GRAND FORKS, N.D.--The Fighting Sioux women's hockey team will take to the ice for the first time in 2008-09 when it hosts the University of Manitoba in exhibition action on Saturday at 12:07 p.m. in the Ralph Engelstad Arena Olympic rink.
Below is a preview of the 2008-09 season:
After a 2007-08 season where the University of North Dakota women's hockey team spent a lot of its time setting the foundations and learning second year head coach Brian Idalski's systems and philosophies ? its roots are set.
“(We feel) a little more comfortable in our surroundings and a little more comfortable with our personnel,” Idalski said. “Having a year to bring in our recruits, our kids and having a year under our belt to build upon the things we did last year (helps).”
Those roots, which hope to grow into one of the elite teams of WCHA, continued its progress this offseason as many of the Fighting Sioux players stayed this summer to work on their strength and conditioning. But not only did the returning players stick around for additional work, many of the incoming freshmen came in early as well.
“A few kids registered for summer school prior to their freshman year to help ease the pain of the transition and hopefully some of those kids don't play like freshmen once the season start,“ Idalski said. “We are eager to get (the season) started and see how that pays off for us.”
While the conditioning level provides the foundation for a successful season, Idalski is looking forward to the leadership of the upperclassmen and just more of a comfortable situation for the team as a whole.
“It was hard for everybody when you come in with a whole new staff and wipe everything out,” Idalski said. “I really look forward to having those kids now, having been in the system, being able to tell the other kids what their responsibilities are, what the systems are, what techniques to use and just being able to teach. When you have to teach, you really need to know it yourself.”
Leadership should come a little easier this season as the squad returns four seniors and five juniors after a year without a single senior in the locker room.
“We only have six freshmen (who will play) which is nice,” Idalski said. “It is a serviceable class where in four years we will not have to go out and get 10 different kids. We are cognizant of that in the recruiting process and we like the staggering of our class right now. It is about six kids per year and that is perfect.”
~Forwards~
After just one season under the new coaching staffs tutelage, the Fighting Sioux showed improvement when it came to putting the puck in the net. The 2007-08 squad increased its average to 1.55 goals-per-game (56 goals) after a 1.00 goals-per-game (36 goals) average the previous year.
“Obviously going back statistically, we improved scoring by a large percentage over the year before,” Idalski said. “But we still have a long ways to go to compete with some of the top clubs. Up front that needs to be a focus for us ? scoring more goals. We made it a focus with five incoming kids that have more of a lean towards having some speed and skill to see if we can't (enhance) that area. The returning kids are a good core of gritty, hard-working kids that understand what needs to be done. We are eager to mix that together and see what comes out.”
Looking to increase that percentage even more this winter will be three of the Fighting Sioux's returning seniors Melissa Jaques (Cooks Creek, Manitoba), Randi Motsko (Fairbanks, Alaska) and Casie Hanson (St. Peter, Minn.). Jaques led the team in points and goals last season (11-11--22) while Hanson finished second in goals and fourth in points (7-6--13) and Motsko was third in points (4-9--14).
~Defense~
Anchoring the Sioux defense will be senior Kelsey Fletcher (Vadnais Heights, Minn.) who logged 10 points with two goals and eight assists from UND's blueline and was a major asset on the powerplay.
A change for the better this season should be the increased use of more defenders with the intention of keeping everybody fresh late into games and deeper into the season.
“We battled injuries constantly and defensively there were a lot of times where we were playing three or four defensemen during a game and only having five for practice,” Idaski said. “This year we are starting off with seven and all seven of them could play. We think we have gotten a little bigger and stronger which we hope will improve our penalty-kill with the addition of a couple of our kids.”
Idalski will also look toward juniors Cassandra Flanagan (Great Falls, Manitoba) and Sam Turner (Hudson, Wis.), each of whom has logged substantial playing time over their first two seasons.
“We also think we have added a couple kids that can help us on the (power-play) that can skate the puck up the ice, make good decisions and shoot the puck from the blueline and be more of a threat to score from there as well,” Idalski said.
~Goalies~
A strength for UND once again will be goaltending. Returning in net will be junior Brittany Kirkham (Nepean, Ontario), who has been the backbone of the team since she first put on her UND jersey. She has started 66 of UND's 72 games in two seasons. Kirkham followed up a strong freshman campaign with an even better sophomore year, posting a .900 save percentage and a 3.37 goals against average.
“She had a great offseason,” Idalski said. “Anytime a girl goes from one pull-up to six, says a lot about her commitment over the summer. I think she seems energized. She hasn't had a lot of competition for playing time since she has been here and I think she is taking that challenge head on. She looks forward to proving that she is our kid.”
Hoping to reduce the burden for Kirkham will be freshman Stephanie Ney (100 Mile House, British Columbia), who is joining the Sioux after previously playing for the British Columbia Outback.
“Stephanie is probably going to split time (with Kirkham),” Idalski said. “That is our goal going in this year. She is a great change of pace to what (Kirkham) is. (Ney) is a big kid, more of a stand-up goaltender, and very athletic. I think that has already helped (Kirkham) in the fact of having some competition, but I also think it will be helpful because I think (Kirkham) broke down a bit playing so many minutes. Hopefully that keeps her fresh and healthy all year.”
While looking toward the future, the Sioux also signed Jorid Dagfinrud (Sarpsborg, Norway) who previously played for the IHK Sparta Sarpsborg and recently competed in the Olympic pre-qualification where she helped Norway go 3-0 while only allowing one goal.
While the staff is high on Dagfinrud, Idalski said she will likely be redshirted to give her time to adapt to a new culture.
~Schedule~
One thing is certain every year when you play in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association ? a tough schedule.
The Sioux will start off the season in non-conference action against the University of Maine on the road before returning home, where they will play 12 of its first 15 games in the comforts of its home arena.
UND finishes the season with much of its schedule on the road with only four home games after the New Year.
“Once again we are home quite a bit towards the front end of it,” Idalski said. “We have a nice trip out to Maine, which should be interesting to see how we handle being on the road because we weren't very good at all last year. But, like last year, we want to make some hay early and win some games at home and try to just snowball that into the second half when we are on the road quite a bit.”
