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Minnesota Women's Hockey Off-Season 2015: #BASK

Re: Minnesota Women's Hockey Off-Season 2015: #BASK

ARM said:
By WCHA rule Schammel, won't be in the mix in 2015-16. Menefee has skated on the top line for her first three years. I don't see her spot as being "open". She doesn't have a third or fourth line style game, so I think it's also a given that if she is available, she'll be in that top-six group. Potomak arrives with a resume similar to that of Kessel or Brandt when they were rookies. I doubt she'll be brought along slowly, unless they play her at center. Unless the desire is to have three balanced lines like two years ago, I think that there is only one open spot on the top two lines, not three.
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All good points, as usual ARM. Somehow I overlooked Schammel having to sit out this season due to the WCHA rule (knew that! :rolleyes:). And no doubt Potomak arrives with the best "resume" and will likely have an edge over the others who will be battling for those 5th/6th forward spots. But as an incoming true freshman and with a number of talented and more experienced forwards returning I wouldn't think it's guaranteed, at least to start the season (here I'm mainly thinking Schipper and Piazza who you think would be given every opportunity to show they're equally deserving). But taken what you're saying into account, to start the season it looks like we COULD have something like:

Left Wing - Center - Right Wing
Menefee - Brandt - Cameranesi
Potomak - Pannek - Schipper
Rodgers - Piazza - Garzone
Reilly - Williamson - Haley
(Gunderson & Smith - have never seen either play, so who knows if they will surprise?)

Left Defense - Right Defense
Stecklein - McMillen
Wolfe - Baldwin
Cline - Skarzynski
(putting Skarzynski ahead of Barlow because of her AAA and U-18 team experience)

Of course lots of things can happen between now and the first game, but just to keep the conversation going I thought I'd throw these combinations out there!
 
Re: Minnesota Women's Hockey Off-Season 2015: #BASK

brookyone said:
One thing in particular I hope to see. Maryanne in the lineup from the get go in Oct. 2015 and exploiting her senior campaign to the fullest.
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From your lips to His noodley appendage. I don't think MM gets as much credit as she deserves because she is not as flashy as her linemates but she deserves to be where she is. I happened to talk to Hanna's dad early last season and he mentioned that he (and by extension MMs linemates) were very happy to have her back with them "She provides a lot and really adds stability".

I wonder if there might not be a couple of redshirts in addition to Schammel, they may not be announced but "held in reserve", used in case of injury but redshirted is possible.
 
Re: Minnesota Women's Hockey Off-Season 2015: #BASK

D2D said:
To start the season it looks like we COULD have something like:

Left Wing - Center - Right Wing
Menefee - Brandt - Cameranesi
Potomak - Pannek - Schipper
Rodgers - Piazza - Garzone
Reilly - Williamson - Haley
(Gunderson & Smith - have never seen either play, so who knows if they will surprise?)

Left Defense - Right Defense
Stecklein - McMillen
Wolfe - Baldwin
Cline - Skarzynski
(putting Skarzynski ahead of Barlow because of her AAA and U-18 team experience)

Of course lots of things can happen between now and the first game, but just to keep the conversation going I thought I'd throw these combinations out there!
Click to expand...
It is the off season right?

But those combinations look good to me until we can actually see these players on the ice competing in games against D-1 opposition and, of course, competing against each other for playing time.

I wonder if Haley will get another look at D.
 
Re: Minnesota Women's Hockey Off-Season 2015: #BASK

D2D said:
Rodgers - Piazza - Garzone
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this line ain't happenin'
Piazza will be a forward (possibly even taking Cameranesi's place on the Brandt line), and both Rodgers & Garzone are righties
2 lefties on a line, yes, 2 righties, no (yes, I know the 3rd line had 2 righties last year, that was then, this is now)
Schipper, Garzone, Rodgers, and Haley are the returning right shooters, with Smith being the only right shooting freshman.

I'm thinking both Potomak & Williamson will be given a shot at C, and by the time The Process is done it will be apparent Piazza has nailed down a job at wing, and unless both freshmen don't work out (unlikely) that's where she will stay.

I'm thinking like in 2012/13, we will see a lot of shuffling at forward until Frost puts his stretch drive lineup out.
FWIW, the eventual lineup that year on the 2nd & 3rd line, the only constant was Davis at C. every wing not only started the year with someone other than who they ended up with, they started on the opposite side they ended up, and with a different wing.
 
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Re: Minnesota Women's Hockey Off-Season 2015: #BASK

pokechecker said:
this line ain't happenin'
Piazza will be a forward (possibly even taking Cameranesi's place on the Brandt line), and both Rodgers & Garzone are righties
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Toward the end of the 2014-15 season Piazza was the 3rd line center (which IS a forward position!) and Garzone was her right wing. Schipper was the left wing, but I think it's likely she'll be moved up and possibly play right wing on the 2nd line. The 3rd line left wing position could be taken by Rodgers, who last year played left wing on the 4th line, but she'll have competition from the other forwards. And as well as Piazza played toward the end of last season I don't see Frost breaking up Brandt and Cameranesi.

pokechecker said:
I'm thinking both Potomak & Williamson will be given a shot at C, and by the time The Process is done it will be apparent Piazza has nailed down a job at wing, and unless both freshmen don't work out (unlikely) that's where she will stay.
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Not sure about Potomak, but I believe Williamson played center all throughout high school at Edina. If Potomak is a natural center and that's where she can best use her talents, then it would appear likely that Frost would move Piazza to wing in favor of Potomak taking over the 3rd line center position.

Lots of possible combinations, which makes it fun to speculate! For now I'll stick with what I postulated above, and in a little over four months we'll see if it's anywhere near reality. ;)[/QUOTE]
 
Re: Minnesota Women's Hockey Off-Season 2015: #BASK

D2D said:
If Potomak is a natural center and that's where she can best use her talents, then it would appear likely that Frost would move Piazza to wing in favor of Potomak taking over the 3rd line center position.
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Potomak's not a third-line player. It would be like having Brandt come in and center the third line when she was a freshman. Frost has always played his most talented kids early, be it on the PP or the top scoring lines. If he does use Potomak at center, then I doubt that it will be possible to say which is the second line and which is the third. However, I don't know that the team is deep enough at wing to do that. We'll see.
 
Re: Minnesota Women's Hockey Off-Season 2015: #BASK

ARM said:
Potomak's not a third-line player. It would be like having Brandt come in and center the third line when she was a freshman. Frost has always played his most talented kids early, be it on the PP or the top scoring lines. If he does use Potomak at center, then I doubt that it will be possible to say which is the second line and which is the third. However, I don't know that the team is deep enough at wing to do that. We'll see.
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ARM, would love to see your predictions for the four lines and three D pairings that will start the first official game. In mine I had Potomak playing wing on the 2nd line with Pannek and Schipper. I doubt that Frost would move Pannek down to center the 3rd line. And I very much doubt he would move Brandt down from centering the 1st line...which only leaves just two possibilities: Potomak either plays wing on one of the first two lines or she centers the 3rd line.
 
Re: Minnesota Women's Hockey Off-Season 2015: #BASK

Potomak - Brandt - Cameranesi

=

Simmer - Dionne - Taylor

;)
 
Re: Minnesota Women's Hockey Off-Season 2015: #BASK

Love the old-school LA Kings line reference. Also enjoying the speculation about lines for next season.

Do you break up the top line of Brandt-Cameranesi-Menefee? I don't think so but according to one poster Brandt and Cameranesi weren't going to be on a line together last year so put that in context with the idea that Piazza is going to replace Cameranesi.

Williamson and Potomak both have top six ablility so it is going to be a nice problem to have, to figure out the top 6 spots. Seems like 4 are for sure in Pannek, Menefee, Brandt, Cameranesi and some very good options to fill the remaining 2 spots. Should make for a pretty deep 3 lines and a capable 4th line. Does it match BC's depth? No, but you just hope to put your best foot forward and see how it plays out. ;)
 
Re: Minnesota Women's Hockey Off-Season 2015: #BASK

FiveHoleFrenzy said:
Does it match BC's depth? No, but you just hope to put your best foot forward and see how it plays out. ;)
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Eh? I have to disagree. UM is stronger than BC in all positions and in depth. The only even part is arguably Brandt-Carpenter and Skarupa-(your choice). After that UM has the advantage up and down the line. Also, I'm surprised no one is talking about the possibility of Kessel coming back?
 
Re: Minnesota Women's Hockey Off-Season 2015: #BASK

96IllinoisDad said:
Eh? I have to disagree. UM is stronger than BC in all positions and in depth. The only even part is arguably Brandt-Carpenter and Skarupa-(your choice). After that UM has the advantage up and down the line. Also, I'm surprised no one is talking about the possibility of Kessel coming back?
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I see you took that quite literally. Could you see where there might have been a bit of sandbagging on my part? :)

Doesn't seem likely we will ever see Kessel in a Gopher uniform again.
 
Re: Minnesota Women's Hockey Off-Season 2015: #BASK

Menefee - Brandt - Cameranesi

=

Hull - Esposito - Maki or maybe

Maloney - Esposito - Murdoch

If it ain't broke don't fix it.
 
Re: Minnesota Women's Hockey Off-Season 2015: #BASK

D2D said:
ARM, would love to see your predictions for the four lines and three D pairings that will start the first official game.
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I'd be throwing darts to go that deep. Once the top three centers are set, that eliminates a lot of uncertainty, and if it was my choice, I'd start with the three that just helped the team to the championship. I see Potomak as being similar to Cameranesi in that she could play center and do a fine job if needed, but she brings a more electricity to the wing than others would. We saw how Kessel's speed opened up the game once she moved to wing, and while #8 could certainly have done a fine job in the middle, she was a far better option on the outside than most of her teammates. Or going back even farther to Darwitz, who would have been a great center, but when you put her and Stephens alongside Wendell, it was as close to perfect as any college line I've seen. You left out another possibility -- Pannek moving to wing. With the strides she made over the course of her first season, I think #19 could be an asset there, but her skill set really belongs at center. Pannek centering Potomak and Cameranesi would be a great, great line, but it would require losing the chemistry #21 has built with the two seniors to be. The only way I'd go there is if Kessel did in fact return, and like FHF, I don't expect to see that outside of my dreams.

As for D pairings, you had Wolfe at left defense, and I don't expect that given she was the only right-handed shot that finished the season on the blue line. We'll have to see how quickly Skarzynski makes the transition from prep to NCAA, and that may determine how heavily the minutes are weighted toward the top four in the rotation. McMillen and Wolfe have played together quite a bit over the last couple of seasons. Baldwin played with Ramsey a lot, so she'll be looking for a new partner, although MN finished the season playing five D in many games, so everyone played with everyone. Stecklein seems like she'd be the perfect partner to break in alongside, so we may see her w/ Skarzynski early on, although they may start #2 and #13 like they did w/ #2 and #5 a lot down the stretch.
 
Re: Minnesota Women's Hockey Off-Season 2015: #BASK

bluffrinkrat said:
Menefee - Brandt - Cameranesi

=

Hull - Esposito - Maki or maybe

Maloney - Esposito - Murdoch

If it ain't broke don't fix it.
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If it ain't broke ya should be able to put it back together again without much difficulty. If a worthwhile experiment fails to pan out.
 
Re: Minnesota Women's Hockey Off-Season 2015: #BASK

FiveHoleFrenzy said:
I see you took that quite literally. Could you see where there might have been a bit of sandbagging on my part? :)

Doesn't seem likely we will ever see Kessel in a Gopher uniform again.
Click to expand...

Oops missed it. ;)

And for the line predictors, Skarsynski played a lot at F as well.
 
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