7 Takes: Hockey Hall of Fame and Four Nations Edition

It was a huge week in women's hockey. Let's get at it, with seven takes.

1- Jayna Hefford was inducted in the Hockey Hall of Fame. For the first time in my life, I sat down and watched most of the induction on TV, especially enjoying Hefford, O'Ree, and St. Louis's speeches. Not surprisingly, Hefford spoke to the importance of creating opportunities for everyone:

We're with you, @J16H 🙌
Congrats to Jayna Hefford on being the sixth woman to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame!
Watch her full speech here: https://t.co/aQtSwWqquW#WomensHockey pic.twitter.com/BMkSsI2FcJ

— Women's Hockey Life (@WHLOfficial) November 13, 2018

2- If you haven't read this profile by Eric Duhatschek at The Athletic on Jayna Hefford, you can enjoy it now, unlocked, no subscription required. I think my favorite part of it was how positive Hefford was about her minor hockey experience, and positive about facing the challenges of growing the sport today. Also, the ringette to hockey comparison. "This isn't hockey." Poor ringette.

3- The occasion of Hefford going into the Hall of Fame  resulted in press and questions for her in  her capacity as interim CWHL commissioner. Some of Hefford's comments, as reported in the Toronto Star: “Everybody says they want to support the game and they want to support women’s hockey. But we really need to see it in a tangible way.” It's a message I am seeing more often, and one I am glad to see.

I think for the longest time the focus was on getting girls to play hockey. Now we need to add everything else, and a huge part of that is fans. Personally I never received any messaging that I should be a fan of women's sports. I think there is a real culture of you (meaning us women) play the game until you're done with it, whenever that might be, then you follow NHL if anything, maybe getting into coaching your own kids one day, and that's it. I feel self conscious sometimes, being a fan of women's sports and it's certainly not accessible to me the way men's sports are. But I love following it, and I'm drawn to it and the accessibility is growing. So, bravo to Hefford for inviting people to be fans, inviting people to find a way to support women's hockey, if that is important to them.

4- Today it was announced that Cassie Campbell-Pascal will join the Hockey Hall of Fame Selection Committee. She is the first woman to hold this position, an Olympian with expert knowledge on women's hockey. Women's hockey fans will look to Cassie to be a champion for women deserving to be in the hall. Hopefully she will have the continued assistance of her peers on the committee - to date they have already inducted six players. Cassie has her work cut out for her though, as she is only able to nominate one individual per year. As Eric Duhatscheck, a former selection committee member, has explained, sometimes it takes years to build a case to get someone in the Hall.

This gives Cassie some things to think about. Should she risk not having any woman be inducted, and devote years to building a case for a lesser known but perhaps deserving European player? Next year Wickenheiser is expected to be a slam dunk to be first ballot inductee; is there someone on the committee who will nominate Wick, while Campbell builds a case for someone else? Who will be the champion for American female hockey players? There is lots for fans to debate now, lots for Cassie to consider. Today is exciting, and I commend the Hall of Fame people for putting Cassie on the committee.

As for who should go in next (other than Wickenheiser), it's the builders that I think of. Shannon Miller should go in one day, for her contributions at the minor hockey level, Hockey Canada level, and NCAA level. In terms of NCAA Championships, no head coach has won more than her five, though that record won't stand forever. She's now coaching pro with the Calgary Inferno.

I also think Katie King could in, either as a player or as a builder. She is a three time Olympian, and now a successful college coach at Boston College. Then there is Cassie herself.  Her points and length of playing career were not on par with Hefford or Wickenheiser. Her contribution will dwarf most peoples' though, because of the inroads she made with the NHL as a broadcaster, and the way she has used those relationships to advocate for and bring visibility to women's hockey.

Regardless of which women go in the Hall of Fame and when they go, following women's hockey just got more interesting, with today's Hall of Fame committee announcement.

5- I guess we should talk about the Four Nations tournament. It's no surprise that the USA won, they were favored and had won every major tournament going as far back as 2015. I'm not sure any of us expected the US to look as better than Canada as they did in that final though. The hand wringing is on for Canadian women's hockey fans. The good news, if you're looking for spin and good news (I am) is this: Canada played badly in that gold medal game. Playing badly left them at down 2-1 after one, then the Americans broke it open in the second with two goals very close together in the second to make it 4-1. They tied the third period. Hockey Canada will look at that and say, if we play our best we can win.

More good news is that I think the six month residency period that precedes an Olympics would help the Canadians be better prepared to face the Americans in 'the big one,' the Olympics.

The bad news is that wow, there seems to be no end to pipeline of highly talented young US players. The Americans beat Canada 5-2 in a Championship game without both Lamoureux twins (maternity leave, plan on returning), and without Carpenter and Stack (USA Hockey has moved on from them). Just a year and a half ago, USA needed all four of those players to beat Canada in OT in the 2017 Women's Worlds. Watching the Four Nations gold medal game, I didn't once think about those four players. But I thought Canada was really missing Agosta and Mikkelson, Canada's oldest players, who are both currently on maternity leave but aspire to return to the team.

Canada has its work cut for it and until they win again, every tournament is the big one. I don't know if it's an issue of player selection, coaching, or just depth of the pool of players. My gut says it's a minor hockey issue. The US is getting something right Canada isn't right now, good luck figuring that out. Regardless, the narrative has shifted; it's still one of the greatest rivalries in sports, but the games aren't the coin toss they once were. The new narrative, is how and when will Canada get back on top?

But about those dynamic young American players. I'm not going to go hunt for comprehensive stats (Hilary Knight led the tournament in points, 3 goals 4 assists in four games), but here is who looks scary good on USA to me: Decker, Coyne, Knight, Cameranesi, Keller, somewhat Brandt and Kessel. Samoskevich who I had never even heard of before this tournament had an impact, scoring multiple goals, as did Brodt. That's nine players. On Canada's roster really it was Poulin and Daoust who consistently shone for Canada on forward. Canada's other lines were amazing, but not on the level of the US. Gold medal hightlights here, if you haven't seen.

It will be fascinating to watch this play out, and I am already excited to watch them play again in a three game series in February, before Worlds in April. (h/t @kmtwhelan)

6- Ok, let's switch it up. Face it women's hockey fans, one day there is going to be one league. Until then, and after, we'll hear more and more about Gary Bettman. Might as well get to know him. Enjoy (no seriously, it's good) this Gary Bettman interview with 31 Thoughts the Podcast. No women's hockey talk, just FYI.

7- And lastly, I thought this Jill Saulnier Player's Own Voice Podcast episode was good too. Did you know she blew her knee out in the Olympics? I didn't. But she's back, and she played in the Four Nations and CWHL fans will know she plays for Les Canadiennes, too.

That's all I got, guys.

Mercyhurst loses to Lindenwood, falls to 5-6 on the season

Eleven games into the season the Mercyhurst Lakers are 5-6-0 (CHA 5-2-0). They are 25th in goals for per game, at 2.18, and are 6th worst in goals against per game, averaging 3.45 against. The power play is 21st in the nation at 16.07%, and the penalty kill hovers around 80%.  They sit atop the CHA rankings, leading by a point over Robert Morris and having played one more game than Robert Morris as well.

Last year the Lakers averaged 2.54 goals per game, 2.00 against, had a power play of 12.82%, and the penalty kill came in at 86.78%.

Whether it's too early to compare stats like the above to last year, I really don't know. But I do know that coming into this weekend the Lakers had won five out of their last six, and if they swept the 1-6-1 Lindenwood Lions on the road, they probably would have been ranked tenth in the country, possibly helped their pairwise ranking, and definitely would have brought momentum into next week's non conference match up versus #6 Cornell.

The Lakers dropped game one against the Lions though, and so the outlook changes. Today they will work to earn a split and bring home two league points from the weekend. If the Lakers can earn a split, their road trip to Lindenwood will have gotten the same results as last year's.

Last year the Lakers dropped game one 3-2, then demolished Lindenwood 6-1 the next day. Over four games last year the Lakers outscored Lindenwood 16-5. It's that goal differential that suggests the Lakers really are the better team. Watching yesterday though, it wasn't the case. The shots were in Mercyhurst's favor, but Lindenwood scored on their chances when the Lakers did not. The Lakers failed to keep former Mercyhurst player Nicole Guagliardo off the scoresheet. She had a goal and an assist, playing an inspired game, that included one play where she skated through several Hurst players and getting yet another scoring chance.

In the first period the Lakers controlled the play, outshooting Lindenwood 13-8, but also appeared satisfied with just keeping the puck in the Lions zone, at a ho hum pace of play. When Guagliardo got the go ahead goal for Lindenwood, I thought it might spark the pace of play to a level Lindenwood couldn't maintain. To no avail. In the second period some sloppy play in the Lions zone led to a Lions two on one and goal. At that point it's a two nothing deficit against a team with a capable goalie, on the road, without your leading goal scorer. The Lakers could not dig their way out and fell to 3-1 in the third, and 4-1 with the eventual empty net goal.

It was a bad outing for the Lakers, and all they can do is move forward. Inconsistent play is a feature of college hockey (it is even a feature of NHL hockey). But good teams are consistent at playing near the top of their ability game in and game out, and the more consistent you are at that, the closer you get to great.

In thinking of teams that are ranked in the top ten, one can think they destroy the best teams week in and week out. They don't, really. Mostly, good teams show up and beat most the teams that are on their schedule, regardless of circumstances. The Lakers are still learning how to do that.

The Lions and Lakers meet again today at 1:30. Yesterday Laker fans were hoping for a departure from last year's result of a split. Today, we'd be happy to get one.

7 Quick Takes: Tuesday Night Edition

They are not quick takes, but there are seven.

1- The Mercyhurst Lakers hosted conference rival Robert Morris this past weekend, earning a split and bringing both teams' records to 3-5-0. Both teams take solace in at least getting a win, but a sweep for either team would have been huge. There has not been a sweep in this rivalry since October 2016, when RMU beat Mercyhurst twice. The teams meet again at the end of February. Shots were fairly even in game two, 23-21 in favor of RMU, but the score was 5-1 bad guys. Friday's score was 4-2 Lakers. Friday Hurst highlights are below, RMU’s Saturday  highlights are here.

Check out the recap from yesterday’s game! Beautiful goals from @emilyypinto19 @alexa_vasko7 @SamFieseler @sarahhine7 Game 2 today at 3pm at the MIC #LAKERPRIDE pic.twitter.com/N0G9Mp1QUH

— Mercyhurst W. Hockey (@HurstWHockey) October 20, 2018

Next up, the Lakers host Penn State, who are coming off of a  split with Providence this weekend.


2- Separate from the college scene, USA Hockey released their women's hockey roster for the Four Nations Tournament taking place in Saskatoon, on November 6-10. The roster can be found here. As far as I am aware USA Hockey has not announced their coaching staff for this tournament. None of the 2018 Olympic coaching staff was a part of the national team evaluation camp that occurred last month. The Four Nations Tournament is less than three weeks away, so surely a coaching announcement is coming soon. The US drew some criticism for having no women on the Olympic coaching staff; hopefully an all male staff is not the case for the Four Nations. Canada's Four Nations coaching staff includes Head Coach Perry Pearn, with assistants Doug Derraugh, and Caroline Ouellette.

3- Two notable USA Olympians not on the Four Nations team include Meghan Duggan, and goaltender Nicole Hensley. 31  year old Duggan quashed the requirement question when interviewed by Fox Sports Wisconsin at the Wisconsin Badgers game on Friday night. She is not playing professionally or with Team USA right now, but said in regards to playing professionally and with the Olympic team in the future: "Yeah certainly, that's the plan. Once you get that itch, it's hard to walk away." So, it appears she is taking some time off. Duggan was a third/fourth liner in her third Olympics, and earned two assists in that tournament. A three time NCAA champion, a Patty Kazmaier winner, Clarkson Cup Champion, and Olympic gold medal winning Team USA captain, Duggan is one of the most accomplished women's hockey players all time.

4- 24 year old Nicole Hensley is younger than Duggan so no retirement questions surfaced in her case, but her absence is noteworthy. It could be Hensley was a Robb Stauber goalie, and with Stauber seemingly out, so too are his preferred players, at least for this tournament. Hensley's most high profile international game was the 2017 World Championship gold medal game that USA won, in overtime. It could also be she's not one of the best three USA goalies right now, or that USA Hockey simply wants to get fresh looks. The other goalie I thought we might see on the senior team at some point is recent BC grad, Katie Burt, who holds the record for most wins all time in NCAA history, recently beating Noora Raty's mark.

The USA goalies on the Four Nations team include: Emma Polusny (St. Cloud State University), Alex Rigsby (Calgary Inferno), Maddie Rooney (University of Minnesota Duluth).

5- As you can see with the goalies above, the Four Nations tournament will impact college rosters. In the case of Mercyhurst they do not have any Canadians or Americans in the tournament, although it is possible Tanskanen and Nuutinen will play for  Finland.

The weekend of the tournament, Mercyhurst hosts Cornell. Cornell's Micah Zandee-Hart, Jaime Bourbonnais and head coach Doug Derraugh will all be representing Canada. The medal games are played on the tenth so that trio will miss the first game of the series, and I would be surprised if they make it back for the second game of the series, although it's possible. With multiple teams and series affected by the tournament, at the college level it's a weekend ripe for upsets. Cornell is a top ten ranked team, and was picked to win the ECAC this year. Regardless of who dresses for the games, it's a huge opportunity for Mercyhurst.

6- A couple weeks ago, I went to my first Beauts game, their home opener versus the Connecticut Whale. I went with my husband, four year old, and two year old. My parents and brother from Ontario met us there, too. HarborCenter is great, as advertised. My favorite features were the size (seats on both sides, cozy but not cavernous) and the glass panels they have that show the decals of whatever is going on there that weekend. The hockey was as expected, good, but a blowout. Attendance was also as expected, good, but not a sellout.

I'd seen very few of these women play live, and the highlight was watching Dani Cameranesi distribute the puck. Seeing a little girl in a Pfalzer Team USA jersey and seeing the incredible pre game hype video kind of got my emotions a bit; I'd never seen anything like it. Other than that, it was a typical hockey game, the atmosphere kind of reminded me of going to hockey games in my youth to see our local junior B and men's senior teams.

What made the day special was being with my family. My daughter was afraid of the loud music, and my son was afraid of Sabre Tooth the mascot, but both relaxed as the day wore on. My favorite parts were watching my four year old dance to the music at intermission, playing bubble hockey with her and seeing her warm up to Sabre Tooth. I loved seeing my son make friends with two little boys who sat in front of us. My son thought they were so cool, kept cuddling up to them, but they genuinely didn't mind. My husband, not a hockey guy, got in the spirit and bought our four year old a Beauts shirt, and both kids mini sticks. In the case of my two year old, it's his first hockey stick, and it's perfect for him.

Now, my daughter is already a hockey fan. Before her first birthday, she watched the Olympics, saw the Lakers in the Frozen Four, watched me play summer hockey, and went to Erie for her first college game. She identifies as a hockey player even though we mostly just play in the driveway, so far. Women's hockey players doing their thing is completely normal for her, so she didn't bat an eye at attending a Beauts game.

My two year old though, he is a little boy who sleeps on football themed bed sheets, with Cleveland Browns stuff animals and baseball, basketball, and football decals on his walls. He loves sports but relatively speaking, the hockey exposure has been lacking. A few weeks ago when the Browns finally won on a Sunday, my husband added a football to our son's crib, just for one night.

But since the Beauts game, when I rock my son at night and he sleepily and nonsensically goes through his various phrases, I'm hearing about the "hockey stick" almost as much as I hear about "football game." It probably is just a phase but just in case, after I put him in his crib, I occasionally put his Beauts mini hockey stick in there too. After all, hockey is for everyone.

7- Playing bubble hockey! Our first NWHL game was a success. I'm not sure I'll have another chance to watch a game this year, but in a perfect world I'd take my daughter to the neutral site game in Pittsburgh in early December I think, and take myself to the Beauts Whitecaps game at HarborCenter on December 30th.

Lakers sweep the Orange, and Prepare for the Colonials

The Lakers completed the sweep of Syracuse yesterday, improving to 2-4 on the season. Here are 7 quick takes:

1- Senior goalie Sarah McDonnell got the start in net, and earned a shut out in the 1-0 victory. With McDonnell getting her first start of the season on Friday, this marked the first time since 2015-2016 that all three goalies on the Mercyhurst roster saw game time in the same season. Saturday's win was McDonnell's ninth career shutout; her last one was January 2018 versus Lindenwood.

2- The only goal of the game came in the second period, on Sam Isbell's first of the year. The Mercyhurst defender kept the puck in the offensive zone, dumping it into the corner. Dobson got a stick on it, Hine took control and fed it to Isbell who was cruising through the slot. Isbell caught the pass on the backhand, patiently stepped around the defender and beat Syracuse goaltender Ady Cohen high blocker side. Nice goal, but my fave is the oohs and ahhs from the crowd:

@Buccigross you won’t find a better goal scored today in #CawlidgeHawkey on the women’s side. Sam Isbell from @HurstAthletics with beauty in their 1-0 win at SU pic.twitter.com/iwkVocEyJx

— Mario Sacco (@MarioSaccoNC9) October 14, 2018

3- The Syracuse goaltender was Ady Cohen, of Boynton Beach, Florida making her first collegiate start. I didn't know what to expect, but Cohen giving up just 1 goal on 24 shots indicates Cohen and Maddi Welch, 'Cuse's senior netminder, may battle for the starting position this year. Next up, the O-3 Syracuse Orange face the Lindenwood Lions.

Semi related tangent: As an Ohioan with no real rooting interest in the 'Cuse goalie situation, I'll root for Ady, an alum of Gilmour Academy. Gilmour Academy is located in a Cleveland suburb and is home to the only girls prep hockey team in Ohio. I like to hope its youth hockey association could one day be the heart of a girls hockey surge in Northeast Ohio.

4- In the Friday night clash between the Lakers and Orange the power plays executed at 20% (Mercyhurst) and 40% (Syracuse) respectively, with five power play opportunities per team. On Saturday, despite penalties galore, seventeen in total, neither team could convert. Mercyhurst will be happy to have escaped with a win, but surely would have liked to see the power play clicking before heading into next weekend's huge conference series with Robert Morris. A positive is that the penalty kill had a big night, killing seven penalties in a tightly called game, with no room on the scoreboard for error.

5- Meanwhile, Robert Morris heads into next weekend's matchup coming off of a split with Rensellaer Polytechnic Institute. RMU outshot the RPI Engineers 58-18 on Friday, and lost 1-0, thanks to the brilliant play of RPI goaltender Lovisa Selander. Not surprisingly, RPI could not duplicate the magic on Saturday, and RMU won game 2 of the series. Bizarrely, one of the Saturday goals against RPI was a harmless looking wrister from the neutral zone. Different day, completely different set of luck I suppose. You can see the highlights from that game here.

RMU's second goal, and game winner, was more of a traditional RMU goal. Lexi Templeman and Jaycee Gebhard worked the puck back and forth on the power play, with Templeman in the corner, Gebhard coming off the wall, receiving the puck and putting in the back of the net. The Colonials will make every effort to bring their best game to Erie, in one of the bigger series in NCAA hockey next weekend. RMU currently holds a 2-4 record, with splits against SLU, and RPI, and two losses to Clarkson. Surprisingly, the Colonials scored more goals against number one ranked Clarkson, than against their other two opponents thus far.

6- Last year, the Lakers went 3-2 versus Robert Morris. Kennedy Blair got the start in each of those games. Mercyhurst won game one and lost game two, in each of the regular season series. McDonnell last started against RMU on January 21, 2017, a game in which the two rivals tied each other, with McDonnell making 35 saves in a 3-3 tie. So, as has been the case for some time with the Mercyhurst Lakers, the sub plot of "Who will start in net?" endures. The good news is, either of McDonnell or Blair, the likely starters, can get the job done.

7- RMU's Coach Colontino likely has a far easier decision to make regarding goaltening. Lauren Bailey started the first five games of the season for the Colonials, before freshman Arielle DeSmet got the start in game two of the RPI series. In her first start, DeSmet gave up one goal on nine shots, earning her first college win. Most likely we will see senior Lauren Bailey in net for the Mercyhurst series. Although this is her first year as the number one goalie, Bailey has seen game action since her freshman year, and her resume includes a win against Mercyhurst.

The great rivalry starts its 2018-2019 chapter, at six pm on Friday, at the Mercyhurst Ice Center.

7 Quick Takes: Pro Hockey and National Team Edition

The week flew by, and hockey is back. This weekend, the Mercyhurst Lakers take on the Syracuse Orange. In game one of the series, Mercyhurst beat the Orange 4-2. But NCAA isn't the only hockey that's back. Some thoughts on non NCAA hockey:

1- Canada released their Four Nations roster yesterday, with one star name missing: Meghan Agosta. As reported in the Globe and Mail, Agosta is not retiring, and has ambitions to play in the 2022 Olympics. She is expecting her first child in December, and will miss the Four Nations and 2019 World Championships, before making her return. Firstly, that's really happy news and congrats to Agosta. She will be missed though, as the 31 year old played on a top line with Poulin and Daoust at the Olympics, scoring two goals and three assists in that tournament. It's been a long time since we've seen a Team Canada without Agosta, who has been a fixture on the team since the 2006 Olympics.

2-  Pension Plan Puppets wrote about   the players that are  on the Canada Four Nations roster. The best piece of news in that article? TSN will be broadcasting the medal games live. Hopefully NHL Network (or anyone) does the same in the United States. The tournament takes place November 6-10, in Saskatoon.

3- In reading an Ice Garden post about the Champions Cup a few weeks back, a line from new Riveters Head Coach Randy Velischek, caught my eye. Mike Murphy wrote, "After the game Velischek admitted that he was still learning many of his players’ names, including the last name of reigning NWHL MVP Alexa Gruschow." As soon as I read it I thought, that's not going to go over well, and sure enough it got a bit of a negative reaction.

One the one hand, I could see that comment getting made by any new coach. Learning the players' names is a process, sure. It's a comment that would go across better at a post practice media scrum though, than after a much anticipated game of two league champions from different countries. It raises the question of why it took the Riveters so long to hire a new coach, considering former coach Chad Wiseman gave his notice months ago. This is a topic I'd like to hear from Dani Rylan, NWHL commissioner on.

Without anyone addressing it we have to draw our own conclusions. Myself, I get the impression it's not easy to find people to coach these teams, if the league is still filling a coaching role weeks before the season starts. Presumably the jobs don't pay too much, but it's odd that the NWHL can find 120 or so women to play hockey for a small stipend, but can't find coaches to also coach for a presumably small stipend. Like a lot of people, I'd like to see more female coaches behind the benches of women's hockey teams. If Dani is not getting applications from female coaches, that's something she could start a conversation about. If women are applying and not getting the jobs - 4 out of 5 teams coached by men; 3 out of 5 teams coached by ex-NHLers - that's also worth talking about. As it stands, people draw their own conclusions, which is probably not fair to anyone.

4- The Athletic's Nate Wells wrote about the Whitecaps coach, Ronda Curtin Engelhardt last week.
To me, seeing Engelhardt coaching and Winny Brodt Brown still playing is amazing. Engelhardt co-coaches with Jack Brodt, founder of the Whitecaps, and father to Winny. Engelhardt has three young kids, works as a high school counselor, and has coached Breck's girls hockey team to a state championship. It's quite inspiring to see her behind the bench of a women's pro team, especially given how apparent it is that she has a lot of additional responsibilities. To see the co-head coach title shared with Jack Brodt hints at the kind of collaboration and support that may make the role possible for someone as busy as Engelhardt. The coaching staff is a beautiful part of the Whitecaps story. Here's a quote from that Athletic story, from Engelhardt:

“I was on the fence for a while and then finally I was like, ‘I’m very passionate about growing the game and giving girls more opportunities.’ I looked at all the other teams and saw there was no female head coach,” she said. “That’s what I fought for. We’re trying to grow the women’s game. Let’s get a woman in that position. I pushed a little back and said, ‘Give me this opportunity.’ That’s how it went.”

Enter Engelhardt, the lone female head coach among the league’s five teams.

“I think it’s a good example of how important it is for people to see people in different positions,” said Engelhardt. “The business world, seeing leaders in the business world. On the ice, role models as players, but also seeing they can be led by a female as well.”

5- The Whitecaps played their first series at home to sold out crowds. The crowd noise! I hope they can sustain this atmosphere; it looks great.

When your weekend looks like this, you earn NWHL Player of the Week presented by @EcnVeda honors! 🚨

Congratulations to @hannahbrandt16 of @WhitecapsHockey on taking home the first award of the year! pic.twitter.com/CLod1O2Osv

— NWHL (@NWHL) October 8, 2018

6- In USCHO's weekly Wednesday Women feature, Nicole Haase and Candace Horgan debate what kind of immediate impact the 2018 Olympics will have on the popularity of the college game. From my own perspective, college hockey engagement appears to have increased, just in terms of online engagement during the games. Also, the level of engagement has been low enough that a single change - like the Ice Garden going in on women's college hockey, can make a big change. These are changes that impact the fan base, not the programs themselves. If the programs are looking for a bump in attention or attendance? I think the recipe's always the same: just win.

7- Speaking of attendance, tomorrow I will be watching my first ever NWHL game live, in person! I am so excited. My husband and I and our two kids are driving to Buffalo to watch the Beauts take on the Whale. I fear it will be a lopsided game, but I am excited to see Szabados (hope she starts but I would be happy to see Hensley or DiTondo, two CHA alums as well), Bolden, Cameranesi, Pfalzer, Chesson, Harmon, Janiga, Accursi, Iafallo, Raisanen....seriously the list goes on and on. I am looking forward to seeing Habor Center for the first time (home of the CHA Tournament), getting some Beauts swag, and exposing my kids to a bit of hockey.

As is the case every weekend, let's go Lakers! And this weekend, let's go Beauts, as well.

7 Quick Takes: Lakers Start 0-4, look next to Syracuse

The Lakers are four games into the 2018 season, and here's some things we've learned so far.

1-The Lakers are not a top four team in the country right now. After being beaten 4-2 and 5-0 by #3 Minnesota, and 6-1 and 5-3 by #2 Wisconsin in the first two weeks of the season the Lakers fell from the tenth spot in the polls, immediately feeling the effects of their tough non conference schedule. Yesterday, although the shots were lopsided in Wisconsin's favor, Mercyhurst was down by a goal with a minute left reminding us that in hockey anything can happen. The Lakers didn't get the result they wanted, but hopefully feel they got better over the course of these four games, and will be ready to go with the next team up.

No team started the season with a similarly difficult schedule as Mercyhurst, other than maybe UMD, who has faced Boston College and Minnesota. UMD, led by head coach Maura Crowell, went 2-1-1 in that span, giving an early indication they are better than originally expected. They started the season ranked at ninth.

We know the Lakers aren't top four in the country right now, so the question becomes are they top ten, top twenty? I believe they can be a top ten team, and they still have the opportunity to prove it. We’ll learn more next weekend as they take on CHA foe, the Syracuse Orange. The Orange are 0-1, having lost to BC yesterday.

2- Sophomore goaltender Leah Klassen, from Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON got the start yesterday for Mercyhurst for the first time. This was surprising, as I expected Sarah McDonnell to start yesterday in lieu of Kennedy Blair, just to try to spark something. Whether McDonnell is injured or whether Klassen has emerged as the second goalie is irrelevant. It's impressive for any goalie to play their first college game against an offense like Wisconsin’s (Kennedy Blair did the same last year, when she started for Mercyhurst at Wisconsin). Wisconsin finished fifth in the nation in offense last year, and with the return of Olympian Emily Clark, and Annie Pankowski who was a final cut for Team USA, Wisconsin will once again have one of the best offenses in the country. Klassen made 35 saves and gave up four goals in her collegiate debut, for a save percentage of 89.74%.

3 - Emma Nuutinen has three points in four games, including two goals against two top ranked teams. Emma did good things for Mercyhurst as soon as she joined the team last year, but it wasn't until a December series versus Syracuse that she got her first goal as Laker, at which point her production shifted into a higher gear. To see her finding the back of the net early, against top competition bodes well for the Lakers. The same can be said of sophomore center Alexa Vasko, who is relied upon in all situations, and potted a goal against Wisconsin yesterday.

4-  Freshman Emily Pinto (Mississauga, ON) may be small in stature, but she is showing up big on the scoresheet early. The five foot three forward has two goals and an assist in her first four college games. She is one to watch for sure next weekend, as the Lakers take on the Orange.

5- One of the themes yesterday online was fans struggling with streams. I was only able to watch about a period and a half of the Lakers-Badgers game due to issues. The Clarkson RMU feed was out most of one of its games, there was talk of Colgate OSU stream issues, and even one of the NWHL games was having issues. Other than the NWHL stream those are all streams that viewers had to pay for, adding insult to injury.

There's not much to say, other than to point out the frustration of this experience. At the end of the day, you want the players to get a first class experience at a Div I school. If my experience as a fan can't even register on the list of priorities, I totally get it (although parents would justifiably be less forgiving). But these kinds of experiences only fuel my hope that one day we can have a high level women's pro hockey league, and be able to watch it regularly on TV.  Yesterday was a reminder of one of the ways in which it is difficult to be a women's sports fan.

6- I read that the Minnesota Mercyhurst series of last week was very fast paced. I can believe it, watching what I saw of Mercyhurst Wisconsin this weekend. Mercyhurst's speed is a positive they can take forward to their next series, making it a point to be the team that pushes the pace of the game. The Mercyhurst defenders do a nice job getting their heads up and finding forwards who are streaking down the wing through the neutral zone.

7- Mercyhurst's power play has gone three for sixteen, or 18.8% to start the season. Again, considering the opponents and considering Mercyhurst's historical pp success rate of around 13%, that's excellent, no matter how early it may be. The penalty kill is operating at 80%. I wish I had seen more, but it was encouraging to see sophomore Rachel Marmen quarterbacking the first power play unit against Wisconsin the other day (and doing a decent job).

That's all for now. I wish I had a clever hockey saying sign off, but oh well. Looking forward to watching the Lakers take on Syracuse next week. Ever the optimist, I have a feeling that not only is the streaming free, it's going to work too!

Podcasts, get your podcasts

Last Sunday was International Podcast Day, so I decided to share some of my favorite podcasts with you, a week later. Your mileage may vary, but these podcasts have inspired, educated, and entertained me. They've connected me to hockey, writing and happiness.

 I added links in a few places. If you listen to any of these stories, I recommend the Only A Game one.

NPR's Only A Game - NPR's sports podcast where they share unique sports stories of varying length.
Hockey episode: 2 Sisters, 2 College Teams, 2 Women's Olympic Hockey Legacies

31 Thoughts with Jeff Marek and Elliot Friedman - I like the positive energy of this NHL podcast.

Burn It All Down - Their tagline is “The feminist sports podcast you need,” and that’s a good description. This podcast is hosted by Shireen Ahmed, Jessica Luther, Lindsay Gibbs, Brenda Elsey, and Amira Rose Davis. I just read Wyomia Tyus' book, which I learned about on this podcast. Tyus was the first person to win back to back gold medals at the Olympics in the 100 meter race. The part of her story that most resonated with me was that she was a college athlete in the 1960's, pre Title IX. Amazing story, I never would have heard of it without this podcast.

ESPN on Ice - NHL talk with Greg Wyshynski and Emily Kaplan. Great interviews in the world of NHL hockey. I like how they don't take themselves too seriously, and show their personalities a bit.

Front & Nationwide - A new Columbus Blue Jackets podcast by Blue Jackets writers Aaron Portzline, Alison Lukan and Tom Reed. Columbus is interesting again this year, with the contracts questions and wondering whether they are good or not. This pod gives close to a front row seat to watching it unfold. Two games in, CBJ reminds me once again of a team for whom nothing is ever easy, having to fight so hard for every win despite the apparent talent on the roster.

Player's Own Voice - This is a CBC pod hosted by Anastasia Bucsis, a 2x Canadian Olympian. She interviews athletes.
Hockey episodes: Tessa Bonhomme formerly of Team Canada Women's Hockey, and here's Julie Chu, Former American Hockey Superstar, now in Canada.

Puck Soup - Greg Wyshynski and Dave Lozo talk about pop culture, nonsense and hockey. If I am ever feeling sad, I listen to this show to make me laugh.

Sports Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch - Richard talks about sports media and talks to sports people. Really interesting stuff, especially as guest delve into their career arcs. 
Recommended Sports Media Podcast episode: Doris Burke and Cheryl Reeve 

That's What She Said with Sarah Spain - Sarah talks to people in sports and media. Similar vibe to The Full 60 but not hockey specific. Sarah is a former Cornell college athlete, now at ESPN. There is a treasure trove of good stuff on her podcast.
Hockey episode: Monique and Jocelyne Lamoureux
Couldn't link to the exact episode but it's the 3/14/18 episode.

The BobCast with Bob McKenzie - more great insider information; I'm here for the stories and the Canadiana.

The Full 60 with Craig Custance - Craig talks to hockey and media people.
Favorite episode: Episode 29 with Katie Strang. This is so good. It's funny, it's serious, there's career talk, parent talk and new mom talk.

The Teebz and Beans Show - All kinds of Hockey talk from the University of Manitoba radio station. Teebz writes a blog called Hockey Blog in Canada that dates back years and has lots of women's hockey content, and has all kinds of sports book recommendations. You have to go to the blog and scroll to the bottom to get links to the podcast version of the radio show, but it's worth it.
Favorite episode: Delayne Brian formerly of the Calgary Inferno, who played her college hockey in the CHA.
 
Top Shelf (The Ice Garden) with Hannah Bevis and Michelle Jay - Hannah and Michelle talk about whats going on in women's hockey. The tone strikes as two good friends just having a chat.

Two Writers Slinging Yang with Jeff Pearlman - Jeff interviews all different sorts of writers. Lots of career talk, process talk etc. Again, similar to Sarah Spain or The Full 60. Jeff also writes a personal blog, which is really old school and I love it.
Excellent episode: Episode 51 Candace Buckner, beat reporter for the Washington Wizards

That's all I got. I'll end with a quote that I heard on a podcast this year. Danny Briere on the Full 60 said something like, "I don't miss playing, but I still love the game." It perfectly encapsulates how I feel, and I could not be happier to have discovered hockey fandom at last, after so many years of just being a hockey player.