On Women's Hockey: Friar Frosh Jess Cohen Comes From Winning Homestead

Amongst all of the active personnel within the Providence College women’s hockey program, only head coach Bob Deraney and ageless goaltending tutor Bob Bellemore can attest firsthand to the backside boot that comes with relinquishing a jealously-guarded title and the resultant fervor to regain it. After all, PC is now well into its fifth year –or more than one full collegiate generation- of renewing that drive, having last laid claim to a conference banner and/or NCAA tourney passport in 2005.

 

Although, newly arrived forward Jess Cohen ought to help make the annual relation process a touch easier. One year ago, Cohen was caught up with the inevitably untamed urge to redeem the almighty Shattuck-St. Mary’s U19 program after it had whiffed on a would-be fourth consecutive USA Hockey championship in 2008.

 

As it happened, and in part under Cohen’s leadership, the Cyclopean Minnesota-based prep program swiftly restored its sovereignty, effectively granting her three rings in four seasons and arguably the most enticing big game resume anybody is bringing to the Divine Campus this year.

 

Cohen’s SSM tenure –which for its first two years overlapped with this author’s own stint at the School of Hockey- followed a relatively smooth, coming-of-age pattern. A late addition to the team roster her freshman year, she presented herself as a grinder –at least by comparison to some of her acetylene teammates- in compiling 29 points in 49 appearances.

 

Her college prep turning point arguably fell the subsequent autumn, though, when the supernatural twins Jocelyne Lamoureux and Monique Lamoureux –both of whom are now on Team USA’s Qwest Tour- took temporary leave to take part in the Four Nations Cup. In their absence, Cohen, among others stepped up their game as needed and did not regress even when the roster was full again.

 

Result: Cohen spiked her productivity rate to 62 points in 50 ventures en route to her second national crown. She stayed roughly along that average throughout 2007-08 (54 points in 45 games) before she surged once more as a senior captain last year with a flush two-point-per-game mean (108 in 54).

 

Based on that rigorous brand of youth hockey upbringing, and the way she handled it, Cohen can rationally strive to make a first impression in Providence along the lines of, say, a Jean O’Neill. Two years back, O’Neill came bearing a game well-tuned by a series of similar September-to-March grinds with the Princeton Tiger Lilies and, despite taking a few weeks to thaw out, proceeded to charge up 17 points in her first 36 NCAA ventures.

 

And if anybody is to defend PC’s claim to the Hockey East Rookie of the Year laurel on behalf of Genevieve Lacasse, Cohen will likely be the one to do it.

 

Beyond that, though, is the habitual appetite for victory, which is to be expected most anywhere, but rarely in such extremities as Shattuck. All SSM Sabre teams have all but adopted the perennial New York Yankee-like perception that losing is a plain abomination. And while that might not quite be case in Friartown, fastidious hunger would not be an unwelcome trait and probably a fine starting point for someone who is still acclimating to a new campus, a new level, and a new itinerary.

 

From certain angles, Cohen’s transition requires one or two backward turns of the knob. When she was a newbie at Shattuck, her team was in the midst of defending its first title –the glory of which was shared by former PC stopper Danielle Ciarletta- and raring to cement the already believable notion that they were the new team to beat. From there on in, it was all about retaining a team-of-destiny mentality for the duration of the seven-month odyssey.

 

Now she has joined in on a six-month trek with the intent to, after repeat shortcomings, counter the critics, discredit the doubters, and prop up the Friars’ national posture.

 

It is, to sum up, a shift from craving status quo to pursuing progression.

 

Yet there is still, above all else, the no-duh common element of an incentive to win, and there is no indication that Cohen has had fits squaring away that part of her adjustment.

 

Al Daniel can be reached at hockeyscribe@hotmail.com

 

This article originally appeared in the Friartown Free Press

On Women's Hockey: Alyse Ruff The New Nub Of Providence Offense

Having officially inched beyond the halfway mark of her collegiate career as the PC women commence preseason business, Alyse Ruff, above any of her front line colleagues, stands out for her well-balanced mix of experience, durability, and three-zone aptitude.

 

The trust her twig has earned is such that, during the early phases of a pre-game warm-up, she has assumed the role of celestial stopper Genevieve Lacasse’s personal puck-provider, flicking those all-important game time coffee shots from between the hash marks.

 

Granted, there are also three seniors slated to resume their own offensive assignments. And sophomores Laura Veharanta (31) and Ashley Cottrell (21) each bested her in the point column last year. But in terms of importance, timing sits right up there with quantity, and that is one aspect Ruff has rapidly and all but peerlessly mastered.

 

Half of Ruff’s 10 sophomore strikes went down as deciders, four of those being game-winners, one other an equalizer. On top of that, she pitched in some breath-pumping insurance goals, most notably in the Hockey East quarterfinal against Connecticut, when she granted the Friars’ a more assuring 2-0 edge with less than 10 regulation minutes to spare.

 

In all, half of the 20 points Ruff charged up last year were either in the third period or within the final five minutes of the second. On thirteen occasions, she had a hand either in sawing a two-goal deficit in half, pulling even, or pulling ahead.

 

Furthermore, four of her goals were sprinkled over 26 total power play shots for a team-best .154 percentage in that situation. And amongst all PC returnees, only Veharanta (15) had more power play points than Ruff (seven). The two sandwiched a foursome of seniors in Erin Normore, Katy Beach, Brittany Simpson, and Mari Pehkonen, which would now signal a call for hefty reinforcements in the 5-on-4 guild.

 

Naturally, Ruff and Veharanta –who combined to polish off a dozen of the Friars’ 31 power play conversions last year- are the starting points for that project. First impressions (and that’s really all there is at this time) would call for each to be penciled in as the base for one of two regular units, each thereby branching out their wealth through established abilities to both initiate and finish.

 

These particular brands of production are a testament to patience and poise, traits that are a tad less common in a player’s younger years. As a junior this year, Ruff will be joined by classmate Jean O’Neill, three seniors, and then seven underclassmen in the offensive department. And so far, she has played in all 72 possible career games, a claim that cannot be shared by any of the seniors or any of her fellow juniors.

 

As it generally expected of any college puckster with a budding identity, Ruff had a rather one-dimensional look as a rookie, using her bloodhound instincts in the dirty-nose areas to ultimately concoct 14 goals and 19 points. Last year, she both grew to balance her productivity between 10 firsthand strikes and 10 helpers while also growing to demonstrate noticeable defensive proficiency, earning her a fixed position on the penalty killing brigade.

 

And because one’s progression is never finished, now would be the time for Ruff to think of upping her season point total closer to the 30 plateau and continuing to help foster her relatively young colleagues. She has already accepted a little credit for that, citing when she lined up with Cottrell and Veharanta, who emerged respectively as topmost playmakers and finishers for the Friars.

 

But even the top gun Veharanta, for all of her own output, goal-assist balance, and clear-cut knack for timely connections, brandished a minor blemish in the stretch run when she went pointless for the final six ventures of the regular season. Cottrell similarly managed a mere two assists in that same critical block of time after logging 19 points in her first 28 games. More generally, everyone else on the depth chart is just hunting for their first assertive spark.

 

And as evidenced through much of PC’s last game-by-game scroll, more of that aforementioned insurance is a must. There was a fistful of nights when the Friars would plant an initial 1-0 or 2-1 edge, only to spill invaluable points when they let the opposition nip back to usurp the win. There would be less chance of that happening if they could get more comfortable with the dual task of nabbing, defending, and augmenting a lead.

 

Translation: there would be more regular cushions if more critical plays were nailed at the right moments. More individual strikers following Ruff’s tactical example would make that possible.

So look for her to assume a pilot’s position –however overt or covert it may appear- in the Friars’ strike force this year.

 

Al Daniel can be reached at hockeyscribe@hotmail.com

 

This article originally appeared in the Friartown Free Press

On Women's Hockey: Karen Thatcher Well-Tuned For A Qwest

In hindsight, seeing where she currently sits in the aftermath of coach Mark Johnson and Co.'s painstaking selection all-nighter over Sunday/Monday, Karen Thatcher has been granted a considerable cushion via fate and fortune.

With a once 41-member roll call of U.S. Women's Olympic prospects now slimmed to 23 -and with two lockers still needing to be vacated by December- the 2006 PC graduate is essentially both the eldest of the newbies and the youngest of the elders. At age 25, she is the eldest among a rash of forwards who shall pursue their first taste of Olympic ice in the forthcoming Qwest Tour.

And with a cumulative 35 games wearing the Star-Spangled Sweater at other levels and tournaments, she is easily one of the more internationally seasoned players in that same department of neophytes.

Thatcher could not be reached for comment in time for this report, but while addressing the general assembled media yesterday, veteran teammate Julie Chu offered an indirect, though dead-on assessment of her impact.

"I think that 2006 was a bit of a turnover with younger players coming into a situation where, in the past, as a younger player you were on the third or fourth line to kind of get your feet wet," remarked Chu -who saw action in Salt Lake in 2002 and Turin in 2006- during yesterday's assembly in Blaine, Minn. after the Qwest Tour roster was disclosed.

"But (instead) we had players that would come in and become impact players, play on the first or second line, and play critical roles. And it was incredible to see these younger players really take a hold of it and make (themselves) part of the team. So they're the veteran players now."

No question, Thatcher falls under that roomy roof of fast-produced vets. During the Turin Games, one will recall, she was wrapped up in the climax of her final campaign in the Divine City. Upon grabbing her degree at The Dunk, though, she proceeded to fill one of the many new openings in the USA program. That subsequent autumn, she would be one of nine relatively new players to take part in the Four Nations Cup as their first non-U22 competition.

And now, all nine of those players -plus six others who arrived even later, including freshly graduated New Hampshire Wildcat Kacey Bellamy and contemporary Boston College Eagles Molly Schaus and Kelli Stack- were all still standing when the cuts were made yesterday. Conversely, a mere six skaters come in with prior Olympic experience.

Of course, like everybody else, Thatcher still has to ensure she is not one of those last two prospects filtered out between now and the conclusion of the tune-up tour, an unlikely but unpleasant fate that infamously befell fellow Friar alumna and established folk hero Cammi Granato prior to the last Olympic tourney in 2006. That still-debated moved effectively equaled a hiatus in PC influence on the American squad.

But conventional wisdom assumes that between seven defenders and 13 strikers, only one personality from each of those positions will be rooted out. And Thatcher does boast the aforementioned advantage of experience dating back to the start of the program's 2006 overhaul as well as a gold-fingered semipro resume.

Beyond her time with USA Hockey, Thatcher's profile tells of a sparkling rookie year with the British Columbia Breakers in 2006-07 (42 points in 26 games), followed by a Canadian Women's League championship with the Vaughn (Ont.) Flames in 2008, followed by a Women's Western League banner with the Minnesota Whitecaps this past spring.

That is to say nothing of the back-to-back gold medals she has soaked in at the latest two World Championships.

Again, there are no guarantees concerning the events of the next calendar year. But Thatcher's enticing resume and crisp performance at the National Festival does assure her a chance to switch roles for the next USA-Hockey East All-Star contest.

Recall that in the first of those games back in December of 2005, a fall-from-ahead 5-2 falter for the Hockey Easterners, Thatcher consituted part of the starting line and led her one-day squad with three of their 12 shots on net.

She was just short of the international border at the time, though not far off. She has stridden smoothly beyond that line in the three-plus years since then and can now vie to help the Americans' regain their regal posture.

Not to mention, help replenish the customary presence of Providence on the world's topmost stage.

Al Daniel can be reached at hockeyscribe@hotmail.com

This article originally appeared in the Friartown Free Press