Author: Ray Tenenbaum

Top 5 Life Skills Developed from the Hockey Recruiting Process

Post author By Ray Tenenbaum
Post date February 22, 2024

As a parent, I have now gone through multiple “hockey recruiting” processes. Beyond just club team tryouts, we have been through hockey academy recruiting, college hockey recruiting and even the beginnings of junior hockey tryouts. No matter how things worked out with each team/school being considered, I have repeatedly been pleased with the life skills my kids have learned from the experience. When I look back when I was their age, it would be several years into my college days before I would get exposure to many of these important life events.

I thought I would codify my Top 5 life skills kids can learn from the recruiting process.

1. Sales & Marketing

Even if you are a top talent player, you still need to let teams and coaches know you are interested in their program. Sending “cold emails” is a great skill to learn at any age – but getting this experience as a teenager is a pretty amazing opportunity. Learning how to introduce and promote yourself is not easy, especially in writing. Then to also persuade the audience/coach with a “call-to-action” (e.g. set-up a call, come watch me play, look at my video) is about as real-life as it gets in the sales and marketing world.

Furthermore, taking some swings when you know you will likely strike out is another great lesson. I know of a few players who reached out to coaches when they thought the teams wouldn’t be interested, only to find out they were interested and there were other reasons for them not contacting the player. You never know if you don’t ask!

2. The recruiting process is imperfect

The last company I worked at focused on the corporate recruiting process. Very few companies are great at delivering a great candidate experience. Most organizations have flaws because of the complexity and coordination challenges in organizations that are considering dozens of potential employees. The same holds true for hockey recruiting. It is unfortunate the number of times I have heard from parents and seen first-hand a bad candidate experience. Everything from never getting a response from a team, a coach ghosting a player after having a call and agreeing to next steps or just not being transparent/candid happens all the time. The college recruiting process isn’t perfect because coaches aren’t perfect. Many have not had regular company experience, so they may not be well-trained in hiring best practices unless someone taught them how. Not all of them care about closing the loop with players they won’t be making offers to. Good thing to learn for a teenager to learn at this age, because it reflects the real world.

3. Rejection

Every player gets rejected at some point. Whether it is not making a team or not getting an offer from a school. All the best companies (Google, Apple, Amazon etc.) attract the best people and reject the significant majority of folks who want to work at these companies. So even if your dream was to play at Wisconsin, or if you set very realistic goals as your top choice school, sometime there isn’t a match. However, things almost always work out in the end. You end up where you were supposed to be. Dealing with a major “hockey career” rejection in your teen years is not only something you will recover from, it will also make you stronger.

4. The importance of references and a good reputation

In the real world corporate recruiting process, hiring teams do reference checks. This is even more important in a team sport like hockey. Coaches will find folks they trust who really know the players they are considering. Once again, I can think of multiple examples where a connection to the coach (former coach or teammate, parent etc.) helped create opportunities or finalize an offer. As a player, having a good character and ensuring people of influence at every level can vouch for you, is a big deal.

5. Decision making – Having lots of good options

Finally, if things go well on both the hockey development and recruiting side, you will have options. Sometimes it will be easy to pick where you want to go. But sometimes, you will be in the fortunate position to have many great options. Figuring out all the different factors and prioritizing them across multiple opportunities can be both difficult and stressful. You may be afraid to make a life-impacting mistake. Learning how to make these types of decisions is probably the most important skill to develop. These types of situations come up all the time and figuring out which one-way door to choose is a phenomenal experience to learn at such a young age.

Tags college-hockey-recruiting, girl's hockey, hockey-development, tag, Women's College Recruiting Process, womens-college-hockey, Youth & Girls Hockey

2023 2024 Coaching Women's College Hockey Women's Hockey

Tracking Progress: The Evolution of Female Coaching Representation in NCAA DI Women’s Hockey

Post author By Ray Tenenbaum
Post date February 7, 2024

Back in 2020, when Champs App first started, we tracked the female representation in the coaching staffs at NCAA DI and U Sports women’s hockey. Now, 3 years later, it is time to compare how the number of female coaches has changed during this time.

Over the past three years, there has been a notable increase in the representation of female head coaches within Division I women’s college hockey teams. In the 2020-21 season, female head coaches accounted for 14 out of 41 total coaching positions, comprising 34% of the total coaching cohort. However, by the 2023-24 season, this number has risen significantly, with 21 female head coaches out of a total of 44 coaching positions, representing an increase to 48%. This upward trend highlights a positive shift towards greater gender diversity and inclusivity within the coaching landscape of women’s college hockey, indicating a growing recognition of the value and expertise that female coaches bring to the sport.

While the ideal number is probably not 100% for female head coaches at the NCAA women’s DI level, it is nice to see the numbers continue to climb. Having spoken to so many male DI women’s coaches, it is clear that in most cases they are doing a great job in their roles. However, the much bigger opportunity is in increasing the number of female coaches on the men’s side of the game, where female coaches still represent significantly less than 1% at the men’s college level. There have been inroads made over the last few years, with NCAA DI head coaches participating in NHL development camps. This season, Kim Weiss is an assistant with DIII Trinity and Jessica Campbell is an assistant coach with the AHL Coachella Valley Firebirds. But when it comes to full-time roles, I am still waiting to hear about female coaches even being considered for a DI or DIII men’s team head coaching job.

From 2020 to 2023, there has also been a significant increase in the number of assistant or associate head coaches in NCAA Division I women’s hockey teams due to teams now being permitted 3 assistants. In the 2020-21 season, female assistant or associate head coaches accounted for 52 out of a total of 79 coaching positions, representing 66% of the coaching cohort. This number has seen a significant rise by the 2023-24 season, with 65 female coaches out of a total of 98 coaching positions, equaling the same 66% of the coaching staff. Conversely, the number of male assistant or associate head coaches also increased from 27 to 33 during this period, but their overall proportion remained constant.

During the time there has been significant increases in female coaches at the NCAA DI women’s hockey level for both head & assistant coaches, there has been no change in the number of female coaches in Canada U Sports women’s hockey. In fact U.S. teams surpassed Canadian schools in terms in percent female representation. Note: no data was collected for U Sports assistants back in 2020

Tags college-coaches, tag, women's hockey, womens-college-hockey

2024 Development Camp Women's Hockey

Why U18 National Teams Shouldn’t Only Have Offensive Defenders on their Roster

Post author By Ray Tenenbaum
Post date January 24, 2024

Last week, I re-watched the Canada vs Czechia IIHF U18 Women’s World Championship semi-final game. Czechia won the game 4-2 after losing to Canada in the Group A game 8-1. I noticed that two of the Czechia goals were a direct result of major mistakes by the Canadian defenders. I then saw that the shots on goal were heavily in favor of the Canadians when the score was 3-2 at about 43-11 (ended up being 47-12 for Canada).

This got me thinking, how could Canada lose a game that they so clearly dominated in terms of offensive opportunities?

Two thoughts came to mind:

Czechia did an amazing job learning from their group game with Canada and played a defensive structure which minimized Canada’s high risk chances. Czechia then capitalized on the few opportunities they had to score.
Similar to my observations about the USA Hockey U18 selection process, Canada probably puts a bigger emphasis on fielding a team with offensive D than well-balanced defenders. As a result, a couple of defensive mistakes cost them the game.

This is just my hypothesis, I could be completely wrong. And let me be clear, any player that makes the Canada or U.S. U18 teams are exceptional players. They can all skate well, pass well and shoot well. There is no doubt each of them deserved to be on the team. But maybe, they are too similar in their skill set?

When it comes to roster construction, sometimes you need to include one or two 200-foot players to complement the more offensive players. Specifically, there are usually tradeoffs between a great puck handling D with a hard shot vs. someone who is technically better at 2-on-1s, clearing players in front of the net, playing the penalty kill or defending 1-on-1 zone entries. An analogy would be having 7 Erik Karlssons playing defense for a single team – at some point in important games against good teams there will be times you need the D to keep the puck out of your own net. Once again, this is not to say that those highly skilled U18 players aren’t good defenders, but when they go up against the top 2 or 3 forwards on a national team, they will also need to be technically strong on defense.

Let’s look at some data to support why I can understand how a coaching staff would put together a roster with so much offensive power at the U18 level.

2023 IIHF U18 World Champsionship Shot Totals

Canada outshot their opponent by a 6:1 ratio throughout the tournament. They also had over 40 shots per game. I would suspect they felt the team could outscore all opponents as long they didn’t have any major defensive hiccups.

Of course, you are probably asking – weren’t they planning to play the U.S.? Like all Canadian teams, they probably expected and planned to play the U.S. at some point – likely in the gold medal game (given the new format of A/B group play this year, they wouldn’t play each other in group games). So Canada would still need to be prepared to play a high-powered offensive USA Hockey team.

Then I looked at the shot total for the 2023 Under-18 Series which took place in Lake Place between the Canada and USA. Team Canada swept all 3 games against the U.S. team by a combined score of 15-3. Here were the shot totals:

uSA Canada u18 Summer Series SHot Totals

A couple of possible reasons for Canada to justify having highly offensive defenders… Either the felt they could still outscore Team USA and defend well enough to beat them. Or, maybe their D were never tested enough in the USA-Canada Series to expose some of the technical weaknesses against world-class scorers.

So what?

During my experience attending and analyzing multiple USA Hockey camps/events, I have felt that the players being selected have had their offensive abilities overly weighted in the evaluation process. Now, I am fully onboard with most of the high-end, offensive D being the ones being picked. However, including one or two defenders who can also keep the puck out of your own net at critical points of an important game can be the difference between winning and losing in the medal rounds. Having a little more balance on the blue line could be the difference between winning and losing in big games.

Tags girls-hockey, hockey canada, Player Development Camps, tag, usa-girls-hockey, usa-hockey, womens-hockey

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

The Importance of Player Experience on Team Success in DI Women’s Hockey

Post author By Ray Tenenbaum
Post date January 18, 2024

Over the past couple of years of tracking women’s DI hockey, I had a hypothesis that team success was highly correlated with the total experience (i.e. the numbers of years playing college hockey) of the players. I thought of it like an equation:

Team Skills x Team Experience x Coaching = Team Success

Note: This definition of Coaching includes all the resources and coaches (like strength & conditioning or video) associated with a program, not just the 3 or 4 primary team coaches.

While Team Skills seemed intuitively the most important attribute, I hypothesized that Team Experience would be close behind. However, the analysis I conducted shows that Team Experience is a necessary but not sufficient requirement for being a ranked team. So, scoring high in all 3 attributes creates a powerhouse team. But, having a huge amount of Skills could still make up for a lack of Team Experience.

First let’s look at the data. To normalize for the different roster sizes (since there is a range of 20 to 33 players across all 44 DI teams), only the oldest 21 players were included in the Team Experience calculation. This number was based on how many players typically dress for any single game. And then assumes if any first-year players are on a large roster team, they must be playing like they have at least 1 year of experience. Since it is too time consuming to calculate the actual team experience by game, this seemed like a reasonable proxy.

Team Experience Rank

USCHO Top 15 Poll Rankings with Team Experience Data

on January 15, 2023

From the analysis, the teams seem to be segmented into 5 categories:

1. Doing well as expected

Clearly Ohio State has all the key ingredients needed for success. The #2 most experienced team, lots of skill and one of the best coaching staffs in the country.

2. Doing well with an experienced roster

There are a few teams that appear to be peaking with experienced rosters. They also have some highly skilled players, but not as deep as the powerhouse teams. These include St Cloud State, Quinnipiac and Clarkson.

3. Doing well with an inexperienced roster

The most skilled teams tend to do well year-after-year. These include Wisconsin, UMD and Minnesota.

4. Not doing well with an inexperienced roster

Some teams that have done well in the past, are not doing as well this year – likely due to having such a young set of players. These include: Harvard, Vermont and Bemidji State.

5. Not doing well with an experienced roster

Without a deeper dive into the individual skill-level for each player on these teams, it’s hard to know exactly why they aren’t higher in the rankings. But the following teams have a ton of experience, but haven’t been able to translate them into a Top 15 ranking: RPI, Syracuse and Merrimack

Estimating the Team Success Equation

The original hypothesis that Team Experience would contribute more than 1/3rd of the weighting to team success now seems too generous. Without doing a more rigorous statistical correlation (r-squared) analysis , it seems be more in the 1/5th range (plus or minus). This in turn implies the disproportionate importance of Team Skills regardless of experience.

Implications for Recruiting

If you are not going to a perennial powerhouse team (e.g. the top WCHA teams), incoming recruits should be aware of where the program they are joining. Which years are the current most-skilled players on the roster? If those top players will be graduating as you will be an incoming recruit joining the program, you should expect that it may take some time to rebuild the team. At the same time, if the highly skilled players are in their first or second year, then a recruit could be part of the immediate success of the team. Recruits should be aware of the risk that a team could peak then regress as they join the program.

Tags tag, womens-college-hockey

2023 2024 College Hockey Recruiting Women's College Hockey Women's Hockey

Insights and Implications on Recruiting from a Deep Dive of DI Women’s Hockey Rosters

Post author By Ray Tenenbaum
Post date January 10, 2024

During November and December, I spent a lot of time reviewing the current rosters of all the NCAA DI women’s hockey teams for goalies, forwards and defense. In addition, I re-booted the Champs App process for tracking commits to those schools. While analyzing all of this data, I had several different observations about the recruiting process that I thought were worth sharing.

1. What are the Pros and Cons to Large Roster Sizes?

One of the key insights was the big standard deviation in roster sizes. There are 9 teams with 28 or more players listed. Based on my conversations with multiple coaches, this likely is due to the 5^th year Covid eligibility for many players. And there are 6 teams with 23 or less players on their roster. Keep in mind that teams can only dress 20 or 21 (incl. 3 goalies) players for a game. This raises certain points…

From a coach’s perspective this gives them more players to choose from and thus the ability to field the best team available for any given game
My hypothesis, for which an analysis is coming soon, is that age & experience is highly correlated to success (in addition to talent, of course). By being able to play the most experienced and talented players from a large roster likely shows up in the standings.
This also means coaches having to conduct multiple tough conversations each week to explain why a player will be healthy scratched
With only a maximum of 16 scholarships available to schools, many student-athletes are paying their own way to be on the team (and probably not getting much ice time, since schools tend to give the biggest scholarships to the best players). This is where the academics of a school become more important than your place on the roster.
Given the above, I wasn’t too surprised to see several highly-touted first-year recruits at top programs that have been scratched for multiple games so far this season

2. Several 2022-23 Top 15 Teams are no Longer Top 15 Teams

Northeastern had been in the Top 15 since 2015, but did not break into the Top 15 ranking until this week. This is almost entirely due to them having lost their top players who contributed over 50% of their goal production from last season. Note: Northeastern still has 29 players on their roster
There are a couple of other schools who also have dropped out of the rankings this season. As an incoming recruit, you might need to adjust your expectations if you committed to a team that you expect to be competing for the Frozen Four every year, but now that school may not even make the NCAA playoffs.

3. Small Roster Analysis

It seemed odd that Penn State only has 21 players on their roster this season. So I took a deeper look. Last year they had 23 student-athletes. 5 seniors graduated and 2 highly-talented juniors transferred (one to Ohio State and the other to Minnesota Duluth). There are 2 first-year players and 3 seniors/grad students who transferred into PSU (from Colgate, New Hampshire and Long Island). I can’t confirm, but I also think one player deferred to start in 2024 vs 2023. I suspect the Penn State coaching staff didn’t expect two of their top players to transfer out of the school and that is why the roster is so small. This example shows the fluidity of which coaching staffs must manage their rosters going into the last year of 5^th year Covid players and the transfer portal. It also shows that there could be late openings at the odd school come springtime.

Ohio State only has 6 D (but 24 rostered players). Similar to Penn State, I took a deeper look into the OSU roster when I saw only 6 defenders listed. If there is an injury or two to Ohio State blue line this season they will be in trouble. They would likely have to move someone back from forward to play defense. Last season there were 9 blueliners. 3 players graduated (including Patty Kazmaier winner Sophie Jacques), and 2 underclass players transferred to other schools (Colgate and Maine). Coming in, two grad students transferred to the Buckeyes – Olympian Cayla Barnes (Boston College) and Stephanie Markowski (Clarkson) , both grad students. There are no freshman defenders in the 2023-24 class. Once again I suspect the OSU coaching staff did not expect to lose 2 players to the transfer portal. What is interesting is that Sydney Morrow who did not get much ice time in the Frozen Four for the Buckeyes last season, is well over a point-per-game player at Colgate this season. Based on our commit analysis, OSU is back to being focused on recruiting the top incoming players, with 13 commits in total for 2024 and 2025.

4. NEWHA Schools are the Last to Fill up Rosters

The New England Women’s Hockey Association (NEWHA) conference includes St Anselm, Long Island, Assumption, Stonehill, Post, Sacred Heart and St Michaels. It is pretty clear that the timeline for most of these schools to complete their rosters is later than most other conferences. I know of at least two schools that were still trying to fill their 2024 rosters before the end of December 2023. Only a few spots from NEWHA schools have been announced for 2025, while most of the top schools from other conferences are already filled.

5. Only U18 Players Need Apply

It was interesting to discover, but not a complete surprise, that multiple ranked schools only have commits that were U18 Girls National Camp players (Canada, USA or international) or better. I will go into more detail on the data and the implications on recruiting in an upcoming post.

Tags college-commits, college-hockey-recruiting, girl's hockey, tag, womens-college-hockey

2024 2025 College Hockey Recruiting Girls Hockey Women's College Hockey

Q4 2023 DI Women’s College Hockey Commitment Rate Update

Post author By Ray Tenenbaum
Post date December 12, 2023

This is an update to our quarterly posts which track the number of publicly announced commitments in DI women’s college hockey.

We’ve Changed our Commit Tracking Methodology

For this update, we have significantly changed our data collection methodology on tracking women’s college hockey commits. In previous quarterly updates, we primarily relied on data from the Women’s College Commitments (WCC) tracking page. Using their data we were able to track announcements on a monthly bases and show trends month-over-month and year-over-year:

Q3 2023 DI Women’s College Hockey Commitment Rate Update

However, we always knew that their data only represented a percentage of all commits for a given year (and relied on the data to be “consistently incomplete” year over year). For example, for the 2023-24 NCAA DI women’s college hockey season, there are 284 first-year players. While WCC only recorded 185 of those commits – so, only about 65% of all commits. While it is almost impossible to track every commit, since many players don’t make public announcements & it is much harder to track European commits, we have endeavored to be more holistic in data collection.

Our new method includes not just WCC, but also information from Elite Prospects, social media posts by players and teams, youth team website rosters and any other public information we can find. As a result, we have redesigned how we present the data and will only present the data from a quarterly perspective going forward.

As a result, we believe we are closer to tracking ~90% of all commits which is much higher than our previous tracking of ~65%.

Q4 Commitment Details

We recently published the status of women’s college hockey DI commits by position and discussed our analysis on “where and why” about the numbers:

Forward Recruits: The Current State of Division I Women’s College Hockey Recruiting for the Class of 2024 & 2025

Analyzing the Defensive Lineups: The Current State of Division I Women’s College Hockey Recruiting for the Class of 2024 & 2025

Navigating the Tight Goalie Market: The Current State of Division I Women’s College Hockey Recruiting for the Class of 2024 & 2025

Below is how the overall data is trending for commits & by position. As discussed in the previous posts, the incoming class of 2024 is almost full, but there seems to be many spots still open (especially at NEWHA schools) for 2025.

However, it appears that the total size of the incoming 2024 class will be smaller than previous years – mostly due to 5th year Covid eligibility for many student-athletes reducing the number of available spots. For 2025, it is a little too early to tell, but it looks like it will be a regular sized class with over 280 commits – especially with the addition of new DI women’s hockey team, the Delware Blue Hens.

By-Position Year-Over-Year Commit Rate Comparison

Here is the same data as above, but broken out by position in comparison to previous years.

Comparing Q4 to Q3 2023 Total Commits for the Class of 2025

While not apples-to-apples, below is a table comparing the number of commits for the Class of 2025 from Q3 2023 to Q4 2023. As you can see about 125 commits have been announced during the last 3 months.

Tags college-commits, college-hockey-recruiting, girls-hockey, NCAA DI Commits, tag, womens-college-hockey

2024 College Hockey Recruiting Girls Hockey Women's College Hockey Women's Hockey

Analyzing the Defensive Lineups: The Current State of Division I Women’s College Hockey Recruiting for the Class of 2024 & 2025

Post author By Ray Tenenbaum
Post date December 6, 2023

Updated Dec. 21, 2023

This is the third of 3 posts about where things stand for each position – Goalies, Forwards and Defense – for the incoming classes of 2024 and 2025.

Read Part I of this series here: Navigating the Tight Goalie Market: The Current State of Division I Women’s College Hockey Recruiting for the Class of 2024 & 2025

Read Part II of this series here: Forward Recruits: The Current State of Division I Women’s College Hockey Recruiting for the Class of 2024 & 2025

Women’s DI College Hockey Total Defensive Players & Commits by Year

as of December, 2023

With 44 DI women’s ice hockey teams now in the NCAA, having 88 first-year D is pretty much exactly what you would expect if each team carries an average of 8 defenders on their roster. While there are some puts and takes (e.g. Assumption adding 7 freshmen D and 35 5th year/grad students) the 2023-24 season seemed to be an above-average recruiting class on defense. With the large number of current players with a 5th year of eligibility still available to them, it is likely that the incoming 2024 class will be small than this year’s group of D recruits.

Our current analysis shows that the Class of 2024 already has at least 74 commits – and we are likely missing a few European players from our list. Therefore, there are likely a small handful of spots still open or become available because of the transfer portal, but pretty much it seems the recruiting door for 2024 defenders has pretty much closed.

For the Class of 2025, only ~50 spots have been filled. With Delaware announcing their new DI team starting in the 2025-26 season there should be several spots available for that team. In addition, there are certainly some openings on several other teams and certainly most of the NEWHA schools – with only 4 roster spots publicly announced across those 8 teams.

Women’s DI College Hockey Defense and Commits by School & Year

as of December, 2023

A few quick thoughts:

Ohio State and Bemidji State only have 6 defenders listed on their roster. Would be interesting to see how they would handle not having 1 or 2 of them for a period of time (injury, playing on national teams). Clearly a F would need to move back to help out, but that would still likely have the team at a disadvantage.
11 teams have 9 or more D on their rosters. For players being recruited to schools with such large rosters, they need to seriously consider the implications of being healthy scratched if they aren’t clearly in the top 6.
The next post will analyze the overall rosters of DI teams – including showing how many players each school has. There is a pretty big range in roster sizes (from 20 – 33 players).

Tags college-commits, college-hockey-recruiting, defense, girls-hockey, NCAA DI Commits, tag, womens-college-hockey, womens-hockey

2024 College Hockey Recruiting Development Camp Girl's Showcase Girls Hockey

2024 Girls Hockey Event Calendar

Post author By Ray Tenenbaum
Post date November 30, 2023

2024 Girls Hockey Event Calendar

Here is a list of 2024 Girls Hockey Tournaments, Showcases, Development Camps and Summer Camps.

This is a partial list. Feel free to submit a new event using our Feedback Form

Organization	Event	Start Date	End Date	Location	City	Ages
200x85 Tournaments	CCM MLK Girls	1/14/2024	1/16/2024		Massachusetts	12U - 19U AAA/AA
Premier Ice Prospects	Great Lakes Girls Fest	2/2/2024	2/4/2024		Detroit, MI	19U through 10U Tier II
Premier Ice Prospects	Motor City Girls Fest	2/2/2024	2/4/2024		Detroit, MI	19U through 10U Tier I
JWHL	Challenge Cup 2024	2/17/2024	2/20/2024		Rockville/Arlington, VA	14U, 16U, 19U
OneHockey	OneHockey Connecticut GIRLS	3/8/2024	3/10/2024	DANBURY ICE	Danbury, CT	Girls Tier II (AA) 19U, 16U, 14U, 12U, 10U Girls Tier III (A) 19U, 16U, 14U, 12U, 10U
Pony Tail Tournament	Pony Tail Tournament	3/15/2024	3/17/2024		Baltimore, MD	U10, U12A, U12B, U14A, U14B, U16A, U16B, U19
OS Hockey	2024 OS SPRING FESTIVAL	3/16/2024	3/19/2024	Braemar Arena	MInneapolis, MN
St Cloud State University	St. Cloud State Women's Hockey Camps	3/29/2024	3/30/2024	Herb Brooks National Hockey Center	St. Cloud, Minnesota	Ages 6-16
RINK Hockey Academy Kelowna	Female University Showcase 2024	4/4/2024	4/7/2024	Winfield Arena & RINK Kelowna Training Centre	Kelowna, BC	2005-2009 YOB
Delta Hockey Academy	DHA Female University Showcase	4/9/2024	4/10/2024	Planet Ice	Delta, B.C	2006-2011 YOB
College Hockey Showcases	Spring Break Showcase	4/13/2024	5/15/2024		Fort Meyers, FL	2004-2010 Birth Years
The Rose Series	Cowgirl Shootout	4/18/2024	4/21/2024		Nashville, TN	2012 Birth Years
Showcase Hockey	2024 Minnesota Meltdown AAA Tournament	4/19/2024	4/21/2024		Minnesota	Girls AAA (10U, 12U, 14U, 16U, 19U)
200x85 Tournaments	CCM CHI-TOWN SHUFFLE	4/19/2024	4/21/2024		Chicago, IL	Girls Tier 1/Tier 2 (12U, 14U, 16U, 19U)
RINK Hockey Academy Winnipeg	Female University Showcase 2024	4/19/2024	4/21/2024	Rink Training Center	Winnipeg, MB	2005-2009 (2010) YOB
Premier Ice Prospects	Hockey Hall of Fame Future Legends	4/24/2024	4/27/2024		Toronto, ON	2012 Birth Years
RUSH Hockey	Rush Spring Showcase (Florida)	4/26/2024	4/28/2024	Palm Beach Skate Zone	West Palm Beach, FL	2004-2012 Birth Years
Premier Ice Prospects	PIPs American Dream	5/3/2024	5/5/2024	American Dream	East Rutherford, NJ	2010- 2013 Birth Years
Premier Ice Prospects	CCM Selects Training Camp - Notre Dame (Girls)	5/3/2024	5/5/2024		South Bend, IN	2010-2016
OS Hockey	2024 WHITECAPS CUP (HS)	5/3/2024	5/5/2024		MInneapolis, MN	High School
Premier Ice Prospects	Premier Prospects Boston	5/8/2024	5/10/2024	The Edge Sports Center	Boston, MA	2009-2010 Birth Years
Premier Ice Prospects	Premier Prep Prospects	5/9/2024	5/12/2024	The Edge Sports Center	Boston, MA	2009-2012 Birth Years
The Rose Series	Low Country Classic	5/9/2024	5/12/2024		Charleston, SC	2011 Birth Year
The Rose Series	The Battle at the Beach	5/9/2024	5/12/2024		Fort Meyers, FL	2010 Birth Year
Premier Ice Prospects	Top Prospects	5/17/2024	5/19/2024		Jacksonville, FL	2010 - 2013 Birth Year
Showcase Hockey	2024 Independent Classic	5/17/2024	5/19/2024		Minnesota	Girls AAA (8U, 10U, 12U, 14U, 16U, 19U)
The National Girls Hockey League	NGHL NCAA Goalie Clinic	5/17/2024			York, PA	2006 - 2010 Birth Years
The National Girls Hockey League	NGHL NCAA Exposure Clinic	5/18/2024	5/19/2024		York, PA	2006 - 2010 Birth Years
RUSH Hockey	RUSH RISING STARS PRE-COLLEGE SHOWCASE	5/31/2024	6/2/2024	CAA Centre Brampton	Brampton, ON	2010 and 2011 Birth Years
RUSH Hockey	RUSH ATOMIC CHALLENGE	5/31/2024	6/2/2024	CAA Centre Brampton	Brampton, ON	2012 and 2013 Birth Years
OS Hockey	PROSPECTS/FUTURES WEEKEND 1 Camp	5/31/2024	6/3/2024	Bloomington Ice Gardens	Minneapolis, MN
Premier Ice Prospects	Western Prospects Camp	6/1/2024	6/3/2024	Kraken Community Iceplex	Seattle, WA	2007-2013 Birth Years
Fierce Edge Athletics	Fierce ID Series - SHOWCASE EVENT	6/2024		Canlan Oshawa	Oshawa, ON	2010-2011 ; 2009-2007 + 06* (GRADUATION YEAR 2025) DIVISION
Ohio State University	MINNESOTA CAMP	6/3/2024	6/7/2024	St. Louis Park Rec Center	St. Louis Park, MN	Grad Years: 2026-2030
RinkSport	SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA Development Camp	6/4/2024	6/7/2024
Premier Ice Prospects	585 PIP Showcase	6/7/2024	6/10/2024	Tim Horton's Iceplex	Rochester, NY	2007-2009 Birth Years
RUSH Hockey	Rush College Showcase	6/7/2024	6/10/2024	CAA Centre Brampton	Brampton, ON	2006 - 2009 Birth Years
Showcase Hockey	2024 AAA Summer Showdown	6/7/2024	6/9/2024		Minnesota	Girls AAA (10U, 12U, 14U, 16U, 19U)
The National Girls Hockey League	NGHL NCAA Exposure Camp in Newington, CT	6/8/2024	6/9/2024		Newington, CT	2006 - 2010 Birth Years
Ohio State University	YOUTH CAMP	6/10/2024	6/13/2024	OSU Ice Rink	Columbus, OH	U8/U10 and U12 age level
Premier Ice Prospects	PREMIER PROSPECTS COMBINE	6/11/2024	6/14/2024	UPMC Sports Complex	Cranberry, PA	2010 - 2013 Birth Years
North American Female Elite Showcase	The Orion Top Prospects	6/13/2024	6/16/2024		Blaine, MN	2007 - 2012 Birth Years
Fierce Edge Athletics	FIERCE FEMALE HOCKEY TOURNAMENT 2024	6/14/2024	6/16/2024	Canlan Oshawa	Oshawa, ON	U9/ U11 (Tier 1 & Tier 2)/ U13 (Tier 1,Tier 2)
RinkSport	RinkSport College Development Camp	6/15/2024	6/20/2024	Babson College	Boston, MA	2029 High School graduates or earlier
University of Minnesota	MINNESOTA GIRLS HOCKEY CAMPS	6/17/2024	6/21/2024	Mariucci Arena	Minneapolis, MN	High School/ Varsity Camp #1 & #2
RinkSport	BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS Development Camp	6/20/2024	6/23/2024
Premier Ice Prospects	PIPs Rochester Tournament	6/21/2024	6/23/2024	Tim Horton's Iceplex	Rochester, NY	2010 - 2013 Birth Years Tier I (AAA)
North American Premier Women's Showcase	North American Premier Women's Showcase College Division	6/21/2024	6/23/2024	Merrimack College Athletics Complex	North Andover, MA	Birth Years 2007-2011 (PG's also Allowed)
Princeton University	GIRLS ICE HOCKEY ELITE CAMP	6/21/2024	6/23/2024	Baker Rink	Princeton, NJ	Entering grades 10-12
Premier Ice Prospects	GIRLS ELITE PROSPECTS CAMP	6/23/2024	6/27/2024	Tim Horton's Iceplex	Rochester, NY	2011-2013 Birth Years
Premier Ice Prospects	14U PROSPECTS CAMP	6/23/2024	6/27/2024	Tim Horton's Iceplex	Rochester, NY	2010 Birth Years
Premier Ice Prospects	PROSPECTS GOALIE CAMP	6/23/2024	6/27/2024	Tim Horton's Iceplex	Rochester, NY	2008-2013 Birth Years
College Development Showcase	Girls Camp	6/23/2024	6/25/2024	Ice Den	Hooksett, NH	Players with birth years 2005-2010
The Rose Series	BIOSTEEL WORLD INVITE	6/24/2024	6/30/2024		Toronto, ON	2009 Birth Year
University of Wisconsin	13 and Under Camp	6/24/2024	6/28/2024	LaBahn Arena	Madison, WI	13 and under
RinkSport	WASHINGTON , D. C. Development Camp	6/24/2024	6/28/2024
University of Minnesota	MINNESOTA GIRLS HOCKEY CAMPS	6/24/2024	6/26/2024	Mariucci Arena	Minneapolis, MN	10U &12U Camp
Ohio State University	HIGH SCHOOL ELITE CAMPS	6/27/2024	6/29/2024	OSU Ice Rink	Columbus, OH	Grad Years: 2026-2028
University of Minnesota	MINNESOTA GIRLS HOCKEY CAMPS	6/27/2024	6/28/2024	Mariucci Arena	Minneapolis, MN	Exposure Camp (ages 13,14)
RinkSport	ANCHORAGE, ALASKA Development Camp	6/28/2024	6/30/2024
Premier Ice Prospects	617 PIP SHOWCASE - BOSTON HARBOR STYLE	7/1/2024	7/2/2024	The Edge Sports Center	Bedford, MA	2025, '26. '27 Grad Years
Premier Ice Prospects	NORTHEAST PROSPECTS CAMP	7/1/2024	7/2/2024	The Edge Sports Center	Bedford, MA	2012 - 2015 Birth Years
Sacred Heart University Pioneers	Girls Ice Hockey High School Prospect Camp	7/1/2024	7/3/2024	Martire Family Arena	Fairfield, CT	Girls: 9th to 12th Grade
Princeton University	GIRLS ICE HOCKEY EXPOSURE ID CAMP	7/6/2024	7/8/2024	Baker Rink	Princeton, NJ	Entering grades 7-9
College Hockey Showcases	CHS Cergy, France	7/7/2024	7/11/2024		Cergy, France	2008-2013 Birth Years
Colgate University	2024 COLGATE EXPOSURE CAMP \| PRE-CAMP GOALIE'S ONLY	7/7/2024	7/9/2024	Colgate University	Hamilton, NY	Goalies Only. All Female players born between 2005-2009
The Rose Series	War for the Roses	7/8/2024	7/13/2024		Edmonton, Alberta	2011 Birth Year
RinkSport	Europe Camp	7/8/2024	7/11/2024		Madrid, Spain
Quinnipiac University	Quinnipiac Women's Ice Hockey Girls Camp	7/8/2024	7/12/2024	M&T Bank Arena	Hamden, Conn	Ages: 6-13
Quinnipiac University	Quinnipiac Women's Ice Hockey Girls Elite Clinic	7/8/2024	7/12/2024	M&T Bank Arena	Hamden, Conn	Ages: rising 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th grade
The Rose Series	Queens of Vegas	7/9/2024	7/12/2024		Las Vegas, NV	2013 Birth Year
Colgate University	2024 COLGATE EXPOSURE CAMP \| SESSION 1	7/9/2024	7/11/2024	Colgate University	Hamilton, NY	All Female players born between 2005-2009
University of Maine	Women's Prospect Clinic	7/10/2024	7/11/2024	University of Maine	Orono, ME	Grades 8-12
The Rose Series	PARK CITY SHOWDOWN	7/11/2024	7/14/2024		Park City, Utah	2014 Birth Year
NAHA	NAHA COLLEGE SHOWCASE	7/12/2024	7/14/2024	Boston Sports Institute	Wellesley, MA	2025, '26, '27, '28 Grad Years
Colgate University	2024 COLGATE EXPOSURE CAMP \| SESSION 2	7/12/2024	7/14/2024	Colgate University	Hamilton, NY	All Female players born between 2005-2009
College Hockey Showcases	Sweden Girls High Performance Camp	7/15/2024	7/26/2024	Nyköpings Arenor Rosvalla	Nyköping, Sweden	2004-2011 Birth Years
University of Maine	U16/19 High School Girls' Hockey Camp	7/15/2024	7/18/2024	University of Maine	Orono, ME	Grades 8-12
University of Maine	U8/U10/U12 Girls' Hockey Day Camp	7/15/2024	7/18/2024	University of Maine	Orono, ME	U8/U10/U12 Skaters
Premier Ice Prospects	SOUTHERN PROSPECTS CAMP	7/18/2024	7/21/2024	Community First Igloo	Jacksonville, FL	2012 - 2015 Birth Years
RUSH Hockey	BEANTOWN CLASSIC	7/19/2024	7/21/2024	New England Sports Center	Marlborough, MA	2009 (08) - 2014 Birth Years,
200x85 Tournaments	CCM Selects Beantown Women's Classic	7/19/2024	7/21/2024		Boston	2008 - 2013
USA Hockey	USA Hockey Girls 16/17's Player Development Camp	7/19/2024	7/24/2024	Miami University	Oxford, Ohio	2007 & 2008 Birth Year
USA Hockey	Girls National 2006 Training Camp (2006)	7/19/2024	7/22/2024	Miami University	Oxford, Ohio	2006 Birth Year
Clarkson University	Clarkson Golden Knight Women's Hockey Prospect Camp 2024	7/21/2024	7/22/2024	Cheel Campus Center and Arena	Potsdam, NY	2007-2010 Birth Years
USA Hockey	USA Hockey Girls 15's Player Development Camp	7/25/2024	7/30/2024	Miami University	Oxford, Ohio	2009 Birth Year
RUSH Hockey	BEANTOWN CLASSIC	7/26/2024	7/28/2024	New England Sports Center	Marlborough, MA	U19, College / Super Series
OS Hockey	PROSPECTS/FUTURES WEEKEND 2 Camp	7/28/2024	7/30/2024	Braemar Arena	MInneapolis, MN
Mercyhurst University	DIVISION I WOMEN'S HOCKEY ELITE CAMP	7/30/2024	7/31/2024	Mercyhurst University	Erie, PA	2006 to 2009 birth year
USA Hockey	2024 Women's National Festival	8/2024			TBD
Pre-Prep Showcase	Pre-Prep Showcase	8/1/2024	8/4/2024	New England Sports Center	Marlborough, MA	Birth Years: 2009, 2010 & 2011
University of Minnesota Duluth	Minnesota Duluth High School Elite Camp	8/1/2024	8/4/2024	Amsoil Arena	Duluth, MN	Any and all high school girls (grad years 2025-2028) are invited
Showcase Hockey	2024 International Cup	8/2/2024	8/4/2024		Minnesota	Girls AAA (10U, 12U, 14U, 16U, 19U)
OS Hockey	2024 TRADITION CUP	8/2/2024	8/4/2024	Braemar Arena	MInneapolis, MN	College Level
RinkSport	LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA Development Camp	8/2/2024	8/5/2024
USA Hockey	USA Hockey Girls Under 18 Player Development Camp	8/4/2024	8/9/2024	Miami University	Oxford, Ohio	2007, 2008, 2009 Birth Year
University of Wisconsin	High School Elite Camp	8/4/2024	8/8/2024	LaBahn Arena	Madison, WI	High School
NCD Camps	GIRLS NCDC COLLEGE DEVELOPMENT CAMP	8/5/2024	8/7/2024	New England Sports Center	Marlborough, MA	2025, '26, '27, '28 Grad Years
Brown University	BROWN WOMEN’S HOCKEY ELITE SUMMER CAMP	8/5/2024	8/7/2024	Brown University	Providence, RI	High school students entering grades 9-12. Therefore, 2025, 2026, 2027 and 2028 high school graduates.
RUSH Hockey	RUSH Hockey High Performance	8/9/2024	8/11/2024	CAA Centre Brampton	Brampton, ON	U11 - U22 AA
OS Hockey	2024 OS SHOOTOUT	8/10/2024	8/13/2024	Bloomington Ice Garden and Braemar Ice Arena	MInneapolis, MN	U8-U19
Showcase Hockey	2024 Easton AAA Cup Tournament	8/16/2024	8/18/2024		Minnesota	Girls AAA (10U, 12U, 14U, 16U, 19U)
The National Girls Hockey League	NGHL NCAA Clinic	8/22/2024			Northford, CT	2006 - 2010 Birth Years
College of the Holy Cross	Holy Cross Women's Ice Hockey Clinics	8/22/2024	8/23/2024	Hart Center	Worcester, MA	14-19 Years Old
Showcase Hockey	2024 Summer Finale	8/23/2024	8/25/2024		Minnesota	Girls AAA (8U, 10U, 12U, 14U, 16U, 19U)
The National Girls Hockey League	Dawg Days of Summer - Red	8/23/2024	8/25/2024		Northford, CT	12U-19U
The National Girls Hockey League	Dawg Days of Summer - Futures	8/23/2024	8/22/2024		Newington, CT	12U
Premier Ice Prospects	Labor Day Girls Fest	8/30/2024	9/1/2024		Pittsburgh, PA	14U, 16U/17U and 19U Tier I (AAA)/Canadian AA
The National Girls Hockey League	Labor Day Challenge - Futures	8/30/2024	9/1/2024		Cromwell, CT	12U
OneHockey	OneHockey Sacred Heart University	8/30/2024	9/2/2024	Sacred Heart University Martire Family Arena	Fairfield, CT	Girls 12U Tier I & II
NAHA	NAHA Labor Day Tournament	8/30/2024	9/1/2024		Boston, MA	U14, U16, U19
The National Girls Hockey League	Labor Day Challenge - Blue	8/31/2024	9/2/2024		Cromwell, CT	12U-19U
Premier Ice Prospects	Frieda Falcon Girls Fest	9/6/2024	9/8/2024	Slater Family Ice Arena	Bowling Green, OH	12U USA Tier I / CAN A
RUSH Hockey	NORTH HALTON RUSH	9/6/2024	9/8/2024	CAA Centre Brampton	North Halton, ON	U11-U18 AA/A/BB/B
Showcase Hockey	2024 Warrior Cup AAA	9/6/2024	9/8/2024		Minnesota	Girls AAA (10U, 12U, 14U, 16U, 19U)
Stoney Creek	U18 AA Showcase	9/6/2024	9/8/2024		Hamilton, ON	U18 AA
Stoney Creek	University Showcase	9/13/2024	9/15/2025		Hamilton, ON	U22 AA
Stoney Creek	U15 AA Showcase	9/20/2024	9/22/2024		Hamilton, ON	U15 AA
The National Girls Hockey League	Fall Classic - Futures East	9/27/2024	9/29/2024		Syracuse, NY	10U & 12U
Premier Ice Prospects	Capital Cup Girls Fest	10/12/2024	10/14/2024		Northern VA	19U through 10U Tier II
The National Girls Hockey League	Fall Classic - Red	10/12/2024	10/14/2024		Syracuse, NY	14U-19U
The National Girls Hockey League	Columbus Day Showcase	10/12/2024	10/14/2024		Pittsburgh, PA	14U-19U
The National Girls Hockey League	Fall Classic - Futures West	10/12/2024	10/14/2024		Chicago, IL	10U & 12U
The National Girls Hockey League	Fall In CT, Futures	10/12/2024	10/14/2024		Connecticut	10U & 12U
Girls Elite Hockey	2024 TRADITION NIT	10/18/2024	10/20/2024		Blaine, MN	U16 and U19
Premier Ice Prospects	Roc City Girls Fest	10/25/2024	10/27/2024		Rochester, NY	19U through 10U
RUSH Hockey	TWO NATIONS COLLEGE PREP SERIES	10/25/2024	10/27/2024		Detroit, MI	19U through 12U Tier 1; U13-U21 AA
Premier Ice Prospects	Roc City Girls Fest	11/1/2024	11/3/2024		Rochester, NY	19U through 10U Tier I (AAA), Tier II (AA), Tier III (A)
RUSH Hockey	BUFFALO RUSH HOCKEY INFERNO	11/1/2024	11/3/2024		Buffalo, NY	Girls Tier 1/Tier 2 (10U, 12U, 14U, 16U, 19U)
RUSH Hockey	Arizona RUSH Matt Shott Memorial	11/8/2024	11/10/2024		Arizona, USA	Girls Tier 1/Tier 2 (10U, 12U, 14U, 16U, 19U)
National Sports Center	All American Girls Hockey Tournament	11/8/2024	11/10/2024	NSC-Super Rink (Blaine)	Blaine, MN	Girls U10A,B U12A,B U15A
The National Girls Hockey League	NGHL Ann Arbor	11/15/2024	11/17/2024		Ann Arbor, MI	14U - 19U Tier 1
Premier Ice Prospects	Burgh Thanksgiving Girls Fest	11/22/2024	11/24/2024		Pittsburgh, PA	19U through 10U Tier I (AAA), Tier II (AA), Tier III (A)
Premier Ice Prospects	Smashville Girls Fest	11/22/2024	11/24/2024		Nashville, TN	19U through 10U Tier I (AAA), Tier II (AA), Tier III (A)
The National Girls Hockey League	Northern Classic	11/22/2024	11/24/2024		Utica, NY	10U, 12U, 14U
The National Girls Hockey League	Mile High Invitational - Blue	11/29/2024	12/1/2024		Denver, CO	12U-19U
RUSH Hockey	TWO NATIONS COLLEGE PREP SERIES	12/6/2024	12/8/2024		Brampton, ON	19U through 12U Tier 1; U13-U21 AA
College Hockey Showcases	Boise Breakaway Showcase	12/13/2024	12/15/2024		Boise, Idaho	2007-2011 Birth Years
Premier Ice Prospects	Erie White Out Weekend	12/13/2024	12/15/2024		Erie, PA	12U and 10U Tier I (AAA), Tier II (AA)
Youth Hockey Hub	2024 DANGLEFEST	12/28/2024	12/31/2024	NSC-Super Rink (Blaine)	Blaine, MN	Girls U10A, U10B, U12A, U12B, U15A, & U15B
The National Girls Hockey League	Winter Classic, Futures	1/3/2025	1/5/2025		Princeton, NJ	10U & 12U
Premier Ice Prospects	Mrs. Hockey® Invite	1/17/2025	1/20/2025		Ft Lauderdale, FL	12U Girls - Tier 1 & Tier 2
Premier Ice Prospects	Fort Laudy Daudy Showcase	1/17/2025	1/20/2025		Ft Lauderdale, FL	19U through 14U Tier 1
RUSH Hockey	Florida RUSH	1/17/2025	1/20/2025	Palm Beach Skate Zone	West Palm Beach, FL	Girls Tier 1/Tier 2/ Tier 3 (12U, 14U, 16U, 19U)
The National Girls Hockey League	MLK Winter Classic - Blue	1/18/2025	1/20/2025		Haverhill, MA	12U, 14U, 16U, and 19U
The National Girls Hockey League	MLK Winter Classic - Red	1/18/2025	1/20/2025		Philadelphia, PA	14-19U Tier 1
The National Girls Hockey League	Red Division Champsionship	1/31/2025	2/2/2025		Rockland, MA	14-19U Tier 1
RUSH Hockey	TEXAS RUSH	2/7/2025	2/9/2025	StarCenter Valley Ranch Ice Rink	Dallas, TX	Girls Tier 1/Tier 2 (12U, 14U, 16U, 19U)
The National Girls Hockey League	Futures Championship	2/7/2025	2/9/2025		Hershey, PA	10U & 12U
Stoney Creek	Sweetheart Tournament	2/7/2025	2/10/2025		Hamilton, ON	U9 through U22
The National Girls Hockey League	Blue Division Champsionship	2/15/2025	2/17/2025		St. Louis, MO	14-19U Tier 1
Midwest Womem's Collegiate Hockey	Exposure Camp	6/14/2025	6/15/2025	Cornerstone Ice Arena	DePere, Wisconsin	Grade 10, Grade 11, or Grade 12
Premier Ice Prospects	480 SHOWCASE - DESERT STYLE	7/12/2025	7/24/2025	Mullett Arena	Tempe, AZ	2007 - 2009 Birth Years
Premier Ice Prospects	SOUTHWEST PROSPECTS	7/13/2025	7/15/2025	Mullett Arena	Tempe, AZ	2010- 2013 Birth Year
Premier Ice Prospects	CCM Futures Camp	7/19/2025	7/21/2025		East Lansing, MI	2011 Birth Year
Premier Ice Prospects	CCM Girls 68 (14U)	8/7/2025	8/11/2025		Chicago, IL	2010 Birth Year
Premier Ice Prospects	615 PIP SHOWCASE - MUSIC CITY STYLE	8/8/2025	8/11/2025	Predators' Ford Ice Center	Bellevue, TN	2010 - 2011 Birth Years
Premier Ice Prospects	CCM Futures Camp	8/16/2025	8/18/2025		Niagara Falls, ON	2011 Birth Year
Premier Ice Prospects	NIAGARA FALLS PROPSPECTS CAMP	8/16/2025	8/18/2025	Gale Centre Arena	Niagara Falls, ON	2007 - 2011 Birth Years
Merrimack College	Merrimack Womens Ice Hockey Clinics			Lawler Arena	North Andover, MA	Entering grades 9-12

Tags 2024 girls hockey, canada-girls-hockey, girl's hockey, girlsshowcase, Hockey Event Calendar, hockey-canada-girls, usa-girls-hockey

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

Forward Recruits: The Current State of Division I Women’s College Hockey Recruiting for the Class of 2024 & 2025

Post author By Ray Tenenbaum
Post date November 29, 2023

Updated Dec. 19, 2023

This is the second of 3 posts about where things stand for each position – Goalies, Forwards and Defense – for the incoming classes of 2024 and 2025.

Read Part I of this series here: Navigating the Tight Goalie Market: The Current State of Division I Women’s College Hockey Recruiting for the Class of 2024 & 2025

Read Part III of this series here: Analyzing the Defensive Lineups: The Current State of Division I Women’s College Hockey Recruiting for the Class of 2024 & 2025

Women’s DI College Hockey Total Forward Players & Commits by Year

as of December, 2023

At first glance things seemed to have returned to normal for forwards with respect to the DI women’s college hockey recruiting class of 2023. There are 157 first-year players across all the Division I rosters this season. However, 18 of those spots are freshmen players at either Assumption or Robert Morris (“new” programs for both these schools), so the number is a little inflated compared to the 152 sophomore players playing DI hockey.

For the incoming Class of 2024, it seems almost all schools have finalized their rosters by now. Most schools have been announcing on social media their inbound players after the signing day earlier this month. Other than a few spots at NEWHA schools and maybe the odd player at other schools filling in a final roster spot, there are likely only a handful of opportunities remaining for forwards. Our 2024 F analysis now has 166 players, but there are likely some European and other commits who haven’t been publicly announced.

In addition, without knowing the plans for individual players, it is unclear how many of the 105 Seniors (granted an extra year of eligibility due to Covid) will decide to return for a 5th year either at their current school or find another school for their grad year. If all of them continue to play for the 2024-25 season then there may not be any spots open to 2024 high school graduates.

As for the incoming Class of 2025, there are certainly many spots still open. While most of the Top 10 schools have snagged the best players in the country, there are openings at many other programs. Until recently, many of the NEWHA schools have been focused on filling their 2024 rosters, so they will likely only shift their attention over the next month or two for their 2025 forwards.

Women’s DI College Hockey Forwards and Commits by School & Year

as of December, 2023

Tags college-commits, college-hockey-recruiting, girls-hockey, NCAA DI Commits, tag, womens-college-hockey, womens-hockey

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

Navigating the Tight Goalie Market: The Current State of Division I Women’s College Hockey Recruiting for the Class of 2024 & 2025

Post author By Ray Tenenbaum
Post date November 20, 2023

Updated Dec. 14, 2023

This is the first of 3 posts about where things stand for each position – Goalies, Forwards and Defense – for the incoming classes of 2024 and 2025.

Read Part II of this series here: Forward Recruits: The Current State of Division I Women’s College Hockey Recruiting for the Class of 2024 & 2025

Read Part III of this series here: Analyzing the Defensive Lineups: The Current State of Division I Women’s College Hockey Recruiting for the Class of 2024 & 2025

The last couple of years have been tough for high level goalies looking for a spot to play Division I women’s college hockey. With the NCAA granting an extra year of eligibility for current seniors and grad students, it was anticipated that there were less openings available for the upcoming classes. In a typical year there should be 33 freshman goalies (3 goalies per team x 44 teams ÷ 4 years of eligibility). However, with the two new teams that started in 2023 (Assumptions and Robert Morris) and 10 teams carrying 4 goalies, it was surprising to see that there were 39 first-year goalies on DI teams this year – significantly more than in previous years.

Women’s DI College Hockey Total Goalie Player & Commits by Year

as of December, 2023

This is in addition to the transfer portal, which was very active for goaltenders this past off-season with 22 goalies looking for new teams. Of note, only 7 of them found new DI teams, made up mostly of experienced goaltenders with only 1 or 2 years of eligibility left.

(December Update) From my analysis it looks like there probably are no more spots left for the class of 2024. Any schools which appear to still have openings are likely intentionally waiting to see who becomes available via the transfer portal – there are already Covid 5th year players in the portal for next season.

As for the incoming class of 2025, it appears as there still me be many spots open – possibly as many as 10-15 slots still available. However, there may be schools that have already filled spots with commits that haven’t been publicly announced or tracked. In addition, with 2023 having an above average number of first year goalies (8 teams having 2 freshmen) and 10 teams carrying 4 goalies, the outgoing college class of 2024 goalies may not all be replaced. But on the positive side, there has only been one 2025 goalie publicly announced commit amongst all 8 of the NEWHA teams – so there are likely still some openings on several of those teams.

Women’s DI College Hockey Goalies and Commits by School & Year

as of December, 2023

One last thought to keep in mind. Some schools might be happy to carry 4 goalies – this helps with practices and in case of injury to a goalie or two. I have had several coaches tell me that recently they have had serious injuries to at least one goalie, so having depth can be very helpful. Therefore, if you want agree to be a 4^th goalie you may be able to be rostered and practice on a team but you probably won’t be guaranteed playing time – almost surely will not see any scholarship money unless you move up in the depth chart. If the school is more important to you than playing time, this could be an option.

Tags college-commits, college-hockey-recruiting, girls-hockey, NCAA DI Commits, tag, womens-college-hockey, womens-hockey