‘Unpredictable’ Whitecaps rookie Nicole Schammel is taking the NWHL by storm

Unimaginable because it could be to think about at a time when she’s among the many NWHL’s main rookie scorers, there was some extent – and one not all that way back – that Minnesota Whitecaps rookie Nicole Schammel’s improvement may have been stunted.
The story goes like this: after a superb freshman season at Minnesota State College, the place she registered 11 objectives and 22 factors to guide the Mavericks in scoring, Schammel determined to maneuver on. In doing so, and in transferring to the conference-rival College of Minnesota, the brakes have been quickly placed on Schammel’s profession.
On account of NCAA switch guidelines, the 2015-16 marketing campaign was a wash for Schammel. Not as soon as did she step foot on ice for the Gophers, not a single second of significant sport motion. As a substitute, because the likes of Dani Cameranesi, Hannah Brandt and Lee Stecklein guided Minnesota to a nationwide championship, Schammel sat on the sidelines and waited patiently for her flip. And although some may need seen that misplaced season as a destructive, Schammel can acknowledge when she appears again now that it may need been the very factor that helped her take an vital step ahead.
“We had a extremely gifted group that yr, so I used to be nonetheless skating with a whole lot of the perfect in the USA and the world,” Schammel mentioned. “I started working out fairly arduous for a yr, get in actually good bodily form with out worrying about having video games each weekend and sort of take a step again and be taught our programs on the ‘U’. I positively suppose that I may focus extra on my abilities all through a complete yr, so I believe it positively benefitted me.”
What strides she had made, thoughts you, weren’t evident instantly. As a redshirt sophomore, Schammel was comparatively quiet, her six objectives and 12 factors an offensive downturn for a promising second-year skater. It seems, although, what Schammel was seemingly ready for was alternative. After the departure of some key Gophers forward of the 2016-17 marketing campaign, Schammel stepped into the highlight with a breakout 17-goal, 32-point season. That was adopted by final season’s 16-goal, 47-point marketing campaign, an output that landed her among the many prime collegiate scorers and earned her a nod as a top-10 finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Award as the highest girls’s participant within the nation.
“Wanting again on final yr, you sort of need to exit on a excessive word as a senior,” Schammel mentioned of her standout season. “I felt fairly good about that. Didn’t win a nationwide championship, however as a person and contributor to the group, I felt actually good about my efficiency final yr. That positively does provide you with a lift of confidence going into this yr.”
It’s a confidence that hasn’t been in any respect shaken by making the leap to the skilled sport, both. In reality, she seems as assured as ever with the puck on her stick. In her eight NWHL video games, Schammel’s six objectives are tied for essentially the most amongst all rookies. Her 12 factors are just one off the freshman lead. At her present scoring fee of 1.5 factors per sport, there’s not a single first-year participant who has produced at the next clip than Schammel.
“She simply picked up the place she left off with the Gophers,” mentioned Minnesota Whitecaps defender Sydney Baldwin. “It doesn’t shock me one bit. She’s such a wise and gifted hockey participant and actually performs to her skillset, which I believe has proven.”
Baldwin has a novel perspective on Schammel’s skillset, too. Now teammates with the Whitecaps, the 2 additionally spent three seasons along with the Gophers, ending with Baldwin’s commencement following the 2018-19 marketing campaign. However greater than a half-decade in the past, the 2 23-year-olds, born solely 4 months aside, have been high-school rivals of types, Baldwin the captain of Minnetonka Excessive and Schammel sporting the ‘C’ for Pink Wing Excessive. Suffice to say, Baldwin has seen loads of Schammel, sufficient to understand how difficult she is to defend.
“She does a superb job of not essentially telegraphing what she’s going to do along with her eyes, and he or she’s bought such a broad skillset that you simply by no means know completely what she’s going to do on a rush,” Baldwin mentioned. “If she’s going to attempt to beat you huge, delay, hit the opposite participant, and he or she’s additionally bought a extremely good set of arms on her, so in case you overcommit on her as a defender, she’s going to dangle proper via you and stroll proper previous you.”
As Schammel defined, her knack for holding defenders guessing was born out of necessity. “I used to be by no means the quickest participant on the group, so I needed to learn to be unpredictable in methods unrelated to hurry,” she mentioned. “Rising up, I beloved watching hockey, seeing all of the inventive issues that a number of the greatest on this planet do. I’ve at all times tried to be taught these issues and permit myself to be unpredictable in that method, as effectively.”
And although that has made her one of many league’s most deadly scorers, Schammel nonetheless sees room for development and needs to be an every-game game-changer. Consistency is what she’s in search of.
“I’ve had some high-scoring video games after which dropped off,” Schammel mentioned. “I’d wish to see myself turn out to be extra constant. And from a defensive standpoint, get higher within the D-zone and assist my group out in that method.”
If she does each of these issues, who is aware of what the Whitecaps’ ceiling can be this season. The defending Isobel Cup champions are third within the NWHL and never close to as dominant as they have been of their enlargement season. However with a game-breaker like Schammel, there exists loads of championship potential, and perhaps the crown she missed in school can relaxation atop her and her teammates’ heads by season’s finish.
Need extra in-depth options, evaluation and an All-Entry move to the newest content material? Subscribe to The Hockey Information journal.
Tags: girls’s hockey, nwhlConnect: Concerning the AuthorJared ClintonJared Clinton is a author and internet editor with The Hockey Information. He is been with the group since 2014. He was born, raised and resides in Winnipeg, the place he will be discovered lacking the web on outside rinks throughout city.