(Photos by Paul Swenson Photography, courtesy of Shattuck-St. Mary's)
Jennifer
Kranz knows what she and her student-skaters at the College of Saint Benedict
shall confront this coming weekend. She had a hand in making it happen, after
all.
The
fifth-year coach at the St. Joseph, Minn., women’s college’s Division III
hockey program has known her St. Norbert counterpart, Meredith Roth, since
their playing days in the travel ranks. Two years her elder, she has since set
a tagalong trail through Division I play, youth coaching and Division I
assistant coaching.
“I
have always looked up to her,” Roth stated in an e-mail to Along the Boards. “She
has always been a great role model and sounding board for me in my development
as a young person. Our friendship throughout the years has been impactful on me
and some of the decisions I have made in my coaching career.”
That
includes her latest decision to fill the vacancy with the St. Norbert Green
Knights this past August. The most natural difference from past moves is that
Friday’s faceoff at the Municipal Athletic Complex in St. Cloud, Minn., will be
their first venture as opposing head coaches.
“Obviously,
I know the hallmarks of the way she thinks the game should be played and what
she expects of her players,” Kranz offered this week in a phone interview with
ATB. “It’ll be interesting to see the differences (between her and predecessor
Rob Morgan), the way her coaching style works with the personnel that she
inherited.”
In
a way, the two-game nonconference series will be a business-oriented catch-up
affair. Nearly a decade has elapsed since the last time these two Midwesterners
were both living and working in their native region, let alone for the same
program.
But
Roth’s offseason move was conducive to the first-of-its-kind reunion, and she
knew it.
“When
you are making a career change, there is a lot that goes on from a personal
standpoint, as well as professional,” she said. “You are looking for things
that are familiar to you or that will create excitement in your new role. This
matchup was certainly one of them.”
Between
Kranz and Roth, familiarity dates back to when women’s hockey was raring to
join the Olympics and yet to be an NCAA-sanctioned sport.
Chasing challenges
Hailing
from the Milwaukee suburb of Waukesha, Wisc., Kranz first crossed paths with
Roth when the Iowa native joined the Wisconsin Challengers. A precursor to the
Madison Capitols, the Challengers attracted collegiate athletic candidates to
form national championship contenders. Their 19-and-under team had been to two
USA Hockey title games, winning the crown in 1995.
Kranz
maxed her eligibility with the local travel program, captaining the 1997-98
installment before enrolling at Providence College. At the time of her arrival,
the Friars were at a proud peak in their history. They had just seen seven of
their alums and incumbent players help the icebreaking U.S. Olympic team win
the first-ever women’s gold medal in Nagano.
Roth,
meanwhile, would break off to join a then-evolving elite prep program at
Shattuck-St. Mary’s in Faribault, Minn.
Both
schools would have a turn hosting a renewed alliance between the two former
Challengers. When Roth had her turn exploring college options, Kranz hosted her
first formal visit to the PC campus. By the 2000-01 season, women’s hockey’s
first under NCAA auspices, they were both on the Friars blue line.
Their
second and final campaign as teammates culminated in an ECAC playoff title, the
last Providence would compete for. Roth proceeded to step up as an
upperclassman keying a run to the inaugural and second Women’s Hockey East
championships.
By
that time, SSM had formed a go-to pipeline to Providence. Other
Faribault-formed Friars riding along on Kranz’s last hurrah included Kelli
Halcisak, Ashley Payton and Rush Zimmerman. When that voyage was over,
multifold employment at the Episcopal prep school 50 miles south of the Twin
Cities opened as an option.
Alhough
she said other acquaintances with SSM ties influenced her choice, Kranz admits
the smattering of teammates played a convincing role.
“I
had known about the school from playing against them and having teammates
there,” she said. “In talking to my former teammates at that time that had gone
to Shattuck, they let me know what a great place it was, and to know what kind
of people they had become, it was a no-brainer.”
Sharpening with
the Sabres
In
addition to serving in administrative capacities, Kranz assumed coaching duties
for the SSM Sabres girls’ varsity squad in 2002-03. The team functioned as a
farm system for the perennially Nationals-bound, 19-and-under “prep” team.
Down
the hall from her hockey office, the status quo was already the goal. In that
particular season, future NHL talents Sidney Crosby, Jack Johnson and Drew
Stafford were carrying the torch passed along by the likes of Zach Parise and
Patrick Eaves. They would deliver the boys’ program’s third national crown in
five years.
The
girls’ program’s efforts to emulate that dynasty and become its own
standard-bearer would soon reach its zenith. And the two friends who once
followed their appetite to the established Challengers program would co-lead
the culmination.
While
Roth was seeking her next path upon graduation from Providence in the summer of
2004, an in-house regime shuffle brought Gordie Stafford (Drew’s father) to the
helm of the SSM U-19ers. He would elevate Kranz to the assistant position, and
the reclassified “junior prep” team needed a new director.
“The
position opened up kind of late,” Roth recalled. “(Kranz) was the one who
tipped me off about it, and also gave my name to the Shattuck powers that be.”
And
so began the sequel. This time, they had their own dressing rooms and schedules
to attend to. But as far as they and the rest of their colleagues were
concerned, Kranz and Roth were again teammates of sorts on SSM’s collective
coaching staff.
To
amplify the bond, the two girls’ squads would take joint bus trips to weekend
tournaments and showcases. And with the bench bosses of six boys’ bantam and
midget teams, the coaches convened every Tuesday to feed off one another for
the common cause.
“We
could talk about anything,” Kranz said. “To be able to have that opportunity to
sit down with coaches who had coached and played at different levels, that was
a big deal.”
So
was the revolution those meetings amounted to. Roth’s second season on the job
saw the farm team undergo another classification change. They were now a
16-and-under squad eligible to represent the Minnkota District at USA Hockey’s
2006 national tournament.
It
was there that Kranz, Stafford and their players successfully defended their
title from the previous season. Future household names in Jocelyne Lamoureux,
Monique Lamoureux and Brianna Decker had helped to finish what the likes of
Roth, Halcisak, Payton and Zimmerman had started.
“It
has been really great to see the girls’ program evolve firsthand,” said Roth,
who had played in SSM’s first national tournament in 2000. “To think coming
that close was exciting, to experiencing where the program is currently, it is
really neat to think about how much the program has grown.
“Knowing
that the players I had the opportunity to skate with, and a few prior to my
time there, helped shape the program to where it is now, it is really special.”
The
U-19 Sabres have since logged a fourth eventual U.S. Olympian in Amanda Kessel
as another one of their alums. They have hung up a total of five national
championship banners, three-peating in 2007 with the help of the Lamoureux twins,
Decker and Kessel. The younger squad has claimed four of the last six titles in
its age group, including each of the last three.
But
neither Kranz nor Roth could stick around for any of that. New challenges came
calling in the summer of 2006, a testament to SSM’s propensity for
precipitously honing hockey talent and tutors alike.
Both
were bound for Division I coaching cabinets. Roth returned to Providence, where
she would spend seven nonconsecutive years as one of Bob Deraney’s assistants.
She sandwiched those stints around two years on Doug Derraugh’s staff at
Cornell, reaching the 2011 Frozen Four. Kranz would work in Jeff Geisen’s
administration at St. Cloud State for five seasons before the Blazers enlisted
her in 2011.
“It
really formed my coaching philosophy,” Kranz said of her experience with the
Sabres. “It was a gift that I don’t take for granted at all. With the caliber
of players that we had, they may have taught me more than I taught them.
“We
were fortunate to have a great group. With the players that they were on the
ice and the people that they were off the ice, it was no surprise that we had
so much success. It did a lot to help me learn how far this game can take somebody.”
New settings, old
habits
The
Green Knights enter this weekend’s action on a six-game winning streak. At
8-4-0 overall, their .667 winning percentage matches that of their final record
in Morgan’s valedictory season. And they have firmly guarded their third-place
slot in the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association standings.
Facing
more of an uphill trek in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference,
the Blazers can benefit from a rigorous close to their interleague slate. Of
their nonconference opponents for 2015-16, only the 10-2-0 Wisconsin-River
Falls team (on tap for next Wednesday) boasts a better record than St. Norbert.
Knowing
her upcoming counterpart as well as she does, Kranz would likely see no harm in
Roth’s spirit leaving a residual contagion in her ice house. “She thinks the
game really well, she’s really passionate about it, and someone like that is
really, really great for our sport,” said the Saint Benedict skipper.
Across
the center-ice glass, Roth continues to reap rewards by emulating Kranz’s
career path. Though maybe not a requirement, the presence of her longtime
trendsetter can be another motivational booster.
Roth
hesitated to proclaim any chalk-talk advantages in preparing her pupils to
solve a personal and professional acquaintance. But she is more prepared than
normal, if such a state is possible, to raise awareness of the bullseye her
team brandishes.
“I
think the only benefit I have in knowing Coach Kranz personally for this
weekend of games is I know that the matchup will be very enjoyable,” she
offered with a tone of unmistakable gusto. “I also know our team will get
quality games out of her team, and push us to learn and grow.
“Once
the game starts, it is about our athletes and the opportunity they have to
compete, learn and grow from the experience. Should be an exciting weekend of
hockey.”
One
that is no fewer than six years in the making. During their simultaneous
tenures as Division I assistants, Kranz and Roth’s teams locked twigs only
once. The SCSU Huskies drew a 4-4 knot with the PC Friars in a Jan. 2, 2010
game at St. Cloud’s National Hockey Center.
Neither
party recalls the more vivid details of that game, or even whether other
team-related obligations kept either of them from being on site. Regardless,
the upcoming series is a milestone on its own, as both coaches will call the
topmost shots from the contesting benches.
And,
as Roth will be swift to remind anyone, it lights the lamp on a career-building
hat trick, with one of the assists on each play going to her
friend-turned-temporary-foe. College player, youth coach and now college coach.
“Any
time you have the chance to line up against a friend on the other bench, it
always makes it fun,” she said. “When I was thinking about the coaching
opportunity here at SNC, I discussed it with Coach Kranz. She went through a
similar transition, from being a Division I assistant to being a Division III
head coach. I value her insight a lot.”
She
may want to hold off, though, on seeking tips for taking C-cuts around clichés.
But their acquaintance has been long enough for Kranz to know what phrases fit
Roth’s track record and her viewpoint of it.
“It’s
been a joy watching her not only grow up, but to see her — ‘blossom’ is such a
cheesey word — but really blossom as a coach,” Kranz said. “It’s absolutely
time for her to spread her wings and be a head coach. There’s no doubt in my
mind she’s going to be a success.”
“I
hope she doesn’t excel too much this weekend,” she added with a laugh, “But she’s
like a littler sister to me and a really good friend, so I’m excited for her.”
This article originally appeared on Along the Boards
