College women's hockey: UMD's Brodt, Elmes to share responsibilities, pressures of captaincy

Sydney Brodt served as the first sophomore captain in the history of the Minnesota Duluth women's hockey program a year ago, and she learned quickly there is a lot more to being captain than just wearing a 'C' on your jersey.

That's why the junior forward from North Oaks, Minn., is happy to see junior defenseman Jalyn Elmes also will be wearing a 'C' on her sweater when the ninth-ranked Bulldogs open the regular season at 7:07 p.m. Friday and 4:07 p.m. Saturday with a nonconference series against No. 4 Boston College at Amsoil Arena.

"It's going to go really well having two captains," Brodt said. "I never felt last year that the pressure was all on me because of all the other girls, but overall, now there are two people to look at. There will be two captains to talk to on the ice, two captains for the media to talk to, for everyone."

Along with co-captains Brodt and Elmes, senior forward Emma Yanko is an assistant captain this season. She said her co-captains complement each other.

Brodt, who accompanied goaltender Maddie Rooney this month at the U.S. National Team Development Camp, is described by Yanko as a "superstar finesse player." Brodt has accumulated 13 goals and 24 assists the previous two seasons, including five goals and 11 assists a year ago.

Elmes, the Brandon, Manitoba, native who took part in Hockey Canada's National Women's Team Development Team camp last month, is characterized by Yanko as tough and gritty. Elmes was the team's leader in penalties (16) and penalty minutes (35) last season. She was also third on the team in scoring with six goals and 16 assists.

"You go into the locker room and you see the same dynamic," Yanko said of Brodt and Elmes. "They are perfect for co-captains. They work very well together."

Elmes and Brodt had similar assessments of each other. Brodt said she admired Elmes' willingness to never back down while Elmes said she was impressed with Brodt's ability to stay calm under pressure.

"She really took the responsibility of being a young captain," Elmes said. "She put it on her shoulders and handled it well. She was a great leader for all ages on the team last year."

Brodt said staying calm was hard at times a year ago, especially early on when the team suffered a six-game losing streak. The Bulldogs were swept in October by a trio of eventual NCAA tournament qualifiers - at Boston College, at Ohio State and at home against Minnesota - en route to finishing the season 15-16-4.

Brodt said she's a more confident player going into this season.

"It was tough to get through the times we were losing games," Brodt said. "This year I've gained more confidence. It's going to be a lot easier to push through those times."

In addition to a new level of confidence, Brodt has a greater appreciation for the importance of a strong start to the season and what it takes to get a team going in those early weeks.

Those six losses to NCAA tournament teams at the start of last season essentially derailed the Bulldogs' chances at a return trip to the NCAA tournament. It was in stark contrast to Brodt's freshman year of 2016-17 when UMD opened the season with a win and tie at home against Boston College. UMD hosted a first-round NCAA quarterfinal that year.

UMD will run a similar gauntlet this season as it did last year, starting with Boston College this weekend. The Eagles feature three of Rooney's teammates from the gold-medal winning U.S. Olympic team in Megan Keller, Kali Flanagan and Cayla Barnes, plus reigning Patty Kazmaier Award winner Daryl Watts.

The Bulldogs then host Minnesota next week before traveling to Wisconsin.

Coach Maura Crowell said this is by no means a make-or-break weekend for the Bulldogs' hopes of getting back to the NCAA tournament, however, a couple good results can go a long way as 2016-17 showed.

"We want to make a statement nationally and, as we know, those Pairwise points are really big," Crowell said. "This isn't just a 'we're getting our feet wet' (weekend). That's what last weekend was. Now we're right into it. It would be great to get some wins."

NO. 4 BOSTON COLLEGE AT NO. 9 UMD

What: Regular-season opener

When: 7:07 p.m. Friday/4:07 p.m. Saturday

Where: Amsoil Arena

Internet:  flohockey.tv (video)

Twitter:  @UMDWHockey

Need to know: UMD will wear special camouflage jerseys on Saturday for Military Appreciation night. The jerseys will be auctioned off to raise funds for Operation One Voice.