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UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN HOCKEY MEDIA CONFERENCE

January 25, 2016

Mark Johnson

Madison, Wisconsin

THE MODERATOR: Women's Hockey Head Coach Mark Johnson is here. We will have some opening comments and then take questions.

COACH JOHNSON: Thanks, Brian. Certainly pleased with the effort of our team this past weekend. Six periods that consisted of a lot of battles. I don't know if you say it in the women's game or not, but it was a physical series. We're not allowed to check, but if you watched any of the games or any of the periods, it was a physical game, it was a battle, very tight, checking, and very pleased yesterday with the opportunity that we had late in the game on a power play and to have Emily score obviously helped us win the game.

For her standpoint, her parents for the first time were in Madison, got a tour of our area, of where Emily lives, a real chance to connect dots as far as Emily on her phone telling her parents what Madison and her world is all about, but for them to be able to come down and connect dots and see her score the winning goal yesterday, I know it was a special day for her and her family.

Those are moments that you enjoy and certainly we enjoyed this past weekend. Take today off and then get ourselves prepared for St. Cloud Saturday and Sunday.

Q. Mark, can we review your '06 team? What do you think that team's legacy is? I think it was your first senior class since you'd been here, first one to win a national championship. What kind of memories come back when you think about that club?
COACH JOHNSON: I think the one thing was the learning process and the understanding of what it was going to take to, you know, maybe become a championship team. The previous year we had played out at Dartmouth in our first ever NCAA game and got off to great start, got a lead, played well and they had a very strong team.

They had, I think, four or five Canadian Nationals and Olympic players on their team, and they ended up scoring on a couple of power plays and ended up defeating us, but the sense and the talk after the game was this was a stepping stone, this is an opportunity to take the next step next year and prepare ourselves, and with Sara Bauer and some of the kids, Vetter, they understood it. They worked out that summer and they put themselves in a position mentally to take that next step, and I think that's one thing that I remember about that group.

It started that spring out in Dartmouth, as we left there, disappointed that we got defeated, but a learning process that helped us push forward and helped us win our first championship.

Q. Mark, Ann-RenÃ©e has done some incredible things this entire year. Is there a point where you sit on the bench and marvel at what she does?
COACH JOHNSON: I congratulated her after the game last night and I said for me on the bench it was fun to watch her this past weekend, and her response to me was, "It was fun playing!"

So when kids are enjoying it, they're focused in, and she put together solid periods and really gave us an opportunity to win both games. So as time goes on and she's able to do these things and have special weekends like this past weekend, I think it helps her with her confidence and bodes well for us as we move forward with our last eight games here.

Q. It appears St. Cloud State is a much-improved team.
COACH JOHNSON: Yeah, they're playing up better, second year with their coaching staff, and they seem to be connecting, you know, on power plays and be playing more confident and more comfortable, and certainly it will be a big test. And similar to our weekend against Minnesota, then we went up to Grand Forks and ended up losing our Friday night game, both games this weekend with sell-outs, with the band there yesterday, there was a lot of energy in the building.

The big thing is to come back tomorrow, focus in and continue to do the things that are necessary as we prepare. And whether you're playing X or Y you need to prepare yourself and give yourself a chance to win and those are -- paying attention to the little details and getting yourself mentally ready to go.

Q. Sarah Nurse obviously came into this program with a reputation, but it seems like she has taken her game to the next level this year. Are you seeing the same thing, where she is scoring goals at a high rate and scoring goals like she did yesterday?
COACH JOHNSON: The one thing she is able to do and she is very consistent at is create scoring opportunities. Some nights she is able to put a couple past the goaltender, other nights those opportunities might turn into a second opportunity by someone else coming in and collecting a rebound, but she is an electrifying player. She is an excellent penalty killer, she's got a quick stick, and she's got quick feet, and I think at times within games she is able to separate because of her stick and because of her speed and create scoring opportunities. She is a fun player to watch, and she is very consistent day in and day out.

Hopefully she'll continue to progress and, you know, score some more big goals for us. Heard she was on ESPN last time in, Top Ten, with her goal. Is that correct? Yep. Pretty cool.

Q. Is women's hockey getting more and more physical?
COACH JOHNSON: If you watched those six periods, it was physical, but, you know, it's part of the involvement and different teams are going to play different ways. North Dakota had some big bodies, they played aggressive, they tried to play the game fast; they did a very good job at it. So when kids are moving on the ice at a pretty good clip, and they're battling for the puck, there is only one puck, and somebody's gotta come up with it, so there are some collisions and some things that are going to happen within the game, and you just have to be prepared and ready to battle.

And we talk about it as coaches, you know, there's a lot of 50/50 battles. So if you and I are battling for the puck, one of us has to come up with it, and if I'm able to do it as a team more than you, generally we're going to have that puck more and we can create some more things.

So it's a big part of the game and certainly St. Cloud brings sorta the same type of team in there. They have some big bodies, they will try to play aggressive in certain areas.

So I know our players, they probably were feeling it a little bit today more so than when we play some other teams.

Q. Was it a point of pride heading into the series because they had handed you your one, lone loss or were the girl just taking it just like any other game and trying to play better?
COACH JOHNSON: I'm sure it was in the back of their minds, but the coaches look at video, look at what they maybe have done in the previous weekend in their games, their line combinations, and try to prepare them and do the things in practice to give them the best chance to win. Those are the things you will look at. I'm not a big number guy or those type of things, so you are looking for the overall way we're playing and how we're playing and are we doing things the right way.

Q. Mark, you mentioned the physical nature of the game despite not being able to check. Would you mind seeing checking allowed in the women's game or do you think the game is fine without it?
COACH JOHNSON: I think it's fine without it. You talk to our fans and people that watch the women's game on a regular basis, they enjoy the skill part of it. I think if we brought in checking, it would just change our game dramatically and, you know, I'm not in favor of it.

THE MODERATOR: Anything else for Coach? Thanks, Mark.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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