Stick Taps and Snark - March 18, 2025

↑ Ithaca  – Cornell fans showed up and showed out for the NCAA quarterfinal in Ithaca on Saturday. The program set a new record with 3,155 fans in attendance. A friend who was there said Lynah Rink was distractingly loud.

↓ Semifinals not televised – It's not at all surprising but it's still really disappointing that the national semifinals are only being streamed on ESPN+.

↑ Milestones – Ohio State's Joy Dunne earned her 100th career point on Saturday. She became the fastest Buckeye to reach the milestone, doing so in just 77 games. Minnesota goalie Hannah Clark tallied her first career point with an assist on her team's first goal Saturday. St. Lawrence's Sarah Marchand also reached 100 points last week with an assist on a goal on Thursday.

↓ Frozen Four events – I feel like I'll be pushing for a women's Frozen Four fan fest with my last breath. USA Hockey is doing some events around the Patty Kazmaier ceremony and I'm glad we've got a few more things happening this weekend, but their focus tends to be on youth interactions. I'm not advocating not to have those things, but I want more and for the women's game to not assume that the only folks attending are people with children. Youth clinics and signing lines are great, but this sport is at a point where so much more could - and should - be happening.

↑ Award finalists – Congratulations to Wisconsin's Casey O'Brien, Caroline Harvey and Laila Edwards for being named top three finalists for the Patty Kazmaier Award. Way to go to Goalie of the Year finalists Ève Gascon from UMD, Annelies Bergmann from Cornell and Ava McNaughton from Wisconsin.

↓ Missed NCAA/PWHL crossover opportunities – The PWHL continues to grow and do great things and there is always organically some things that crossover with the NCAA because the players themselves rep and shout out their alma maters, but it really feels like women's college hockey is missing out on the moment the PWHL has created and keeps pushing forward. Last year several PWHL players attended the national championship game on their own because they lived nearby and their alma maters were playing. It seemed a missed opportunity not to capitalize on the closeness of the Boston squad. Same deal in Minneapolis this year. The Fleet played in Detroit on Saturday and don't play again until the 16th. The Xcel Energy Center is used for a men's conference tournament this weekend, but it feels like there could have been a skate with the Frost or even a game at Mariucci. I haven't dug deep to know what roadblocks there could be, but I guarantee several Frost players will be at Frozen Four events of their own volition and it's a missed opportunity not to have anything happening. The college game is simply missing out on this moment again and again.

↑ SDHL – Congratulations to Frölunda HC on winning their first SDHL title. The club started their women's team in 2022, were promoted to the top level in 2023, made the semifinals last year and this year swept Luleå, who have won the last six league titles. The championship game also set a new league attendance record with 8,488 fans. Five players plus the coach and general manager played in the NCAA. Stephanie Neatby (Princeton), Sofie Lundin (OSU), Paula Bergstrom (LIU and UMD), Michelle Karvinen (North Dakota) and Sydney Brodt (UMD). Coach Erika Holst and GM Kim Martin Hasson both played collegiately at UMD.

(Photo: Pexels/Tony Schnagl)