Author: Ray Tenenbaum

RHA Female University Showcase

Post author By Ray Tenenbaum
Post date April 9, 2025

Go straight to the Instructions on How to Connect with RHA Female University Showcase Coaches

Why Create a Champs App Profile? (Video)

How to Create a Beautiful Hockey Profile That Gets Noticed (Video)

Coach Profiles

Derek Pallardy

Head Coach – McKendree University

Hannah Griffin

Head Coach – Jamestown University

Jordy Zacharias

Assistant Coach – University of Manitoba

Jason White

Head Coach – Midland University

BrittNEY Gout

Assistant Coach – St Lawrence University

Erin McLean

Lead Assistant Coach – University of Calgary

Keith Martelle

Head Coach – Minot St University

Willie Sofan

Assistant Coach –St Francis Xavier X University

Steve Kook

Head Coach – University of Saskatchewan

Champs App lets players create beautiful, free hockey resume that facilitate the college hockey recruiting process.

“How do I know coaches will remember me after the RHA Female University Showcase?”

By connecting directly with coaches, players can know that coaches will continue to follow them after the event during the regular season (see their schedule, video & profile updates). Coaches can not only get more details about each player, but also see their upcoming schedule, regular teams and coaches.

Instructions:

Step 1: Create your free Champs App Profile hockey resume here

Step 2: To make it easier for the RHA Female University Showcase coaches to find you make sure you add your current team to your Champs profile and make sure to include your jersey #

Step 3: Review the list of the RHA Female University Showcase coaches above to connect with and then send connection requests to the coaches/schools you are interested in from within Champs App.

Tags college-hockey-recruiting, ncaa-college-hockey-coach, tag

2025 Coach page College Hockey Recruiting Youth Hockey

CHS Spring Break Showcase

Post author By Ray Tenenbaum
Post date April 8, 2025

Go straight to the Instructions on How to Connect with CHS Spring Break Showcase Coaches

Why Create a Champs App Profile? (Video)

How to Create a Beautiful Hockey Profile That Gets Noticed (Video)

Coach Profiles

Taylor Willard

Assistant Coach – Norwich Cadets

Shawn Skelly

Assistant Coach – Union Garnet Chargers

Michael Barrett

Head Coach – Nichols Bison

Madyson Moore

Head Coach – Dubuque Spartans

Allison Roethke

Assistant Coach – Sacred Heart Pioneers

Emily Antony

Assistant Coach – Mankato Mavericks

Brice Baricevic

Head Coach – Arcadia Knights

Grace Schnorr

Assistant Coach – Oswego Lakers

Sarah Hilworth

Head Coach – New Brunswick Reds

Lora Adroin

Assistant Coach – Utica Pioneers

Cassidy Hilworth

Assistant Coach – New Brunswick Reds

Morgan Bronstein

Operations Coordinator – RIT Tigers

Caroline Peterson

Assistant Coach – Sacred Heart Pioneers

Victoria Blake

Assistant Coach – Vermont Catamounts

Taylor Wasylk

Head Coach – Lindenwood Lions

Chris ARDITO

Assistant Coach – RPI Engineers

Makenna Wiljanen

Assistant Coach – Nazareth Flyers

Katie Zimmerman

Head Coach – Western New England Golden Bears

Emily Bauer

Assistant Coach – Lawrence Vikings

Champs App lets players create beautiful, free hockey resume that facilitate the college hockey recruiting process.

“How do I know coaches will remember me after the CHS Spring Break Showcase?”

Instructions:

Step 1: Create your free Champs App Profile hockey resume here

Step 2: To make it easier for the CHS Spring Break Showcase coaches to find you make sure you add your current team to your Champs profile and make sure to include your jersey #

Step 3: Review the list of the CHS Spring Break Showcase coaches above to connect with and then send connection requests to the coaches/schools you are interested in from within Champs App.

Tags college-hockey-recruiting, ncaa-college-hockey-coach, tag

2025 Coach page College Hockey Recruiting Youth Hockey

Tri-State NCAA Camp & Exposure Series

Post author By Ray Tenenbaum
Post date April 5, 2025

Go straight to the Instructions on How to Connect with Tri-State NCAA Camp & Exposure Series Coaches

Why Create a Champs App Profile? (Video)

How to Create a Beautiful Hockey Profile That Gets Noticed (Video)

Coach Profiles

MAX GAVIN

Assistant Coach – Boston College

Taylor Willard

Assistant Coach – Norwich Cadets

Nora Maclaine

Assistant Coach – Long Island Sharks

Olivia Cook

Head Coach – Potsdam Bears

Makenna Newkirk

Assistant Coach – Penn St Nittany Lions

Grace Schnorr

Assistant Coach – Oswego Laker

Keith Maurice

Head Coach – Trinity Bantams

Victoria Blake

Assistant Coach – Vermont Catamounts

Jennifer MacAskill

Head Coach – Manhattanville Valiants

Chris ARDITO

Assistant Coach – RPI Engineers

Champs App lets players create beautiful, free hockey resume that facilitate the college hockey recruiting process.

“How do I know coaches will remember me after the Tri-State NCAA Camp & Exposure Series?”

Instructions:

Step 1: Create your free Champs App Profile hockey resume here

Step 2: To make it easier for the Tri-State NCAA Camp & Exposure Series coaches to find you make sure you add your current team to your Champs profile and make sure to include your jersey #

Step 3: Review the list of the Tri-State NCAA Camp & Exposure Series coaches above to connect with and then send connection requests to the coaches/schools you are interested in from within Champs App.

Tags college-hockey-recruiting, ncaa-college-hockey-coach, tag

Women's College Hockey Women's Hockey

No Surprises in NCAA Women’s Hockey Championship Selections, Just a Few Seeding Twists

Post author By Ray Tenenbaum
Post date March 11, 2025

There weren’t any surprises in the 11 teams announced for the NCAA Women’s Hockey Championship.

After the five conference winners, the remaining six at-large selection basically as expected based on the next highest ranked teams in the polls. All the teams selected were either from the WCHA (Ohio State, Minnesota & UMD) or the ECAC (Colgate, Clarkson & St. Lawrence).

The only team that maybe could have received an at-large bid was Quinnipiac, but at the end of the day, they didn’t beat Clarkson in the ECAC playoffs, so that removed their opportunity.

The only surprises were the conference upsets and seedings.

Congrats to Boston University and Sacred Heart, winning their championship even though they weren’t the top seed.

As for the seedings, they didn’t go exactly as I expected, but nothing I am really bothered about (unlike last year when UMD should have had a higher seed and avoided Ohio State in the second round). It seems the Pairwise ranking was given more weight than the Poll:

With Minnesota beating Ohio State in WCHA semi-finals, I thought the Gophers might get the #2 seed
I had Penn State as the #8 seed, but they ended up #7
I thought St Lawrence would be the #7 seed, but they ended up #10 – it’s possible the committee didn’t want an all-ECAC match-up vs. Clarkson meeting in the first round if SLU was ranked #8 or #9.

Best of luck to all the teams this week. I expect there to be a couple of upsets this weekend.

Tags tag, womens-college-hockey, womens-hockey

2025 Women's College Hockey

Predictable Playoffs? Analyzing the First Week of NCAA DI Women’s Hockey Postseason

Post author By Ray Tenenbaum
Post date March 5, 2025

I was paying close attention to the first week of the NCAA DI women’s hockey playoffs last week. Of all the games that were played across the five conferences there were only 4 upsets.

In the ECAC, the single upset was Union (#9) beating Brown (#8) for their first ever playoff win. It was a mild upset, given that the two programs were only separated by 5 points and 1 win in the ECAC standings. Otherwise, all the other match-ups went according to higher team in the standings.

For Hockey East, Merrimack (#10) has the biggest upset, beating New Hampshire (#7) in their first round game 3-1. Given the Pairwise and MyHockeyRankings, this was a bit of a surprise. However, in the next round, the only lower ranked team to win was Northeastern (#5) beating Providence (#4). Only 3 points and 1 win separated these two teams and Northeastern was actually ranked higher than Providence in both the Pairwise (#15 vs #20) and MyHockeyRankings (#17 vs #21).

A nice surprise was seeing Post (#6) beat Franklin Pierce (3) in the opening round of the NEWHA playoffs. Post has not had much success in recent years, but with new head coach Pat Bingham, the team advanced to its first-ever semi-finals today vs. Long Island University. Nice to see the program finally get over the hump.

There were no upsets in the advancing teams in the WCHA and AHA conferences, although Minnesota State and Syracuse each won a game in the best-of-3 series.

The lack of major surprises suggests that regular-season performance remains a strong predictor of playoff success. As the playoffs continue, it will be interesting to see if any lower-seeded teams can break through and challenge the favorites.

Tags tag, womens-college-hockey, womens-hockey

Women's Hockey

Champs App Team Roster and Directory

Post author By Ray Tenenbaum
Post date March 4, 2025

Click here to learn more and set up a full demo

Quick Overview of Champs App

We have hundreds of player profiles and >100 college verified college coach profiles.

The Team Coach Directory allows players to research and connect with any DI, DIII and U Sports hockey coach:

For Players:

Create a free hockey profile with academic and athletic details, video highlights, team history, and schedule.
Opportunity to connect directly with coaches that will receive weekly schedule, video and profile notifications (similar to LinkedIn).

For Coaches & Scouts:

View full team rosters to research and connect with players before, during, or after the event.
Get real-time access to updated schedules for seamless scouting.

For Event Organizers:

Provide a professional, up-to-date roster and schedule with minimal effort.
Simply invite players by adding their name and email—players create and manage their own profiles.

Best of all, it’s 100% free for players, coaches, and event organizers.

Operational Details – What Event Organizers Need to Do

Here are the operational steps to coordinate using the Team Roster and Directory:

1. (Optional) Player Profile Creation: Send out info to players about creating a Champs App profile after the register to give them enough time to create their profile. Champs App to provide link + instructional text with explanation for players. Timing: When Players Register

2. Coach/Scout Profiles: Event Organizer to provide Champs list of coaches participating/scouting the event to ensure a profile is already created. Timing: When available (dynamically updated)

3. Coaches/Scouts: Champs App to contact coaches and scouts with Team Roster Directory instructions + Profile activation details. Timing: Approximately 2-4 weeks before event

4. Create Teams and add Players + Coaches to Team Rosters. Can be done by Event Organizer or Champs App either manually or via CSV file upload. Timing: When available (dynamically updated)

Click here to learn more and set up a full demo

Tags tag

College Hockey Recruiting TOOLS Women's Hockey

Champs App Messaging 2.0

Post author By Ray Tenenbaum
Post date March 3, 2025

“It was truly exciting to see that a coach actually read the email and you were not left wondering if the message disappeared into the college hockey recruiting abyss.”

– Messaging Tool User

Champs App Messaging is the fastest, easiest way to connect with coaches—and now it’s even better! Now Champs App Messaging has all the features from our original release and new capabilities that will make your recruiting process even smoother.

Here are the New Features to Take Your Recruiting to the Next Level:

View your Sent Messages

Access all your past messages in one place. No more wondering what you sent!

Save Personal Templates

Customize once, reuse anytime! Quickly send personalized emails to multiple coaches without copy-pasting.

Track Email Activity

See when and how often your email is opened to gauge coach interest. 👀 (Note: Tracking may not work if the recipient has privacy settings enabled.)

Why Use Champs App Messaging?

Cuts email time by over 50%
Ensures key info is included
Reduces errors with pre-filled templates
Saves time, improves accuracy & gives you valuable insights

“16 emails would have normally taken her an entire evening. She was able to do this in well under 2 hours. The app is incredibly user-friendly and easy to navigate.” – Champs App Messaging User

If you’re sending 50+ emails or 10 at a time, Champs App Messaging is a game changer. Give it a try and make recruiting faster, smarter, and more effective!

Try Champs App Messaging 2.0 Now!

Tags college-hockey-recruiting, tag, womens-college-hockey

2025 Women's College Hockey Women's Hockey

Why the NEWHA Champion Should Have to Earn Their Spot Through a Play-In Game

Post author By Ray Tenenbaum
Post date February 26, 2025

This coming weekend all 5 conferences will be playing playoffs games with the conference winners getting automatic bids to the NCAA DI Women’s Ice Hockey Championship. This season will be the second year that the NEWHA conference champion will get an automatic bid to be one of the 11 NCAA playoff teams. Being part of the women’s hockey playoffs would imply that that the NEWHA winner would be at least the 11^th best team in DI women’s hockey – or at least close to it. But that is not the case. While the NEWHA conference champion has earned their spot in the playoffs, I am recommending that the lowest ranked conference champion have a play-in game. Here is the rationale…

This season I have tracked every game the NEWHA conference teams have played against non-conference opponents. The results aren’t pretty for the NEWHA teams – with the non-conference teams outscoring NEWHA 241-26.

In fact, the best NEWHA team is not close to being a Top 15 in the polls and is essentially taking the sport of a much better team in the playoffs. So, Given the NEWHA regular season record versus non-conference teams, the Pairwise Rankings and MyHockeyRankings, the NEWHA teams continually rank near the bottom of all NCAA DI teams.

NCAA Women’s DI Hockey MyHockeyRankings as of 02-26-2025

In MHR, the entire NEWHA conference are the 8 bottom rated teams.

NCAA Women’s DI Hockey Pairwise Rankings as of 02-24-2025

And in the Pairwise, the best team is Long Island University at #28. But keep in mind the Pairwise weights “wins” heavily, and clear the top NEWHA teams like LIU beat the other NEWHA teams the most and thus boosted their ranking. Pairwise seems to break down at the bottom of the rankings due to over-valuing bad teams beating each other. Given the data in my season-long analysis, I would use the MHR ranking as a better indicator of how good a team is relative to their peers.

In NCAA men’s basketball, there are play-in games featuring the last four at-large teams and the four lowest-seeded automatic qualifiers. I am recommending something similar, but just a single game. And yes, I am aware of the recent increase in the number of teams. The reason why there are only 11 teams in the current playoff format is to keep it proportional with the number of teams that make the men’s tournament.

Right now, if it very likely that three of the following four Top 15 teams won’t be in the playoffs – Quinnipiac (#9), Clarkson (#10), St Cloud State (#11) and Boston University (#12) unless they win their conference. It’s a shame so many Top 11 teams won’t be in the playoffs. Having a play-in game would at least give one of these ranked teams a chance. As a reminder, last year’s NEWHA champion, played the #7 seed Cornell and lost 7-1 in the opening round.

Given all this data, it seems inequitable that one (or all) of these Top 15 teams are not given a chance to compete in the national playoffs, when clearly a much weaker team (even though they won their conference) is being given the opportunity. A play-in game would at least make this more fair.

One last thought. Assuming Long Island University wins the NEWHA playoffs, they performed the best against non-conference opponents recently. They only lost to Princeton (#15 in polls) 4-2, and vs. Robert Morris University (#38 Pairwise), LIU tied 1-1 and lost 3-1. But the reality is it would be unlikely any NEWHA team could beat any Top 11 team.

Tags tag, womens-college-hockey

College Hockey Recruiting Women's College Hockey Women's Hockey

Ivy League Women’s Hockey: Understanding the Academic Index

Post author By Ray Tenenbaum
Post date February 2, 2025

For aspiring student-athletes, balancing athletics and academics is a critical challenge, especially when it comes to competing at the collegiate level. For those with dreams of playing women’s hockey in the Ivy League, there’s an additional layer to navigate: the Academic Index (AI). This unique tool plays a pivotal role in the recruitment process and determines whether a player can be admitted to an Ivy League institution.

What Is the Academic Index?

The Academic Index is a metric used by Ivy League schools to ensure that recruited athletes meet the rigorous academic standards expected of all students. This formula takes into account three main factors: GPA, standardized test scores (SAT or ACT), and class rank or a similar school-provided statistic (if available). The goal is to quantify an athlete’s academic performance into a single, standardized number that aligns with Ivy League admissions policies.

Though the exact formula may vary slightly between schools, the AI ensures that recruited athletes are not only strong competitors on the ice but also capable of thriving in demanding academic environments.

Why the Academic Index Matters

The Ivy League, unlike many athletic conferences, does not offer athletic scholarships. Instead, student-athletes are admitted based on a combination of athletic and academic achievements. The AI ensures that hockey players fit into the academic culture of the institution while allowing coaches to prioritize recruiting based on athletic ability.

For women’s hockey, this balance is critical. Coaches must build competitive teams without compromising the academic reputation of their programs. A low AI score can make it difficult for a coach to secure a spot for a prospective recruit, even if that athlete is highly skilled.

How Can You Calculate Your Academic Index?

While the exact calculation might vary slightly, a typical Academic Index includes the following components:

GPA: Weighted or unweighted, depending on the school’s reporting method.
Standardized Test Scores: Converted to a percentile rank to normalize across different testing scales.
Class Rank or School Profile Data: For students whose schools don’t provide class rank, the rigor of coursework (like AP or IB classes) may be factored in.

There are online tools and resources that can help athletes estimate their AI. Understanding where you stand early in the recruitment process is essential to aligning your athletic and academic goals.

Tips for Navigating the Academic Index

Start Early: The earlier you understand the AI and its implications, the better prepared you’ll be to meet academic requirements.
Communicate with Coaches: Ivy League coaches can guide you through the AI process and help assess whether you meet the criteria.
Focus on Academics: A strong GPA and high standardized test scores can offset minor weaknesses in other areas.
Leverage Support: Many Ivy League institutions offer test-optional policies or holistic admissions processes—be sure to ask how these might impact your AI.

Conclusion

Playing women’s hockey in the Ivy League offers a unique opportunity to compete at a high level while earning a world-class education. Understanding the Academic Index is an essential step for any prospective recruit. By excelling both on and off the ice, student-athletes can position themselves to achieve their dreams of playing in the Ivy League.

Tags college-commits, college-hockey-recruiting, girls-hockey, ivy-league, tag, womens-college-hockey

2024 Women's Hockey Youth Hockey

Welcome to Champs 2.0

Post author By Ray Tenenbaum
Post date January 19, 2025

It’s been over 3 years since Champs launched. Since then we have accomplished some amazing things:

Offered a free online hockey profile creation tool for players, coaches, parents and advisors/agents
Provided analysis, insight and opinion on a range of women’s hockey topics including recruiting, development and news.
Developed several tools to help players, parents and coaches navigate the world of youth hockey
Interviewed at least one coach from all 45 NCAA DI Women’s Hockey team

Over the past few months, we have spoken to many users and gotten their feedback as to what they like, don’t like and where they want Champs App to go in the future. The positive feedback to what we have accomplished so far has been amazing and we truly appreciate the trust we have earned from our users.

Continued Commitment to our Mission Statement

Recently I have been asked if I will continue my work on Champs App now that my daughter has committed to play college hockey. And the answer is very simple: Yes. Not only am I still helping my son with his recruiting journey, but I am also still passionate about helping improve the recruiting and development your hockey experience for all players. So, plan to see Champs App expand to all youth hockey, not just female hockey, over the coming months.

As a result, our team doubled-down on our commitment to our mission:

“Champs App’s mission is to empower youth athletes to reach their full potential. We serve as your trusted sports recruiting and development copilot, supporting players, parents, and coaches on their journey through youth sports. Our goal is to help you achieve your goals and excel in every aspect of your athletic and academic pursuits.”

New Design

Since our initial launch, many of our solutions have been somewhat independent of each other and somewhat confusing for folks to figure out Champs App. Today we are launching Champs 2.0 which beings together all our offerings in a more integrated solution.

We have completely redesigned Champs App so that all offerings fit together seamlessly to dramatically improve our user experience. Our hope is that it is much easier to find and use Champs App as your copilot.

Changes to our User Experience

You will also see many changes to how users can access and use Champs App 2.0. While we will continue to provide free content and tools like podcasts, articles and directories on our website, some new content will require a free Champs App account to access special analysis and information. We have made it easy to create a free Champs App account, without the need to create an online profile.

Free vs. Subscription Offerings – Focused on Great Value

As mentioned above, Champs App will continue to offer free tools and information, but at the same time we have also started to offer premium tools and services. By charging our community for these value-added services, we can continue to grow and deliver amazing new content, tools and services to our members. Unlike other organizations in youth sports, you can rely on Champs App to be your trusted brand in all aspects of your recruiting and development journey.

I have been a longtime of Costco and their commitment to ensuring great value to all their members. We are hoping to echo that same philosophy here at Champs App. As long as I am running Champs App, our intent is to ensure that that the value our members receive from an offering is significantly greater than the price we charge. Hopefully, our community will quickly discover that Champs App premium offerings are truly great value, especially when compared to paying > $300 for a composite stick. In addition, we will never have traditional advertising on our site. Any partnerships or sponsorships will need to be highly valuable to our community and truly help solve their unmet needs.

Our first premium product has been the Champs App Messaging Tool – which ⁠is the fast, easy way to send error-free messages to coaches. ⁠Champs App Messaging⁠ cuts the time to send emails to coaches by over 50%. Over the coming months we will continue to offer additional premium tools and services to our community.

Stay Tuned – More to Come

There will continue to be small updates we need to make as part of our Champs 2.0 release – so if you have feedback or find something that isn’t working properly please let us know. We still have a long way to go achieve all the big goals we have for Champs App. You will see new offerings being released throughout the spring and summer – so look out for more announcement on social media, in your email and in the app. Please join us on our journey to be your sports recruiting and development copilot.

Ray Tenenbaum, Co-Founder of Champs App

Tags Champs App, champs-app, tag