A few Wednesday evening links

• It doesn't matter who handed down the extra game suspension to Craig Smith; it's appropriate. But I think it's interesting, as pointed out by reader Todd, that Baggot indicates the WCHA handed down the additional punishment whereas the WCHA says that the UW handed it down. The UW press release concurs with the WCHA release, but I'm sure there's a lot of politics going on here. Especially given what DPlaya heard about the WCHA looking for a longer suspension.

  But Eaves said he was notified by the WCHA that Smith has had another game added to that punishment. Eaves didn't disagree with the action because Smith didn't appear to slow down when he crosschecked Mankato left winger Geoff Irwin into the boards in the third period of a 3-2 loss. [Baggot's Tuesday blog post]
  
  Meanwhile, UW coach Mike Eaves was notified by the office of WCHA commissioner Bruce McLeod that freshman right winger Craig Smith would have to miss both games against New Hampshire for the major penalty he was assessed Oct. 24 at Minnesota State-Mankato. [Baggot's Wednesday WSJ article]
  
  The University of Wisconsin Athletic Department has decided to have Smith sit out an extra game to reinforce the learning experience for the local area product. [UW press release]
  
  "The WCHA fully concurs with the additional one-game suspension handed down today by the University of Wisconsin," said WCHA Commissioner Bruce M. McLeod. "We appreciate the University's initiative on this matter and their pro-active approach in creating a learning experience out of a difficult circumstance." [WCHA press release]
  
  10/28-1:30 PM Edit-From what I'm being told it sounds like the WCHA may have been looking for a 4-6 game suspension, so the Badgers and Craig Smith are lucky that he will instead serve a 2-game penalty. [DPlaya, HIW]

• Uwbadgers has a mid-week release regarding the Badger Women's upcoming home series v. minnesota, and it includes a video with Jasmine Giles and Brooke Ammerman.

• INCH's First Shift entry for this week is somewhat WCHA-centric, and it's hard to silently pass by this mention of the minnesota golden gophers:
  

  “They outworked us at times but I think we deserved at least one this weekend.”—Minnesota captain Tony Lucia, to Roman Augustovitz of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune following Denver’s second shutout of the weekend at Mariucci Arena Saturday.

  When Lucia the younger says “one”, is he referring to a win or a goal?

• Chris on WCH mentions Blake Geoffrion as one of his favorite WCHA players to watch and picks him as his dark horse candidate for the WCHA's best player:

  Blake Geoffrion, Wisconsin: Kind of a dark horse pick, but one of my favorite players in the WCHA to watch. He'll probably only score in the point per game range, which won't put him among the leaders, but he's as tough a player as there is in the league.

• Friday is Kids Day at the Kohl. The event starts at 11AM and precedes the Badger Women's 2PM game v. minnesota. Looks like the event is free and includes free admission to the game. Nice!

• The UW has issued a reminder about Camp Randall / Kohl Center policies regarding carry-ins.
  

Much needed Women's Update

The Badger Women open up their regular season this friday night against North Dakota at 7 PM at the Kohl Center. They will be raising the banner for NC #3 before the game.

The Women are picked to finish first in the league coaches poll, while collecting six of eight first place votes. In addition, two Badgers were picked for POY and ROY respectively. Sophomore Sensation Brooke Ammerman received 5 votes for POY, and freshman Brianna Decker received 6 votes for ROY.

Last night the Badger Women held their Red/White Scrimmage, w/ Team White winning 8-1. Brianna Decker had 5 goals for Team White.

Last friday, the USA Women's Select Team took on the WCHA All-Stars at the X in St. Paul, winning 6-1. Jessie Vetter was in net for Team USA. Of the Badgers playing on Team USA, Jinelle Zaugg, Kerry Weiland and Molly Engstrom all had goals, while Hilary Knight, Erika Lawler and Meghan Duggan each had an assist. Current Badgers Jasmine Giles, Mallory Deluce and Brooke Ammerman all played on the same line for the All-Stars, and according to our friend nubettle, who was at the game, they gave Team USA the most trouble, even if it didn't show up on the score sheet. Brittany Haverstock also was a defender for the All-Stars. Reminder that you can see Team USA at the Kohl Center on Tuesday January 5th at 7 PM when they face the Badger Women.

On saturday, Team USA played a game against the St. Cloud Women and crushed them 13-0. There were some pretty big stat lines for several Badgers playing on Team USA.

Hilary Knight: 3-4-7, +5
Jinelle Zaugg: 1-4-5, +5
Meghan Duggan: 2-0-2, 4 PIM, +2
Kerry Weiland: 0-3-2, +2
Angie Keseley: 1-0-1, +1

Zaugg and Knight played the wings on the 2nd line, while Keseley and Duggan played the wings on the 3rd line.

Honestly, they should just hand Hilary Knight the Patty Kaz awards for 2011 and 2012 now, there is no stopping her.

09/10 Women's Previews: #20 Brooke Ammerman

Vitals:

Position: Forward
Year in School: Sophomore
Shoots Right
Height: 5-8
Hometown: River Vale, NJ
Major: undeclared
Previous Team: North American Hockey Academy in 07/08

08/09 Stats: 40 games, 27-27-54, +30, 20 PIM
07/08 Stats: 74 games, 62-56-118

09/10 Role: 1st line, PP & PK

08/09 Recap: Brooke was one of the top freshman in the WCHA last season, earning her a spot on the WCHA All-Rookie Team and 3rd Team All-WCHA. She was nothing short of stellar while spending a good chunk of the season on the 3rd line w/ Jasmine Giles and Kyla Sanders, and contributing to the 2nd PP unit.

09/10 Thoughts: As Winter turns to Spring, so does the Freshman Sensation become the Sophomore Sensation. Brooke is the top returning scorer w/ Hilary Knight and Meghan Duggan looking for Olympic gold. Her role on the team this season will definitely increase, instead of facing lesser competition on the 3rd line, she’ll be playing the opponents best all season as she becomes one of the go to players. I have no doubts she’ll succeed and help the Badgers to another successful season.

Prediction: 34 games, 25-35-60*
*All predictions for regular season only

Photo from uwbadgers.com

Daily Cardinal previews…albeit a tad early

The Daily Cardinal has been busy getting ready for the Men’s and Women’s Hockey teams 2009/10 campaigns. Why not? It might be June, but it’s never too early to start thinking Badger Hockey again. I never actually took a break.

First, I found a few things from my Women’s Update post from a few days back. Here are some links to Female POY: Jessie Vetter and Top Women’s Team: Women’s Hockey.

The Cardinal gives a good breakdown of the upcoming Men’s season. They pose a few legitimate questions: Can the glut of talented skaters finally play up to their potential, and how will the team replace several key contributors whose Badger careers just finished? The first question is much harder to answer than the second. I thought all the talent the team had last season was going to translate into success, and we all remember how that ended in countless 3rd periods throughout winter.

Replacing Shane Connelly, Tom Gorowsky and Jamie McBain hopefully won’t be that difficult. Its certainly hard to say losing a Hobey Finalist, WCHA POY and All-American is no big deal, but when the team currently projects to return the most talented blue line in NCAA hockey, along w/ stud freshman Justin Schultz, and likely NHL pick John Ramage, the Badgers should be in good shape. Seven senior forwards (along w/ Derek Stepan), and All-USHL 1st Teamer Brett Bennett should help lift anxiety.

The defending National Champion Women’s team was also previewed. The best team in school history likely gives way to another talented team that will have to overcome two big hurdles to repeat and take home NC #4. A very successful senior class graduated, especially the losses of Erika Lawler and Jessie Vetter will be tough to replace. On top of that its Olympics time and Mark Johnson will be coaching Team USA, w/ Hilary Knight and Meghan Duggan likely joining him in Vancouver.

There is always good news though. The Freshman Sensation Brooke Ammerman is back after posting 27-27-54 as a frosh, Jasmine Giles and Kyla Sanders both had their best seasons as Badgers, and Malory Deluce and Carolyne Prevost are both talented forwards who are back. The blue line is still solid despite the loss of Alicia Matthews. Coming in is arguably the best recruit in the country in Dousman, WI’s own Brianna Decker. She is joined by some talented Canadians including Breann Frykas and Saige Pacholok, and possibly Jessie’s replacement in goal, Rebecca Ruegseggar.

Lastly, the Daily Cardinal previewed three Badgers to watch and two of them happen to me hockey players! Derek Stepan is ready to go Joe Pavelski on the rest of the WCHA. After a slow start, he brought it in the 2nd half, including a most memorial moment when he scored two SH goals during the same PP against the Fighting Sioux. While the dynamics of the team were different, his presence toward the end of last season was what I was hoping Kyle Turris was going to bring to the Badgers by the end of his freshman year. I think a 50 point season is w/ in his grasp.

I already mentioned her, but Brooke Ammerman is another Badger to watch. She was 5th on the team in scoring last season, but assuming Duggan & Knight are going for gold, she’ll be the top returning scorer. Last season she anchored the 3rd line, which was arguably better than most first lines in the country. This year she’ll have to pull a lot more shifts against their opponent’s top players, as her role on the team will expand. She still has a talented supporting cast, but I agree w/ the Daily Cardinal, I think its Ammerman’s team to lead, at least in making the opposing goalie look like a sieve.

Wait until 2010/11 when the forward corp features Ammerman^2 (both Brooke and her sister Brittany), Decker, Knight, Duggan, Deluce, Prevost and recruit Madison Packer. I just hope there are enough goals to go around for that group.

Badgers win WCHA Honors

WCHA awards were announced today, and 7 Badger players received honors, as did head coach Mark Johnson. Most notably, Hilary Knight was named WCHA Player of the Year! Hilary, she's the bomb. (You'll notice that Jessie Vetter did not win goaltender of the year; that honor went to freshman Alyssa Grogan from minnesota.)

Hilary Knight - Player of the Year, 1st-Team All-WCHA
Jessie Vetter - 1st-Team All-WCHA
Erika Lawler - 2nd-Team All-WCHA
Meghan Duggan - 3rd-Team All-WCHA
Alycia Matthews - 3rd-Team All-WCHA
Brooke Ammerman - 3rd-Team All-WCHA, All-Rookie Team
Brittany Haverstock - All-Rookie Team
Mark Johnson - WCHA Co-Coach of the Year (with minnesota's Brad Frost)

Congratulations, Badgers!

9 Badgers also were named to the WCHA All-Academic team: Rachel Bible, Mallory Deluce, Meghan Duggan, Maria Evans, Kayla Hagen, Angie Keseley, Erika Lawler, Alycia Matthews, and Jessie Vetter.

Nice work, ladies!

Here are the uwbadgers.com and wcha.com releases and a blurb in the WSJ. Also, one of the Fitchburg, MA papers had a nice feature on Erika Lawler.

Ya know, I'm not sure if I posted this yet, so I'm going to go ahead and post it here -- current Badger Jessie Vetter and past Badger players Molly Engstrom and Sara Bauer were named Top-10 players from the 1st 10 years of the Women's WCHA. Here are the uwbadgers.com and wcha.com releases.

Just a reminder that Vetter, Knight, and Lawler are all top-1o finalists for the Patty Kaz. The top-3 finalists will be named on March 10.

Off Week Linkorama

It certainly has been an off week for the Badgers and the blog. Lets get things caught up.

• Cody Goloubef was named WCHA Defensive Player of the Week. Cody had 2 game winners as the Badgers swept UAA. Michael Davies was nominated for Offenseive Player of the Week, and Derek Stepan Rookie of the Week. For the Women's team, Brooke Ammerman notched her third WCHA weekly honor being named WCHA Rookie of the Week. 3 goals and 2 assists on the weekend led the team.
• Cody Goloubef and Brendan Smith are praticipating in Canada's World Junior Camp this weekend. Both are on Team Red. Yesterday they both assisted on Team Red's first goal by John Tavares, but Team Red lost to Team White 6-3. There was another scrimmage today, and another tomorrow. Thanks to the World of Junior Hockey for the info.
• Todd @ TCT had an article on wednesday summarizing the first half of the season. Badgers went from the worst start in school history to leading the WCHA coming into this weekend. It's amazing the turnaround in Badger fans in a few short months. At Halloween people wanted Eaves fired (in some forums) and after Thanksgiving it was all smiles again. The Badgers are no longer in 1st place, as minnesota and Denver have both jumped ahead so far this weekend.
• The Badger Men moved into the rankings at #16, while the Women continue as the consensus #1.
• Todd @ TCT also had several misc posts over at the Ice House this week. The Chicago Blackhawks did the right thing following a game in Toronto. Wisconsin and St. Cloud lead the nation in # of players who have scored a goal this season w/ 19. Only Jake Gardiner, Craig Johnson, Ryan Little, Aaron Bendickson and Tom Bardis have not lit the lamp. With finals starting tomorrow, there was a little fun in practice this week w/ the Wisco Cup 2-on-2 tourney. The "Avalanche" won, the team was comprised of Tom Gorowsky, Sean Dolan, Eric Springer and Ryan Little. Jake Gardiner competed in the event (which is a good sign based on his concussion), while Blake Geoffrion and Ben Grotting ran the tourney, out w/ leg injuries.
• If you want to learn something about Erika Lawler's younger brothers, this is the article for you. Thanks to Dplaya for the find.
• Lastly some NHL Badger news. Adam Burish is on the IR due to a toe injury. Also, Matt Ford and Josh Engel both were called up to the AHL recently from the ECHL, but it appears both will be headed back to their old ECHL clubs as they were both recently cut by their AHL clubs.

Tomorrow, I'm going to focus on the recruits in a linkorama. Mark Zengerle and Craig Smith continue to play well, and I will continue to hype them.

Brooke Ammerman: WCHA/BTD Rookie of the Week . . . & other items . . .

• In recognition of her 5 point weekend (1 G on Fri, 1 G and 3 A on Sat), Brooke Ammerman was named WCHA Rookie of the Week. The uwbadgers release notes that Ammerman has scored at least 1 goal in 7 consecutive games (wow) and is currently just 1 goal shy of UW's record for goals in consecutive games. By the way, Ammerman is 2nd on the team in points and assists, and she leads the nation in points per game by a rookie. Outstanding!
  


• The fine folks at Beyond the Dashers have also picked Ammerman as their NCAA DI Rookie of the Week. Nice!


• As previously reported, the Badger Women are #1 in the USCHO and USA Today polls, and not surprisingly, BTD has picked them as #1 as well. BTD has Minnesota (who swept OSU big time) ranked #2 and UMD (who was swept by SCSU) ranked #7. Here are the poll and the poll story. (In case you forgot, USCHO and USA Today had Minn #2 and UMD #8/#4.)
  


• The #1 Badgers and #2 Gophers meet this weekend at the Kohl Center. What Fun! Here's the short release from the WCHA website, and here's the full release (PDF). The UW team notebook section of the full release is nice and includes the following:

  … Wisconsin leads the nation in almost every category … Wisconsin is first in scoring offense, scoring margin, power-play, combined special teams, team winning percentage and current unbeaten streak … They are second in penalty-kill and scoring defense … Sophomore Hilary Knight not only leads the team in almost every category but also the nation …

  Also, here are series previews by uwbadgers and The Badger Herald.
  


• Badger Alumna Carla MacLeod has been named CWHL/WWHL Defensive Player of the Week by Beyond the Dashers.
  

More Badger Men, Badger Women, & Alumni news . . .

• Todd Milewski has been a very Busy Badger: He poses and answers 5 questions for the season, and he breaks down the Badgers' lineup. Really good stuff, and he's got me all-fired up for tonight's scrimmage!

• The folks on uwbadgers.com have been Busy Badgers as well.
  
  On the men's side, they have the 2008-09 media guide available online now, and they have a round-up on preseason polls and awards. (Ummm, yeah, we beat out the Roller Derby for Madison’s Best Indoor Spectator Sport. Fantastic.)
  
  On the women's side, they note that Hilary Knight and Brooke Ammerman received WCHA Offensive Player of the Week and WCHA Rookie of the Week honors. This is the 1st week the WCHA named players of the week, and it appears they considered the last 2 weeks of play.

• And here's a Dany Heatley article from 2 days ago that I stumbled upon today: Hockey fans, meet the new Dany Heatley

Monday evening linkorama

• A couple more articles on the Badger Women's sweep of Syracuse:
  Storlie (Daily Cardinal): Ammerman scores 5 goals as Badgers pitch two shutouts
  Donohue (Badger Herald): Women's hockey sweeps Syracuse
  


• The Badger Men are #14 in the USCHO/CSTV Preseason Poll. Todd Milewski ranked the Badgers 10th in his vote. If you remember, the Badgers ranked #13 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Preseaon Poll released 2 weeks ago.


• Mike Eaves gave a press conference today. The transcript isn't available yet, but here's the video.
  


• Hockey's Future has released #s 1-10 of its Top 50 Prospects, and Kyle Turris checks in at #3.
  

  3. Kyle Turris, C – Phoenix Coyotes
  
  As the Coyotes top prospect, big things are expected from first-year pivot Turris. A clear frontrunner in the Calder chase, the former 2007 Entry Draft pick is ready to take-on a top six role in the desert. The 19-year-old spent just one year at the University of Wisconsin before turning pro. Turris possesses good speed and great stick-handling abilities, which will be crucial on a team that wants its players to be light on their feet and ferocious on the puck. After getting a brief taste of the NHL last year and spending the summer in Phoenix, Turris should hit the ground running.
  

• Hockey's Future has released it's WCHA preview.


• The Chicago Blackhawks have cut 4 players, including Troy Brouwer, with whom Jack Skille was competing for a spot on the 3rd line. The press release indicates that the Hawks now have 15 forwards, but looking at the roster I count 14. Looks like the Hawks still need to cut a few defenseman and a goalie, but it looks like Skille has earned a forward spot on the opening day roster.


• Hockey's Future has released its preview of the AHL's Chicago Wolves. The Wolves are coached this season by Badger alumnus Don Granato. I can't find a 2008-09 roster for the Wolves, but last season Badger Brian Fahey played for them, and it looks like Badger Alex Brooks might be playing for them this season.
  

Badgers sweep Syracuse, Blaine sweeps Mercyhurst

As you know, the Badger Women swept Syracuse this weekend. Here are box scores and recaps.

Friday: Badgers 3 - Syracuse 0 Box, uwbadgers recap, suathletics recap, WSJ recap
Saturday: Badgers 8 - Syracuse 0 Box, uwbadgers recap, suathletics recap, WSJ recap

A couple of brief notes:

• Carolyne Prévost had 13 SOG this weekend -- 7 on Friday and 6 on Saturday.
• Jessie Vetter recorded her 27 SO on Friday. Vetter and Alannah McCready combined to SO Syracuse on Saturday.
• Brooke Ammeman had a 5 goal weekend -- 1 on Friday and 4 on Saturday
  

Uwbadgers has a nice article about the Badgers' offensive depth, mostly focusing on Ammerman's 4 goals on Saturday. It has some nice quotes by Ammerman and Erika Lawler.

“I got lucky,” Ammerman said. “Sometimes it happens like that. I tried to pass it across and it ended up going in. I am really happy about the hat trick. It feels awesome. I can’t really explain it.”

“We have a great coaching staff, it’s a great school, the girls are great here and I couldn’t see it better anywhere else,” Ammerman said. “I really have to thank my teammates for making it so easy for me.”

“Last night I texted her and I was like, ‘Hey Brooke I just wanted to let you know that you are playing great,” Lawler said. “You’re play beyond your years,’ She doesn’t play like she’s a freshman. She’s very composed out there and very confident. She does her job very well and I think that she’s just a phenomenal player. She’s very knowledgeable about the game. I think she’s a standout and such an asset to this team. Her early success has been great and I am really confident that it will carry on throughout the season.”

The Blaine Residency Program swept Mercyhurst the weekend. Nothing is available on usahockey yet, but I do have recaps from the Mercyhurst website, as well as box scores:

Friday: USA 4 - Mercyhurst 1 Box, hurstathletics recap
Saturday: USA 4 - Mercyhurst 2 Box, hurstathletics recap

Molly Engstrom had 2 assists on Friday and 1 assist on Saturday. Kerry Weiland had 1 assist on Saturday. (Jinelle Zaugg will be joining the residency program in Dec/Jan.)


I already posted other Friday scores around the NCAA. Here are Saturday scores:

Saturday, October 4 - Women:
Syracuse           0 at Wisconsin          8 NC      Box       12:07 pm    
  Boston University  0 at Rensselaer         2 NC      Box        2:00 pm    
* Mercyhurst         2 vs Team USA           4 EX      Box        2:00 pm    
  North Dakota       7 at Maine              3 NC      Box        2:00 pm    
  Clarkson           0 at Boston College     2 NC      Box        2:00 pm    
  Bemidji State      1 at Wayne State        2 NC  OT  Box        2:00 pm    
  Connecticut        2 at Minnesota State    4 NC      Box        3:07 pm    
  Ohio State         3 at Providence         2 NC      Box        4:00 pm    
  Northeastern       6 at Union              0 NC      Box        4:00 pm    
  St. Cloud State    5 at Quinnipiac         3 NC      Box        4:00 pm    
  Minnesota Duluth   6 at Niagara            1 NC      Box        7:00 pm    
  Robert Morris      1 at Minnesota          7 NC      Box        7:07 pm    
* - Blaine, MN

• Minnesota must not have taken too kindly to being beaten by RMU on Friday, as they rebounded with a 7-1 victory last night.
• It's not often that you see North Dakota score 7 goals. I understand Maine might not be the strongest opponent, but still.
• Looks like the Bemidji program might be on it's way up. Last season, they won all of 4 games. But they defeated Wayne State on Friday and took them to OT on Saturday before losing in OT. Last season, Wayne State had a 22-9-3 record.
  

Meet the Freshmen: #20 Brooke Ammerman

Brooke Ammerman scored her 1st goal as a Badger last Saturday v. Quinnipiac, and she scored a slew of goals this weekend v. Syracuse -- 4 goals today and 1 goal yesterday -- and so I thought it was time I finally got around to taking a closer look, continuing my "Meet the Freshman" series. (I've previously looked at Brittany Haverstock and Carolyne Prévost.)

Let's start out with a couple of profiles that have already been written:
Uwbadgers.com player bio
Gandalf's preview

Honestly, I don't know who writes the bios for uwbadgers.com, but they seem to have left some things out. Let's see how I do at filling in the gaps!

Ammerman has some nice national and international experience:

Summer 2008
U22 Summer Camp
Ammerman earned a spot for Team USA's U22 summer camp in June/July. She was unable to attend but was still considered for the U22 Select Team that played in the 3 game series v. Canada in August. Unfortunately, she did not make the cut, but I'm wondering if she was still being held back by the wrist injury that kept her off the team that played in Harbin, China in April.

Uwbadgers.com indicates she played for Team USA "back in August" in the series v. Canada, scoring the first goal in game 2. However, that's from over a year ago when she played on the U18 team, not this past August. She was too old to play for the U18 team this August, but her sister Brittany played for the U18 team in the U18 Select Series v. Canada this August.


2007-08
U18 Select Series v. Canada (August 2007)
Ammerman played for the U18 Team in the inaugural U18 Select Series v. Canada in August of 2007, along with future Badgers Brianna Decker and Rebecca Ruegsegger. Canada won all 3 games of the series. Ammeman served as an assistant captain and shared the scoring lead for Team USA for the series with Decker. Ammerman had 1 goal in Game 2 and 2 assists in Game 1 for 3 points. (Decker had 1 goal in each game for 3 points.)

USA Hockey Holiday Camp (December 2007)
Ammerman was attended USA Hockey's Holiday camp as one of the 34 candidates competing for a roster spot on Team USA to compete in IIHF World Women's Championship in Harbin, China in May of 2008. However, she had wrist surgery in March that was expected to sideline her for 3 months, so she did not make the roster.

IIHF U18 World Women's Championships (January 2008)
In January of 2008, Ammerman served as an assistant captain for the U18 Team in the 2008 IIHF U18 Women's World Championship in Calgary, Alberta. This was the inaugural U18 World Women's Championship, and Team USA brought home the gold! Also on the team were future Badgers Brianna Decker, Rebecca Ruegsegger, and Alev Kelter.

In 5 games, Ammerman recorded 6 goals and 4 assists for 10 points and finished +8. Her 6 goals led Team USA and tied her for 2nd among all skaters in the tourney. Her 10 points tied her for 2nd on Team USA and tied her for 4th among all skaters in the tourney. Additionally, she was named Player of the Game for the gold medal game v. Canada.

Ammerman also wrote a blog during the event with teammate Kendall Coyne.




Ammerman spent the last 2 years playing for the North American Hockey Academy (NAHA) of the Junior Women's Hockey League (JWHL). As a senior, she served as captain and led team to the JWHL regular season title, the JWHL playoff championship, the College Limoilou Tournament Championship, and a JWHL Challenge Cup silver medal. I can't find any stats for her senior season, but her junior season she recorded 62 goals and 56 assists for 118 points in 74 games as NAHA won multiple titles en route to a record of 64-3-4-3.

Prior to attending NAHA, Ammerman played for the Princeton Tigerlillies. As a sophomore, she served as an assistant captain and was named Team MVP as she led the team to the district championship. In 62 games, she recorded 77 goals and 40 assists for 117 points.




When Ammerman committed to the Badgers, here's what Head Coach Mark Johnson had to say:

“Brooke has very good hands, is a good playmaker and a natural scorer who will be participating in the Under-18 World Championship. She also presents strong leadership skills on the teams that she’s playing for.”

Here's a really nice article on Ammerman -- even better, it includes a video interview with Brooke and her sister Brittany!

Vetter, McCready shut out Syracuse, Badgers score a lot of goals

Jessie Vetter and Alannah McCready combined to shut out Syracuse this afternoon as the Badgers won 8-0. Vetter had 5 saves in the 1st 2 periods, and McCready had 4 saves in the 3rd.

Freshman forward Brooke Ammerman had 4 goals. Nice!

The other Badger goals were scored by Kelly Nash, who had 2 goals, and Jasmine Giles and Erika Lawler, who had 1 goal each.

*Live stats on uwbadgers.com originally had Ammerman with 3 goals and 1 assist and Giles with 2 goals, but the scoresheet was revised to give Ammerman 4 goals and Giles 1 goal and 1 assist.

Like last night, Hilary Knight sat out this afternoon. FWIW, uscho fan forum chatter indicates she has a sore back and will be back next week.

No recaps of today's game available yet, but today's WSJ has a recap of last night's game.

Hilary Knight 5 Goal Free for All

The Badger Women started things off on the right foot this weekend. On friday the Badgers shutout the Bobcats of Quinnipiac 10-0. Jesse Vetter was in net for her 26th career shutout. Maria Evans, Carolyne Prevost and Brittany Haverstock all notched their first points as Badgers; Evans and Prevost notching their first goals.

On saturday, Quinnipiac brought a better effort, but they were again no match for the Badgers who won 7-3. Alannah McCready got the start in the net for the Badgers. Hilary Knight provided the fans in attendance w/ Culvers ice cream all by herself w/ an impressive 5 goal preformance. She's the bomb. A lot of that credit should go to Erika Lawler as well, she made some great passes to give Knight some easy goals. Freshman Brooke Ammerman notched her first goal as a Badger to get things rolling in the 1st period.

Overall the line of Erika Lawler-Angie Keseley-Hilary Knight was outstanding. Lawler finished the weekend w/ 7 assists, Knight w/ 7 goals and 2 assists, Keseley w/ 2 assists. If that wasn't enough trouble for Quinnipiac, the 2nd line of Malory Deluce-Meghan Duggan-Carolyne Prevost were just as good. If only the Men's team could generate offense like this...

Sure its just Quinnipiac, but the Badger Women started strong. Next weekend, they face Sryacuse who is in its first year as a program. Wisconsin will also be celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Women's program. I strongly encourage fans to attend, if you are coming for the football game, stop by for a few periods before getting "ready" for the night cap against Ohio State at Camp Randall.

Women's Player Previews: #20 Brooke Ammerman

Vitals:

Position: Forward
Year in School: Freshman
Shoots Right
Height: 5-8
Hometown: River Vale, NJ
Previous Team: North American Hockey Academy
Major: Undecided

07/08 stats: ?
06/07 Stats: 74 games, 62-56-118

Thoughts: Brooke should be a good one for the Badgers and is part of a small but very good freshman class. She served as assistant captain for Team USA in the 3 game U18 series against Canada in August of 2007. Was team captain of her squad at the North American Hockey Academy.


Photo from uwbadgers.com

Lawler, Knight earn U-22 camp spots

The 34-player roster for Team USA's U-22 camp is set, and Badgers Erika Lawler and Hilary Knight are included. The players at the camp will be competing for 22 spots on the U-22 Select Team. Current Badger Meghan Duggan and future Badger Brooke Ammerman, as well as 2 players from other schools, were also invited but are unable to attend. They will still be considered for the U-22 Select Team.

The camp will run from June 24- July 1. The U-22 Select Team will participate in the USA Hockey Women's National Festival in August and will play Canada in the U-22 Series.

Nice to see the Cap Times mention this. Just a little blurb, but it's nice to see them providing some coverage of women's hockey. TCT had begun to expand it's women's coverage last year, and I hope this trend continues!

Friday Evening Odds & Ends

• Uwbadgers.com has a nice article about Matthew Ford. Matt will be graduating tomorrow with a degree in consumer science. He indicates he will be playing hockey next year, but he doesn't indicate where. I haven't heard anything lately on where Matt might be playing next year -- the Hawks own his rights and have until Aug 15 to sign him, after which he would become a free agent. I'm hoping that the Hawks sign him and that I'll be able to watch him in Rockford. (Gandalf, next year I'm getting your picture with the big giant red pig.)

• On Monday, the uwbadgers.com Badgers blog posted their second installment of "Around the World of Badger Hockey". (I missed it at first, because I saw the title and erroneously thought it was the first installment and not a new post.) It talks about Badgers playing for the Stanley Cup and Badgers playing in the IIHF World Championships.

• The US Women's National Team, which recently won the IIHF World Women's Championship, has been named the USOC Team of the Month for April.

• I know she wasn't a Badger, but she should've been one, and she would've been one if the Badgers had a D-I team when she was in college. Besides, doesn't everyone in Wisconsin love the Granato family? Anyway, Cammi Granato was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame yesterday. Congratulations, Cammi!

• While on the usahockey website, I stumbled upon this blog from Brooke Ammerman and Kendall Coyne from the U18 Championships in January. Team USA, of course, won the Gold!