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UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN HOCKEY MEDIA CONFERENCEFebruary 10, 2014Mark JohnsonTHE MODERATOR: The women's hockey team returns home for its final regular season series in Madison, hosting a battle of the top two ranked teams in the country when Minnesota travels to Madison this weekend. Friday's game will include Senior Night activities. Starts at 7:00 p.m. at LaBahn Arena. Then Saturday night is Fill the Bowl at the Kohl Center as the Badgers attempt to break the NCAA single game attendance record. Tickets are $1 with UW students receiving free admission with their student IDs, and all students are encouraged to bring canned, nonperishable food items to donate to second harvest food bank. Head coach Mark Johnson is here. We'll have opening comments and then take questions. COACH JOHNSON: Senior night. Thanks. Trying to figure out where the season went as we wind down. Just reflecting on this past weekend, I thought our Friday night game down in Columbus was one of our better defensive games we played all season. The challenge, when you play in Columbus for us, is a much smaller ice sheet than we're used to. Things happen very quickly. But I thought our team responded very well Friday and didn't give up much. Certainly, Alex did a nice job when she did get faced and came away with a nice shutout victory, and then responded well Saturday coming back with another good effort. Very happy with the sweep. As Brian mentioned, I think everybody up in Minnesota and certainly the people here in Madison that follow us, has this weekend circled on their calendars. Should be an exciting couple games. And certainly Saturday night's game is going to be special, not only for our players but certainly for our fans, and I'm sure the Minnesota players are going to equally be thrilled with the opportunity to play in front of a big crowd. Q. How will home ice differ at the Kohl Center as opposed to LaBahn? COACH JOHNSON: You're just dealing with a bigger ice sheet, similar to what the Olympic teams have to deal with over in Sochi right now. If you're used to playing on an NHL‑sized sheet that's either 85 or maybe 87 feet wide and you go to an Olympic‑sized sheet that's 100 feet wide, there's just more time, there's more space. For teams that can skate at good skill levels, it probably gives you a little bit of an advantage. So coming over to the Kohl Center where it's 96.5 feet wide just gives a lot more time and space to players. I think probably makes scoring a little more challenging just because of the space that's on the surface. Q. Sometimes you hear athletes say that they don't even hear the crowd when they're on the ice or on the court because they're just so focused. How much of a difference can a large crowd realistically make for your group? COACH JOHNSON: Well, I think, if they're able to manage their nerves, it can be helpful. Certainly we've seen it in other sports where the teams that are at home, they create some energy. If you're able to score, that certainly creates energy. I think for our players and certainly for our visitors, it's going to be managing your nerves because they're not used to playing in that big of a setting in front of that many people. So after the first couple of shifts, hopefully, they'll settle down and just focus on the task at hand. The most important thing is what happens inside the boards. Certainly, again, for our parents, our players, going to be a special night because we don't get an opportunity to do this on a regular basis. So coming over here, obviously, hopefully, everybody brings in some perishable food items and we send a lot of food down to Second Harvest Foodbank, and everybody's a winner in the evening. As Brian mentioned, we haven't faced each other here since October. We had two games up in Minneapolis, very tight games and very entertaining. Had full houses up there. I'm sure we're going to see that Friday night over in LaBahn and certainly again Saturday here at the Kohl Center. Q. How much have these two teams changed? October, that was a long time ago, whenever these teams faced off. COACH JOHNSON: I think for the younger players, you know, for our younger players and certainly for their younger players, they're experienced now, they're seasoned. They've been around the league. They've played everybody at least twice. So when you start the season, you're not sure what you're going to get with some of your freshmen, so you don't know how they're going to react in certain rinks and certain environments and certain situations. You know, we've been through a chunk now. We started on September 15. So for our younger players, again, your ability to manage nerves will be a factor this weekend, but more importantly, I think, from a coaching standpoint, players get excited for these type of weekends. I'm sure their players are going to be excited. They're going to be challenged. And certainly for our group, we're going to be challenged. It will start today. I'm sure our players are going to have a smile on their face. They're going to be excited. They can't wait until Friday night at 7:00 when we drop the puck. Q. Mark, you've been through a lot of Senior Days. What goes through your mind when you see someone who's maximized their time here like Alex to someone who's had a bittersweet time like Steph, to some of the more unsung players that are seniors right now? Do you find your head going through a loop of video and remembering what they went through and that type of thing, or is it more of after the season? COACH JOHNSON: No, it's a distraction. As coaches, we don't like that, but it's part of our journey to finish off the season. You have one every year. As you mentioned, each one, as their name is announced and the short bio is read, their parents and maybe some of their siblings are in attendance, you take four years, and you get all these memories come rushing through your brain, and certainly each one is memorable. Whether it's Alex and what she was able to do coming off a couple surgeries after‑‑ part of her freshman year and after her freshman year. You talk about Steph and one step from being on the Olympic team playing over in Sochi right now for Team Canada, and that's pulled away, and watched some of the struggle she's had to endure over the last couple of years. You look at Natalie Berg, who was just going to come to Wisconsin to go to school, decides to give me a call one day, and we gave her a tryout four years ago. She's done an outstanding job in her journey to become a better player, to become a good, solid Division I defenseman. So you get a lot of mixed emotions, and certainly it will be a special night for their family members and certainly realize how quickly time goes by. Q. What goes through your mind about Kelly Jaminski under those circumstances? COACH JOHNSON: A maturing level, similar to a lot of our players, a growth. I think that's the biggest satisfaction we as a coaching staff get. As they become juniors, as they become seniors, as they start to wind down their career, where they started four years ago, how much they've grown not only on the ice but equally as important, and probably more important, how they've grown off the ice, how they've handled some circumstances, how they've handled some adversity, how they've pushed themselves through some of those situations and have grown as individuals. Got a first on Saturday when we were flying home. I'm not sure I should share this. It will probably embarrass her. But first time I've seen a curling iron on a plane coming home. One of our players had to attend a function when we got home Saturday night, so she was doing her hair on the plane as we came home and running off the bus as we got to the Kohl Center to get to the event. It was a special event that she was going to attend and was on her way. So I haven't seen that before. As in our business, you always see firsts. That was a first for me. She was working with our stewardess to try to figure out how to get this curling iron into the socket on the plane and see if it would work or not. I don't know if you've seen it, Coach. Q. Mark, I suppose every game is this way, but when you have chances against a team like Minnesota, you've got to find a way to bury them. Is that safe to say? COACH JOHNSON: You do. You look at their offensive numbers, and those are the ones that stick out. As I look at film and things, they defend well. They don't give up a lot of opportunities. So you're going to have to capitalize on it. You're going to have to play real good, disciplined hockey. Can't take too many penalties. Last couple of weekends, their power play is really starting to click. It should be an entertaining game. If you're going to have a chance to beat them, you certainly have to capitalize on your opportunities. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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