Last Updated on Thursday, 14 January 2016 10:02
Chippewa Falls/Menomonie is one of the more successful girls’ hockey co-op programs in Wisconsin
By Andrew Vitalis
It’s a daily catch-22 for Tony Menard. Now in his second season as head coach for the Chippewa Falls/Menomonie (CFM) girls’ hockey team (2-12-0 overall as of Jan. 12), Menard knows that on one hand, success will most likely translate into more numbers within the youth program and one day the co-op may dissolve between the two schools. On the other hand, he has watched the partnership between Chippewa Falls and Menomonie grow into one of the more successful co-op programs in the state. Growth versus chemistry; numbers versus history. It’s an interesting “what if” scenario that Menard and those associated with the program sometimes ponder.
“The first 3-4 years of the program, Chippewa Falls and Menomonie had their own separate teams; each school was able to have the numbers to support their own program,” Menard said. “During the 2010-11 season, Menomonie was down to three players and our numbers were down a little bit that year, too. This is our sixth season as a co-op and it’s been a pretty good situation for both groups involved so far. I think one big positive right now for us is that both Chippewa and Menomonie support their teams really well, especially given that both schools have been big football rivals for many years. To see them come together has been pretty cool to see grow over the years.
“It’s a tough thing though. I’m on the Girls Wisconsin Hockey Coaches Association where I serve as the treasurer and one of our goals is to try and make Wisconsin girls’ hockey better than what it is right now. It would be nice to get some more competition, some better competition in the state, and that’s going to happen when bigger schools and bigger co-ops begin to separate and not have these big areas with the majority of the talent like we have right now.”
Make no mistake, the program is on its way, but right now, Menard and the rest of the CFM community are enjoying the present-day state of the program. This season, of the 16 players, each community has eight skaters on the team. While some programs’ biggest worry from day to day is making it to practice on time, CFM commutes back and forth throughout the week just to make practice. Monday practices are held in Menomonie, the rest in Chippewa. Some games are played in Menomonie, some in Chippewa. School dismissal times are different. From there, a half-hour commute to the rink.
Yes, while the co-op presents its challenges, it also gives the players from CFM a different perspective than most other teams they play. Dedication and “team” stare them right in the face on a daily basis which are lessons Menard and his coaching staff embrace. That “team-first” attitude his players embrace has also made its way onto the ice and into the locker rooms; not just at the varsity program, but throughout the youth program as well. The record on the stat sheet might not reflect it yet, but CFM is on their way.
“After that second and third year, we had girls coming up through the system together so they were familiar with one another; they have that background,” Menard said. “You know what you are getting, but in the beginning it was difficult that’s for sure. We are starting to see girls coming up through the program; their knowledge of hockey every single year is getting better. Their skating, their systems; everything they have done the year before is getting better, you can see they have improved on that over the summer so that’s really nice to see.
“Last year we were a pretty young team. A lot of sophomores and freshmen got a lot of playing time. Just from that happening, you could see that their skating skills, their knowledge of the game just wasn’t where it needed to be compared to other programs we played. It frustrated some of the girls, but they kept working and you could see them get stronger and stronger as the season went on, and they have just picked up from where they left off last year.”
Now with another year of experience on the ice, CFM has started to make noticeable strides, making them a force to be reckoned with. For example, after scoring 28 goals all of last season, CFM has already lit the lamp as a team 35 times and they still have 10 games remaining. Led by sophomore Kaylee Frenette (member of Team Wisconsin 16U program), the talented winger has notched 19 points through 13 games, including 12 goals. Eight players have already scored goals this season for CFM and 10 players have registered points. All of this while playing in one of the toughest conferences in the state (Big Rivers) where their other three conference opponents are all ranked in the top 10 in the state. Defensively, after losing senior goalie Lexi Hermann last season (.900 save percentage), while inexperience has shown between the pipes, CFM is starting to peak at the right time, posting both of their wins in late December after starting the season 0-6. Over their last eight games Chippewa Falls/Menomonie has allowed 40 goals. However, if you take away losses to powers Hayward (10 and eight goals allowed) and Hudson (eight goals allowed), CFM has allowed just 17 goals during that stretch while scoring 21. Senior defenseman Marissa Gibbs, one of three seniors on the squad, continues to dominate the blue line for CFM (4-3--7).
“I thought we would probably have more wins at this point in the season,” Menard said. “Going into the halfway point we were hoping to be 7-5, but we’ve played in a lot of close games – one goal games, two goal games, overtime games. It wasn’t for a lack of effort from a team standpoint. Defensively we could have been a little bit better. When we have been able to get 30-plus shots, along with 10-plus blocked shots and hold teams to 20 shots or less, we have been pretty competitive. It’s happened in nearly five games so far. We also understand we need to play well in our defensive zone and make sure that we are positioned well to limit the number of high quality shots on net.”
The road the rest of the way is a going to be a slippery one for Menard and his squad. Although CFM finishes the season with four of their last six games on the road, four of those six opponents have winning records. All of the games will be played at the Chippewa Ice Arena.
It’s an exciting time in CFM country for other reasons as the hockey programs are coming together with the goal of building an ice rink. It’s called the “Ice Dream Campaign.”
“The Chippewa Youth Hockey Association and Chippewa Falls High School Hockey teams (boys and girls) are working on creating an outdoor ice rink that is covered by a roof for the community to use whenever they feel like they want to skate in the winter,” Menard said. “Right now there is one outdoor rink in Chippewa Falls and that is located at the Chippewa Ice Rink and often times it isn’t in the best shape given to weather related issues and dirt foundation underneath it.
“With this fundraising campaign were looking at pouring a concrete slab for the ice rink to sit on, as well as have a roof over the top of the rink. The sides of the building will still be open to give the feeling of skating on an outdoor ice sheet. Along with the community outdoor ice rink, there will be an addition to the south ice rink which is home to both the Chippewa Falls boys’ and CFM girls’ hockey teams. There will be new locker rooms for both teams as neither have their own locker room at this point.
“This is a big step for the boys’ and girls’ hockey programs in trying to establish the rich tradition that both programs have and a sense of pride in having their own space at the rink.”
Andrew Vitalis writes columns in LPH geared towards Wisconsin hockey. He can be reached at lphprep@yahoo.com.
