On the heels of last week’s triumph over Canada at the Under-22 Series in Lake Placid, N.Y., Lakewood-raised goalie Nicole Hensley further solidified herself as a candidate for the 2018 U.S. women’s Olympic hockey team.
“She’s definitely in our top four goalies,” said U.S. women’s national team coach Ken Klee, the former Avalanche defenseman who also coaches youth hockey in Colorado. “She’s definitely putting her name in the mix. For me as a coach, I definitely want to have options, and she’s definitely putting herself in the conversation.”
Klee, the front-runner to coach the 2018 Olympic team, added that Hensley, 21, is the youngest of the four goalies he is considering. The other three probably are 2010 and 2014 Olympic silver medalists Jessie Vetter, 29; Brianne McLaughlin, 28; and 2014 Wisconsin graduate Alex Rigsby, 23.
“It’s always been a dream, and to be this close is closer than I ever thought I’d be,” Hensley said of being an Olympian. “I just have to put myself out there and do the best I can. Hopefully it works out. If it doesn’t, I’ve made it further than I ever thought I would, so I can’t say I’ll be disappointed.”
The 5-foot-7 Hensley is a product of the Foothills Hockey Association (mostly boys), Colorado Select (girls hockey) and Green Mountain High School. She began her senior year Monday at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Mo.
As a freshman for Lindenwood’s Lady Lions in 2012-13, she made 90 saves in a six-overtime, 2-1 loss to Robert Morris in a league playoff game. The 90 saves would have been an NCAA Division I record for men or women, but Lindenwood was ending its second season of probationary Division I status. Although Robert Morris was an established Division I opponent, the 90 saves did not go in the record book.
Hensley enters her senior season with 3,147 saves, 11th in NCAA history. Lindenwood is 22-73-8 in Hensley’s three years, but the star goalie has a .920 career save percentage and a 22-58-8 record.
“She’s been an exceptional college goalie, being on a team that’s not very good,” Klee said. “She has a tough job, and that’s really helped her development.”
At Lake Placid last week, Hensley stopped 33-of-36 shots in a 4-1 victory and a 2-1 loss in the first two games of the three-game series.
In Game 2, Canada broke a 1-1 tie on the power play with 1:07 remaining in regulation.
As planned before the tournament, Klee went with backup Lexie Shaw of the University of North Dakota in Game 3, and the Americans won 2-1 in overtime for their eighth victory in the past nine U22 Series showdowns with Canada.
The U.S. and Canadian women have met in the gold medal game in four of the past five Olympics
“It’s obviously a great test of your abilities and nice to be able to say you’re competing against the best in the world,” Hensley said of the U22 Series.
“It’s definitely a good steppingstone,” Klee said. “It’s kind of a unique situation where we get three straight games with just Canada, which is a really great measuring stick for where our girls are with the program and in relation to their peers.”
Mike Chambers: mchambers@denverpost.com or twitter.com/mikechambers
Hensley file
A look at Nicole Hensley, a goalie from Lakewood:
• Chose Missouri’s Lindenwood University because of extended family in Kansas City, Mo., and it being the closest Division I women’s program to Colorado.
• Made 90 saves in a game for Lindenwood, but because the school was in a probationary period, that doesn’t count as NCAA record.
• 2014 and 2015 Sportswomen of Colorado award winner for hockey
• Three-time all-College Hockey America recipient and 2013 CHA rookie of the year
• NCAA career save percentage of .920, despite a .295 winning percentage (22-58-8)
Mike Chambers, The Denver Post
