After the expected white washing against Wisconsin, St. Thomas gets a shutout against Franklin Pierce. Maybe they still continue at the bottom of the WCHA, but at least they will be competitive. Last season the team never gave up, in spite of being clearly over-matched. With Joel Johnson back on the bench, are there expectations that this team will pull some surprises?
USCHO Fan Forum
This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!
-
The USCHO Fan Forum has migrated to a new plaform, xenForo. Most of the function of the forum should work in familiar ways. Please note that you can switch between light and dark modes by clicking on the gear icon in the upper right of the main menu bar. We are hoping that this new platform will prove to be faster and more reliable. Please feel free to explore its features.
St. Thomas 2022-2023 Still the New Kids on the Block?
- Thread starter Steamboat
- Start date
Give him a couple of years, and the outcome in most of their games will no longer be considered surprises.
A 2 to 1 overtime loss to Franklin Pierce. That has to hurt after out shooting their opponents by nearly a 3 to 1 ratio. Chalk it up as character building.
It was fun listening to the Tommies play by play announcer. While I keep hoping for the next Kelly Schultz to appear, the enthusiasm the announcer has brought back many happy memories of why I enjoy college sports.
Next weekend is a home and home against the Mavericks. Which team will play the gracious host?
It was fun listening to the Tommies play by play announcer. While I keep hoping for the next Kelly Schultz to appear, the enthusiasm the announcer has brought back many happy memories of why I enjoy college sports.
Next weekend is a home and home against the Mavericks. Which team will play the gracious host?
St. Thomas announces an RFP for a new multipurpose facility on their South Campus in St. Paul that will include a new on-campus home for their hockey programs
https://tommiesports.com/news/2022/10/18/general-test.aspx
Sent from my SM-S908U using Tapatalk
https://tommiesports.com/news/2022/10/18/general-test.aspx
Sent from my SM-S908U using Tapatalk
This will make it truly a cross river rivalry. These campuses are so close. This should bring a lot more Gopher followers to the St. Thomas games. Of course, I would like to see a lot more Gopher followers in Ridder right now also. I just love the idea of Joel and Bethany going up against Brad Frost. All in good fun of course, but some very special bragging rights when St. Thomas finally manages to beat the Gophers.
Timothy A
Let's go RED!
Wow this is great news. I am curious as to the seating capacity they decide to go with.
Some additional details:
They're seeking a design-build development partner for this South Campus project and hope to have that partner chosen by the end of the semester. So that would imply that they don't have a design for what this facility would look like. The release states that they want this new facility to be "an asset for our entire campus by offering student life and community engagement opportunities" and depending on what other purposes outside of hockey are included in the "multipurpose" part of this plan, the design could get fairly unique.
In the same release, St. Thomas reiterates the desire to acquire, clean up and build new baseball and softball facilities at the old Canadian Pacific property in Highland Bridge on the section west of Cleveland Ave. STU originally wanted to place the new hockey facility, a practice sheet of ice, and indoor practice facilities for their outdoor sports on the same property with these new fields, but such a project would have resulted in the cancellation of planned affordable housing units which as one would imagine raised quite a bit of ire. This sounds like a smaller footprint for the school and hopefully can pass. St. Thomas intends to use the current baseball and softball facilities for "other athletic and campus recreation needs". The current facilities are towards the northwestern edge of North Campus so this is not the site they have in mind for the multipurpose facility (perhaps this is the future location for the indoor practice facilities?).
The end of the release emphasizes that these plans are contingent on hitting their fundraising goals.
They're seeking a design-build development partner for this South Campus project and hope to have that partner chosen by the end of the semester. So that would imply that they don't have a design for what this facility would look like. The release states that they want this new facility to be "an asset for our entire campus by offering student life and community engagement opportunities" and depending on what other purposes outside of hockey are included in the "multipurpose" part of this plan, the design could get fairly unique.
In the same release, St. Thomas reiterates the desire to acquire, clean up and build new baseball and softball facilities at the old Canadian Pacific property in Highland Bridge on the section west of Cleveland Ave. STU originally wanted to place the new hockey facility, a practice sheet of ice, and indoor practice facilities for their outdoor sports on the same property with these new fields, but such a project would have resulted in the cancellation of planned affordable housing units which as one would imagine raised quite a bit of ire. This sounds like a smaller footprint for the school and hopefully can pass. St. Thomas intends to use the current baseball and softball facilities for "other athletic and campus recreation needs". The current facilities are towards the northwestern edge of North Campus so this is not the site they have in mind for the multipurpose facility (perhaps this is the future location for the indoor practice facilities?).
The end of the release emphasizes that these plans are contingent on hitting their fundraising goals.
FiveHoleFrenzy
Well-known member
It will be interesting to see if St Thomas gets updated facilities before the yuckeyes...
Timothy A
Let's go RED!
Slamdunk they beat the yuckeyes to a new barn. St. Thomas cares about hockey.
Early in February of this year, St. Thomas started their second series against UMD, in Duluth, with a 2 - 1 loss. The next day an enraged UMD team beat St. Thomas 8 - 1. This was after shutting out St. Thomas 3 - 0 and 7 - 0 on the Tommies home ice. This season UMD started their home stand against St. Thomas with an 8 - 1 pasting. St. Thomas played Dobchuk in goal for two periods and then Maggie Malecha finished the final period. Emma Soderberg was in goal for Duluth.
In game 2 Saskia Maurer was in goal for St. Thomas the entire game. Opposite her for UMD was Hailey MacLeod, whose last outing had been a shutout of Harvard last month. Duluth did not look like the team that beat the Ohio State in overtime last week. Both teams had exciting chances for more goals, but ended overtime still 1 - 1. UMD started and scored first in the shootout. The second round St. Thomas evened things up when Almich scored but Hughes was turned aside. The 3rd round of the shootout had Bianchi score for St. Thomas after Flaherty scored for UMD. In the 4th round Maggie Clough scored the winner after Henderson was denied by Maurer. The St. Thomas bench didn't seem to realize they had won. The announcer was taken aback, and had to "check his math" to make sure the game was over. Clough knew however, and the team quickly mobbed her on the ice.
This was a really exciting game to watch. I thought that St. Thomas played very well in the 3 on 3 overtime. They were outshoot 49 to 15, which is a typical St. Thomas statistic. UMD is off for nearly a month, until they go to Madison to face the Badgers. That may not be a fun locker room for a while.
St. Thomas has a home stand against the Beavers this coming Friday and Saturday, then a break until after the new year when they take on RIT at home in Mendota Heights. Bemidji has a full win against Mankato for 3 points in the WCHA while St. Thomas has the shootout win for 2 points. These two teams may be fighting over the bottom of the WCHA, but I plan to be there seeing how it plays out. $5 seats and good concessions if you dodge out quickly to avoid the lines.
In game 2 Saskia Maurer was in goal for St. Thomas the entire game. Opposite her for UMD was Hailey MacLeod, whose last outing had been a shutout of Harvard last month. Duluth did not look like the team that beat the Ohio State in overtime last week. Both teams had exciting chances for more goals, but ended overtime still 1 - 1. UMD started and scored first in the shootout. The second round St. Thomas evened things up when Almich scored but Hughes was turned aside. The 3rd round of the shootout had Bianchi score for St. Thomas after Flaherty scored for UMD. In the 4th round Maggie Clough scored the winner after Henderson was denied by Maurer. The St. Thomas bench didn't seem to realize they had won. The announcer was taken aback, and had to "check his math" to make sure the game was over. Clough knew however, and the team quickly mobbed her on the ice.
This was a really exciting game to watch. I thought that St. Thomas played very well in the 3 on 3 overtime. They were outshoot 49 to 15, which is a typical St. Thomas statistic. UMD is off for nearly a month, until they go to Madison to face the Badgers. That may not be a fun locker room for a while.
St. Thomas has a home stand against the Beavers this coming Friday and Saturday, then a break until after the new year when they take on RIT at home in Mendota Heights. Bemidji has a full win against Mankato for 3 points in the WCHA while St. Thomas has the shootout win for 2 points. These two teams may be fighting over the bottom of the WCHA, but I plan to be there seeing how it plays out. $5 seats and good concessions if you dodge out quickly to avoid the lines.
With a 3 - 1 win today, (empty net goal), St. Thomas leap-frogged the Bemidji Beavers into 7th place. The first period was all Beavers, where they got a 1 - 0 lead. The second period was all St. Thomas, where they were able to tie it up. In the 3rd period both teams had stretches of dominance, but St. Thomas was the team to put the puck in the net again. The period wound down with an empty net while the Beavers stretched for the tie, but a 2 on 1 break out lead to an empty net goal and the final of 3 - 1.
Tomorrow the two teams will battle again to see who can stay out of the bottom of the WCHA.
Tomorrow the two teams will battle again to see who can stay out of the bottom of the WCHA.
In a Nov 29 interview with the Star-Tribune, St. Thomas AD Phil Esten notes that they are still selecting a design-build partner for the new South Campus rink, and gives an indication that the rink will seat around 4,000. He also indicates that the new building will be the home of commencement, convocation, and other large campus events.
"We're right around 1,000 at the Academy right now. I'll tell you that the CCHA average capacity is right around 5,000. I don't know if that's the right number for us. I'd rather underbuild than overbuild. I'd rather have a 4,000 facility where we have 500 people on a waiting list than a 6,000 facility that's not full."
"We're right around 1,000 at the Academy right now. I'll tell you that the CCHA average capacity is right around 5,000. I don't know if that's the right number for us. I'd rather underbuild than overbuild. I'd rather have a 4,000 facility where we have 500 people on a waiting list than a 6,000 facility that's not full."
We have all watched overmatched teams play against the top dogs, and either been impressed by their resilience or rooted for the underdog anyway. When you see two teams as evenly matched as the Beavers and the Tommies go at it, just sit back and enjoy the hockey. The St. Thomas Tommies dominated the second game of the series, scoring first, and scoring in each period, though they were 0 for 3 on the power play. I am familiar with the Beavers playing shutdown hockey against the better teams in the WCHA. They seemed to play more wide open in this game, and it served St. Thomas better. The Beavers got pretty chippy in the later stages of the game. Clearly they wanted to stay out of the cellar of the WCHA, but lost, 5 - 2.
Both teams take a holiday break, with a long one for the Beavers until they go to Duluth on January 13. St. Thomas will host RIT the weekend before that. Last season Bethany Brausen caretakered the team while Joel Johnson coached the national team. It will be interesting to see how the two teams develop through the rest of the season. St. Thomas has already been swept by St. Cloud and Mankato. The Tommies will have a rematch against Duluth after facing the Gophers. Bemidji is the only team of their stature to get points from before the WCHA quarterfinals at the end of February. The Beavers will get another shot at Mankato, where they had their only WCHA win. I don't think it will make a difference which team plays the #1 or the #2 seed, but these two teams may have a budding rivalry going about who is less in the West.
Both teams take a holiday break, with a long one for the Beavers until they go to Duluth on January 13. St. Thomas will host RIT the weekend before that. Last season Bethany Brausen caretakered the team while Joel Johnson coached the national team. It will be interesting to see how the two teams develop through the rest of the season. St. Thomas has already been swept by St. Cloud and Mankato. The Tommies will have a rematch against Duluth after facing the Gophers. Bemidji is the only team of their stature to get points from before the WCHA quarterfinals at the end of February. The Beavers will get another shot at Mankato, where they had their only WCHA win. I don't think it will make a difference which team plays the #1 or the #2 seed, but these two teams may have a budding rivalry going about who is less in the West.
The link mentions D-1 experience. Esten was here at Ohio State when the Schottenstein Center opened. Interesting comment on seating capacity, which may stem in part from his experiences in Columbus.
Didn't previously realize Phil was a St. Thomas alum. He's a good guy, and clearly a great fit for the St. Thomas transition.
At this point in time the St. Thomas record stands at 7 - 14 - 1 overall. Looking at the rest of their schedule they might be able to beat Bemidji in Bemidji, but other victories may be unlikely. Last season was basically the Bethany Brausen year, so this year we get to see a real Joel Johnson coached team. Any thoughts about the progress of this team into D1 play? All but one of their losses has been to a WCHA team.
FiveHoleFrenzy
Well-known member
The progress should improve next year with the recruiting class they have coming in adding guite a bit of talent.
ARM
Fan of chipmunk-like mascots.
As FHF points out, that J.J. coached team gets more real once it starts to include classes that he had opportunity to recruit. I think that the return of Idalski to the league makes it more challenging for St. Thomas, as SCSU looked like one of the teams that UST might be able to pass fairly quickly. Now the Huskies will compete for some of the same players.
It will be interesting to see what happens with Bemidji the rest of the way. The Beavers clearly don't match up well versus UW, and their results against tOSU are about what one would expect. They do have a winning record outside of the conference, and both losses were to ranked teams. But if they can't score, then it is hard to take points from the likes of the Mavericks and Huskies if those teams have all of their players. Their series this weekend in Duluth could be interesting, as they catch the Bulldogs coming off an emotional high in Madison. UMD and BSU have a history of playing some very competitive series, although many of those were before the Bulldogs revival.
St. Thomas was shut out tonight at Ridder, but the 5 - 0 score was probably less than what the Gopher faithful were hoping to see. While I have see a number of St. Thomas games this season, my seat mates were impressed with how scrappy the Tommies proved to be. Several good opportunities to break the shutout, but the Gopher speed clearly worked to pressure the St. Thomas forwards. We will see on Saturday if the Gophers break out, or if St. Thomas can tighten things up some.