“She had a very good freshman year last year and a great end to the season,” Stone says. “To have played critical minutes of a national championship game will just carry over in her game in her confidence. She’s going to do whatever we need to do. It should be fun to watch her.”
Raimondi, however, was by no means satisfied by the experience.
“It’s a big game, we had an opportunity, and we didn’t finish that chance,” Raimondi said. “What I look for as a player is to have that chance again. I know now what it means to compete on that level.”
“I’ve learned from such great, experienced players in our seniors last year,” she adds. “They taught me what it means to be a competitor and be a hockey player on and off the ice.”
Power Playing
The question, then, is exactly how the 5’9 native of British Columbia will be used.
Stone has specific outlined plans, but still anticipates watching the true emergence of Raimondi—and doesn’t stop herself from making a few predictions of her own.
“I’m anxious to see how Jen Raimondi is going to do,” Stone says. “I think she did a lot of great things for us last year, really transitioned [from high school] well…I think that kid’s going to be a great college hockey play. I’m looking forward to seeing her development.”
Stone says that this season, Raimondi—who played wing most of last season—will most likely find herself at the center position, a niche that she only truly came into towards the end of the year and during that national championship effort.
“We’re putting her right back there,” Stone says. “She’s probably going to play center, unless she’s on some special teams, in which case she’d end up playing as a wing. She’s a power forward, just coming down the wing—strong, great shot.”
And it is that array of skills—of power, strength and size, most notably—that will give the team more flexibility than before.
“She’s got a lot of abilities, a lot of weapons,” Stone says. “We’re going to be able to use her in some different spots because of [them], so I’m looking forward to it.”
Raimondi concurs.
“I’m going to have a bigger role on the team, as opposed to last, I know,” she says. “Maybe the team will look for more production, more leadership on the ice. I’m really excited about this year, the opportunities for line combinations and how it’s all going to flow. It’s endless, the big opportunities.”
And in addition to her mighty stick, Raimondi knows well how make the best of those opportunities for the Crimson—how exactly to put the “power” in “power forward.”
“I’m a little bigger,” Raimondi explains. “My size as a forward, 5’9, is not too common in women’s hockey. I’ll be going into the corners, you know, to mix it up—I’ll be using my body to protect the puck.”
And she has that rocket of a slapshot?
Fulton Reed—just like her coaches and teammates—would be proud.