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Hannah Brandt Continues Her Rise

11/06/2014, 3:00pm MST
By USAHockey.com

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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USWNT Roster Announced for 2016 Women's Worlds

02/24/2016, 10:30am MST
By USAHockey.com

IIHF Event Takes Place March 28 to April 4 in Kamloops, British Columbia

U.S. Women's National Under-18 Team Blanks Finland, 5-0, at 2010 IIHF World Women's U18 Championship

03/28/2010, 3:00pm MDT
By U18 Women's World Champs

WOODRIDGE, Ill. - Kendall Coyne (Palos Heights, Ill.) tallied two goals for her second straight multi-goal game to lead the U.S. Women's National Under-18 Team to a 5-0 blanking of Finland here tonight at at the 2010 International Ice Hockey Federation World Women's U18 Championship in Walter Bush Rink. With the win, the U.S. improved to 2-0-0-0 (W-OTW-OTL-L) and will face the Czech Republic in its final preliminary-round game on Tuesday (March 30) at 7:30 p.m. CDT.

"We came out hard in the first period and I was happy with how the girls responded and kept their composure after some early penalties," said Katie King, head coach for Team USA. "We're moving in the right direction and getting stronger as the tournament progresses."

After a scoreless first period, the U.S. took a 1-0 lead while on the power play at 5:28 of the middle frame. Haley Skarupa (Rockville, Md.) cut toward the net from the left boards and fired a shot. The rebound was collected by Coyne to the right of the Finnish net, where she jammed the rebound in for her fourth goal of the tournament.

Alex Carpenter (North Reading, Mass.) extended Team USA's lead to 2-0 at 10:35. From the left boards, Amanda Pelkey (Montpelier, Vt.) fed Carpenter in the slot, where she snapped the puck over Isabella Portnoj's glove.

Team USA took a 3-0 lead with its second power-play tally of the period at 15:44. After an initial shot on goal was turned aside by Finnish netminder Isabella Portnoj, Meagan Mangene (Manorville, N.Y.) knocked in a rebound over the goaltender's shoulder.

Coyne netted her second marker of the game on the power play at 10:34 of the final stanza, extending the U.S. lead to 4-0. After receiving a Marissa Gedman (Framingham, Mass.) pass at the top of the left circle, Coyne skated to the slot and fired a shot off the post and into the net.

Just over a minute later, Melissa Bizzari (Stowe, Vt.) took a pass from Skarupa in the slot and beat Portnoj to close out the game's scoring.

U.S. netminder Alex Rigsby (Delafield, Wis.) turned aside 13 shots in the victory.

NOTES: Alex Carpenter was named Team USA's player of the game ... The U.S. was 3-for-9 on the power play, while Finland was 0-for-8 ... The U.S. has not allowed a power-play goal in 11 opportunities throughout the tournament ... Alex Rigbsy recorded her second career shutout as a member of the U.S. Women's National Under-18 Team ... Kendall Coyne paces the U.S. with five goals ... Tonight's match-up was the first-ever meeting between the U.S. Women's National Under-18 Team and Finland ... If Team USA collects one point against the Czech Republic, it will clinch Group A and advance to the semifinal round ... All tournament games are available via live webstream at USAHockey.FASTHockey.com... Media can obtain tournament photos 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

FIN 0 - 0 - 0 - 0
USA 0 - 3 - 2 - 5

First Period - Scoring: None. Penalties: USA, Pelkey (charging), :16; USA, Picard (cross-checking), :41; FIN, Oinonen (holding), 6:45.

Second Period - Scoring: 1, USA Coyne (Skarupa), 5:28 (pp); 2, USA, Carpenter (Pelkey), 10:35; 3, USA, Mangene (unassisted), 15:44 (pp). Penalties: USA, Hickel (hooking), 1:20; FIN, Rahunen (tripping), 3:26; FIN, Makinen (hooking), 5:02; FIN, Niskanen (tripping), 5:48; USA, Mangene (holding), 10:58; USA, Figueroa (hooking), 13:13; FIN, Makinen (slashing), 14:45; FIN, Niskanen (roughing), 16:55.

Third Period - Scoring: 4, USA, Coyne (Gedman), 10:34 (pp); 5, USA, Bizzari (Skarupa, Ammerman), 11:35. Penalties: USA, Ammerman (hooking), 1:28; USA, Slavin (delay of game), 1:47; USA, Fry (charging), 5:00; FIN, Rantanen (holding), 10:21; FIN, Tapani (body checking), 16:43; FIN, Tapani (body checking), 19:31.

Shots by Period 1 2 3 Total

USA 13 15 21 49
FIN 5 2 6 13
         
Goaltenders (SH/SV) 1 2 3 Total
USA, Rigsby, 60:00 5-5 2-2 6-6 13-13
FIN, Portnoj, 60:00 13-13 15-12 21-19 49-44

Power Play: USA 3-9; FIN 0-8
Penalties: USA 8-16; FIN 9-18
Officials: Referee-Michaela Kiefer (GER); Linesmen-Paivi Laurla (FIN), Illona Novotna (CZE)

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