the skinny on

According to a recent Star Tribune article, when former talk show host Dick Cavett first met the comic Groucho Marx one hot sunny day in 1961, he said, “I’m a big fan of yours.” Groucho quipped, “Good. If it gets any hotter, I can use a big fan right now.” The UWRF women’s hockey team has lots of big fans, deservedly. Coach Joe Cranston says they usually have about 350 fans per game, increasing for big games and playoffs. “We sometimes get up to 1,000 fans. When we beat the Korean Olympic team 4-1 we had over 1,200 fans.”

Cranston continued, since taking over the start of the Falcon’s program in 1999, “Our record right now is 446 wins, 155 losses and five ties. We have won our regular season conference title and our conference tournament title or both for the past 14 years, and have made the NCAA tournament 13 of the last 14 years.” You would have to look far and wide to match those numbers.”

During the season of 1999-2000 when his record was 3-15, his first as the Falcon coach, he said he had not been hired early enough to do any recruiting. Since then his teams have won at least 13 games every season. When Cranston arrived, he said, he took over what was basically a club team. Three years later, the Falcons were playing at the NCAA Frozen Four in Elmira, NY; that’s quite a feat!

When asked about recruiting, he said that despite his winning record, it never gets easy. “We work very hard at it and set a very high standard. We constantly push to get the very best elite players we can. The level of play continues to get better every year, even after my 24 years here.”

Of course, it’s not just Coach Cranston and his players. He has three part time assistant coaches.

“Jim Walsh is my assistant coach, responsible for most aspects of recruiting. He does an outstanding job. He’s the number one reason for our sustained success. Amanda Ryder is my assistant in charge of defensemen. She played here and was All Conference and All American. She is very passionate and does an excellent job. Jeremy Weiss is my goalie coach. He has been with me almost all of my 24 years. He too does a great job. All four of us are UWRF graduates.”

The Fergus Falls, Minn. native Cranston says he tries not to do too much individual coaching.

“I work hard not to over coach. We create an atmosphere where the players learn from each other and self-evaluate. We bring them here for a reason and we want them to play their style, but within our systems. We teach them to play to their strengths and work on their weaknesses.” Coach Cranston does not have a teaching assignment at UWRF.

He says the Falcons lost more fire power than any other team in the country last year, yet are ranked second in the country, which surprises him.

“We play a lot of kids and everyone gets a lot of opportunities, and that contributes greatly to us staying competitive from year to year,” he said.

The number of D3 women’s hockey teams is increasing every year, he says. It is up to 72 teams compared with only 41 D1 teams.

Weight lifting, strength and conditioning are very big parts of their success.

“Coach Pata does a great job with our team. He and his staff work to improve strength, agility, and athleticism.”

Women’s hockey also gets “awesome support from other Falcon teams and coaches. Our community support grows each year as well,” he adds.

The Minnesota Wild, Gophers men, and Bob Motzko are favorites of his.

“Bob Motzko coached me in the US Hockey League, and I have a lot of respect for him.”

The Covid year played a part in extending some of his players’ careers.

“Callie Hoff and Kora Torkelson played their fifth year last year, and this year we have Sami Miller and Abigail Stow playing their fifth year. Both are All Americans, as were Hoff and Torkelson.”

Hoff has been selected to compete for Team USA in the 2023 International University Sports Federation Winter World University games, held Jan. 12-22 in Lake Placid, NY.

Coach C’s coaching history includes 12 years of coaching boys’ hockey teams. When he decided to give coaching at the college level a try, he said the opportunity at UWRF arose.

“My dad started girls’ hockey in northern Minnesota in the 70’s. He had great memories and encouraged me to give it a try.”

That’s it for this version of The skinny on Falcon Sports. If you’re disappointed to leave on a low note, remember Canadian professional hockey player Gordie Howe’s quip: “All hockey players are bilingual; they speak English and profanity.” Not funny? Okay, how about NBA guard Tracy McGrady’s comment, “My career was sputtering until I did a 360 degree turn and got headed in the right direction.” Still not funny? Okay, wait until next column. I’ve got worse!