Friday, August 13, 2010

First Women's Draft Held

The first-ever draft for women hockey players was held by the Canadian Women's Hockey League. They have restructured the league and will ice five teams this fall including Boston, Brampton, Burlington, Montreal and Toronto. In doing so, five players were protected for the Boston team including three Team USA Olympians--Kacey Bellamy, Caitlin Cahow and Molly Engstrom. Also protected were Melissa Haber from Toronto/Boston University and Cherie Hendrickson who most recently played for the CWHL Burlington Team.

By holding a draft, league officials feel that it will ensure that players will return to the League after a year of training for the Olympics.

The draft, which was held at the Hockey Hall of Fame on August 12, will be followed by team tryouts, an evaluation and a mini-draft before the start of preseason play on October 9.

Monday, August 2, 2010

Summer Hockey Update

Well, its been a while since I posted. With family coming in and out of town, vacation and lots of yard work it's been a summer moving very quickly. For many young women, it's also a time for some summer hockey development and working hard at accomplishing another goal in their hockey career.

Congratulations to Emily Pfalzer of Getzville, New York who was named to the USA U18 Team and will attend the National Festival in Lake Placid. The week-long event is highlighted with a three-game competition between the US and Canada on August 18, 19 and 21. Pfalzer is a defenseman who plays for the Mississauga Jr. Chiefs. Another New Yorker named to the team is Albany's Courtney Burke.

USA Hockey has named Reagan Carey director of women's hockey. She comes from Colby College where she captained the team and has spent the last nine years working for the NHL Atlanta Thrashers. Carey replaces Michele Amidon who will now handle the USA Hockey American Development Model. Amidon was the first-ever Director of Women's Hockey for USA Hockey.

Sabrina Harbec was named Syracuse Women's Ice Hockey Assistant Coach. She comes from St. Lawrence University. This will be Syracuse's third season.