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UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN HOCKEY MEDIA CONFERENCEOctober 28, 2013Mark JohnsonCOACH JOHNSON: Thanks Brian. As I look back and reflect over our two games this past weekend, again, thought the team came out Friday night with great intensity, good energy and put together three solid periods. Certainly happy with our victory Friday. I thought Saturday's game we came out a little bit slow. I'm not sure if we weren't ready to play or whatever the reasons, but again it's a learning opportunity for us. And certainly with ten or 11 minutes to go in the game and being at 2‑1, we were able to score a couple of late goals to give yourself a victory. But it's a good learning opportunity for a young team, and things you can take away from that experience that will help get down the road as we get further into the season. So again, my philosophy is you come back Monday, look at the things you did well over the weekend and talk about those things, but at the same time look at some things that you need to continue to improve on and continue to try to instill good habits in this young team, and so we'll do that this afternoon as we take the ice. Q. What was it like being on the bench when your daughter scored her first collegiate goal? COACH JOHNSON: I think for a moment I took my coaching hat off and put my dad hat on and had a nice smile. And I liked the reaction that was on her face as she came to the bench and celebrated with her teammates. You'll have to ask my wife what she was doing during the goal and you'll get a chuckle out of it. Similar to my mom when I scored my first goal in the old Broadmore arena, she was in taking a bathroom break and missed it. When I got home, asked my wife about her experience watching her daughter score her first collegiate goal, she was in the same spot my mom was. So a little bit of a chuckle. As the horn went off, she was in there and she said I hope it wasn't Mikayla that scored. And she came out and heard the announcer. She missed it. So I had to show her on the replay down on the computer after the game. Q. How thrilled is Leslie going to be to know that this is out for the world to see and appreciate? COACH JOHNSON: We're easy going. So it's part of life. And our grandson at the game, those things happen. You can't pick and choose when your daughter is going to score. And unfortunately she happened to miss it. But the great thing with technology she got to see it a few minutes later. I'm going to get in trouble with it, but I don't know. Q. Considering I guess the youth of your defensive corps maybe inexperience, are you pretty pleased with how well you're playing in front of the goal tenders? COACH JOHNSON: I think overall you go over the games and for the most part thought we were pretty good. Thought there were times in the game we had youthful mistakes and little things as far as taking care of the puck and details you continue to work with the young players. And Jenny one of our freshman defensemen has only been playing one game per weekend because of the injuries that she sustained last spring and was operated on. So we're moving her along. But overall I would say it's been good. Certainly get better. But at this point it's been good. Q. What's the status of Madison Packer? COACH JOHNSON: I don't know yet, Andy. I know when she came into the rink Saturday she actually had a smile on her face because I think it was a lot better than anybody anticipated it being. So I'll talk to Denny before practice. I know she probably won't skate today or tomorrow. But I think overall it's better than initially looked like as she was laying on the ice in Friday's game. So that's a real positive. Q. What can you say about the freshman performances this weekend? Seemed like Melissa Channell and Sarah Nurse and Sandy McKibbon, Ann‑Renee, all had a solid weekend for the team? COACH JOHNSON: Very impressed so far after eight games with our freshmen, whether it's Ann or Melissa, it seemed this weekend that a lot of people got their first Badger goals and excited for those players individually. But the thing I enjoy not only with our freshman class but the entire group, they come to the work every day. They're enjoying what they're doing, they're enjoying the process and when we start practicing even in our games, they compete at a real high level. And I think as I've told them the first three or four weeks of the season, if they continue to do that on a daily basis, they're just going to continue to get better. That's part of the process, and they get that. So it's fun to coach them. It's fun getting to the rink and going on the ice, especially as you prepare for Ohio State this weekend, knowing they're going to come and they're going to have a smile on their face and they're going to work hard individually to become better. Q. Does this arena feel like your home. Probably was a novelty a year ago in some instances but does it feel more like a home rink? COACH JOHNSON: I think everybody's getting comfortable. Obviously you're around it quite a bit and locker rooms and all the little things that go into making it your home, everybody's very comfortable with it. There are routines, patterns, what your habits are before the game. Everybody's certainly very comfortable and having an atmosphere of having a crowd and having some energy in the building is probably the biggest asset. And having the kids come out and we need to list we score a goal, there's energy in the building that certainly helps you, the home team. Q. Before the season started I think you were a little bit apprehensive about having Alex be your captain. With that being said how has it gone? COACH JOHNSON: It's gone very well. As I said in the press conference I've never had a goalie be a captain. She was the right person for the job. I think everybody respects her. When she talks, people listen. She's comfortable with where she's at. She's certainly got a lot of experience. And so she's doing a good job. If we have an issue, things come up, she's very comfortable talking to the coaching staff and I think she's done a great job up to this point, as I mentioned earlier, the team, they're an energetic group. They like to have fun together. They're generally smiling most of the time and they work hard. And I think from a coaching standpoint that's all you can ask of your athletes. Have that, have a pretty good thing going. Q. Did you envision a rotation between your goaltenders at some point this season? COACH JOHNSON: Good question. I guess in answering it, you know very comfortable with both and I think as we enter this weekend, I'm not obviously afraid to play either one. We'll start Alice in the first game Saturday afternoon and going to evaluate and see what happens within that game and how the team plays and how Alex plays and get ourselves ready for Sunday. So very comfortable with either one. I'm happy I've got Ann and get her some experience. She seems to be, as I mentioned last weekend, very poised, takes up a lot of the net. I was excited for her. Her parents came into town this weekend and spent five or six days in Madison. So it was exciting time for her and certainly fun to watch their daughter play Saturday afternoon. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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