Hannah Brandt Continues Her Rise
Minnesota Junior is Rounding Out Her Lethal Game
When Brad Frost recruited Hannah Brandt to play hockey for him at the University of Minnesota, he knew the Gophers were getting a top talent.
As a high school player and with the U.S. Under-18 women’s team, Brandt stood out, especially as an offensive difference-maker.
“I think everybody knew that Hannah Brandt would be something pretty special,” the Minnesota head coach said.
But Brandt, now in her junior year, is continuing to improve every season and round out her game.
As a freshman in 2012-13, Brandt finished second in the nation in scoring behind her teammate (and 2014 U.S. Olympian) Amanda Kessel, with 82 points in 41 games. As a sophomore, she led the nation in assists with 42 and was No. 2 in the nation in scoring with 65 points in 41 games.
Now early in her junior season, Brandt is tied for the national lead in scoring with 18 points (including nine goals) in nine games as top-ranked Minnesota has jumped off to a 7-1-2 start against elite competition.
Brandt will also log minutes with Team USA this season. She is currently with the U.S. Women’s National Team at the Four Nations Cup in Kamloops, B.C. Brandt and her teammates take on Sweden Friday at 4 p.m. ET in the final preliminary round game.
The Brandt who’s skating for the Gophers now is a much-improved player than the Brandt of 2012-13, Frost said.
For one thing, she’s worked hard to improving her skating and her speed.
Brandt said she focused this past offseason on weight work to strengthen her legs, her skating and her fitness, and she feels quicker on the ice. She’s getting to the puck faster, and it’s allowing her to get better position.
“I think the biggest improvement is her skating,” Frost said. “She came in as maybe somebody who was very skilled offensively, had a great shot, great vision, but her skating prevented her a little bit from winning races and being first to pucks and those types of things.
“But she’s done a considerable amount of work to increase her skating, her speed … and it’s helped her to become even more dominant as the years have gone on.”
Though reluctant to talk about herself — she’d rather talk about the Gophers’ fast start — Brandt said she’s happy with the way she’s playing.
“I think me and my line mates have really clicked,” she said. “And it’s been a good start. We just want to keep it going.”
Frost said that Brandt’s hard work at Minnesota on her fitness and skating has been complemented by the learning experiences she’s had with U.S. national teams. While Brandt wasn’t selected for the U.S. team that played at the Winter Games last February in Sochi, Russia, she was on the U.S. squad that won a gold medal at the 2011 World U18 Championships, has played in camps with the senior national team and will play for the United States at the Four Nations Cup this week in Kamloops, B.C. The 23-member American team will include 12 players from the Olympic team.
Just over the past year, Frost said Brandt’s game has improved significantly.
“She’s more confident, quicker and really leading the team in every aspect: offensively, defensively, on the power play and penalty kill,” he said. “Her game has definitely taken another jump.”
She’s always been an elite offensive player, Frost said, because of her vision, her quick release and her passing ability. Now she has her hands in every aspect of the game.
“She’s our best penalty killer, she’s our best defensive centerman and our best offensive player,” he said. “It’s not that she’s just our best offensive threat. She’s a tremendous hockey player. She knows how to play on the other side of the puck as well.”
Frost points to a couple of recent games to illustrate the impact Brandt is having.
In one, a 5-0 victory over the University of North Dakota, she had two goals and three assists.
“So she was in on everything,” he said.
In a game at the University of Minnesota Duluth, the Gophers trailed 3-1 in the third period, then rallied for a 3-3 tie, with Brandt scoring the equalizer. After a scoreless overtime, Brandt scored in the shootout, but UMD took the shootout 2-1.
For Brandt, being a part of a team that’s off to such a hot start is much more exciting than talking about her own accomplishments.
“It’s been like a top start here,” she said after the first eight games. “We’ve had seven top 10 teams we’ve played against, so to come out of that with seven wins and a tie is just unbelievable.”
As much as Brandt has improved, however, Frost sees an even better player by the time she’s ready to graduate.
“She continues to grow in confidence and her ability to play with and without the puck,” he said. “The sky’s the limit for her. I think everybody out west here knows how good Hannah is. She’s not going to blind you with her speed or anything like that, but at the end of the night she’s going to have two goals and two assists and you’re going to wonder how that happened.”
Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.
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Tournament Takes Place March 28 to April 4 in Kamloops, British Columbia
U.S. Women's National Under-18 Team Blanks Czech Republic, 15-0, at IIHF World Women's U18 Championship
WOODRIDGE, Ill. - Haley Skarupa (Rockville, Md.) registered six points (2-4), while Alex Carpenter (North Reading, Mass.) and Kendall Coyne (Palos Heights, Ill.) each netted four goals, to lead the U.S. Women's National Under-18 Team to a 15-0 win over the Czech Republic here tonight at the 2010 International Ice Hockey Federation World Women's U18 Championship in Walter Bush Rink. With the win, the U.S. won its group with a 3-0-0-0 record (W-OTW-OTL-L) and advanced to the semifinal round on Friday (April 2).
"We started fast and moved well both with and without the puck," said Katie King, Team USA's head coach. "I'm proud of the way we played and we're very excited for our next game in the semifinals."
The U.S. tallied five goals in the first period, including two from Carpenter. Coyne opened the game's scoring on the power play at 2:03 after her shot from the bottom of the left circle beat Czech goaltender Lenka Craigova on the short side. Thirty seconds later,Lyndsey Fry (Chandler, Ariz.) doubled the U.S. lead with goal through the goaltender's legs. At 6:42, Brittany Ammerman (River Vale, N.J.) collected the puck along the right boards and cut toward the net before snapping a shot over the netminder's glove.
Carpenter scored the next two U.S. goals to close out the period's scoring. The first was on her own rebound at 8:21 and the second came at 15:28 when she used a deke to beat a pair of Czech defenders and put a low shot to the blocker side of new goaltender Veronika Hladikova.
Team USA scored six goals in the second period to take an 11-0 lead. Meghan Lorence (Mounds View, Minn.) scored her first goal of the tournament when she redirected a cross-ice pass at 1:49. With a slap shot from the left circle, Carpenter netted her third marker of the game at 8:16, and Skarupa tallied on the power play 59 seconds later. Team USA garnered its third power-play goal of the game when Carpenter snapped the puck off the left post and into the net at 15:58. Coyne scored the next two U.S. goals :24 apart to close out the frame's scoring.
In the final stanza, the U.S. potted four more goals to defeat the Czech Republic, 15-0. Taylor Wasylk (Port Huron, Mich.) scored on the power play after a give-and-go play at 4:39. Coyne tallied her fourth of the game 56 seconds later, and Marissa Gedman (Framingham, Mass.) netted a goal off a slap shot at 9:18. Skarupa finished off the scoring by sending a cross-ice pass to the back of the net at 11:24.
U.S. netminder Aubree Moore (Bowie, Md.) turned aside 16 shots for her first career U.S. Women's National Under-18 Team shutout.
Team USA will play the winner of the quarterfinal match-up between Sweden and Japan on Friday (April 2) at 7:30 p.m. CT.
NOTES: Haley Skarupa was named Team USA's player of the game ... The U.S. was 4-for-7 on the power play, while the Czech Republic was 0-for-3 ... Team USA has not allowed a power-play goal in the tournament (14-14) ... Kendall Coyne (9-0) and Skarupa (3-6) pace the U.S. with nine points each ... All tournament games are available via live webstream at USAHockey.FASTHockey.com... Tournament photos are available at ImagesOnIce.net... The IIHF World Women's U18 Championship, which is being held for the first time on U.S. soil at the Seven Bridges Ice Arena, is being held for the third time ... The eight-nation tournament includes Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Japan, Russia, Sweden and the United States ... The U.S. is the two-time defending world champion, after capturing gold in Füssen, Germany, in 2009, and in Calgary in 2008 ... Katie King, three-time Olympian and head women's hockey coach at Boston College, is Team USA's head coach, with Shelley Looney, two-time Olympian and girls'/women's hockey director for the New Jersey Colonials, and Catherine Hanson, former U.S. Women's National Team member who spent seven seasons as an assistant women's hockey coach at The Ohio State University, serving as assistant coaches ... For more information on the 2010 IIHF World Women's U18 Championship, visit Chicago2010Hockey.com.
GAME SUMMARY
Scoring By Period
CZE 0 - 0 - 0 - 0
USA 5 - 6 - 4 - 15
First Period - Scoring: 1, USA, Coyne (Mangene, Picard), 2:03 (pp); 2, USA, Fry (Bizzari, Gedman), 2:33; 3, USA, Ammerman (Hickel), 6:42; 4, USA, Carpenter (unassisted), 8:41; 5, USA, Carpenter (Skarupa), 15:38. Penalties: CZE, Vonkova (hooking), 1:55; USA, Bona (body checking), 4:54; CZE, Vytiskova (body checking), 6:06; CZE, Kuzelova (cross-checking), 8:56; USA, Fry (hooking), 11:45.
Second Period - Scoring: 6. USA, Lorence (Skarupa, Figueroa), 1:49; 7, USA, Carpenter (Lorence, Skarupa), 8:16; 8, USA, Skarupa (Pfalzer), 11:24 (pp); 9, USA, Carpenter (Picard, Mangene), 15:58 (pp); 10, USA, Coyne (unassisted), 16:05; 11, USA, Coyne (Wasylk, Pfalzer), 16:39. Penalties: CZE, Kubatova (cross-checking), 2:36; USA, Bona (hooking), 6:00; CZE, Solnickova (body checking), 10:25; CZE, Novakova (hooking), 15:44.
Third Period - Scoring: 12, USA, Wasylk (Pelkey), 4:29 (pp); 13, USA, Coyne (Mangene, Skarupa), 5:35; 14, USA, Gedman (Pfalzer, Ammerman), 9:18; 15, USA, Skarupa (Lorence), 11:24. Penalties: CZE, Eibinova (interference), 3:46.
Shots by Period 1 2 3 Total
CZE 7 6 3 16
USA 26 19 22 67
Goaltenders (SH/SV) 1 2 3 Total
CZE, Craigova, 28:41 9-5 x-x 22-18 31-23
CZE, Hladikova, 31:19 17-16 19-13 x-x 36-29
USA, Moore, 60:00 7-7 6-6 3-3 16-16
Power Play: CZE 0-3; USA 4-7
Penalties: CZE 7-12; USA 3-6
Officials: Referee-Paivi Laurla (FIN); Linesmen-Therese Bjorkman (SWE), Helene Roy (CAN)
Olympian Carpenter Heads Back to School
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