(From left to right: Molly Engstrom, Kerry Weiland, Jinelle Zaugg. Photos from usahockey.com)The US Women's National Residency Program began yesterday in Blaine, MN. The residency program runs through March and consists of post-collegiate players who will be vying for team USA roster spots for the Team Four Nations Cup (Nov 4-9, 2008) and the World Women's Championships (Apr 4-12, 2009).
Badgers participating in the Blaine Residency are Molly Engstrom (D, Siren, WI, 2001-05), Kerry Weiland (D, Palmer, AK, 1999-03), and Jinelle Zaugg (F, Eagle River, WI, 2004-08), although Jinelle will not be joining the program until December.
Tom Osiecki, father of Badger Men's Assistant Mark Osiecki, will be coaching the program, and USA Hockey has a fantastic article about him.
The training schedule consists looks like this:
Mondays 8:30 am - weight training, 10:00-11:30 - on-ice practice
Tuesdays 10:00-11:30 - on-ice practice
Wednesdays 8:30 am - weight training
Thursdays 10:00-11:30 - on-ice practice
Fridays 8:30 am - weight training
The game schedule consists of playing the Minnesota Whitecaps (the professional women's team in MN), women's NCAA (each of the WCHA teams and Mercyhurst), local boys' teams, and local men's league teams. The men's league games will be on Wednesdays evenings, and the other games will be on Saturdays and Sundays.
You can see the team play the Badger Women on Sat, Jan 3 at 7pm and the Madison Capitals Minor Midget AAA on Sun, Jan 4 (time TBA). So, I'm going to to do my best to get to the Sunday game. The Saturday game presents a scheduling conflict, as the Badger Men are hosting Northern that night. I wonder where they'll play on Saturday (it won't be the Kohl), and I sure wish they'd consider changing to an afternoon time. Because I sure wouldn't mind being able to catch 4 games in 1 weekend.
Given that the residency just started yesterday, USA Hockey has quite a bit of content up already. I'm hoping that this trend continues! We'll do our best to keep you updated here on our blog, but you can find coverage at any time by visiting the Blaine Residency Program Homepage. Looks like Caitlyn Cahow will be continuing to write her blog (which she started in July and continued during the National Festival) throughout the program, and she mentions that other members of the team will make guest appearances on the blog. Hopefully we'll see some Badgers!
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