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UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN HOCKEY MEDIA CONFERENCEFebruary 2, 2015Mark JohnsonTHE MODERATOR: Head Coach Mark Johnson is here. We will have opening comments and take questions. COACH JOHNSON: Thanks, Brian. Certainly happy with plays and our effort that past weekend. I thought for six periods we played well, had a little bit of adversity in Saturday's game where we fell behind, and as I told the team, continue to try to generate offensive chances and create opportunities and eventually the puck will go in, and the middle part of the second period, I'm not sure they believed me. We had quite a few opportunities, and the goaltender was playing well but we persevered and were able to come away with a couple of solid wins on the road and certainly looking forward to this weekend's challenges against a solid Minnesota‑Duluth team. Q. Offense seems to be playing well, at least in the past series. What kind of improvements are you looking for from your defensive unit? COACH JOHNSON: I think as you wind the season down, and we're sort of in that phase right now where you have six games left and then you have the postseason upon you, you try to hone in on a lot of little things, obviously that being one, and just the awareness of every situation, every part of the game. All the details are going to be impacted as you enter the playoffs, so there are areas in our game that we still need to improve. Certainly looking at the power play and trying to do some things and change some things and trying to create more goals. I think we're getting opportunities, but the next step is to try to get pucks in the net. So pleased with a lot of areas and certainly with any team, you know, trying to fine tune things as you come down the home stretch. Q. How do you feel about Annie Pankowski's contributions this year? COACH JOHNSON: It's been good in a lot of different areas. Certainly she came in with an outstanding profile and certainly has made the adjustment into college hockey. There are some things within her game that she will tell you she needs to continue to work on, but when she is sitting in the net with her shot she can be effective not only at scoring goals but creating rebounds and offensive chances for her linemates, and since we put her with Emily Clark and Britt, those three players have played well five or six games in a row now, and hopefully that will continue to grow. Q. She was one of the last players cut from the U.S. National team before the Olympics last year. From your playing experience or coaching experience, how do players react to something like that and how do you think she has reacted? COACH JOHNSON: Hopefully they react in a positive way, where they look at maybe one of the reasons she was released and you take those and you ask the coaching staff that released you, "What are the things I need to work on?" You can feel sorry for yourself a couple of days, and more importantly you gotta come back and work on those things. So the next opportunity she got up in Vancouver for the Four Nations, I am prepared now to do things to get me more playing time and make an impact as a player. As she goes through the four years here, we will look for those, too, and she has grown since she has been here in September, and she will need to continue to grow, because as she goes around, people will know her better, and they will know how she plays, and she needs to work out and continue to work out and try to become a better player on an every day basis. She has taken that high road in regards to the things I talked about. Q. You beat Minnesota soundly in October. How relevant are those games now, and do you bring that up with your team that that isn't quite as relevant as some of the players may think? COACH JOHNSON: I don't think it's relevant. When we were up there in October, both teams were trying to get their feet wet in regards to what type of team they're going to be, how they came out of their short training camp. They're a much better team today than they were in October. They've improved their power play, and it has been good for them for the last three or four games, and it's always a challenge to play them. They are very competitive. We have been playing against each other since I've been here. A lot of games have gone into overtime; we've gone into shoot‑outs, so it will be competitive and it will certainly be a challenge for us. Q. What was your reaction when you heard what was going on with the coaching circumstances up at Duluth, that they were going to make a change with Shannon at the end of the season. COACH JOHNSON: I guess personally the timing of it, and why then. But obviously I'm not part of their administration, I don't know their rules and regulations in regards to those type of scenarios. I think you wake up and you're thinking about getting your team ready for this next practice and your next game against your opponent and you see that and you sort of take a step back. Usually during this time of the season, especially when that happened, you seldom see coaching changes or information that are going to create a coaching change. Q. You sympathize with her circumstances? COACH JOHNSON: I don't know what got them to that position. I think in our business most coaches will attest that they don't really want to see one of their peers lose their job, so it's always a sad day. Certainly she has been a big part of our league, been at it for 16 years and has had some great success, but, again, I'm not attuned to all the details of why they're going to go down that path. Q. Is there a thread that binds your seniors together? You're going to introduce them this weekend. Is there something about them that's unique? COACH JOHNSON: I think if I was looking at the group I think maybe the word "commitment" would jump at me first, and I say that just because I look at Karley, I look at "Z" I look at Blayre, you know, kids that came in prior to their start of their freshman year and started to develop good habits and made a commitment to become better players individually. It didn't waiver. It didn't waiver from one month to another, they just kept going at it. Karley came in after the start of her sophomore year and developed into a good, college player because of her commitment to trying to become better in a lot of different areas. Blayre was no different. She made a commitment, stuck to the plan, kept working and she jumped out and had a blossom year the start of her junior year. "Z" the same thing. You know, Britt has had some hurdles that she has had to climb over, and she had some situations where she was looking right in her face and right in the mirror that I may not be able to play hockey again, and what's going to happen in the next two months, three months, six months, eight months, a lot of uncertainties but made a commitment when she got healthy to get herself back and had a great break‑out season and led us to a Frozen Four. So I look at the group, and that's the biggest thing that sticks out is the commitment that each one of them made, and collectively all became good college hockey players because of it. THE MODERATOR: Thanks, Mark. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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