. They have a good incoming
class because they did a lot of moves in the
portal to bring in you know, some players from programs
in other conferences, so just kind of that more experience,
so to me, like the rosters. The rosters are just
(26:50):
so interesting right now because there's always so much portal movement.
There was a lot of movement between programs within nuhas,
so players going from one program to the other, and
it's just even without any of that, to me, this
conference is always team chaos, and so that's that's sleep.
I mean, maybe more than any other time where I'm like,
(27:11):
I have no idea what's going to happen. That's how
I feel about you, how kind of at any given moment.
But that's when it makescept ends, right.
Speaker 1 (27:19):
Well, the coach has agreed with you on sacred heart.
Picking them first in the conference preseason poll, l i
U second, Stonehill third, Franklin Pierce fourth, and then the
same order in the bottom half as the finish of
last season st antse elm Assumption posts and Saint Michael's
stone Hill in third is an interesting case study in
(27:41):
that I believe you said this is the fourth season
of the program, correct, which means this is coming to
a you know, it's it's a group of players that
have been around now, but they're coming to a point
where it's going to start turning over. If they're going
to make something happen. It feels like maybe this is
a good year to do it.
Speaker 2 (28:00):
Yeah. Absolutely, And they you know, their their goalie was
a rookie last year. She was pretty good, but like
comes back now with more experience. For them, there was
a little drop off in scoring last year, so I
think they need to just be more sort of aggressive
on offense. And having a goalie that you can really
trust in definitely allows the offense to push a little more.
(28:21):
And so yeah, for them, I feel like, like you said,
it's it's I mean, that large senior class is going
to feel like we you know, it's now or never.
And so for them, I think there's just gonna be
that good internal pressure of just like we really want
to make something happen, like this is what we the
legacy want to live, leave before we go. And you know,
as I said, they already you know have their like
(28:42):
they kind of surprised everybody that second year, and so
now it's like, okay, we need to prove that that
wasn't a lot off. Right, Like they finished fourth last season,
that's not they lost in the tournament quarterfinals, Like that's
not that's not how they want to go out. So
I do think that this is like I said, I
do think this is a confortingtre like a team. I
don't think a lot of points are going to separate,
(29:04):
you know, kind of the middle part of the standings
or maybe even like one through five or six. I
just think there's gonna be a lot of fighting. I
think this is going to be kind of like Hockey East,
where like every week there's there's teams that maybe lose
a game they were supposed to. But it just means
the points are going to be like really like really
at a premium and really important to grab when they're
(29:25):
when they're available, and.
Speaker 1 (29:28):
That's going to be I think one of the challenges
for a lot of the teams is is you know,
not or finding those those opportunities and protecting home ice
and and you know, you can almost try to do
too much and try to get yourself. You know, you
think there's an opportunity and you jump at it and
you're you're getting outside of your game, You're you're doing
(29:50):
things you don't normally do, and then you realize, well,
we've missed an opportunity by not being ourselves. And so
that's one of the things that can always change of
season is you know what what your team identity is
and whether you play to it. And so I think
that's we're in to a point where a lot of
these programs are starting to develop that, right and I
(30:11):
think that's gonna be interesting to watch how that whether
it continues or whether we start to see it, well,
do we have to maybe experiment a little bit here
to try and take a risk in being a different program.
Speaker 2 (30:26):
That's where I think the experience of a of a
returning class and also bringing in some players that maybe
were at programs in different conferences where like that are
more established that had had that experience. So bringing in
some of that leadership can really be a big thing.
And this is a conference where like all of the
teams have several tie I was seeing Antem had seven
(30:49):
ties last year, So just like that finding that little
extra edge, right, like being able to pull that out
and turn those into points, whether it's winning an overtime
or winning it. And right now, you know that's not
to say that like they were leaving stuff on the table,
but like you just want to like maybe maybe the
first step was just getting to those ties as opposed
(31:09):
to them being losses, but and not picking on st
ansem at all, Like several teams here left had a
ton of ties and so like that's a huge difference
when you're talking about where we think that the A
pointer two is going to make a difference in the standings.
Speaker 1 (31:23):
Right New High as a whole outside of conference play
last year one forty three and two, which is I mean,
it's it's what we understand. The dynamic is in women's
hockey right now. There's a clear pecking order in conferences
and New Highs is is working its way up from
(31:45):
the bottom. Let's say that. And I think that the
more time goes on, the more establish players and coaches
get in the places they are, the better you have
the a chance to move off that. But we did
see one coaching change in the off season, Pat Bingham
out at post and Brandon Brown spending the season as
(32:07):
the interim head coach, and so there's I think the
more consistency you can get with coaching, the more stability
you have with programs, the better the better chance of
taking a step and continuing to build on things. And
that's what I hope we get to see as time
goes on with new hot programs, is that there's you know,
(32:30):
the stability of you know, where they're playing for some
teams and where you know and who's running things and
who's calling the shots, and that will go a long
way to changing that non conference record in the future.
Speaker 2 (32:46):
I was, yeah, when you started that, I was just
going to mention the coaching and that, like there has
been a ton of turnover in recent season, and so
the fact that like it's for the most part of
returning coaching staff, I think should make a big difference.
And like you said, it's just it. You can't build character,
you can't set up a program culture if the coach
(33:07):
is sort of constantly changing. And so I think hopefully
that that's a good sign. I mean it, at this point,
we were seeing coaches go from here to other conferences,
and so we don't you want people to be able
to grow and improve and keep coaching, but also you
don't want these to just be stepping stones, and so
(33:28):
these programs sort of being able to hold onto those
coaches for a few extra years and really like establish something,
set something up, and bring in assistant staff where then
maybe one of those coaches can then step into the
role and you're keeping that consistent style through is really
good to be key for some of these places. I think.
Speaker 1 (33:48):
Sacred Heart loss to Minnesota de luth in the opening
round of the tournament last season, like you mentioned, their
first experience in the tournament, and now we've had a
few teams that have had that chance out of New
High and so that's that's cool to see. I mean,
this is obviously one of the things that has happened
as you know, as New How gained it's it's spot
(34:12):
in the tournament. Uh, the tournament expanded and tournament moved
a little bit bigger, and so those are all good things.
Those are things that are positive for the game. It's
it's you know, change doesn't happen quickly in a lot
of places, and so growth is a more Uh. You
(34:37):
really struggle sometimes to see particularly the moment. Yeah, right,
And and so we may look back at this twenty
years surround and say, well, okay, those those first you know,
five ten years we were pretty rough. But you know,
maybe we'll be able to see if there was a
turn at some point. And I don't know what what
(34:57):
that necessarily will be, but it could there No.
Speaker 2 (35:00):
But even like the Minnesota game in the Minnesota duluthe
game with Sacred Heart. Sacred Heart was like matched up
with them for what the half the game. I mean
it was not like it ended up six to one,
but that's definitely not how the game was the whole time.
And like it probably sounds like appeasing things, but the
point is that, like we've seen some of these matchups
(35:22):
where the new hot team has to go play like
the number one seed and it it does not go
well for them, So, right, it was good to see
that it like clearly there is a difference, right, Like,
I mean, Jesus, we were just talking about the difference
in institutions within the WHA and now talk about you know,
even a smaller school like UMD versus the what's available
(35:43):
to the new hot schools and through their athletic departments.
And I just I thought it was good that it
was not an immediate like, oh, these two kind of
don't belong on the same ice sort of thing. To me,
that was another good sign that like we're seeing the
teams improve, we're seeing the quality improve. We're seeing you know,
and that's just going to keep happening too, is the
spore overall grows and there's just more talented players to
(36:05):
go to forty five different amost at forty four to
forty five different institutions.
Speaker 1 (36:12):
All right, that is our look at new how We're
going to take a quick break. Then we are going
to be back and review week one and look ahead
to week two. Stay with us on the podcast. Back
for our final segment here on this week's edition of
the podcast, top Lusky and Nicole Hasey, Let's look back
(36:34):
at week one. First games of the season happened last
Friday night, and right off the bat, Minnesota lutha top
team expected to be top team in the country, was
down three to one at Mercyhurst after a pair of
goals five seconds apart. Somehow by Mercy Herris scored one.
They go up to one, and then right off the
(36:56):
face off, it's another goal straight up the middle.
Speaker 2 (37:02):
She just literally through the circle, picked up the pucket
was gone.
Speaker 1 (37:07):
Jessica Karachi, I'm sorry, I wish I had a pronunciation
guy on this one, but scored for five seconds after
to put Mercies up three to one in the second period,
but d Luth was able to come back scored a
Josie s Martin gold to tie it late in the third,
and then Kitin Kramer won it in the three on
three overtime for a four to three win, and then
(37:29):
a day later the Bulldogs got a five to three
win for the sweep to open the season. I don't
know if I was expecting necessarily that game to go
to overtime on Friday when I was thinking about it
as as a possibility entering the weekend. But I guess
on the opening weekend sometimes you just don't know what
(37:52):
you're what you're gonna have, who's gonna be ready to play,
who's might take a couple of games to get up
to speed, what kind of connections you have.
Speaker 2 (38:01):
So yeah, I'm true temper that, Like, Okay, it was
the opening weekend, so to not get you know, take
too much from it, but yeah, I there were times
where Minnesota Duluth looked like they were standing still and
Mercy Hurst was sort of skating around them. There were
I just there's this kind of a specific well, it's
(38:23):
particularly on defense. U M D has just been really
like disciplined and can be really strong and secure on that,
and I didn't feel like we were getting that from them.
I can imagine that's already been addressed in practice and
in some tape. But yeah, I didn't you know, I
didn't expect to eight goal games, regardless of who was
scoring them. I didn't expect that much output from Mercy Hursts.
(38:43):
So good on them, you know, they're one of their
best players. They Johanssen is now on um D, and
so I yeah, all around, I thought it was just
kind of a surprising outcome of games just from both teams.
You know, Saturday's game, you and D was behind and
needed four goals in the second to to really take
(39:04):
control of that game. And so yeah, not great from
I think. You know, as I said before, like some
of the d U and D writers were talking about
like them being need to be needing to be really defensive,
and like talking about maybe them needing to be more
like Mummidgie where they really like anchor in the middle
and keep teams to the outside, and that just show
was not what happened. And so uh yeah, it was,
like you said, just surprising, like trying not to be
(39:26):
too harsh on anybody, trying to not take too much
out of the opening weekend, But UMD is gonna have
to be better than that if they're gonna make waves
and do more in the w c H A. Uh,
that's just like sort of simple fact. It feels just
feels weird to just kind of be so so lun
about it, but that that wasn't going to cut it,
and so they're lucky that they escaped with it. The
(39:47):
goal that Caitlyn Kramer scored in over time is when
that goalie will want back hardcore. It was the softest
goal of the weekend unfortunately, and so yeah, UMD is
lucky they came out with that wind and you know,
but good for them because like I said, people were
asking if they're going to be able to score in
ten goals on the weekend. Definitely is a good statement
in that direction. It's sort of the other end of
(40:08):
the ice that I think they got to figure.
Speaker 1 (40:10):
Out more scoring for other WHA teams. In non conference series,
sink Cloud State got a pair of five nothing wins
against linden Wood at home, and Minnesota State went on
the road to sweep rents Layer. It was a three
nothing win on Friday and then a five to three
(40:32):
win on Saturday. That those were the three two game
series that we had over the weekend. Another non conference
game on Sunday, Saint Thomas beat Posts, and then there
were a bunch of exhibition games, which I don't know
how much value to put on, honestly, because coaches try
(40:53):
different things in exhibition games. You like to see something,
you like to get ready for game one when you
have a preseason exhibition. But I never really know how
much to put into those results.
Speaker 2 (41:07):
Yeah, absolutely, I you know, It's one of the things
is I'm like, okay, so you know Saint Lawrence one,
Colgate zero, Like that's fine, that's probably you know, the
bounce of a puck one way or the other. I
was a little surprised with the five to one New
Hampshire win over Main. I kind of expected those teams
to be a little closer sore instead of like taking
it is any sort of gospel, It's more just sort
(41:28):
of like, I probably will pay a little more attention
the next time these two teams come together. And I'd
say the same thing. It was interesting Quinnipiac three Yukon zero.
U U can't's gonna need to figure out some scoring.
They've got the goaltending, so the scoring is what needs
to come. And maybe that's what was happening in that
game I because they were exhibitions. I had them on
my my extra screen and so was paying less attention
(41:51):
to those in terms of those outcomes. But yeah, hard
to say, right, I think it's probably a design. BC
put five goals stone Hill. Again, just all of this
is there were a lot of turnover in a lot
of these teams, and so knowing that even like BC
lost some of their their highest scorers, so that they're
they're connecting putting putting pucks in the net is a
(42:13):
good sign. So it's it's not necessarily the score or
the outcome, but just the know that things are gelling together,
right right, All right.
Speaker 1 (42:24):
Let's look ahead to this week. The volume, I guess
in the volume of games turns up, and the intensity
of some of these turns up as well, thinking specifically
of Saint Lawrence and Penn State. Fine to top ten
teams in state college I believe is that a Thursday
(42:44):
Friday series because of football.
Speaker 2 (42:46):
We've got a bunch of we've got four Thursday games.
Like it's a it's a I'm not sure.
Speaker 1 (42:53):
So, but that was in early season measuring time. Yeah,
I mean it's it's a you know, get right into
it and let's see where you're at.
Speaker 2 (43:05):
Particularly because that's like a that's like being on the
bubble those you know eight to nine in Yeah, so
those are two teams that could be that could use
the boost from beating each other and also could use
like a good win when you're talking when you're comparing
teams down the down at the end of the year, right, like.
Speaker 1 (43:27):
Absolutely, then we get into Boston College playing at Minnesota.
We also have a series at Yukon, Yukon hosting Saint
Cloud State is another one of those that could be
a well, let's well, let's assess it. I I really
don't like putting too much into you know, how you
(43:49):
look on the first week of the season, but but
we also.
Speaker 2 (43:52):
Don't get these kind of matchups otherwise.
Speaker 1 (43:54):
Right, that's a good way to start, good way to
get your your yourself going into October by having some
success late in September.
Speaker 2 (44:05):
And it just helps to understand like the relative like
if you're talking Saint Cloud State the fifth team in
the w c H a versus you can towards the
top of Hockey East, like, it helps you make those
relative like where where does the team actually stack up?
Like a team like Saint Cloud that can get beat
up in their conference, Like where do they stand sort
of on a national level?
Speaker 1 (44:27):
The last game I or the debut I want to mention,
I guess I should say, is Delaware playing its first
games as a division on program hosting Long Island. It's
it's cool to see this all happen. Kind of as
we go through this, we've we've talked about, you know
what it's what it takes to build a program. We've
(44:50):
talked about how you you know, gather players and things
like that. Well, now it it's real. You're you're going
on Friday and Saturday and playing games that don't towards
your record. And I think this is something you know,
if you're if you're able to pay attention to it all,
just kind of acknowledge that, you know, this is a
big step happening for Delaware. And I don't know what
(45:14):
what's going to happen results wise, but good on them
for getting to this point and moving on from here.
Speaker 2 (45:21):
Well, we've been really lucky to have like kind of
incredible access to that. Like I was lucky to get
the exclusive of the announcement of the program starting, and
we've obviously talked to Alison Cooney a few times, like
I really feel like extra invested. I suppose, like just
from a bigger standpoint, but we've just been lucky, as
like fans, to have a lot of access to like
(45:42):
what building a program looks like and from start to finish,
And so that part is cool too, just to see
it all come together in that way. And then I
just think because of Delaware's location and the fact that they're,
you know, sort of in a really prime area that
doesn't have a ton of women's college hockey programs, possibilities
of what can grow in that area I think are
(46:02):
really cool.
Speaker 1 (46:05):
It should be exciting there. We hope, we hope for
the best for everyone around women's college hockey this weekend,
and we hope you will join us again on another
edition of the podcast for Nicole Hasey. I am Todd Deleski.
Thanks for listening enjoying the hockey
Uscho dot com. Hi again, and welcome back to the podcast.
I'm Todd Maleski here with Nicole Hosey from us cho
dot com. This is our third of three episodes early
in the season looking around at the Division one women's
(00:24):
hockey conferences. Today we're going to be looking at the
WCHA and the New HA and let's start with the WHA. Nicole.
This is the conference that has had a stranglehold on
the national championship game over the last couple of years.
Well it's really been two teams. It's been in Wisconsin
and Ohio State and throwing it into Duluth a year before
(00:46):
that for good measure. Is there anything to tell us
that this year is going to be any different? I
guess yeah.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
I mean, don't you think the Olympics make it much
more of a wide open I guess situation. I think
it opens the door for both other I mean maybe
not that, maybe the rest of the conference or the
country things. No, because I do think it maybe opens
the door for someone like Dilute this year. But you know,
there are plenty of other teams that aren't missing as
won't be missing as many players as WHA teams will
(01:18):
be so I think that definitely changes the dynamic. Do
I think that those WHA teams are still going to
have a great season, Absolutely, but I do think it
throws a heck of a lot more question marks. And then.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
Yeah, and question marks on top of question marks. For
the one is that we don't know exactly which series
or start, which series will start the absences and which
of the games necessarily they will miss before the January
February window that will be most of the absence for
(01:53):
Olympic the players that are on the Olympic rosters. So yes,
I do think those are the equalizers this year. Is
that the question of can teams that are losing players
find the players that will fill in? I guess that's
the thing we know there there's depth on a lot
(02:14):
of the teams that are going to lose players, But
are they players that are capable of being a first
line forward or a first power play unit player that
haven't been given those opportunities in the past. And that
is what's gonna be fascinating to me when we get
into the January, end of January and then through February
when the games really start. The matter a lot is
get you're getting into regular season championship territory. How those teams,
(02:40):
I mean, we're talking about Wisconsin, Ohio State, Minnesota.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Will play each other in those final weekends.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
And we're yeah, there's going to be a lot of
a lot of intermingling, I guess between those seats. So
it could be an opportunity for for some of the
some of the other teams that have been in the
bottom half of the w c H to get a
few points here and there too.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
For sure, And like, I just think it opens the
door to to you know, the ECAC Hockey, some of
the teams that are currently ranked sort of in the
middle of the pole. I just think there's gonna be
chances to pick up points and pick up ground. I
think it's a twofold thing with the player the teams
that are gonna be missing a bunch of players. It's
not just depth, because they obviously like their incoming classes,
their younger players are obviously talented. It's about whether or
(03:24):
not they could accelerate at the rate that would them
Like obviously, you know, the players that are coming into
these programs like they're expected at some point will be
to be top line players, right, But maybe the plan
wasn't until their junior or senior years, so like, are
they are those players developed enough and are they prepared
to step into bigger roles? And the other thing is
that a lot of those teams run three four lines
(03:45):
constantly and just frankly won't be able to do that
when you're missing six players, Like it's a much shorter bench,
and so it's not just putting players in a different position,
but also more ice time period and so just the
transitions and all of that that sort of stuff. And
I think one of the things that for me is
the biggest question mark all around is like, so like
(04:06):
Wisconsin could be missing Ava McNaughton, but she could not
make the roster. Other players like it from different programs
could are in the mix that might not make the
final roster because there's is it thirty down to twenty three?
This is what we're expecting, you know? Same for umd
is ev Gascon and Caitlin Kramer. Are they going to
(04:27):
make that roster? And so it's not just knowing like
it's cut and dried that like Wisconsin's gonna be missing
KK Harvey and they have to figure that out. But
some of the other things that they have to figure out.
So it's not even like you can plan for that
for three months. You can't like start playing different lines
and be like you're the person that needs to step
up here, because I don't think anybody knows exactly what
that's gonna look like come late January early February, and
(04:49):
so I think the not just the question mark of
what's that gonna look like and how long will they
be gone and what does that look like in November
all that sort of stuff, but the will this person
even make Olympic final Olympic roster? And how do you
prepare if you start making different line matchups and then
that person is suddenly there or vice versa. You kind
of can't. There's too many contingencies basically, So the way
(05:13):
the ways that you can't plan or prepare for any
of this, I think probably it's pretty infuriating for some
of the coaches.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
Who are all going through it for the first time.
Other than I guess you know, you could lose a
player close to the start of the season that maybe
you weren't anticipating in past cycles when it was a centralization. Yeah,
this is uh, this is gonna be new for the
coaches who are gonna have to adjust on the fly
a lot of ways, and it'll give us a lot
(05:42):
to talk about as the season goes on.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
I know that fun for sure.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
It is. It's gonna be fun. It's gonna, like, like
I said, it's going to give players some new opportunities
and then you know, maybe they take that. If it's
a say it's a sophomore, they take that. And if
those opportunities are there again and the next season they're
they're more ready for it. And I think that's gonna
be something that could benefit a lot of those players,
(06:07):
younger players who are stepping into bigger skates.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
Yeah, And another sort of hypothetical is you know what
if you know your players are gone from from mid
January to mid February. Let's say, right your Olympic players
come back, they're probably exhausted. If someone has played spectacular
in the role and you're heading into the playoffs, do
you ride the momentum? Where do you fit those now
very tired international players back in with giving them enough
(06:34):
time to recover and also not messing with the chemistry
that you've built so these like I hate that. All
we've been saying is we don't know, and there are
so many questions, but like, this is what I mean,
because spend the next hour just coming up with questions
about like what happens when this happened. It's not like
a we're not fawning it off, like oh, I don't
know what to say. It's like there's there's literally infinite
(06:55):
situations that could arise, and every coach and every team
is going to both plan for them differently and then
execute them differently no matter how much they plan. And
so that's what I think is kind of infuriating from
a light. Let's talk about what this scene is going
to look like and lets some predict things, but is
going to make it amazing to watch? Like every weekend
(07:16):
should be a little bit chaotic, which as we know,
it's my favorite.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
So the more chaos, the more fun is how it
ends up being.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
Yeah, and.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
Wisconsin is the defending national champion, coming back after a
come from behind win against Ohio State in the just
a really incredible national championship game in Minneapolis last season,
Ohio State taking that into the offseason. Then Nadine Mazahl
said it on the WCHA Coaches Conference before the season
(07:52):
that you know, eighteen point nine seconds was basically burned
in their minds all summer, and that's a pretty good motivator.
And we saw what happen up and when they had
a motivator two years ago and they they ran off
a pretty good season and won the championship. It's UH,
Wisconsin picked for first and pretty much everything w c
(08:12):
h A. Also in the u c h O dot
com preseason poll UH unanimously there, Ohio state second, Minnesota third,
and the national poll House State Minnesota tied for second
in the WHA coaches preseason rankings UH and Duluth finishing
fourth in the coaches poll. There. I that's more of
(08:33):
the same, right, That's that's what we've come to expect
on of the w c h A. Is there any
We've been kind of teased a couple of times of
the last few years that Saint Cloud is ready to
make a jump, is ready to be there, and and
I think coaches are a little higher on Saint Thomas
this season. They're making progress, They're going into a new arena,
(08:54):
These are all the kind of things they're they're going
into it into this season where they first time full
time head coach and Bethley Brazen, who got the full
time position after being the interim the finished last season.
But do you think it's it's set that we're gonna
have a top four bottom four again, that's the same
(09:15):
characters as as a pastor, is this year with the
Olympics absences, that maybe we we find a different order
of things?
Speaker 2 (09:24):
That is an impossible question. In a vacuum, I would
have said, well that, like, knowing the Olympic stuff, I
would have said yes. But like you said, you also
have Saint Cloud State with a new coach in Mira,
and I don't want to pronounce her wrong, her name.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
Wrong, Yulos, I believe. I'm sorry, sorry, But.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
One of these things we'll get we'll get it right.
And so so you've got the two programs that I
think probably have the best opportunity in terms of their
roster and like where they've been in the last two
years sort of in in a little bit of transition,
and Saint Thomas is probably a little more secure than
Saint Cloud is. St does have the bonus that Mira
was an assistant underneath a dull sky like she she's
(10:04):
super familiar with it. She you know, as a former player.
I don't think there's gonna be a ton of growing
pains transition there, but there's just in yeah, Like if
you'd have asked me that before coaching changes and things
like that, i'd say, yeah, I think so too, but
now I don't know. And the other thing I would
say is that I was maybe like optimistically very high
(10:26):
on Minnesota Duluth heading into this season and they're series
this weekend. Definitely, I wouldn't say like kill bat or anything,
but like tempered it. I just I didn't expect them,
their defense and their goaltending to give up as much
as they did. And so it's funny because Matt Wellens
has been posting some stuff. Matt is the Minnesota de
(10:49):
Beat writer up and he was saying like he was
saying he doesn't think or their their podcast was saying
they don't think they're going to score a lot of goals,
and I was like, friends, they're gonna score. Like they
were really worried that they were going to play a
lunch of one O two O games like EV stopping
everything and I'm scoring one goal. And I was like, oh,
I think you guys are underestimating this team. And so
I overestimate. They overestimated you know, defense, and I you know,
(11:11):
I think the offense is okay. Friends, So yeah, I'm
still very high on Minnesota Duluth. I just think they
picked up a ton of really good pieces in the
off season. And again it's dependent on Creamer and Guesscon
being there. But I'm really high on Josie Saint Martin.
I thought she was like outstanding at e eighteens and
(11:32):
she just kind of disappeared last year at Ohio State,
Like I just don't it wasn't a good fit for
whatever reason. She already you know, went out and scored
this week this past weekend. Oh I think putting her
in a different situation where she's going to be more comfortable,
I expect her to have a huge breakout season. She
she alone, I think could be the difference made her
for them. But yeah, I the problem is the difference
(11:55):
between four and five and the w c h A.
It's not it's not a standard one step right, and
so if you're improving like that's that's the thing. It's
the same thing that happens in the wh or I'm sorry,
the ECAC. But maybe like not one through four, maybe
like from six to five or whatever it is. But yeah,
it's like, however much you improve the teams above, you
(12:16):
are also doing all of that, and so there's just
like a ceiling based on being a smaller school, having
different recruiting capabilities, having different you know, scholarship capabilities, all
that sort of stuff, Like they just how do you
compete with the state school with the kind of budgets
that you know, Minnesota and Wisconsin have. So I don't know.
I would like to say so I'm always wanting, I'm
(12:36):
always pulling for those teams, but you know, it's a
very long wited way of I guess maybe not, probably not.
I don't know. Do you do you see it different?
Speaker 1 (12:45):
I mean, history tells us that there's both in resources
and in in UH talent levels. The top four teams
are consistently the top four teams for a reason. So
that that's why even with a you know, a month
(13:05):
of maybe the gaps being smaller, I don't know if
that's enough for for a lot of change here. I
do see potential for Saint Cloud down the road, especially
as mira Ulos. I'm gonna get that right one of
these d's. It's more established we saw. I mean, Branandolski
(13:26):
did a lot there In a few years, He's gone
on to become the head coach of the p w
h L Vancouver expansion team. So it's it's a significant
change there, but one that can be lessened by the
fact that yes, Mira has experienced there as is bringing
(13:48):
in a I think a recognizable kind of system, So
that remains to be seen.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
I think the door is probably a little more open
that it is in any given year, but it's not
like it's hugely a jar, right Like, Yeah, I do
think that there's more opportunity. I think that's just like
sort of the theme of this season across the board
in every conference is there's just going to be more opportunities,
and I think the most successful teams are going to
be the ones that take advantage of it, whether that
(14:20):
is you know, at the top level, at the top
ranked teams with you know, freshman and sophomore is playing
a bigger role, whether that's a middle road team being
able to pick up more points and just make more
moves in the standings. I just think opportunity and who
can really capitalize on that and really take advantage is
the name of the game this season.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
There were some big gaps in the WHA and the
Stanley's last season eighteen points from Wisconsin to Ohio State
first and second, even though it was nine between Minnesota
and third and Duluth and fourth, and then twelve between
Duluth and fourth and Saint Cloud and fifth. So it
like you're saying that there's there's a lot to be gained.
(15:05):
They are a lot to be made up there if
you're looking at even if they.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
Pick up versus Yeah, it's still not enough to make
some of those jumps.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
So it's going to be difficult, and especially because I
mean we talked about the talent levels that hasn't gone
down this season. It's going I mean a lot of
it's going to be gone for a month. But I mean,
this is it's an all star team in the w
c h A again. I mean Kirsten Simms, Will Edwards,
(15:34):
KK Harvey for Wisconsin, Amman Murphy's back at Minnesota for
a fifth year, Joy Dunn's back at Ohio State. These
are all players that are gonna probably be in the Olympics.
So and and they're going to be uh with the
exception of done, they're gonna be moving on after the season,
so enjoy it while it's there, I guess is one
of the things. And yeah, I mean that's that's really
(15:57):
what it comes down to, is that this this is
the last ride for a lot of those players in
the college level before they go on to the Bros.
So I know they want to make the most of that.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
Yeah, absolutely, I think even you know, knowing that there's
time to be missed, Like there's reason a lot of
these players came back for a fifth year, right, Like
there were opportunities to maybe do some different things, and
you know, like Minnesota, you know, Abby wants to bring
that program back to the top, right, Like that's a
thing that's sort of been maybe gone unsaid the past
(16:29):
couple of seasons. But then Brad really kind of brought
it up in the Brad Frost, coach of Minnesota, brought
it up in the WKJA preseason call that like there's
an expectation of their program and they haven't met it
in recent years. But that's probably the most dynamic roster
they've had from top to bottom in several seasons. You know,
you were mentioning some of the returners. I also think
this is one of the most interesting, probably talented. It's
(16:52):
you know, it's hard to come here, but like one
of the best incoming classes across the board that we've
seen in a while. There's a ton of talent from
Europe that's here. As opposed to be maybe one or
two players that we might see, there's there's you know,
a dozen that have come across and are playing in
programs across the country. And we've got you know, it's
from the more you know, sort of well known Sweden, Finland, Chechia,
(17:13):
but also Austria, France, Hungary. We're just we're seeing more
and more players come over and so I there's probably
some bias for me because I'm very familiar with this
class because they iper saw several of them and the
you know, when UA teams were in Madison and now
I've been going every year. But still I just think
it's a really, really high ceiling class and it's fun
(17:34):
to know that these are players we're gonna see playing
internationally for several you know, years or cycles to come.
So you're you know, you're watching them now at eighteen,
but if they have a long career with their national team,
you could be seeing Thember two, three, more Olympics, and
so the idea that you get to pay like what
ten dollars a ticket or so to go see some
of this talent on the ice. When you watch a Wisconsin, Minnesota, Wisconsin,
(17:56):
Ohio State, you're seeing you know, ten future Olympians at
this point, like literally future coming February. But yeah, I
just there's a lot of really cool, really interesting, really
unique styles that are coming. And so seeing how those
players will integrate with some of the systems here and
(18:17):
how I feel like a lot of the particular in
the WCHA, they play a lot of the same way
that they've play in for several seasons, Like it works,
Why are you messing with it? And so when you
bring in like like a Dala Chapel chapovel Avova at Wisconsin,
that's their first international player, but she's learned a very
different style of hockey and they're not going to try
and change her completely. So how did they adapt to
(18:39):
having her there? How does you know Wisconsin and Ohio
State or Minnesota and Ohio State bring in some of
their international players and how does that change the game
that they play? Because I think it ends up being
a hybrid, you know, right.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
Last point on the WCCHA mentioned of briefly before, but
big things happening at Saint Thomas with a new arena,
uh Anderson Arena, which will also host the w c
h A Final Face Off tournament at the end of
the season. Saint Thomas also fully eligible for the NCAA
Tournament this season wasn't really a matter in previous years,
(19:15):
but now that they're waiting period is reclassification period is
over as a full Division one member and so they're
they're eligible. Now do you see this as a launching point?
I guess for for this program, it's it's had fits
and starts over the last few years, we know, and
had a a big change last season with coaching departure
(19:40):
and having to readjust mid stream. I think they're they're
gaining some some traction and it's just a matter of
how many years does it take for it to to
to get to a point where they are, you know,
fighting for one of those upper spots.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
I will say, I think I think hosting the w
SHA tournament is a mighty motivator and I think if
there is an upset this year, I could see it
being Saint Thomas. In terms of them wanting to, like
you said, just they're in a position to really put
their program in a place of prominence and really get
(20:22):
the attention. And that new facility is going to help
them with recruiting and just sort of all of the
things that you need to do step by step to
keep growing your program, right, And so I know that
they kind of have that circle as their big goal
this season, right, is to make that there. And so
if we're talking about you know, slightly more a jar
door is, I think they're really they're really hoping to
(20:43):
take advantage of that and really push it open. I
think Bethany's a spectacular coach for them. I think you know,
her enthusiasm and just what she brings and I think
you can tell the player's respector and so I kind
of hope that they had that chapter from before can
just be closed and they you know, they really can
just push forward. And I think that like that cycle too,
of just having promoted to D one and now they're
(21:06):
like they're really in it and these are all players
they're fully recruited, recruited to D one players and and
all that sort of stuff that comes with that. You know,
that process of whether it started your program or elevating
it or whatever. We're seeing that, you know, with a
couple of programs this season where you'll like you get
that strong that first class, the one that came and
really wanted to build and what they wanted to do.
(21:26):
So I think that if you know, if there's a
team that's going to surprise in the WCCHAM and money's
on Saint Thomas, I just think there's there's a lot
there and they're thrilled. It's not just that it's a
nicer facility, it's that it's a facility at campus like
they were they were in no man's land, and so
you know, it's not a huge campus to begin with,
and so like they're never gonna draw a massive there's
(21:47):
not just like not a community, a campus community to
draw a massive crowd from. And then you were asking
them to go to a not great facility nowhere near campus,
and so I just think it just means a ton
for them to be right there on campus in this
really nice new arena. I don't know, I do hope.
I think that it can be a launching pick for them.
I think you know, they've gotten a couple of you
eighteen players in the recruiting classes the past few seasons.
(22:11):
They've obviously got that pipeline of Switzerland players that they've
had coming over. They've got a really great goalie right
now in Danny Trump, and she's only a sophomore. So
uh yeah, I just you know, it's it's twofold. I
think all of the pieces are lining up for them
to you know, take a step. But you know, the
reality is, as we've just talked about, like, it's very
difficult to do that in the WCHA, and so they
(22:33):
could have all of that go right and they could
get more points and they could still end up in
the exact same spot in the standings, playing the exact
same series at the end of the year.
Speaker 1 (22:44):
It's a tough thing about the WCHA. About the ECAC
is that, Yeah, it's you've got a lot of teams
to try and climb over if you're in the midpacker
at the bottom. So there's a lot of work to
be done there and we will see how it goes.
That is our look at the WHA stay with us
after the break, we will look ahead to the new
haw season and we'll also then later in the show
(23:05):
look back at week one and look ahead to week two,
Stay with us on the podcast. We're back on the
podcast Todd Luski and Nicole Hose from us cho dot com.
Time to talk about the new ha Last season, Long
Island won the regular season championship by six points that
(23:28):
were Franklin Pearson's Sacred Heart, but got upset in the
championship game by Sacred Heart, the third seed to have
Sacred Heart go on to the NCAA Tournament as the
auto bid. It was a season where we saw really
a surprising or a couple of surprising things in the
(23:52):
postseason with Post sweeping Franklin Pearson the first round of
the playoffs with two one nothing games after Posts really
had a rough regular season, but good on them for
getting things together for that postseason run in the first round,
and then you know, Sacred Heart going to l i
(24:15):
U and winning the championship there to move on in
the NCAA Tournament. What I guess, what do you think
is there anything that carries over in your mind from
from last season to this season. I mean, we're looking
at teams that some of the teams that lost a
lot of players, yeah, and some of the teams that
maybe are rebuilding and coming into another cycle of players.
(24:36):
How is that going to impact the way you look
at things around the conference this season?
Speaker 2 (24:42):
A good question. So one of the things that makes
do how great in my opinion, is that, like I
personally think you could put the team that I picked
like second or third, could also finish like six or seventh.
Like it's just kind of a really wide open conference,
like as you pointed out with the postseason, and so
lu as one or shared the regular season title for
(25:03):
the last four years, but only one one tournament in
that time. They've had four different tournament winners over those
last four seasons. And so the fact that it's just
so wide open is what makes it so fun. You've
got some younger programs, You've got programs that are, you know,
trying to to find their footing. And so I just
think that like for those of us that love chaos,
(25:24):
like Neuha is where it's at. And in this situation
like this year, we've got, like you mentioned, sort of
turnover for me, like Long Island lost kind of a
really large class to graduation, right, like kind of their
foundational players, particularly some of the ones that then got
the fifth year as well. And so in the coaches
pulled their pick second, But I like, on paper, I
(25:45):
feel like they've got a lot of questions to figure
out before before they get Like before I believe that
they're gonna get their their fifth Street championship. But then
you look at a team like Stonehill, who is in
their fourth season, which means their foundational class or seniors year, right,
and obviously they surprised and made it to or won
the championship and made their their NCAA debut, but they're
(26:06):
so they're looking to get back to that and kind
of as the seniors like really set their mark and
sort of do that leaves the program better than you
found it scenario right, But I imagine that it's Sacred
Hearts Conference to lose, just in terms of what they
gained by winning that huge overtime victory getting to the
NCAA tournament. They have a ton of returning players that
(26:29):
just really like to me, they have the advantage they
have an early experienced roster. They have a good incoming
class because they did a lot of moves in the
portal to bring in you know, some players from programs
in other conferences, so just kind of that more experience,
so to me, like the rosters. The rosters are just
(26:50):
so interesting right now because there's always so much portal movement.
There was a lot of movement between programs within nuhas,
so players going from one program to the other, and
it's just even without any of that, to me, this
conference is always team chaos, and so that's that's sleep.
I mean, maybe more than any other time where I'm like,
(27:11):
I have no idea what's going to happen. That's how
I feel about you, how kind of at any given moment.
But that's when it makescept ends, right.
Speaker 1 (27:19):
Well, the coach has agreed with you on sacred heart.
Picking them first in the conference preseason poll, l i
U second, Stonehill third, Franklin Pierce fourth, and then the
same order in the bottom half as the finish of
last season st antse elm Assumption posts and Saint Michael's
stone Hill in third is an interesting case study in
(27:41):
that I believe you said this is the fourth season
of the program, correct, which means this is coming to
a you know, it's it's a group of players that
have been around now, but they're coming to a point
where it's going to start turning over. If they're going
to make something happen. It feels like maybe this is
a good year to do it.
Speaker 2 (28:00):
Yeah. Absolutely, And they you know, their their goalie was
a rookie last year. She was pretty good, but like
comes back now with more experience. For them, there was
a little drop off in scoring last year, so I
think they need to just be more sort of aggressive
on offense. And having a goalie that you can really
trust in definitely allows the offense to push a little more.
(28:21):
And so yeah, for them, I feel like, like you said,
it's it's I mean, that large senior class is going
to feel like we you know, it's now or never.
And so for them, I think there's just gonna be
that good internal pressure of just like we really want
to make something happen, like this is what we the
legacy want to live, leave before we go. And you know,
as I said, they already you know have their like
(28:42):
they kind of surprised everybody that second year, and so
now it's like, okay, we need to prove that that
wasn't a lot off. Right, Like they finished fourth last season,
that's not they lost in the tournament quarterfinals, Like that's
not that's not how they want to go out. So
I do think that this is like I said, I
do think this is a confortingtre like a team. I
don't think a lot of points are going to separate,
(29:04):
you know, kind of the middle part of the standings
or maybe even like one through five or six. I
just think there's gonna be a lot of fighting. I
think this is going to be kind of like Hockey East,
where like every week there's there's teams that maybe lose
a game they were supposed to. But it just means
the points are going to be like really like really
at a premium and really important to grab when they're
(29:25):
when they're available, and.
Speaker 1 (29:28):
That's going to be I think one of the challenges
for a lot of the teams is is you know,
not or finding those those opportunities and protecting home ice
and and you know, you can almost try to do
too much and try to get yourself. You know, you
think there's an opportunity and you jump at it and
you're you're getting outside of your game, You're you're doing
(29:50):
things you don't normally do, and then you realize, well,
we've missed an opportunity by not being ourselves. And so
that's one of the things that can always change of
season is you know what what your team identity is
and whether you play to it. And so I think
that's we're in to a point where a lot of
these programs are starting to develop that, right and I
(30:11):
think that's gonna be interesting to watch how that whether
it continues or whether we start to see it, well,
do we have to maybe experiment a little bit here
to try and take a risk in being a different program.
Speaker 2 (30:26):
That's where I think the experience of a of a
returning class and also bringing in some players that maybe
were at programs in different conferences where like that are
more established that had had that experience. So bringing in
some of that leadership can really be a big thing.
And this is a conference where like all of the
teams have several tie I was seeing Antem had seven
(30:49):
ties last year, So just like that finding that little
extra edge, right, like being able to pull that out
and turn those into points, whether it's winning an overtime
or winning it. And right now, you know that's not
to say that like they were leaving stuff on the table,
but like you just want to like maybe maybe the
first step was just getting to those ties as opposed
(31:09):
to them being losses, but and not picking on st
ansem at all, Like several teams here left had a
ton of ties and so like that's a huge difference
when you're talking about where we think that the A
pointer two is going to make a difference in the standings.
Speaker 1 (31:23):
Right New High as a whole outside of conference play
last year one forty three and two, which is I mean,
it's it's what we understand. The dynamic is in women's
hockey right now. There's a clear pecking order in conferences
and New Highs is is working its way up from
(31:45):
the bottom. Let's say that. And I think that the
more time goes on, the more establish players and coaches
get in the places they are, the better you have
the a chance to move off that. But we did
see one coaching change in the off season, Pat Bingham
out at post and Brandon Brown spending the season as
(32:07):
the interim head coach, and so there's I think the
more consistency you can get with coaching, the more stability
you have with programs, the better the better chance of
taking a step and continuing to build on things. And
that's what I hope we get to see as time
goes on with new hot programs, is that there's you know,
(32:30):
the stability of you know, where they're playing for some
teams and where you know and who's running things and
who's calling the shots, and that will go a long
way to changing that non conference record in the future.
Speaker 2 (32:46):
I was, yeah, when you started that, I was just
going to mention the coaching and that, like there has
been a ton of turnover in recent season, and so
the fact that like it's for the most part of
returning coaching staff, I think should make a big difference.
And like you said, it's just it. You can't build character,
you can't set up a program culture if the coach
(33:07):
is sort of constantly changing. And so I think hopefully
that that's a good sign. I mean it, at this point,
we were seeing coaches go from here to other conferences,
and so we don't you want people to be able
to grow and improve and keep coaching, but also you
don't want these to just be stepping stones, and so
(33:28):
these programs sort of being able to hold onto those
coaches for a few extra years and really like establish something,
set something up, and bring in assistant staff where then
maybe one of those coaches can then step into the
role and you're keeping that consistent style through is really
good to be key for some of these places. I think.
Speaker 1 (33:48):
Sacred Heart loss to Minnesota de luth in the opening
round of the tournament last season, like you mentioned, their
first experience in the tournament, and now we've had a
few teams that have had that chance out of New
High and so that's that's cool to see. I mean,
this is obviously one of the things that has happened
as you know, as New How gained it's it's spot
(34:12):
in the tournament. Uh, the tournament expanded and tournament moved
a little bit bigger, and so those are all good things.
Those are things that are positive for the game. It's
it's you know, change doesn't happen quickly in a lot
of places, and so growth is a more Uh. You
(34:37):
really struggle sometimes to see particularly the moment. Yeah, right,
And and so we may look back at this twenty
years surround and say, well, okay, those those first you know,
five ten years we were pretty rough. But you know,
maybe we'll be able to see if there was a
turn at some point. And I don't know what what
(34:57):
that necessarily will be, but it could there No.
Speaker 2 (35:00):
But even like the Minnesota game in the Minnesota duluthe
game with Sacred Heart. Sacred Heart was like matched up
with them for what the half the game. I mean
it was not like it ended up six to one,
but that's definitely not how the game was the whole time.
And like it probably sounds like appeasing things, but the
point is that, like we've seen some of these matchups
(35:22):
where the new hot team has to go play like
the number one seed and it it does not go
well for them, So, right, it was good to see
that it like clearly there is a difference, right, Like,
I mean, Jesus, we were just talking about the difference
in institutions within the WHA and now talk about you know,
even a smaller school like UMD versus the what's available
(35:43):
to the new hot schools and through their athletic departments.
And I just I thought it was good that it
was not an immediate like, oh, these two kind of
don't belong on the same ice sort of thing. To me,
that was another good sign that like we're seeing the
teams improve, we're seeing the quality improve. We're seeing you know,
and that's just going to keep happening too, is the
spore overall grows and there's just more talented players to
(36:05):
go to forty five different amost at forty four to
forty five different institutions.
Speaker 1 (36:12):
All right, that is our look at new how We're
going to take a quick break. Then we are going
to be back and review week one and look ahead
to week two. Stay with us on the podcast. Back
for our final segment here on this week's edition of
the podcast, top Lusky and Nicole Hasey, Let's look back
(36:34):
at week one. First games of the season happened last
Friday night, and right off the bat, Minnesota lutha top
team expected to be top team in the country, was
down three to one at Mercyhurst after a pair of
goals five seconds apart. Somehow by Mercy Herris scored one.
They go up to one, and then right off the
(36:56):
face off, it's another goal straight up the middle.
Speaker 2 (37:02):
She just literally through the circle, picked up the pucket
was gone.
Speaker 1 (37:07):
Jessica Karachi, I'm sorry, I wish I had a pronunciation
guy on this one, but scored for five seconds after
to put Mercies up three to one in the second period,
but d Luth was able to come back scored a
Josie s Martin gold to tie it late in the third,
and then Kitin Kramer won it in the three on
three overtime for a four to three win, and then
(37:29):
a day later the Bulldogs got a five to three
win for the sweep to open the season. I don't
know if I was expecting necessarily that game to go
to overtime on Friday when I was thinking about it
as as a possibility entering the weekend. But I guess
on the opening weekend sometimes you just don't know what
(37:52):
you're what you're gonna have, who's gonna be ready to play,
who's might take a couple of games to get up
to speed, what kind of connections you have.
Speaker 2 (38:01):
So yeah, I'm true temper that, Like, Okay, it was
the opening weekend, so to not get you know, take
too much from it, but yeah, I there were times
where Minnesota Duluth looked like they were standing still and
Mercy Hurst was sort of skating around them. There were
I just there's this kind of a specific well, it's
(38:23):
particularly on defense. U M D has just been really
like disciplined and can be really strong and secure on that,
and I didn't feel like we were getting that from them.
I can imagine that's already been addressed in practice and
in some tape. But yeah, I didn't you know, I
didn't expect to eight goal games, regardless of who was
scoring them. I didn't expect that much output from Mercy Hursts.
(38:43):
So good on them, you know, they're one of their
best players. They Johanssen is now on um D, and
so I yeah, all around, I thought it was just
kind of a surprising outcome of games just from both teams.
You know, Saturday's game, you and D was behind and
needed four goals in the second to to really take
(39:04):
control of that game. And so yeah, not great from
I think. You know, as I said before, like some
of the d U and D writers were talking about
like them being need to be needing to be really defensive,
and like talking about maybe them needing to be more
like Mummidgie where they really like anchor in the middle
and keep teams to the outside, and that just show
was not what happened. And so uh yeah, it was,
like you said, just surprising, like trying not to be
(39:26):
too harsh on anybody, trying to not take too much
out of the opening weekend, But UMD is gonna have
to be better than that if they're gonna make waves
and do more in the w c H A. Uh,
that's just like sort of simple fact. It feels just
feels weird to just kind of be so so lun
about it, but that that wasn't going to cut it,
and so they're lucky that they escaped with it. The
(39:47):
goal that Caitlyn Kramer scored in over time is when
that goalie will want back hardcore. It was the softest
goal of the weekend unfortunately, and so yeah, UMD is
lucky they came out with that wind and you know,
but good for them because like I said, people were
asking if they're going to be able to score in
ten goals on the weekend. Definitely is a good statement
in that direction. It's sort of the other end of
(40:08):
the ice that I think they got to figure.
Speaker 1 (40:10):
Out more scoring for other WHA teams. In non conference series,
sink Cloud State got a pair of five nothing wins
against linden Wood at home, and Minnesota State went on
the road to sweep rents Layer. It was a three
nothing win on Friday and then a five to three
(40:32):
win on Saturday. That those were the three two game
series that we had over the weekend. Another non conference
game on Sunday, Saint Thomas beat Posts, and then there
were a bunch of exhibition games, which I don't know
how much value to put on, honestly, because coaches try
(40:53):
different things in exhibition games. You like to see something,
you like to get ready for game one when you
have a preseason exhibition. But I never really know how
much to put into those results.
Speaker 2 (41:07):
Yeah, absolutely, I you know, It's one of the things
is I'm like, okay, so you know Saint Lawrence one,
Colgate zero, Like that's fine, that's probably you know, the
bounce of a puck one way or the other. I
was a little surprised with the five to one New
Hampshire win over Main. I kind of expected those teams
to be a little closer sore instead of like taking
it is any sort of gospel, It's more just sort
(41:28):
of like, I probably will pay a little more attention
the next time these two teams come together. And I'd
say the same thing. It was interesting Quinnipiac three Yukon zero.
U U can't's gonna need to figure out some scoring.
They've got the goaltending, so the scoring is what needs
to come. And maybe that's what was happening in that
game I because they were exhibitions. I had them on
my my extra screen and so was paying less attention
(41:51):
to those in terms of those outcomes. But yeah, hard
to say, right, I think it's probably a design. BC
put five goals stone Hill. Again, just all of this
is there were a lot of turnover in a lot
of these teams, and so knowing that even like BC
lost some of their their highest scorers, so that they're
they're connecting putting putting pucks in the net is a
(42:13):
good sign. So it's it's not necessarily the score or
the outcome, but just the know that things are gelling together,
right right, All right.
Speaker 1 (42:24):
Let's look ahead to this week. The volume, I guess
in the volume of games turns up, and the intensity
of some of these turns up as well, thinking specifically
of Saint Lawrence and Penn State. Fine to top ten
teams in state college I believe is that a Thursday
(42:44):
Friday series because of football.
Speaker 2 (42:46):
We've got a bunch of we've got four Thursday games.
Like it's a it's a I'm not sure.
Speaker 1 (42:53):
So, but that was in early season measuring time. Yeah,
I mean it's it's a you know, get right into
it and let's see where you're at.
Speaker 2 (43:05):
Particularly because that's like a that's like being on the
bubble those you know eight to nine in Yeah, so
those are two teams that could be that could use
the boost from beating each other and also could use
like a good win when you're talking when you're comparing
teams down the down at the end of the year, right, like.
Speaker 1 (43:27):
Absolutely, then we get into Boston College playing at Minnesota.
We also have a series at Yukon, Yukon hosting Saint
Cloud State is another one of those that could be
a well, let's well, let's assess it. I I really
don't like putting too much into you know, how you
(43:49):
look on the first week of the season, but but
we also.
Speaker 2 (43:52):
Don't get these kind of matchups otherwise.
Speaker 1 (43:54):
Right, that's a good way to start, good way to
get your your yourself going into October by having some
success late in September.
Speaker 2 (44:05):
And it just helps to understand like the relative like
if you're talking Saint Cloud State the fifth team in
the w c H a versus you can towards the
top of Hockey East, like, it helps you make those
relative like where where does the team actually stack up?
Like a team like Saint Cloud that can get beat
up in their conference, Like where do they stand sort
of on a national level?
Speaker 1 (44:27):
The last game I or the debut I want to mention,
I guess I should say, is Delaware playing its first
games as a division on program hosting Long Island. It's
it's cool to see this all happen. Kind of as
we go through this, we've we've talked about, you know
what it's what it takes to build a program. We've
(44:50):
talked about how you you know, gather players and things
like that. Well, now it it's real. You're you're going
on Friday and Saturday and playing games that don't towards
your record. And I think this is something you know,
if you're if you're able to pay attention to it all,
just kind of acknowledge that, you know, this is a
big step happening for Delaware. And I don't know what
(45:14):
what's going to happen results wise, but good on them
for getting to this point and moving on from here.
Speaker 2 (45:21):
Well, we've been really lucky to have like kind of
incredible access to that. Like I was lucky to get
the exclusive of the announcement of the program starting, and
we've obviously talked to Alison Cooney a few times, like
I really feel like extra invested. I suppose, like just
from a bigger standpoint, but we've just been lucky, as
like fans, to have a lot of access to like
(45:42):
what building a program looks like and from start to finish,
And so that part is cool too, just to see
it all come together in that way. And then I
just think because of Delaware's location and the fact that they're,
you know, sort of in a really prime area that
doesn't have a ton of women's college hockey programs, possibilities
of what can grow in that area I think are
(46:02):
really cool.
Speaker 1 (46:05):
It should be exciting there. We hope, we hope for
the best for everyone around women's college hockey this weekend,
and we hope you will join us again on another
edition of the podcast for Nicole Hasey. I am Todd Deleski.
Thanks for listening enjoying the hockey
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