Abby Roque And USA Focused On ‘The Micro’ As #RivalrySeries Resumes

As 2022 comes to a close, another Olympic cycle or “quad” begins for women’s ice hockey players in North America. The United States fell to Canada 3-2 in the gold medal game of the Beijing Winter Olympics and again 2-1 at the 2022 Women’s World Championships in Denmark.However, the tide has appeared to turn during the 2022-23 #RivarlySeries, an exhibition tour between the top two women’s programs in the world.

The United States is 3-0 heading into tonight’s game in Henderson, Nevada. The latest USA win occurred at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, home of the newest NHL team, the Seattle Kraken. A record crowd of 14,551 hockey fans filled CPA and enjoyed a 4-2 USA win.

“It was an incredible experience,” USA forward Abby Roque told me during a phone conversation after practice yesterday. “The city of Seattle did a great job rallying around us and really supporting women’s sports in general. I think that city does an awesome job of it,” Roque added.

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The center is getting top-line minutes alongside USA captain Kendall Coyne Schofield and Amanda Kessel in Seattle. She scored the second USA goal on the power play in the November 20th win over Canada. Then, less than four minutes later, USA Hockey veteran Hilary Knight scored the game-winning goal, her first of two in Seattle.

Roque has one goal and one assist in the three-game series. After being limited by injuries just before her first Olympics, she is back on the ice feeling healthy and ready to compete for a consistent role on the U.S. Senior National Team.

“I want to consistently get better and (prepare) for this series, for the next series, and for hopefully Worlds at the end of this year. That’s what we’re really building towards, and I think as long as we keep adding little building blocks as we go and continuing to make this team better, we’re just going to be in a great place,” Roque said.

New head coach John Wroblewski agrees. “There’s a list of items that we call our principles, and those are the micro-level things,” he told me during a phone conversation Tuesday afternoon.

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USA Hockey announced Wroblewski the new women’s head coach back in May, two months before the 2022 IIHF World Championships in Denmark. He spent years in the USA Hockey development system and four years as an AHL bench boss for the Ontario Reign. Wroblewski told me he spent the first few months on the job listening and learning from the players. He asked what his players wanted to bolster and what they felt were areas for improvement or deficientcies during the last quad cycle.

After that, the staff developed their principles and is diligently working to execute those on a daily basis.

“It’s how hard you’re working away from the pockets. It’s how diligent you are with body position at every opportunity. It’s your ability to end plays … those are the items that we that we really try to adhere to at the end of the day.”

After three exhibition games against the United States, the Canadian women’s hockey team finds themselves 0-3 in the 2022-23 #RivlarySeries. Both Roque and Wroblewski fully expect Canada to come ready to tilt the ice in teh last two games of the series before the new year.

“They’re going to have an answer for us, not only some of the things that we changed systematically, but the intensity of which we brought to that those matches in November,” said Wroblewski.

USA Hockey announced Wroblewski as the new women’s head coach in May, two months before the 2022 IIHF World Championships in Denmark. He spent the first months listening and learning from his players. He asked what his players wanted to bolster and what they felt were areas for improvement or deficiencies during the last quad cycle.

After that, the staff developed their principles and diligently worked to execute those daily.

“It’s how hard you’re working away from the pockets. It’s how diligent you are with your body position at every opportunity. It’s your ability to end plays … those are the items that we really try to adhere to at the end of the day.”

After three exhibition games against the United States, the Canadian women’s hockey team finds themselves 0-3 in the 2022-23 #RivlarySeries. However, both Roque and Wroblewski fully expect Canada to come ready to tilt the ice in the last two games of the series before the new year.

“They’re going to have an answer for us, not only some of the things that we changed systematically, but the intensity of which we brought to that those matches in November,” said Wroblewski.

His system demands a high hockey IQ and trusts players to make the right decisions at the right time. And, of course, the USA will always play a fast, skilled, and physical game.

The blend of freedom and discipline should bode well for a powerful skater like Roque. Per Seattle Kraken reporter and studio analyst Alison Lukan, twenty percent of her shots come off rebounds. Her two points in the first three games came from the top power play unit, which features Conye Schofield, Kessel, Megan Keller, and Jincey Dunne.

“We have a lot of talented players, and (coach) is gonna have some structure as well as giving us the freedom to be able to be creative to show off some skill to make plays,” Roque told me.

“That’s the biggest we have is people who are capable of doing a lot of great things on this roster. That’s a huge thing and it’s just gonna make the hockey look even better.”

You can watch Roque and Team USA take on Team Canada at The Dollar Loan Center in Henderson, Nevada and Monday at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California. Both games will be aired at 10:00 pm ET on NHL Network.