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Foreign women hockey players - and I don't mean Canadians

H

Hockeybuckeye

Well-known member
I thought I'd see what everyone feels about foreign women hockey players playing college over here and like the title says, Canadian are excluded . How do you think their skill levels and style compare?
OSU has two from Finland and one from Switzerland.
 
Canadians are foreign, lol.

Im fine with foreigners playing here. As hockey grows in US I wonder if that will squeeze out Canadian players and further hurt development of Canada’s national team players. Canada’s inability to get PW games this year has revealed another layer of ineptitude - or more likely - sexism from those in power to make it happen. So the conversation about foreigners playing in the NCAA is just as much a convo about how it’s the development spot of a ton of the worlds talent.

As for Europeans I don’t know I can characterize the group. Europeans have made Hurst teams better over the years and I cheer for them like any other player. I think they are usually better than average players just due to challenge of getting recruited. Finnish players tend to be very comfortable holding on to the puck and trying to make a play, in my small sample, and it makes for entertaining hockey.


I’m interested in how coaches scout European players. Seems like it would be challenging.
 
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Wasn't that one former assistant Sue coach from Europe? He was on staff with Muzzy for 1 year (and then was gone like her assistants usually are.) If someone from Europe wants to play over here, why not? I'm all for seeing the best hockey I can see and if that means watching non-US residents play, so be it.
 
I just want to clarify there isn't any issue on foreign young women playing here, I just wanted to hear if anyone thought they bring anything special to the programs they play for.
We all know what the Canadians bring so what about the Europeans or others?
OSU has Braendli from Switzerland who did great in net for us this season and somehow we seem to have a connection to getting Finnish girls.
 
I understand Buckeye!

Europeans can absolutely give an edge and a coach would be foolish not to recruit if they can afford to imo. Braendli has been huge for OSU no question about it. I think Nystrom for Hurst is quietly going to become a big part of that team. Strikes me as mentally tough. I like what I saw out of her. Challenge for OSU will be will that recruiting pipeline dry up without Elander? I think likely but not guaranteed. The players themselves can become ambassadors. I suspect that is how Hurst got Silvonen for example, and she has been part of Hurst goalie tandems for years now. Schelling is an ambassador for NU is my understanding as well.

On the social side, great for young North Americans to meet people from another continent, broaden their world views etc.
 
Noora Raty (Nora Ratu, I don't have the fancy keyboard settings to do Finnish) sure brought a lot to the Gophers teams, like being a huge contributor to a Perfect Season and a 62 game win streak! Those teams were magic themselves over her four years, great to watch.
 
drewkal said:
Noora Raty (Nora Ratu, I don't have the fancy keyboard settings to do Finnish) sure brought a lot to the Gophers teams, like being a huge contributor to a Perfect Season and a 62 game win streak! Those teams were magic themselves over her four years, great to watch.
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I was thinking of the exact same player, Noora Raty. Probably the most impactful female non-North American player of all time.
 
Yeah, Elander really brought player development to the next level and especially on the PP so his leaving hurt. I had spoken to him on occasion and he said he left for health reasons but offer no specifics. My assumption was stress affects your health so I wonder how stressful it was working under Muzzy?
 
OSU also had a football scandal right around the time Elander left. It’s possible the school and culture were simply not the right fit for him. Even at its best, my own impression is that OSU pride and culture is just a lot. So, not for everyone. That’s not to take away from the observation about Muzzy’s intensity, it’s clear that exists too.
 
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Peter Elander has decades of hockey experience. He was head coach of Sweden's national team during their brief Olympic glory days, he's currently the coach of the Danish national team, he coached at North Dakota for a few seasons. I doubt Ohio State was any more stressful than anywhere else he's been.
 
Lurky McLurkface said:
l doubt Ohio State was any more stressful than anywhere else he's been.
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Perhaps, but I'd say our facilities and office's being rather substandard may have been less than a man of his experience is used to.
But I'm only guessing about stress issues, I don't know the real reason he left except he said it was health related but he seems to have recovered quickly enough that he's still working in hockey so I've always been skeptical on that being the real reason he left.
 
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Lurky McLurkface said:
Peter Elander has decades of hockey experience. He was head coach of Sweden's national team during their brief Olympic glory days, he's currently the coach of the Danish national team, he coached at North Dakota for a few seasons. I doubt Ohio State was any more stressful than anywhere else he's been.
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Yes this is why I’d guess it was a culture thing. Didn’t realize that about Denmark. Glad to see.
 
It seems like Ohio State had a European presence on its roster, dating back to Emma Laaksonen 20 years ago. Players like Annie Svedin, Minttu Tuominen, even before Elander recruited the current Euros.
 
You know in men's college hockey and basketball there seems to be more and more scouting and recruitment for top tier foreign talent.
Do you think there's a growing trend with this in women's college hockey as well and that well see more foreign players filling rosters along with the American and Canadian girls?
 
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