rhun writes...
 
[excellent details of the game and player profiles deleted]
 
>[...]  Kathy Issel is a superb player.  Her skating and stickhandling
> skills are a class act.  I would only suggest that she uses a longer
> stick to give her a more effective reach.
 
Why when her skating and puckhandling skills would be adversely affected
by using too long of a stick? Any possible benefit od a longer reach
artificially attained from using a longer stick is not worth sacrificing
finesse and skillful play. I think her coach who stresses strong skating
realizes that the ECAC league scoring leader doesn't need the advantage
of a long reach to perform on the ice.
 
Proper skating posture and skillful puckhandling are best developed by
shortening the stick. As a youth hockey coach, I try to sell this fact
to young developing hockey players even though it is awkward at first
for someone accustomed to using a longer stick. (Sometimes it's a hard
sell so I always bring my trusty handsaw to practise;)
 
BTW, one year during the holiday break, I was short on assistant coaches
and Kathy's mom, Barb (who is a great promoter of youth hockey and women's
hockey in Michigan) mentioned that Kathy was in town and would be glad to
assist. Well when some of the players found out that Kathy was going to
run the whole practise I could tell by some reactions that they thought
it was going to be a picnic...
 
Right after a very hard well-run practise I asked one of the little
culprits ;) if we should have Kathy run some more of them. With a weary
smile he replied, "Nah...She's tough...<sigh>" I'm sure all those kids
learned something that day. Kathy is a great competitor. Her accomplishments
on and off the ice have indeed made Ann Arbor proud!
 
Mike Collingridge                   ([log in to unmask])
Any views expressed are only my own.
 
P.S. Thanks rhun for all the posts on women's college hockey. It is
great to see some (read: can always use more!-) coverage on hockey-l. MC