21 Guys, 1 Girl
Prologue
Bellcroft Chronicle
Connecticut's Ice Hockey Wonder Women Back For Another Season...With the Boys?
Despite many controversial hits, plays, penalties and suspensions, Andrew Jackson University's Anna Patlack will score again in a second season. But it won't be with the girls. After a long offseason, the ice hockey coaches at AJU came to the decision that Patlack would play on the men's team during her softmore year. This was quite a momentous event since the last and only other woman to play on the men's team at AJU was Bonnie Miller in 1973.
Patlack's first season she had an outstanding 63 goals, 48 assists (111 points). When speaking to Patlack after the final game of the playoffs in which her team were the 2010 champions, she jokingly told us "You gotta do whatever you can to win. For me, I shoo lt the puck, whenever it's on my stick, and it usually goes in."
But even with Patlack's incredible first season, her play definetly had its negatives.
"You might say Anna's got a bit of a short temper." Patlack's head coach Martin Wallard said of his star player during a postgame interview, after a game in which Patlack received a two game suspension for a nasty body check to an opposing player.
A bit of a short temper would be an understatement to several coaches who have played against Wallard and his Bellcroft Badgers. One coach, Maria Perez, expressed her extreme displeasure in the second game after Patlack's return. The Badger's won 8-2 and Patlack received yet another suspension for injuring a defenseman. Patlack hit caused a concussion and a fractured clavicle. This was already Patlack's fourth suspension of the season for an illegal body check that caused serious injuries to another player. Perez told reporters that behavior like Patlack's is unacceptable and she should be suspended for the entire following season since she seemed to be having trouble grasping the rules.
Many would agree with Perez's statement, especially when looking at Patlack's season last year. Over the course od 82 regular season games and 18 playoff games Patlacks was given 169 penalty minutes for everything from tripping to unsportsmanlike conduct. Throughout the season she was suspended for 17 of the total 100 games, a number never before reached by a female player at AJU.
At times Patlack's play was jawdroppingly incredible and at others, it was simply apalling. Her reckless and fearless moves would make any player apprehensive about stepping on the ice.
The head coach of the men's and women's hockey teams at AJU, Martin Wallard and Terrence Valairy have been close friends since they both began working there nine years ago. Wallard said that he had mentioned Patlack to Valairy on countless occasions. At the end of the playoffs both men agreed that not allowing Patlack to play during the following season would be a crime to college hockey fans everywhere.
When the NCAA told Wallard they had gotten several complaints regarding Patlack and that they would be reviewing her play and suspensions to determine whether or not she should play in the 2010-2011 season, he knew he needed to come up with a backup plan in case the results of their review did not turn out in Anna's favor.
"I knew I needed to do something so she could play in the next season." Wallard said. "I've never seen anybody who loves to play hockey as much as she does and taking it away would be like taking away her oxygen."
Be talked with Valairy and they decided that if push came to shove Patlack would be a welcome addition to the men's team. Two weeks later Patlack became a member of the AJU men's hockey team and hockey fans are eagerly awaiting her debut.
Connecticut's Ice Hockey Wonder Women Back For Another Season...With the Boys?
Despite many controversial hits, plays, penalties and suspensions, Andrew Jackson University's Anna Patlack will score again in a second season. But it won't be with the girls. After a long offseason, the ice hockey coaches at AJU came to the decision that Patlack would play on the men's team during her softmore year. This was quite a momentous event since the last and only other woman to play on the men's team at AJU was Bonnie Miller in 1973.
Patlack's first season she had an outstanding 63 goals, 48 assists (111 points). When speaking to Patlack after the final game of the playoffs in which her team were the 2010 champions, she jokingly told us "You gotta do whatever you can to win. For me, I shoo lt the puck, whenever it's on my stick, and it usually goes in."
But even with Patlack's incredible first season, her play definetly had its negatives.
"You might say Anna's got a bit of a short temper." Patlack's head coach Martin Wallard said of his star player during a postgame interview, after a game in which Patlack received a two game suspension for a nasty body check to an opposing player.
A bit of a short temper would be an understatement to several coaches who have played against Wallard and his Bellcroft Badgers. One coach, Maria Perez, expressed her extreme displeasure in the second game after Patlack's return. The Badger's won 8-2 and Patlack received yet another suspension for injuring a defenseman. Patlack hit caused a concussion and a fractured clavicle. This was already Patlack's fourth suspension of the season for an illegal body check that caused serious injuries to another player. Perez told reporters that behavior like Patlack's is unacceptable and she should be suspended for the entire following season since she seemed to be having trouble grasping the rules.
Many would agree with Perez's statement, especially when looking at Patlack's season last year. Over the course od 82 regular season games and 18 playoff games Patlacks was given 169 penalty minutes for everything from tripping to unsportsmanlike conduct. Throughout the season she was suspended for 17 of the total 100 games, a number never before reached by a female player at AJU.
At times Patlack's play was jawdroppingly incredible and at others, it was simply apalling. Her reckless and fearless moves would make any player apprehensive about stepping on the ice.
The head coach of the men's and women's hockey teams at AJU, Martin Wallard and Terrence Valairy have been close friends since they both began working there nine years ago. Wallard said that he had mentioned Patlack to Valairy on countless occasions. At the end of the playoffs both men agreed that not allowing Patlack to play during the following season would be a crime to college hockey fans everywhere.
When the NCAA told Wallard they had gotten several complaints regarding Patlack and that they would be reviewing her play and suspensions to determine whether or not she should play in the 2010-2011 season, he knew he needed to come up with a backup plan in case the results of their review did not turn out in Anna's favor.
"I knew I needed to do something so she could play in the next season." Wallard said. "I've never seen anybody who loves to play hockey as much as she does and taking it away would be like taking away her oxygen."
Be talked with Valairy and they decided that if push came to shove Patlack would be a welcome addition to the men's team. Two weeks later Patlack became a member of the AJU men's hockey team and hockey fans are eagerly awaiting her debut.
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So this is my first story ever on this site. I'm really nervous it's gonna be terrible, so if anybody has time please leave me a comment telling me what you think about it so far. I'll post the first chapter in a couple days.