2005-2006 WCHA All Rookie Team

[brookyone]

How about it? Any thoughts on the top '05-'06 WCHA Rookies? I'll just toss some names out...

Minnesota - Hanlon & Marvin

Minnesota - Duluth - Lanzl

Wisconsin - Keseley, Lawler & Hanson

Mankato - Fisher

Anybody else? Looking for D, there may be a couple (Gagnon, Willey) Gophers who would be good choices...but I don't want to "hog" the team with my familiarity...or bias if you prefer. How about nominations from Beaver, Husky or Sioux fans?

[ARM]

What, the Buckeyes don't get to participate (maybe they left the conference again and I missed it?)

Going by positions:

Goalie -- I think that has to be one from Minnesota or Bonanno. Hanlon has had the most success, so unless she has a disastrous weekend vs. the Sioux, I'd think she'd win.

D -- Collins of BSU and Cahill of OSU have the best conference scoring numbers. Matthews of Wisconsin is another possibility.

F -- Marvin would get my vote for ROTY, but then I'm biased. Lanzl most likely makes it, although her impact of late has lessened because of the Olympics and tragedy. Kesely vs. Lawler is a close call, but I think Lawler has more impact on the game. And probably, Fisher deserves it more than either one, because she has to do so much on her own.

[ARM]

Brookyone, it looks like we did such a great job with this thread that the rest of the conference fans don't feel the need to add anything (however, looks are often deceiving.)

[brookyone]

(however, looks are often deceiving.)
That they are. I thought, and hoped we'd here from fans of each WCHA team on the matter. Maybe Sioux fans if someone has a big final weekend...oh wait, that's not gonna happen.

Is it possible there aren't all that many standout performances by WCHA rookies this season? That's a genuine question...not an observation

[monstersfan]

The Badger frosh have been major contributers this year, but I think Lawler stands out a bit. Great class of recruits who have come in and contributed.

Hanlon's obviously a major find for Minnesota.

[Husky Hockey]

what about Megan McCarthy from scsu

[ARM]

SCSU's McCarthy is a nice player, but she's in single digits in conference points. The other forwards mentioned are in the 20's, while Marvin has 31.

[brookyone]

There are a number of fine rookies in the WCHA this season. Up 'til now I was semi convinced in my own mind on who the WCHA's ROTY should be. Now I'm 100% convinced it's Gopher #19. A combined look at the numbers and the impact Gigi Marvin has on the ice for her team game in / game out. Not to overlook the outstanding seasons from Keseley, Lawler, Fisher, Hanlon & others but...I honestly believe Marvin has had the greatest impact of all in this very strong freshman class.

[ARM]

Every year we seem to get one of those "which one of your players is better?" questions. Last year, Darwitz vs. Wendell, who should win the Kaz? How do answer that? Krissy was the greatest Gopher ever (but in the depths of my mind lurks a realization that Natalie was just a little better.)

You are right -- at first glance, it should be Gigi. I'm sure she has had as much impact as anyone, with all due respect to Lawler, Keseley, Lanzl, and Fisher. It would have been tough to achieve anywhere near the same number of wins without her, especially down the stretch.

Then think back and ask yourself how this weekend might have turned out had Hanlon been a little off on Friday, or had her glove been a little less sure yesterday. Yes, we won going away both days, but #39 bought her offense time both days. We know how good Maggie Fisher is. Kim Hanlon started against MSU four times, and Fisher had zero goals. Sure, some of that is the team in front of her. But how many breakaways and semi-breaks did Fisher have, yet Hanlon stopped her every time.

In the end, I'll agree with your choice of Gigi, but only because Kim played so sparingly over the first couple of months. But I'm very glad that we have both of them.

[xk1]

ARM...
So who do you see, that is, who will Haldorson go with, as the Gopher starter in nets against UMD? Should they win who would be the starter for the championship?

[ARM]

xk1, Coach Halldorson typically doesn't reveal her plans in advance outside of the team. I know that Chartier was scheduled to start yesterday, but she had been sick during the week and wasn't yet 100%.

Against Duluth, Chartier had two very good starts (the only goal she allowed in them was her softest goal all season) and one not good start. Hanlon's appearance against UMD was average. Hanlon clearly had the best game of the two against the Badgers, and she got 3 of the 4 starts against the Huskies.

Looking at the national numbers:

Goals Against Average: Minutes GA GAA
1 Kim Hanlon Minnesota FR 937:47 16 1.02
2 Melissa Bourdon New Hampshire JR 1744:48 32 1.10
...
11 Brittony Chartier Minnesota FR 1210:51 40 1.98

Save Percentage: Saves GA Save%
1 Kim Hanlon Minnesota FR 289 16 .948
2 Meaghan Guckian St. Lawrence SO 285 18 .941
...
18 Brittony Chartier Minnesota FR 438 40 .916

Winning Percentage: W- L- T Win%
1 Melissa Bourdon New Hampshire JR 26- 2- 1 .914
...
4 Kim Hanlon Minnesota FR 13- 2- 0 .867
...
11 Brittony Chartier Minnesota FR 13- 7- 1 .643


The numbers point toward Hanlon. I think in a perfect world, you'd have Chartier start and win against UMD, then have Hanlon play against Wisconsin. The risk is that if you lose to UMD, then Hanlon, who appears to be the #1 and likely to start in the game for the rights to advance to the Frozen Four, goes into that game off of a two-week layoff. Maybe it isn't a concern, because Minnesota has typically had a week off after the WCHA tourney anyway. The flip side is that if Chartier doesn't play this weekend, I'm not sure when she does get to start again this season.

A long-winded answer -- sorry. My shorter answer would be that I don't know, but I'm guessing Kim Hanlon starts.

[xk1]

Well you certainly gave it a lot of thought. My take on Chartier is she is not as consistant as Hanlon. The last time I saw her against UMD was her worst game of the year but I didn't see the games in Duluth. I should add I don't mean that in a negative way, last time I saw Chartier she looked very sharp.

[blackice]

The Badger frosh have been major contributers this year, but I think Lawler stands out a bit. Great class of recruits who have come in and contributed.

Hanlon's obviously a major find for Minnesota.
The bager fosh have done an great job this season. What I find amazing is that they have put up good number with the team skating 4 lines on a regular basis and little PP or penality kill time.

Mavin is having a great year and only seems to be getting better and fisher has done a great job and is alway fun to watch.

[binnyrus]

I haven't read the entire thread, but I don't see how there can be a Rookie team that does not include Sara O'Toole from UMD. Or, for that matter Pehkonen and Lanzl. O'Toole stands out in my mind though as more of a "true" rookie to this level of play. All season long she has come up huge for the 'Dogs in tight situations. When she had the chance to play with the top line she performed well - unlike many that seem to crumble under the pressure.

She scored a goal in the Saturday game against Bemidji that I'm not sure anyone else on the UMD squad could have. One on one against the BSU defender, stays calm and slams an odd angled shot that used the defender as a screen and gave the goalie the least chance of covering the net.

She's gotten better every single game and if teams do not account for her in the next round, they will pay the price. A real find for coach Miller and a pleasure to watch for all UMD fans.

[ARM]

I haven't read the entire thread, but I don't see how there can be a Rookie team that does not include Sara O'Toole from UMD. Or, for that matter Pehkonen and Lanzl.I can. The conference All Rookie team is one forward line, a pair of D, and a goaltender. Having seen all of the teams in the conference except Ohio State, one would have to resort to some creative reasoning to give all three forward spots to Bulldogs. Players like O'Toole and Pehkonen just don't have the numbers to warrant serious consideration. Fisher has better numbers playing on a team where she doesn't get anywhere near as much help offensively. Lawler and Keseley have much better numbers. And if you name a conference all-rookie team that does not include the top frosh scorer, then most would agree that your team selection process is rather slanted. I'd expect Lanzl to be named from UMD, though she hasn't played as many games as some others and isn't typical rookie age.

[binnyrus]

I can. The conference All Rookie team is one forward line, a pair of D, and a goaltender. Having seen all of the teams in the conference except Ohio State, one would have to resort to some creative reasoning to give all three forward spots to Bulldogs. Players like O'Toole and Pehkonen just don't have the numbers to warrant serious consideration. Fisher has better numbers playing on a team where she doesn't get anywhere near as much help offensively. Lawler and Keseley have much better numbers. And if you name a conference all-rookie team that does not include the top frosh scorer, then most would agree that your team selection process is rather slanted. I'd expect Lanzl to be named from UMD, though she hasn't played as many games as some others and isn't typical rookie age.

I had not intended it to sound as if it should be an all UMD line. I was only trying to say those from UMD that deserved consideration, and when I look at the players from UMD that are "rookies", O'Toole stands head and shoulders above the rest. In fact, I can't wait until next season when she will only have more confidence and strength to play with. I mention her because it is easy for her to fly under the radar . . . with players like Lanzl, Marin, Koizumi, Pehkonen . . . in fact, she reminds me a lot of how Marin and Koizumi
played as freshman. In many ways O'Toole has been one of the most consistent players for the 'Dogs this season. I wish coach would continue to play her with Luther - they have great offensive chemistry.

I don't argue at all with the other names and abilities of those players that have been discussed.