University of Wisconsin girls’s hockey coach Mark Johnson appeared out the window and did a double-take prior to leaving residence Saturday for La Bahn Arena.
“Not a good day to be a deer,” he thought. “I was looking at those deer this morning in my backyard, and they were looking for food and it’s 18 below.
“It’s a rough patch for them. Survival.”
Johnson may very well be speaking about his personal crew.
After this previous weekend’s residence sweep of Bemidji State, the No. 1 ranked Badgers bid farewell to their 5 Olympic gamers for probably the rest of the common season.
Caroline Harvey, Kirsten Simms, Laila Edwards and Ava McNaughton are becoming a member of Team USA, whereas Adela Sapovalivova can be skating for Team Czechia.
Johnson, who can relate to the Olympic satisfaction and pleasure in enjoying for his nation, has taken all of it in stride regardless of dropping three of his high 4 scorers and elite goaltender.
It’s a tough patch for the Badgers. Survival.
“We knew it was coming and we’ve talked about it since September,” Johnson stated Sunday. “Time went by quickly. And now here we are.
“Overall, we put ourselves in a position. Now, we’re gonna get challenged. But it’s no different than some early games that we had in the season with injuries.”
The Badgers are 23-1-2 total and lead the Western Collegiate Hockey Association with a 17-1-2 report and 53 factors. But there’s little margin for error on the high.
Ohio State (23-3) is second within the WCHA with a 17-3 mark and 49 factors. In December, the UW swept the Buckeyes in Columbus. The rematch is Feb. 7-8 in Madison.
The Badgers will play at Minnesota (22-4) this weekend. The Gophers, who’re third within the WCHA with 48 factors, handed Wisconsin its solely loss, 5-1, in October at La Bahn.
After going through the Gophers on the highway and the Buckeyes at residence, the Badgers have a visit to Minnesota State and can end the common season at residence in opposition to St. Cloud State.
The Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will run from Feb. 6-22 in Italy. The bronze medal and gold medal video games in girls’s hockey can be Feb. 19.
The first spherical of the WCHA playoffs begins Feb. 27.
‘Two ft within the boat’
After scoring her first profession hat trick at Wisconsin in Saturday’s 10-3 win in opposition to Bemidji State, Harvey talked about minimizing distractions between twin commitments.
“I’m trying to focus on while we’re here Badger hockey with two feet in the boat,” she stated. “With the USA, same thing, two feet in the boat. I try not to get too ahead of ourselves.
“Obviously, it’s an exciting time coming up and then when we return there will be the playoffs, and they’re exciting as well.
“It’s just knowing wherever we are will be where our feet are. This weekend, two games, take care of business. When we come back, we want to win a championship.
“When we’re gone, the girls can feel our support knowing we’re watching them, supporting them, obviously wanting them to be winning and doing well.”
Harvey competed within the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. She was then 19 and the youngest participant on Team USA, which received the silver medal.
Caroline Harvey mimics holding a cellphone after scoring for the U.S. within the World Championship gold-medal recreation in opposition to Canada final April. The Badgers defender had her cellphone fall out of her pants and onto the ice throughout an earlier recreation within the match.
For Simms, who additionally had the hat trick Saturday, this can be her first Olympics. For the weekend, she completed with 4 targets and 4 assists.
“I’m super grateful for the (Olympic) opportunity, super excited overall,” Simms stated. “It was good to finish off a sweep with the girls this weekend…
“Tomorrow (Monday) kind of a new chapter begins and you’re focusing on Milano now and focusing on the Olympics and that side of things the next couple of weeks.
“Shifting from USA to Wisconsin, I’ve tried to be as present as I can while I’m here and while I’m there. Obviously more antsy, more excited heading into that.”
After Saturday’s recreation Johnson kidded that he doesn’t have a minor league crew to name up gamers to exchange those that are leaving.
“You’re excited for them (the Olympians) and we’re going to do what we’re going to do,” stated Johnson, a star of the Miracle on Ice and the 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid.
“We’ve got to come together really tight, we’ve got to play as a group, we’ve got to be unified in what we’re going to do and that will start Tuesday in practice.
“The minutes are going to be higher,” he stated of these gamers who can be referred to as upon to step up their manufacturing. And it’s going to take consideration to element. The little issues.
“Can they play a smart game?” he requested.
Johnson plans on working with people “to manage what they need to manage and what they can do to help the team win.”
What the Badgers will lose
The losses are vital, starting with Harvey, who’s arguably the highest defender in faculty hockey, the crew captain and the UW’s main scorer with 17 targets and 37 assists.
“I’ve seen a lot of good players on the women’s side,” Johnson stated. “But I’ve not seen players or a player do what she’s capable of doing with her feet.”
He described that as “the way she can skate and move laterally on the ice … her skating, her ability to jump into plays and then her lateral movement from side to side.”
Johnson added, “How did she get so good? Well, just come to practice and watch what she does before practice and how she practices and what she does after practice.
“She’s a professional. Plays every shift hard. Plays every drill in practice hard. Takes care of herself off the ice, on the ice. She’s a true professional.”
Simms is the third main scorer with 21 targets and 48 factors. She has 4 multi-goal video games this season, together with three of them in opposition to Bemidji State.
Wisconsin’s fourth-leading scorer is Edwards, 22, who has the excellence of turning into the primary Black lady to characterize Team USA hockey on the Olympics.
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Wisconsin defender Laila Edwards controls the puck within the offensive zone in opposition to Maine in October. Edwards would be the first Black women’s hockey participant for Team USA within the Olympics.
Hilary Knight, a UW skater from 2007 to 2012, is extensively considered as one of many best gamers in girls’s historical past. She’s a four-time Olympian and captains this crew in Italy.
Speaking to the Associated Press, Knight stated, “Laila (Edwards) is the future of the sport. I think you’re seeing someone who’s coming into her skills set and just scratching the surface.”
Sapovalivova, a freshman from Beroun, Czechia, is the UW’s seventh-leading scorer with 9 targets and 17 assists. At a younger age, she gained a lot worldwide expertise.
Meanwhile, McNaughton has been stellar between the pipes for Wisconsin. She has posted a 22-1-2 report with six shutouts and a goals-against-average of 1.29. Big loss.
In the absence of those 5 gamers, the Badgers will rely closely on second-leading scorer Lacey Eden, who has 19 targets and 30 assists. She has a 12-game level streak.
Kelly Gorbatenko, the UW’s sixth-leading scorer, had a aim Sunday in opposition to Bemidji State. She has scored within the final 10 sequence and has 18 targets on the season.
“Coach is able to roll the bench for pretty much every game during the season,” Simms stated of Johnson’s line choices shifting ahead for the subsequent month.
“Obviously, there are times where certain lines play a little bit more than others. But, for the most part, we’re able to play all 12, 13 forwards, whoever’s dressed.
“And the same on the (defense) end. I think that’s something special with this group is that we’ve always had that type of depth.”
As an apart throughout Sunday’s postgame press convention, Johnson famous that the Denver Broncos misplaced their beginning quarterback, Bo Nix, to a season-ending harm.
“But nobody is going to feel sorry for you,” he identified. “You’ve got one game and you’re in the Super Bowl.”
He made the remark earlier than the Broncos misplaced 13-10 to New England. Nonetheless, everyone understood the purpose he was making to the media. And perhaps his gamers.
It’s a tough patch for them. Survival.