Category: college hockey (Page 1 of 19)

Your Women’s Hockey Crash Course

10 February, 2014 / Kat

The opening faceoff of the 2013 Women’s Frozen Four semifinal between Minnesota and Boston College. (Photo: Kat Hasenauer Cornetta)

You have probably been watching some morning Olympic women’s hockey games and want to learn more about the players you’re watching. Well, you are in luck. I’ve watched a lot of women’s hockey over the past few years, and for the last two, I have written about it. Here is a quick guide to some relevant pieces of mine that will help you learn more about the women’s hockey you are watching.

I spoke to US head coach Katey Stone and several members of her squad for an overall preview of their Olympic hopes. I also spoke to Stone when things weren’t looking too good for the US team this past fall.

Want to learn more about Kendall Coyne, who scored two goals Monday morning against Switzerland? Here’s a feature I did on her before her sophomore season at Northeastern University that speaks about her amazing work ethic.

You may have heard NBC commentators talk about Coyne playing with amazing Swiss goalie Florence Schelling (she really is one of the best you’ll ever see) at Northeastern. Here’s my story from their 2012 overtime women’s Beanpot win.

I’ve had quite a few chances to interview Alex Carpenter, who has a goal a game so far in the Olympics. Here’s a profile of her sophomore campaign at Boston College, and here’s an Olympic preview piece I wrote about her last week.

Amazed by the USA’s Amanda Kessel and Finland goaltender Noora Raty? I watched them play for the University of Minnesota last year as they closed out their undefeated season with a NCAA Championship. Here is some of my coverage. More can be found on my clips page.

You may have heard that the US and Canadian teams have quite the rivalry and have had some all out brawls in some pre-Olympic games. Here’s a piece I wrote this fall about a referee’s take on fights in women’s hockey.

Besides Stone, there are quite a few Harvard connections on this US Olympic hockey team. Here’s a piece I wrote about those connections.

Have questions about what you’re watching? Need someone knowledgeable to comment on women’s hockey? You are always welcome to email me or Tweet me (@sportsgirlkat). I am always happy to answer questions when I have the time.

Also, I urge you to seek out the work of the following media members who cover women’s hockey outside of Olympic years. I understand it’s easy to turn to higher profile writers who are currently paying attention to the Olympic tournament, but there are many writers out there who have devoted a lot of time to covering the sport and can offer some nuanced commentary. Here are their Twitter handles:

– Gabs Fundaro, The Hockey Writers

– Nicole Hasse, SBNation’s Bucky’s 5th Quarter

– Matthew Semisch, every publication on the face of humanity

– Arielle Aronson, New England Hockey Journal

– Candace Horgan, USCHO (USCHO also has a great women’s hockey writer named Arlan Marttila who I don’t think is on Twitter.)

Carpenter, Coyne Make US Women’s Hockey National Team

24 June, 2013 / Kat

Women’s Hockey East will face the 2013-14 season without two of their superstars.

Harvard and US National Team head coach Katey Stone and her USA Hockey staff announced their picks for the US National Team Monday. The roster includes two impact players in Hockey East last season: Northeastern’s Kendall Coyne and Boston College’s Alex Carpenter. The current Harvard (ECAC) roster is represented by defenseman Michelle Picard. All three will train with the National Team and will not be available to play college hockey this upcoming season.

Selection camp invitees Emily Field (BC), Haley Skarupa (BC), Paige Savage (Northeastern) and Amanda Pelkey (UVM) did not make the roster and will be available to their college teams for 2013-14.

BC, Northeastern and Harvard’s coaches have been preparing for a while to play without Coyne, Carpenter and Picard this upcoming season – it was often mentioned in interviews throughout last season. While their absences may not be as big of a factor as they could be, it’s what those teams didn’t end up losing that could make a difference. Field and Skarupa availability to Boston College this season is great for the Eagles’ offense. Both finished with 29 assists last season, demonstrating their chemistry with their teammates. Field was one of BC’s most consistent contributors. Skarupa was a motivated spark plug on the ice, and finished the season second in the NCAA in freshman points.

Northeastern gets Savage back, and she should be able to come out of Coyne’s shadow after an up and down rookie campaign.

And for Vermont, Pelkey’s return gives them an experienced boost to their young roster, but the fact that BC and Northeastern will have some players they may have been expecting not to have may limit movement the growing Vermont program could have within the Hockey East ranks this upcoming season.

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Looking for more women’s college hockey news? I’ve been sharing instant thoughts and links via my Tumblr account, including quick thoughts on Merrimack’s Monday hiring of Erin Hamlen as their first women’s hockey coach.

Also, if you’re interested in looking back at Carpenter and Coyne’s 2012-13 seasons, the work I did for New England Hockey Journal last season should help.

Speed and Shifts: Two Random Thoughts From a Boston Bruins Game

16 January, 2012 / Kat

I can never quite take the writer hat off. I attended last Tuesday night’s Boston Bruins – Winnipeg Jets game at the TD Garden, my first NHL game of the season. I average one NHL game a year. (Depressing, I know, but I lack time and funds.)

I told myself to just watch the game. I left my notepad in the car, and didn’t even carry a pen with me. I told myself I wouldn’t tweet either, since the service at the Garden when filled is seriously lacking.

Despite my attempts to just enjoy the game, I still had two quick notes I had to write up post-game. You can take the tools away from the writer, but you can never make them stop thinking like one. Here they are: Continue reading

Want To Get Away?

21 December, 2011 / Kat

The awesome thing about working in education is having the week off between Christmas and New Year’s Eve. Bragtastic, I know, but the older I get, the more I relish the time.

Last intersession, I was stuck in my apartment recovering from an awful case of bacterial bronchitis and its complications. I used that week to sit on my couch and write for hours on end. I produced one of my best received pieces ever during that week (Boston Hosted The Last Tuesday NFL Game, In 1946) and got to cover the the New England Patriots being stuck in my hometown of Rochester, NY after a snowstorm interrupted their travel back to Massachusetts (Snow Way and Patriots Trying To Get Back to Foxboro).

I love using my intersession week off to be a full-time writer – it’s the only time in the year I get to do so. With that in mind and no crazy bronchitis this year to derail me, I’m using the intersession again to write away. But I can’t possibly just sit in my apartment. I would go stir crazy. I have tentative plans for Monday and Tuesday, and Wednesday I’m working for the Boston Herald. But Thursday is wide open.

Thus, I’m offering my services to cover any college hockey game in New England on Thursday, December 29th, free of charge (unless you want to pay me, then of course, I’d take payment.) I want to travel, and someone has to need a college hockey writer. Right? Right. Consider it my holiday present to the college hockey world.

Here is some work I’ve done covering college hockey in the past. I haven’t had the opportunity to cover much this season because of my full-time job, so that’s why I would love to cover a game on the 29th.
College Hockey Notebook: Andrew Glass, Wahsontiio Stacey Departures Have Fans Shaking Their Heads
College Hockey Notebook: Da Costa, Dumoulin Lead Hockey East’s Top Sophomores
Hockey East Tournament Coverage

Let me know if you’re interested by emailing me at sportsgirlkat AT gmail.com

College Hockey Ramblings: Who Is Really Tops In Hockey East?

10 December, 2011 / Kat

Before the Hockey East season began, there were three teams that stuck out as teams that most viewers felt would rise to the top of the league: Boston College, Merrimack College, and Boston University.

Now approximately three months into the college hockey season, all three teams are in the mix, but two surprising additions have made noise in Hockey East: Providence College and UMass Lowell. As of the morning of December 10th, here are your league standings (from the Hockey East official website):

Standings are standings – they lack an ability to rank how quality the wins are against each other. After Lowell defeated Boston College 3-2 Friday night, I woke up insanely early Saturday morning with an idea. Using the spirit of the KRACH and Pairwise rankings, why not evaluate these top five teams by their records against each other? So I created a spreadsheet. (Never mind that I should be finishing holiday shopping or doing holiday cards. I have a whole college hockey free week ahead to do that.)

After I put this together, I realized that the five top Hockey East teams have not played enough games against each other for this to be an entirely useful evaluation. And then my husband pointed out that there is already a head-to-head comparison on the Hockey East website – it’s just at the bottom of the standings page.

Well, duh. I knew that. I was just…cutting the fat and pairing down that chart. Right? Right. (Mind you, I also whacked my head pretty hard Friday, so I blame that for me not remembering that the head-to-head exists.)

So what exactly does this comparison show, if anything? For one, it shows how few in-conference games Merrimack has played so far, and in the three games they have played against the top of the conference, they have a losing record. This also helps give Providence a bigger argument for being considered a bigger threat than UMass Lowell. While Lowell has won a few “loud” games (stand alone games – non weekend series games – against BU and BC), they haven’t faced anyone else among this top five, and have only played ten league games total.

It also shows how many more league games the Beanpot schools play earlier on in the season. In addition to the totals above for BC and BU, Northeastern has played 12 league games as of Saturday morning. The only other Hockey East team to play that many league games? New Hampshire, who also played 12.