A few comments after watching the MNSt games.
Curl and Eden are off to a remarkable start – Eden with 11 goals and Curl with 20 points - as they have developed strong chemistry as indicated by Curl having the primary assists on 7 of Eden’s 11 goals. Once Hall has become more attuned to how the other two play, I expect her to become more of a force as well.
Simms has picked up where she left off last year. O’Brien has been struggling a bit thus far, but once she regains form, their line with Wheeler will be a force for other teams to contend with also.
Picard and Woz are playing with more speed and overall intensity this year too, and they complement each other well. LEdwards has been demonstrating more speed and aggressiveness than last year and I believe she will become a major threat around the crease and in the slot once she has become more comfortable playing on the line with Woz and Picard.
Gorbatenko gave a glimpse at her potential as a member of a true FLine. She has speed, a nice hard shot, made some good passes, and isn’t shy along the boards and around the net. I found myself thinking about her on a 4[SUP]th[/SUP] FLine with Vasseur and Enright if they were not out with injuries. That likely would give the Badgers four very competitive FLines.
As for D, Harvey simply is fun to watch. She is fast, fluid, calm, focused - makes everything look effortless. She is having fun, and we are fortunate we get to share in it. Murphy and Potter are a good tandem, and it is nice to know they will be around for a few more years. Jungels continues her quiet, steady play, and Wilgren is solid in her pairing with Harvey. So, the future on D looks bright, and I am anxious for the first encounters with the other members of the WCHA top 4.
A final comment on Curl. To me, she fits the mold of a captain. She is a gritty player who tends to take up residence around the goal, quietly positioning herself for deflecting shots on goal or to pass to a teammate who is in position for a stronger scoring opportunity. The fact that she leads the team in blocks speaks of her attention to playing D as well.
Speaking of the other members of the WCHA 4, I also watched the OHSt-UMD games on B1G+ this weekend. Frankly, I had expected the games would be more entertaining, but I came away somewhat baffled. UMD looked lethargic on offense – slow with sloppy passing and constantly struggling to get out of their zone. There was a stretch of 20 minutes in the first game when they did not manage to take a single shot. OHSt was quicker but its offense was not overwhelming - a lot more shots but not many of high quality. And OHSt’s 2 goals in the second game were at the start of the second period in the final 1:45 of a dubious 5-minute major. UMD’s goalie did make some solid saves, but, in my view, most were somewhat pedestrian. But she is in her first year and, given UMD's history with goalies, probably will be solid before long. Still, I did not see the intense level of play typical of this matchup.
UMD is at MNSt this coming weekend and it will be interesting to see how those games turn out. MN at OHSt in 2 weeks should provide a good look at those two. When these games are over, the Badgers should have a decent sense of what to expect from the other traditional WCHA top 4 prior to the stretch in which they play them consecutively to finish the first half of WCHA play - an interesting feat of scheduling.
