Ready to Drop the Puck

With the WIAA season underway we will see pucks start dropping for games this week. Hope is eternal right now and a trip to Madison is on everyone’s bingo card. In Division One boys, the Madison Edgewood Crusaders will look to defend their first ever WIAA Championship. Leading scorer, senior Owen Porter returns, but goaltender Hayden Reuhl graduated. The Tomahawk Hatchets will not get the chance to defend their D2 title after being moved up to D1 via the competitive balance formula. The Hatchets will also look for a new goaltender to replace Trevor Seliskar, but return the Reilly brothers, Jett and Rex along with fifty-three goal scorer Jonah Dickens and Brayden Lamer (22G – 37A).  And on the girl’s side, the Bay Area Ice Bears, return a strong roster as they shoot for their fourth consecutive trip to state and their third title in four years. They lost some offensive firepower in Julianne Bradford and Emily Bill, (combined 99 points) but return a strong roster including goaltender Reese Spiering and All-State defensemen Ava McDonald and Addison Dahl along with leading scorer Faye Brunke (31G – 25A).

Bay Area will open their title defense on Saturday November 28th in Baldwin against the Western Wisconsin Stars. Then later that day they will play Black River Falls. That should be a great test for the Ice Bears as both the Stars and Tigers are expected to be state tournament contenders. Tomahawk will step into the D1 world also on Friday, traveling to take on Amery in a D2 state tournament championship game rematch. Madison Edgewood will start the season the next day at home in Verona vs Brookfield.  

25-26 GIRL’S PREVIEW: Tuesday, November 25th

WANTED: Wisconsin High School Hockey History

I recently had the pleasure of sitting down and talking to George Baumann. Many won’t recognize that name, but George was the hard copy version of Wisconsin Prep Hockey before there was an internet. His High School Hockey Report was mailed out each week during the WIAA season to keep coaches, players and fans updated on high school hockey around the state. After our conversation George handed off five boxes of history to me. I am very grateful that George trusted me with this information.

Stay tuned for my story about the influence George Baumann had on hockey in Wisconsin.

The quest has begun to gather the history of WIAA Girl’s Hockey, and I will now extend that offer to the boys. If you are keeper of the history of any WIAA program, please send me whatever documents you have as I will begin to organize them along with the help of CW Storm stats maven Kevin Kunkel.

Co-ops…We Need a Solution Soon

​As the growth of co-op programs continues, it has become the most pressing issue facing high school hockey. The WIAA has been reluctant to step into the needed regulation, but I fear that position will change if there isn’t some real progress made to change the current trajectory. It is indeed a complex problem and the solution to just splitting co-ops isn’t as easy as it might appear. Open enrollment, ice time, finances, coaching are all potential obstacles.

Apparently, the state’s volleyball coaches have an interesting proposal regarding the structure of co-ops. However, obtaining this proposal as a member of the media seems to be forbidden.

I believe the WIAA is leaning more and more toward getting involved with the co-op issue if we don't figure it out ourselves. That, if nothing else, should motivate everyone to find a solution because I doubt, we will like theirs. I will dig deeper into this rabbit hole as the season progresses.

Score Games Live—Saves Coaches Time!

All teams are encouraged to score their games live this season through WiPH. This can be done live at each game, very similar to GameSheet and other digital scoring methods. It gets game scores out to everyone in a timely manner and for coaches it eliminates you having to input all the information after the game is over. Every team has one of those stat nerds that love this stuff, find them and allow them to help save you some time. You need only a capable volunteer, viable internet connection and a laptop.

If you can’t score them live, find someone to use the Quick Score on the WiPH site to get the score posted immediately following the game. It takes less than a minute!

Elapsed Time or Clock Time?

If you are a scorekeeper or a coach who enters their own scoresheets, elapsed time or clock time becomes the question. Here is the rationale straight from AI: The rationale is to provide a clear, chronological record for goals and to accurately log the specific time a penalty began for penalties. Goals are recorded with elapsed time (time since the period started) to show progression, while penalties use the clock time (time remaining in the period) to establish the exact moment the penalty started, which is crucial for determining if a penalty was a power-play goal and when the player can leave the box. 

Some of the confusion comes from high school, college and pro using the elapsed time for goals, but USA Hockey using clock time for goals. So if you are going back and forth between scoring games, you will have to stay on your toes.

Coach-to-Coach

Part II of my interviews with NCAA Championship coaches Mark Johnson and Joe Cranston will be available soon. The information from these successful coaches is really pertinent for coaches, players and parents.  If you missed Part I, you can find it here.

https://www.wisconsinprephockey.net/news_article/show/1347020

Sponsor Your Team’s WiPH Page

You can show your support for your favorite team by sponsoring their page with a banner ad that will appear on the page. Check out the team pages for Black River Falls boys or girls to see what the banner ad looks like—On Wisconsin Transportation. Banner ads are $100 for the year. Contact Dan Bauer if you are interested. drbauer13@gmail.com

The ’26 Watch

If you have seniors who have made their college commitment to play hockey next year, please send me that information. We will make that list available to all.