I'm 50% factual and 50% sarcastic. When you get to know me, you will know which is which.
From “The Hockey News”: PWHL Draft Rankings: Top 120
The draft is September 18th.
2023-24 WCHA Coaches Poll
(Coaches could not vote for their own team. First place votes are in parentheses)1. Wisconsin (4) 46 points
1. Ohio State (4) 46
3. Minnesota 35
4. Minnesota Duluth 33
5. St. Cloud State 27
6. Minnesota State 17
6. St. Thomas 17
8. Bemidji State 7Preseason WCHA Player of the Year:
Caroline Harvey, Soph., D, Wisconsin (7 votes)
Others receiving votes: Hannah Bilka, F, Ohio State (1).Preseason WCHA Rookie of the Year
Joy Dunne, F, Ohio State (5 votes)
Others receiving votes: Eve Gascon, G, Minnesota Duluth (2); Kelly Gorbatenko, F, Wisconsin (1)Preseason All-WCHA
F: Jenn Gardiner, Sr., Ohio State (tie) with Kirsten Simms, So., Wisconsin
F: Abbey Murphy, Jr., Minnesota
F: Casey O’Brien, Sr., WisconsinD: Cayla Barnes, Sr., Ohio State
D: Caroline Harvey, Soph, Wisconsin
G – Amanda Thiele, Sr., Ohio StateOthers receiving votes (listed alphabetically by position):
Forwards – Hannah Bilka, Sr., Ohio State; Jenna Buglioni, Sr., Ohio State; Britta Curl, Sr., Wisconsin; Lacey Eden, Jr., Wisconsin; Jamie Nelson, Sr., Minnesota State; Makenna Webster, Sr. Ohio State.
Defense – Nina Jobst-Smith, Sr. Minnesota Duluth; Madeline Wethington, Sr., Minnesota.
Goaltender: Jojo Chobak, ; St. Cloud State; Skylar Vetter, Jr., Minnesota;.
From “The Hockey News”: PWHL Announces Draft Details
Players who applied for compassionate circumstances heading into the draft received confirmation Wednesday morning related to whether their application to stay in their home market was approved or denied. While these players will appear on the draft declaration list, teams from outside their selected market will not be able to choose those players. The list of approved compassionate circumstance players will not be made public, meaning some players presumed to be key targets in the draft might not be selected, or not chosen until late in the draft. Those granted compassionate circumstances, however, are not guaranteed a roster spot in their desired market and may be required to compete for a spot as an undrafted player at tryouts.
At some point Gigi is going to have to let the kids play.
I am the official Iowa Hawkeye football fan of GPL!
Roseau native Charlie Burgraff is the coach of the Minnesota PWHL team.
From “The Hockey News”: Six Coaches Announced For PWHL Teams Including MacLeod, Ryan, Cheverie
Burggraf will represent his home state behind the bench with PWHL Minnesota and reunites with General Manager Natalie Darwitz. The Roseau, MN native coached Darwitz in his first of two seasons as an assistant for the University of Minnesota, helping the Gophers capture the 2005 NCAA National Championship. He served four seasons as head coach of the Bethel University women’s hockey program from 2006-10, highlighted by three MIAC playoff appearances and 2009 Coach of the Year honors. He spent the next eight seasons leading Bethel’s men’s team through 2018.
You can watch the PWHL draft starting at noon.
https://www.youtube.com/live/HKXPeU45A6k?si=gCPpV_xEORPTT77j
Gopher PWHL draft picks:
Taylor Heise (1-1), Minnesota
Grace Zumwinkle (3-13), Minnesota
Hannah Brandt (5-27), Boston
Emily Brown (8-46), Boston
Amanda Leveille (11-61), Minnesota
Olivia Knowles (15-86), Toronto
They join Kelly Pannek and Lee Stecklein, who signed with Minnesota during the preliminary period.
I admit I don't follow women's hockey closely, but looking at the names selected in the PWHL draft yesterday, I was pretty surprised to see the #2 overall pick (Jocelyne Larocque) is 35 years old. Even if she's a great player, which I'm sure she is, it just seems like a strange decision to take someone that age at #2 overall.
I’m guessing that the early concern for this new league is getting butts in the seats. A recognizable name might take more priority than it will later after the league gets more established
I’m guessing that the early concern for this new league is getting butts in the seats. A recognizable name might take more priority than it will later after the league gets more established
I get that to a certain extent, but it's also hard to take this new league seriously when provincialism is prioritized over putting your best product in the ice. Winning also puts butts in the seats.
@hockeybum, I don’t disagree with anything you’ve said. I had to do some research as my interest in women’s hockey doesn’t go way back. Larocque played at UMD in their glory days under Shannon Miller. She’s been a fixture on Canadian national teams ever since including winning gold in Beijing. Sounds like she’s still considered one of the top defenders in the world, so this seems like a legitimate choice as of right now. It’s also valid though to question how long she’ll be on top of her game.
Fun fact in my research: Larocque is the cousin of former 
great Melanie Gagnon.
The Gopher Women start out their season Saturday with an exhibition with Durham West of the OWHA U22 league. The League is a U22 League, but the overwhelming majority of the players are high school age. The OWHA and the Minnesota high school system are probably the two largest suppliers of talent for the NCAA. Durham West is here for three games. They play Shattuck down in Faribault on Friday and take on St. Thomas on Sunday. Roster is below with NCAA commitments and graduation years.
G 45 Madison Campbell (Penn State) ‘25
G 67 Darby Oakes (un.) ‘26
D 3 Ella Klinkhammer (un.) ‘25
D 21 Taylor Leemrijse (un.) ‘25
D 44 Georgia Sambrano (Colgate) ‘23
D 55 Sarah Steinbacher (un.) ‘24
D 58 Abigayle Poitras (Merrimack) ‘24
D 77 Sarah Rowe (Holy Cross) ‘24
F 6 Martina Accardi (un.) ‘25
F 7 Hayley Thompson (un.) ‘26
F 11 Sadie Hotles (UConn) ‘25
F 16 Kaileigh Quigg (Cornell) ‘24
F 17 Karianne Engelbert (Union) ‘23
F 18 Zoe Ziotas (RIT) ‘24
F 19 Avery Bryk (un.) ‘25
F 27 Jessie Pellerin (Providence) ‘24 ??
F 34 Cameron Crawford (un.) ‘25
F 64 Dorothy Copetti (un.) ‘25
F 72 Ella Inglis (Dartmouth) ‘24
F 93 Maddie McCullough (un.) ‘26
Jessie Pellerin is the lone Durham West player that played on Canada’s U18 team that played the USA in the three game series back in August. Did a little digging, but couldn’t find anything about whether she’s related to Scott Pellerin.
Season preview from “The Rink Live”
https://www.therinklive.com/womens-college/wcha/can-minnesota-repeat-as-final-faceoff-champions
Today’s exhibition 2:00 at Ridder.
Last night in Faribault:
Shattuck 3, Durham West 2 o.t.
Gophers take exhibition game 6-0. Murphy with three goals, P. Hemp with two and A. Wethington the other.
https://twitter.com/GopherWHockey/status/1705288854364881365?s=20
Not a surprise that it's the four of them with letters, but a bit of a shock that the junior Hemp gets the only C, no?
Met Peyton at the Skate with the Gophers event last year. She was fantastic with my daughter who was a beginner on skates. She is a positive person, a natural leader and people gravitate toward her.
Captains should be the best leaders regardless of their ages on the team. I think she is a great choice.
fwiw. I'm not sure I'd have them in the Top 3 or 4 but hey get it on.
https://twitter.com/Buccigross/status/1709622041714860179?s=20
Four Gophers regular season games on Fox9+ and another 5 wcha games not featuring the Gophers and all three Final Faceoff games
Friday, Oct. 13: Minnesota at St. Thomas - 4 p.m
Saturday, Nov. 4: Minnesota at Minnesota State - 4 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 20: Minnesota at Bemidji State - 3 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 27: Minnesota at Minnesota State - 2 p.m.
https://twitter.com/FOX9/status/1709948444163354761?t=vsuloCnzqr6m5yryjJeSwQ&s=19
Fox9+ has upped their game in the last year or two for MN sports. Have seen a few Saints games, and of course the aforementioned Gophers women's hockey games.
When you tell somebody somethin', it depends on what part of the United States you're standin' in... as to just how dumb you are.
The Women open their season this weekend on the road in Rochester, New York against the hated Rochester Institute of Technology. Both games are at 5:00 central time. AUDIO only, unless you’re a Flo Hockey subscriber. Interesting that Rochester is the home of most recent commit Bella Fanale.
Nice article from the Daily on the experience of the recently graduated class of 2018-19.
3, RIT 0
Goals by Murphy (2) and M. Wethington
5, RIT 1
I'm hoping to make it to Ridder this year, its been a few years unfortunately.
IALTO
Abbey Murphy 2, St Thomas 0 after 1
“When your best friend is the son of God, you get tired of losing every argument.”
― Christopher Moore, Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal
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Tuned in at the 2nd Intermission, and it's 5-0 Gophers.
Gophers start off the 3rd shorthanded, and a beautiful pass to Huber to make it 6-0 a few seconds after the penalty ended.
B1G refs... corrupt, or just incompetent?
It’s what you would expect. They aren’t good and we are.
'29, '40, '74, '76, '79, '02, & '03
GPL's Resident Cabin Enthusiast & Cadets Hockey Fan
Agreed, not surprised by this at all.It’s what you would expect. They aren’t good and we are.
B1G refs... corrupt, or just incompetent?
And, as the final score: 8-0
B1G refs... corrupt, or just incompetent?
The women have their home opener tonight, in a fairly uncommon mid-week game, against a much improved St. Cloud State squad. The game is on Big Ten Network at 7:00.
https://gophersports.com/news/2023/10/20/womens-hockey-frost-signed-to-two-year-contract-extension
Not sure how to feel about that. On one hand, I feel the team is stagnant with him at the helm and that not winning a title with five years of Taylor Heise et al at this school is a fireable offense. On the other, I'm not sure there are any realistic hires who would do better, and I can acknowledge that a college head coach being in the final year of a contract is not usually a good idea for team performance.
Yep.. I don’t follow the team closely enough to have a strong opinion. But I definitely don’t give him a ringing endorsement.
I understand the sentiments expressed above. I’ve been a little hard on Brad myself lately. I do believe we are going to be down some from what we’ve come to expect for a couple years. But…I am as optimistic as I’ve been in a while with the staff as it is presently composed.
I do think he recognized that the in-state/US class is not as good and he was losing a lot of those players to WI and OSU which is why he's turned back to Canadian/International recruiting which was huge for us in those mid teen NCAA runs. But you have to hit too. A bunch of second and third liners in that group won't win you anything.
https://twitter.com/GopherWHockey/status/1718057948969156880?s=20
Good news: Gophers take Ohio State to overtime
Bad news: Well, you can probably figure that part out
I know Ohio State is a top 3 team in the country but giving up 51 and 46 shots respectively in regulation losses is not acceptable. Credit to Vetter and the top line for keeping these games close on the scoreboard and earning the conference point, and Bouveng-Huber-Murphy was legitimately great this weekend, but if this is Ohio State, I wonder what's going to happen against Wisconsin. We should not be outclassed like this.
https://gophersports.com/news/2023/10/20/womens-hockey-frost-signed-to-two-year-contract-extension
Not sure how to feel about that. On one hand, I feel the team is stagnant with him at the helm and that not winning a title with five years of Taylor Heise et al at this school is a fireable offense. On the other, I'm not sure there are any realistic hires who would do better, and I can acknowledge that a college head coach being in the final year of a contract is not usually a good idea for team performance.
I see your point but he makes some very questionable decisions that cost him games like the 2nd game in Ohio why didn’t he play the other goalie skylar took 50 shots the night before plays her second game let’s in 6 goals has a .885% save percentage tired legs I’m sure up 2-0: and blew the lead
isn’t that the reason they went and got that other goalie supposedly a all American other teams use both goalies long season
The Women beat Duluth in Duluth 3-1. Not blowing teams out, but have found a way most nights.
https://twitter.com/B1GHockey/status/1725683317578539493?s=20
https://twitter.com/GopherWHockey/status/1725695324264468570?s=20
https://twitter.com/GopherWHockey/status/1725699309557907766?s=20