New England Prep 2009-2010

[IceIsNice]

First practices are roughly a month away! Who got better? Who got worse?

Who is dearly missing their departed seniors and who is enthusiastically welcoming their incoming freshmen and transfers?

(And if all else fails, what school's have found nearby bakeries with delicious whoopie pies??

[Fivedevs]

Re: New England Prep 2009-2010

Okay Ice I'll bite.

Westminster has a Canadian National team goalie and 6 returning US National Camps ladies while only losing a couple of players to graduation. They have managed to bring in 5 quality players, a transfer from Governors and four freshman, including two national camp kids and an all-New England camp selection (who honestly could not have been far off the national camp list).

A 17-4 record and a bunch of returning players with a solid recruiting class I would say puts them in the discussion of top five teams. They certainly have the potential to be. Potential is why they play the games. Time will tell.

I also know that Hotchkiss got a couple of very good players, a transfer forward with excellent speed/skills and two national camp freshman, at Forward and Defense. I don't know much about what they have left from last year though. Any thoughts on them?

Any opinions?

The hockey season is way to short......

Oh and of course I haven't quite located the Whoopie Pies, but there is a nice bakery near Westminster.

[zamboniman]

Re: New England Prep 2009-2010

Westy "only" lost two seniors who are now playing DI, but they are bringing in a lot of reinforcements. One of whom is a very strong freshman forward, Sydney Daniels who bailed from Williston Northampton after starting for them in the 7th and 8th grades.

[Fivedevs]

Re: New England Prep 2009-2010

Westy "only" lost two seniors who are now playing DI, but they are bringing in a lot of reinforcements. One of whom is a very strong freshman forward, Sydney Daniels who bailed from Williston Northampton after starting for them in the 7th and 8th grades.

Good catch Z. I in no way intended to minimize the loss of those two seniors. The word "only" was a quantity statement vs. a quality statement.

[UCONN FAN]

Re: New England Prep 2009-2010

Westy "only" lost two seniors who are now playing DI, but they are bringing in a lot of reinforcements. One of whom is a very strong freshman forward, Sydney Daniels who bailed from Williston Northampton after starting for them in the 7th and 8th grades.

Bailed? Really? Is Westy closer? A better fit academically? Better finacial aid package? There could be many or one good reason she transfered. Bailed may be a little strong.

[nyhockey6]

Re: New England Prep 2009-2010

Season's underway in less than a week! Any teams lose/gain anyone huge?

[Slug79]

Re: New England Prep 2009-2010

Choate got Janice Yang back, and Loomis got one good goalie in incoming jr Alex(?) Stevenson from upstate NY.

[YankeeZulu]

Re: New England Prep 2009-2010

Adieu Nadine Muzerall. After six years at the helm of Northfield Mount Hermon, Nadine Muzerall has moved on. Mississauga native, Patty Kazmaier winner at Univ. of Minn. back in '98(?) Sorry to see her leave, but I can understand why. She had a complete lack of support from the administration, no input whatsoever into admissions, and therefore was unable to do any meaningful recruiting. Add to that the woeful semi-outdoor rink that discouraged any and all players, and there was nothing that she could do about that program. Now they have a history teacher coaching.

A class act all the way. An excellent coach -- teaching both skills and had a terrific rapport with her players. I wish her the very best in her next gig.

[notfromaroundhere]

Re: New England Prep 2009-2010

Adieu Nadine Muzerall. After six years at the helm of Northfield Mount Hermon, Nadine Muzerall has moved on. Mississauga native, Patty Kazmaier winner at Univ. of Minn. back in '98(?) Sorry to see her leave, but I can understand why. She had a complete lack of support from the administration, no input whatsoever into admissions, and therefore was unable to do any meaningful recruiting. Add to that the woeful semi-outdoor rink that discouraged any and all players, and there was nothing that she could do about that program. Now they have a history teacher coaching.

A class act all the way. An excellent coach -- teaching both skills and had a terrific rapport with her players. I wish her the very best in her next gig.

I hear ya.

It takes a lot to field a respectable program. Continuity in coaching, support in recruiting, and to some degree a suitable facility.

Many schools like to bring in young, ex-players and give them some experience figuring that they girls will identify with them better and that will help with recruiting and retention. I haven't seen it create consistent championships myself, but it can create competitive team every once in a while.

Don't get me wrong, young coaches can bring a lot of energy to a team and often get more out of a group than others. But all so often, they will take this job as a 3-4 year stepping stone waiting for a better college assistant position to come up. Very few come to a prep school with the idea of that is what they want to be doing in 20 years.

And I think the prep schools that hire these coaches know the drill as well. So if you are a young coach looking to make a mark and go to the administration and say I need this or that player, they will not have the same impact as a careerist coach. It takes time to earn that level of clout within a school.

That being said, It is sad to see a 6-year coach leave a school, no matter how old the coach is. That definitely says there is a failure to support the program, as the longer any coach is in a position, the harder it becomes for them to want to leave.

I wouldn't necessarily beat up NMH about their barn. There are far worse. And if the girls who play in the old barn are tight knit, recruits will sense that first and look beyond the facility. It is a very shallow player who rates the facility first.

Let's hope for a good season for the girls at NMH, despite their loss. It is their HS experience. It should be fun.

[nyhockey6]

Re: New England Prep 2009-2010

Will Nadine be coaching someplace else? Or is she done with coaching all together?

[posttopost2]

Re: New England Prep 2009-2010

That is too sad, we liked her and spent a lot of time talking to her last year as she was interested in my daughter, unfortunately or in this case, fortunately, my daughter chose another school.

[d-menrule]

Re: New England Prep 2009-2010

Proctor-2
Holderness-0

Proctor squad is very young with only 2 seniors and 1 junior. However, the underclassmen are skilled and they will hang with alot of the older teams.

It will be interesting to watch this group develop over the next couple of seasons.

[rinkrat890890]

Re: New England Prep 2009-2010

That is too sad, we liked her and spent a lot of time talking to her last year as she was interested in my daughter, unfortunately or in this case, fortunately, my daughter chose another school.

That's exactly why kids shouldn't pick schools based on the coach. Now that I'm back in the rinks watching my daughter coach, I hear people say they like certain schools because the coach is interested in their daughter, not because the school is academically and otherwise a good fit. I try to explain it but some don't see beyond the recruiting.

[goaliedad35]

Re: New England Prep 2009-2010

Nobles 4 Boston Shamrocks 1 (scrimmage)

[IceIsNice]

Re: New England Prep 2009-2010

Tabor 5 - Milton 1,

Craig wears the hat!