A few Friday afternoon odds & ends

• Earlier this week, Jake Dowell played for the Blackhawks in their 3-1 win over the Wild. You might recall that in the 1st he dropped the gloves with Shane Hnidy. Here's the video:

• Apparently Mercyhurst might be considering an attempt to join the CCHA. I don't know how much credibility there is to this rumor -- it was relayed by Paula Weston in her weekly CCHA column last week, and I get the feeling that a number of the kids over on the USCHO fan forum don't think too highly of her. (Thanks to Goon for pointing out the story.)

• Props to Capo for spotting this article about Rene Bourque's hot start with the Flames.
  

• Thanks to Boscacci for pointing out this Angie Keseley article.
  

A few more US Women's National Team links

• MinnPost's article of the youth of the US Women's National Team has a nice mention of Jessie Vetter:

  Johnson said he wanted a young, energetic team. "Maybe we're a little younger that we anticipated, but on the positive side," he said. "The youngness is what really excites me."
  
  Vetter, one of the Wisconsin products, may be the key to success in Vancouver. The Patty Kazmaier Award winner as the top player in women's college hockey last year, Vetter helped Wisconsin win three NCAA titles in four years, and was the primary goalie for Team USA's back-to-back world titles.
  
  "You say Vetter is young, but for the last three years, she's all I've known," Darwitz said. "In my mind, she's one of the leaders and an integral part of our team. Just because they haven't been to the Olympics doesn't mean they don't have good international experience under their belt."

• The Fitchburg Sentinel and Enterprise has an article on Erika Lawler's making the roster:
  

  At the Women's Frozen Four in Boston over a week in March, Johnson spoke highly of Lawler, foreshadowing the possibility that she would receive a national team nod.
  
  "(Erika) does a lot of things well," Johnson said during a Frozen Four press conference in March. "Obviously, one of them is her ability to get around the ice. If you've seen her play, you've seen how competitive she is.
  
  "She's going to go and get the puck on any areas of the ice and usually wins the battles and gets control," added Johnson, who was one of the stars of the USA's legendary 1980 Miracle On Ice gold medal squad. "Her play-making comes from her being able to get into areas and get pucks to her linemates."

• I wish I could find an article about Angie Keseley. She's never been on a US team before, so her inclusion is pretty cool. In his interview w/ Posick today, Mark Johnson said that her play in the FF in Boston this year helped her catch the eye of USA Hockey and helped her earn an invite to the Festival camp.
  
  Since I don't have an article, instead I'll post a some quotes from her high school coach that I stumbled upon today on a site called mnpuck.
  

  St. Louis Park head coach Mike Peluso said:
  
  Angie is a smart player with good speed and rink sense.
  
  Angie is a smart, smart hockey player. I don't think she gets as much credit as she should for her defensive play.
  
  She's the best player in the state, at least one of the best, and she's an even better person. She is just a great kid to coach.

• I was also looking for an article on Molly Engstrom's making the team but didn't see anything. I did, however, stumble upon Engstrom's Women's Sports Foundation profile, so I thought I may as well link that.
  

• The Daily Cardinal has an article about the Badgers on the National Team.

• This teamUSA.org Jessie Vetter article is several months old, but I like it, and I honestly don't remember posting it before. So I figured I might as well post it now.

• I do remember our posting this hockeyjournal.com Hilary Knight article, but Hilary's The Bomb, and I like the article, so I'm posting it again. Who's gonna stop me?
  

  "She seems to be very happy, always has a smile on her face, and would (seem to me to be) a very good teammate. Very concerned and helpful with her peers, and seems to really enjoy life," said Badgers head coach Mark Johnson, who knows a thing or two about prime-time players.
  .
  .
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  "Every day that she comes to practice, and every game she competes in, you know what you're going to get. She works very hard at her game, and she's made great strides in the almost two years that she's been here,” Johnson praised. “She's had an opportunity to play at a higher level than the college game with the national program, and you're just happy to see someone who wants to be a good player, and works at becoming a good player gets those opportunities because of her hard work.”
  
  Johnson has played Knight (Hanover, N.H.) on a line with Angie Keseley and Erika Lawler (Fitchburg, Mass.) since the midpoint of last season, and the combination has been magical. The coach describes a shift against them as 45 seconds of defense, with the Badgers playing keep-away until they either light the lamp or go for a change.
  
  "They've got the puck all the time, and they're no fun to play against ... because unless you bring your own puck and take it on the ice, you're not going to see much of it," he laughed.

NCAA Skills Competition

I don't have a link, but I heard this on the radio on the way to work. Tom Gorowsky and Angie Keseley will represent the University of Wisconsin in next friday's NCAA Skills Competition on the off day of the Frozen Four.

Hopefully I can still get a ticket for this event. The Hobey Baker award is also given out that evening.

GL to Tom and Angie! Will Tom be competing in the fastest skater competition?


EDIT: Here's the link from uwbadgers, and here's the original ncaa announcement from last month (sans TG -- looks like he replaced Bemidji's Tyler Scofield who was awesome in GR last weekend).

Women's Player Previews: #21 Angie Keseley

Vitals:

Position: Forward
Year in School: Senior
Shoots Left
Height: 5-7
Hometown: St. Louis Park, MN
Previous Team: St. Louis Park HS
Major: Undeclared

07/08 Stats: 41 games, 10-15-25

Thoughts: Angie has had a pretty productive career as a Badger, and was 6th on the team in scoring last season. She was also Academic All-WCHA and All-Big 10 last year.

Photo from uwbadgers.com