Change to recruiting makes player shortage thing of the past for CMU Women’s Club Hockey

As sophomore Emily Kostielney reminisced with the Central Michigan Women’s Club Hockey seniors, following the final game of the 2021-22 season against Michigan State, thoughts of the team’s future began to creep in.

After an up and down year, the Chippewas’ roster sits at seven players. With head coach Christopher Haney and Kostielney at the helm, they have hit the recruiting trail in earnest to restock.

“I just want to replace what I'm losing,” Haney said. “To compete at this level, you need three lines and two sets of (defense). But after the experiences of this past season, where we had some injuries or someone had to miss a game. It doesn't take long to deplete the roster when you're trying to play 20-minute periods. So if I can get to 20, that's four lines and three sets of (defense), that at least allows me some flexibility.”

However, the club sports designation hasn’t helped the cause.

“For hockey, not only are we not a varsity sport, but you need to have experience prior hand,” Kostielney said. “It’s hard to compete recruitment-wise when you're going against colleges that either is a club sport where they get money from the university, or they have varsity teams where they can give out scholarships.”

While keeping pace with better-funded programs has been a challenge, that isn’t the only adversity the Chippewas have faced during the offseason.

In addition to replacing the seven seniors it is losing, CMU Women’s Club Hockey must find a replacement for freshman forward Alyssa Tank.

“She started bringing it up around October,” Kostielney said. “We all tried convincing her not to because we don't want her to leave. But she thinks it's what's best for her school-wise, academically. Can't shame her for that.”

Taking over as club president, Kostielney quickly realized that finding players to join the squad from the campus community was going to be a difficult task.

“The problem with girls’ hockey is that you normally don't run into people who play,” Kostielney said. “Almost all the girls on this campus that have ever played hockey or do play hockey are on my team already.”

Although finding a prospect already on campus hasn’t been successful for the Chippewas, Haney’s efforts on the recruiting trail have netted commitments from Kaitlyn Williams, Deklynn Woitas, Noelle Simbro, Kylie Del Re and Brooke Hubert.

“Four of them are forwards and we have one defenseman,” Haney said. “I’m looking to at least get one more defenseman, preferably two.”

Haney's first try at recruiting didn't go as well as planed, but it changed his perspective on the process.

“I think last year in my first year as a coach with recruiting, I didn't cast a wide enough net per se,” Haney said. “We still did okay, we had five commitments come in, but I only had like 20- some of my list. This year I had well over 40, and I'm hoping for eight or nine out of that. So kind of liken it to a baseball batting average right here. You're not going to get them all but, if you bat .300, that’s pretty good.”

Even with five commitments, CMU women’s hockey still sits below Haney and Kostielney’s magic number of 20 rostered players.

“It’d just be nice to have the bodies, stamina-wise throughout the game with 20-minute periods, which does get tiring fast with a small number of skaters,” Kostielney said. “But I feel like with who we have rostered so far right now that we have a high enough skill level where we would be able to hold out for next season. It's just trying to stay conditioned all the time to keep up with the teams that have full rosters where it becomes a problem because they always have fresh legs on the ice. We're trying to keep our legs from falling off basically.”

While maintaining stamina is a concern, Kostielney believes that playing the 2021-22 season shorthanded has prepared the team to overcome any challenge.

“Yeah, I think it helps a lot actually,” Kostielney said. “Because it's like, worst comes to worst, we can pull through it. It's not even possible right now but if we had eight skaters, it would be tough, but I think we would still be able to hang in there.”

The Chippewas recently began skating once a week in preparation for their first of three prospect camps starting on April 23. Kostielney said 23 players signed up for the camp.

"It's exciting, but it's like wait, and the important thing too about looking at the numbers on the roster is quality over quantity,” Kostielney said. “We're not just trying to take everyone we can get our hands on and say we just need the numbers. Are you going to be a good fit for the team? Are you looking for the same thing we're all looking for?”

Although the Chippewas would like to supplement their defensive lines through recruiting, Haney’s eye for balanced players could pay dividends if they fall short of these numbers.

Haney has discussed the potential of moving Kostielney to defense depending on the roster situation going into the fall.

“Throughout the two seasons, I have learned a lot on what it takes to build a team,” Haney said. “I know exactly what type of player is needed to compete at this level. The academics come first and then but we want to be competitive on the ice. So it's a balance that I'm always working for. I don't want to lose sight of why we're here, but at the same time, if we're going to do this, let's grow it, push as far as we can.”

Haney is recruiting high-level talent, but he is still working to make CMU Women’s Club Hockey a destination in Michigan.

“Right now we're just trying to get a seat at the table right trying to get recognized,” Haney said. "A lot of players didn't even know that we had a team. So we're working hard to get recognized and I think it's succeeding.

“We get seven or eight commits this year, we get another six or seven next year, and we're competing with anybody in our conference.”