Re: Minnesota Golden Gopher Women's Hockey 2012-2013, part II
Cracking the top three lines figures to be competitive. Eight of the top 10 forwards return and the four newcomers all have U-18 Worlds experience.
The battle for cracking the top three lines will indeed be competitive! Of the four incoming freshmen, you would have to give the early nod to #21 (Cameranisi) to ultimately secure a spot as a forward on one of the starting three lines. After that, I would guess that it will be season-long battle between returning forward #18 Garzone and newcomers #6 Shipper, #3 Flug and #12 Wolfe for the final starting forward position on the third line. Whichever way it goes, despite the loss of Amanda Kessel, I don't anticipate that scoring goals will prove to be a serious issue for this team. There is lots of retuning talent up front, and the question will be which player(s) step forward in an attempt to make up for the departure of #8, the loss of which cannot be underestimated. She is perhaps one of the most dynamic women's players to ever play the game. Everyone will need to step up if her absence in this year's lineup is to be minimized.
The main concern this year (IMO) will be at D. We have three solid returnees in #5 Ramsey, #13 McMillan and #27 Gillanders. After that, it appears to be wide open as to who will fill the #4 position as one of the top 4 D. It will come down to returning #17 Burns (who saw limited action last season, I believe all at the forward position - but she did play primarily D while in high school), and incoming freshmen #15 Haley and #11 Cline. Since there are only six who are vying for starting positions, I would expect all to be given plenty of opportunity to earn a position as one of the starting four, and on the second power play unit (unless Frost chooses to go with a forward there).
In goal, it will be a little strange to not see #41 back between the pipes, but based on what I saw last year my gut tells me that we'll be in good shape...#29 Leville would appear to be a very capable replacement, and #37 Sidney Peters comes in with very high credentials as well. Time will tell, but as superb as Miss Raty was the past four years, going into the season I am not feeling too anxious about the goaltender position.
Yes, it would appear that the highest challenge the Gophers will face this year will be rebuilding their D-core, specifically the challenge of replacing the key departures of #19 Megan Bozek (graduation), #7 Jalosuo (graduation) and #2 Lee Stecklein (Olympic team candidate).
An interesting question: Will these key departures at D (and of #8 Kessel) result in a more disciplined, defensive-oriented style of play as compared to last year? Given these significant losses, what adjustments might be made?
And of course, all of my above comments/guesses assume no significant, season-ending type injuries, and that all key players will remain academically eligible. To come even close to the accomplishments of the past two seasons will require a renewed total dedication of everyone, players and coaches alike. Needless to say, it won't be easy, and everyone else will be gunning for you!!!
