If presented the opportunity to ask Brian Griese, Jay Fiedler or Aaron Rodgers what it was like to follow a legend, they would likely say it is quite an unenviable position.
Enviable or not, though, that is what will soon be asked of Wisconsin women’s hockey goaltenders Alannah McCready and Nikki Kaasa.
McCready, a junior, and Kaasa, a freshman, as well as current high school senior and UW recruit Becca Ruegsegger, will next season face the daunting challenge of filling the skates of decorated four-year goalie Jessie Vetter.
“It’s always hard to replace seniors who have good leadership along with good natural ability and good work habits,” said assistant coach Dan Koch, who will co-coach next year’s team along with fellow assistant Tracey Cornell while Mark Johnson coaches the U.S. Olympic women’s hockey team. “So, that’s going to be a huge hole to fill for us. But we’re excited about the goalies that are working here right now — they’re getting better each day. And we’re excited about our goalie that’s coming in next fall from Minnesota.”
In her time at UW, Vetter has not only proved herself as a consistently superb goaltender, but has also established a legacy as one of the best women’s college hockey net-minders ever. In three completed seasons, Vetter has been to three Frozen Fours — where as a freshman she won Most Outstanding Player, the first freshman and goalie to do so. She has been a WCHA Goaltending Champion and a first-team All-American.
Last weekend the Cottage Grove, Wis., native was selected as one of the top 10 players in WCHA history, collected her NCAA record-tying 86th career win and registered her NCAA record-tying 12th shutout of the season. She has also shattered the old NCAA career shutout record of 30, with a mark of 37 and counting. And that’s just the beginning of the r?sum?.
“When you watch her, there’s something special about her,” Kaasa said. “She’s one of those players that when you’re out there on the ice with her, she makes you better.”
While trying to equal Vetter’s play is a Herculean challenge, both McCready and Kaasa boast impressive r?sum?s of their own. At Centennial High School in Circle Pines, Minn., McCready posted 12 career shutouts, was a third-team all-metro selection as a sophomore and was all-conference both her sophomore and junior seasons. Likewise, at Technical High School in St. Cloud, Minn., Kaasa finished with a 1.96 goals against average, was a three-time all-conference selection and, as a senior, received all-state honorable mention from The Associated Press and Pioneer Press.
In addition to the skills she demonstrated at the prep level, Koch said having an opportunity to learn from the best will only benefit the younger goalies.
“Anybody that watches Jessie fundamentally can see that she’s very sound,” Koch said. “She makes a lot of things seem easy just because she’s in position; she’s set. And so if you’re picking up on that, that’s something you want to learn from, something you want to try and emulate.”
Joining McCready and Kaasa in trying to fill the void between the pipes next season will be Ruegsegger, who currently plays for renowned hockey factory Shattuck-St. Mary’s. Ruegsegger, whose brother plays forward for the University of Denver, has a 13-3-1 record this season and played for the gold medal-winning United States Women’s Under-18 National Team at the first ever Women’s Under-18 International Ice Hockey Federation World Championships.
Come next fall, Ruegsegger, Kaasa and McCready will enter into an open competition to vie for the opportunity to replace Vetter, who this week was named one of 10 finalists for the Patty Kazmaier Award, along with teammates Erika Lawler and Hilary Knight.
McCready said even though the bar is set high, she hopes to make the transition seamless.
“Obviously there’s a lot of pressure with the accomplishments she has,” McCready said. “But I’m going to do my best. And I’ve been working for three years to hopefully make sure I can come in and make it a flawless switch.”
Ultimately, according to Kaasa, the key to replacing Jessie Vetter is to work together to better each other and to not get caught up trying to be their predecessor.
“It’s obviously going to be tough because she’s been here for four years and really left her legacy,” Kaasa said. “But I think just collaboratively we’re going to try to follow that up and do as best as we can. [We’re going to] try not to be Jessie Vetter, but to be our own goalie.”
If they follow that advice, the changeover will hopefully be more reminiscent of Rodgers than of Griese.
