{"id":139073,"date":"2023-02-23T18:14:47","date_gmt":"2023-02-24T00:14:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/?p=139073"},"modified":"2023-02-23T20:04:52","modified_gmt":"2023-02-24T02:04:52","slug":"womens-division-i-college-hockey-jade-iginla-freshman-class-spark-brown-offense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2023\/02\/23\/womens-division-i-college-hockey-jade-iginla-freshman-class-spark-brown-offense\/","title":{"rendered":"Women\u2019s Division I College Hockey: Iginla, freshman class spark Brown offense"},"content":{"rendered":"
Freshman Jade Iginla was two years old the last time a Brown University skater scored as many goals as Iginla herself has put up this season. It has been 16 years since Haley Moore scored 20 goals in 2006-07.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Iginla\u2019s 17 goals are tied for seventh most in the ECAC among all skaters and first among rookies in the conference. She\u2019s also third among all freshmen nationwide in goals scored despite having played five fewer games than those ahead of her thanks to the shortened Ivy League schedule.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Her 23 points are the most in a season in 13 years for a Brown Bear. Iginla is <\/span>responsible for 25% of her team’s goals (48 total) and 20% of her team\u2019s points (113 total).<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n There was no way Jade was going to go unnoticed when she got to college. <\/span>If you know hockey, you know the Iginla name. Jade\u2019s father Jarome was first-ballot Hall-of-Famer in 2020 after an 21-year, 1500 game NHL career and two Olympic gold medals with Canada.<\/span><\/p>\n But Brown coach Mel Ruzzi said that opponents may have underestimated her.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI think everyone knew who she was, but I don\u2019t think they knew how good she was. You see her play and you think \u2018this young woman is the real deal,\u2019\u201d Ruzzi said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cEarly in the season, I don\u2019t think people gave her enough credit and respect. They focused on our top line, but not Jade specifically. I think what’s really cool is the second time around within the league, people were paying attention and even in that moment, she’s still skyrocketing with putting up points.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The showiest way Iginla has made an impact for Brown this season is on the penalty kill. Her three short-handed goals are tied for fourth in the country. What makes that even more impressive is that Ruzzi said Iginla was not even a part of the penalty kill unit until a third of the way through the season, as the coaching staff didn\u2019t want to overwhelm her. But Iginla has thrived in the position.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cPart of it is our style of play. We are an aggressive team. I feel like that’s how we can thrive. We want to showcase that in our play and that suits Jade really well. When it comes to the puck, we\u2019re hunters. The second we have a beat on something we want to jump and Jade has the explosive skating and power to be able to jump super efficiently. Part of it is great teammates that kill really, really aggressively and can feed her the puck, part of it is making that read and jumping and using her gifts,\u201d said Ruzzi.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Iginla is a dynamic skater who anticipates the play, sees the ice and uses an explosive first couple of strides to create separation. Her comfort in stride helps her to play bigger than her small frame, holding off bigger defenders trailing her while trying to disrupt a breakaway.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n There was always going to be expectations and attention on Iginla thanks to her last name, but she has hit the ice at full speed in Providence. There was no easing in and Ruzzi said she was struck by the grit, determination and compete Iginla shows.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI don’t know if people can see how much of a competitor she is. There\u2019s no question, she has confidence, but it\u2019s confidence coupled with just being an absolute competitor,\u201d Ruzzi said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n That confidence has shown up in an important and underappreciated way, as well.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cJade is really humble. Elite women athletes are pretty humble. I think there needs to be a little bit of swagger. Swagger is really important. She\u2019s developing that,\u201d said Ruzzi.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Brown won two more games than last season (and six more than the season before Ruzzi took over), but still missed out on their goal of making the ECAC tournament, finishing ninth when the top eight teams advance. But things are brewing at Brown and Ruzzi said she wouldn\u2019t have taken the coaching job with the program if she didn\u2019t think they could win. They\u2019ve started to do that thanks to Iginla and the freshman class.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n There’s not a player of the five in the freshman class that hasn’t contributed in big ways for Brown, Ruzzi said. <\/span>While the lion’s share of the points belong to Jade, she and the three other skaters in her class account for 50% of the team’s goals and 40% of the team’s points. This class gives the team an offensive dynamic the program hasn’t had in a very long time.<\/p>\n While Iginla has started to garner more attention for the goals she\u2019s scoring, Ruzzi pointed out that Iginla has been a difference-maker for the Bears since she joined the team. She plays in every situation on the ice for Brown and has proved herself again and again.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cGoing back to September, she stepped on campus and every minute of extra ice time, she was out there whether it was with a coach or by herself. She\u2019s magnetic, so she also has other teammates that are out there with her,\u201d said Ruzzi.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s a special player, but she\u2019s a special player because she works at it. Relentlessly.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Freshman Jade Iginla was two years old the last time a Brown University skater scored as many goals as Iginla herself has put up this season. It has been 16 years since Haley Moore scored 20 goals in 2006-07.\u00a0 Iginla\u2019s 17 goals are tied for seventh most in the ECAC among all skaters and first […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":102,"featured_media":139074,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[819],"coauthors":[823],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n