After winning NCAA championships in three of the past four seasons, the 2009-10 season brings new challenges for the Wisconsin women's hockey team. With an unusually large group of departing players due to the Olympics, the remaining players will have a unique opportunity to take on larger roles for a team that should realistically be setting its sights on a fifth straight trip to the Frozen Four.
(Click here to watch a highlight video of all of the returning forwards.)
While the loss of seniors Erika Lawler and Angie Keseley would have been difficult enough for any team to overcome, the Badgers will also be facing a season without future junior Hilary Knight and senior Meghan Duggan. However, the remaining crop of forwards will still be one of the deepest and strongest groups in the country. Eight forwards return to the UW this season, including five who have played in at least 80 career games and four who have scored at least 24 career goals.
Below are the single-season and career stats for each of the eight returning forwards, sorted by career points per game (PPG):
|
08-09
|
|
|
|
|
|
Career
|
|
|
|
|
|
Name
|
GP
|
G
|
A
|
P
|
GPG
|
PPG
|
GP
|
G
|
A
|
P
|
GPG
|
PPG
|
Ammerman, Brooke
|
40
|
27
|
27
|
54
|
0.68
|
1.35
|
40
|
27
|
27
|
54
|
0.68
|
1.35
|
Deluce, Mallory
|
41
|
12
|
20
|
32
|
0.29
|
0.78
|
80
|
24
|
39
|
63
|
0.30
|
0.79
|
Giles, Jasmine
|
41
|
16
|
29
|
45
|
0.39
|
1.10
|
123
|
29
|
55
|
84
|
0.24
|
0.68
|
Prevost, Carolyne
|
41
|
13
|
13
|
26
|
0.32
|
0.63
|
41
|
13
|
13
|
26
|
0.32
|
0.63
|
Sanders, Kyla
|
41
|
10
|
17
|
27
|
0.24
|
0.66
|
123
|
36
|
30
|
66
|
0.29
|
0.54
|
Nash, Kelly
|
41
|
7
|
13
|
20
|
0.17
|
0.49
|
82
|
14
|
20
|
34
|
0.17
|
0.41
|
Kranz, Emily
|
41
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
0.02
|
0.05
|
123
|
9
|
9
|
18
|
0.07
|
0.15
|
Evans, Maria
|
21
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
0.05
|
0.14
|
24
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
0.04
|
0.13
|
Of the returning forwards, Brooke Ammerman stands out as a focal point of the lineup. Not only did she rank second on the team last season with 27 goals, she also tied for first on the team with six game-winning goals, including the game-winning goal (and first goal) of the 2009 NCAA championship game. She enters the season as the biggest individual threat in the lineup.
Ammerman spent the entire first half of the 2008-09 season and the early part of the second half skating on a line between Jasmine Giles and Kyla Sanders. The line had great success during the early portion of the season, but trio was ultimately split up. Ammerman was reunited with Giles for the NCAA tournament when the pair were joined on the ice by Duggan to form the team's second line. Giles is a strong compliment to Ammerman as one of the team's top two playmakers. Sanders also emerged as a strong playmaking presence in the UW lineup last season, registering 17 assists among her 27 points.
Although Mallory Deluce may not jump to mind as one of the elite players on the roster, it should be noted that her stats through two seasons are remarkably similar to Erika Lawler's. Below are the numbers for each player through their first two seasons at Wisconsin:
Name
|
GP
|
G
|
A
|
P
|
GPG
|
PPG
|
Lawler, Erika
|
82
|
23
|
47
|
70
|
0.28
|
0.85
|
Deluce, Mallory
|
80
|
24
|
39
|
63
|
0.30
|
0.79
|
This is of course no guarantee that the last two seasons of Deluce's career will match Lawler's, however it does reinforce the fact that Deluce is now the best prototypical playmaking center on the roster.
While it is difficult to project forward based on stats prior to college, two things stand out in freshman Brianna Decker's bio. The first is the fact that her scoring line during the Under-18 series against Canada was 4-2=6, a remarkably strong showing. Second, it is hard to ignore her scoring line during the past two seasons at Shattuck-St. Mary's:
Name
|
GP
|
G
|
A
|
P
|
GPG
|
PPG
|
Decker, Brianna
|
101
|
159
|
91
|
250
|
1.57
|
2.48
|
Decker will of course be facing much stronger competition this season, however the rookie seasons of recent freshmen like Ammerman, Knight and Duggan have demonstrated that freshmen can have an instant impact in women's college hockey.
Now entering her sophomore season, Carolyne Prevost is very dangerous around the crease and that fits in well with Deluce's ability to find her open on the back door for tap-in goals. Prevost has also demonstrated the ability to pick corners of the net.
Junior Kelly Nash is poised for a breakout season in 2009-10 as she will likely become a more important piece in the UW lineup. Nash is very creative with the puck and has outstanding hands, as can be seen in her unassisted goal last season against St. Cloud (in the video mentioned earlier).
Freshman Breann Frykas looks like yet another goal-scoring option for the Badgers. In 13 games in Canadian selection camps, she has scored six goals and two assists for eight points.
Check back to wisconsinwomenshockey.pbworks.com for a preview of the UW defense.
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