The WIAA Girl’s hockey season has officially started. Coaches took to the ice on Monday, November 7th, with their teams. While the puck will not drop for the first games until November 18th, the Trek to Madison is underway. There are many questions as the journey begins.
Who will be the team to beat? Is this the year we see a new team bring home the Gold Trophy from Madison?
Who will win the end of season awards: Jesse Vetter Award; Jinelle Siergiej Award and Molly Engstrom Award? These represent the top goaltender, offensive player and defensive player of the regular season. We do know that a new player will win each award this season as last year’s winners, Hillary Drake; Alice Cranston and Josie Johnson, have all graduated.
Who will win the conference titles?
Badger Conference
The Sun Prairie Co-op Cougars won the title last season with a 10-0-0 conference record. The Badger Thunder finished in second place, 4 games back. There was a tie for third place with Viroqua and the Stoughton Co-op Icebergs 4.5 games back. The major change in the conference saw the South Central Freeze dissolving and become part of the Badger Thunder due to small numbers. There should be a wide open race for the Badger Conference title.
Big Rivers Conference
The Fusion won the last three Big Rivers Conference titles. The last two seasons the Fusion won the title by .5 a game and three years ago went undefeated in conference. The ECA Stars finished half a game behind the Fusion last year with a 4-2-0 conference record. Can the Stars overtake St. Croix Valley or will the Cardinals of the Chippewa Falls Co-op leap over both? Will a year of experience on a young Hudson team allow them to make this a four team race?
Eastern Shores Conference
The inaugural season for the Eastern Shores Conference girls’ hockey title was interesting. Arrowhead and Fond du Lac Co-op tied for the title with a 9-3-0 record. USM Co-op finished one game back at 8-4-0. This promises to be an interesting conference chase as the Fox Cities Stars join the conference to have eight teams start the season with a dream of a conference title.
The Eastern Shores Conference will see two new head coaches this season. Peter Spinner will take over the reins for the Fox Cities Stars. Brian Smith will steer the Glaciers through the season. Appleton United will be under the direction of Interim Head Coach Elsa Westmark, while Patrick Dier takes a year sabbatical.
Great Northern Conference
It is not often you can make a guarantee in high school sports, but I can guarantee a new conference champion in the Great Northern Conference. The only reason I can make that statement is due to the Central Wisconsin Storm skating as an independent this season. The Storm had gone undefeated in conference play over the last two seasons. Who will take the championship this year is anyone’s guess, but it should be fun to watch.
Independents
Independents include: Onalaska Co-op; Central Wisconsin Storm; New Richmond; Hayward/Spooner; WSFLGUS Blizzard; Rock County Fury and the Black River Falls Co-op.
Eric Bugenhagen will take over as the head coach for the Onalaska Co-op Hilltoppers. Black River Falls will be led by Steve Mickelson.
The coaches’ choices for the Pre-Season Top Ten are:
1. Central Wisconsin Storm
2. St. Croix Valley Fusion
3. ECA Stars
4. Fond du Lac Co-op Warbirds
5. Hayward/Spooner Hurricanes
5. Sun Prairie Co-op Cougars
7. USM Co-op Wildcats
8. Bay Area Ice Bears
9. Onalaska Co-op Hilltoppers
10. Appleton United
Honorable Mention: Chippewa Falls Co-op Cardinals; WSGLGUS Blizzard; Arrowhead Warhawks; Stoughton Co-op Icebergs; Marshfield Tigers and Northland Pines Eagles
