Knight leads the United States to GOLD

No matter who scored in Monday afternoon's OT thriller at the IIHF Women's World Championship, multiple Badgers were coming home with gold medals. It just so happened that USA forward Hilary Knight, who still has one season of eligibility remaining at Wisconsin found the back of the net.

The United States squad who captured the gold medal featured five current or former Badgers. Knight and Brianna Decker (who has two seasons of eligibility remaining) are the current Badgers. Recent grad and Patty Kazmaier Award winner Meghan Duggan, defenseman Molly Engstrom, and goaltender Jessie Vetter all starred in the past for the Badgers.

Knight was the most impressive player in the tournament, and led all scorers with 14 points in 5 games (5 goals, 9 assists). She also tied for the tournament lead in plus/minus at a plus 11. For her efforts, Knight was named to the all tournament team by a media panel.

Decker finished the tournament second in scoring with 11 points (4 goals, 7 assists) and Meghan Duggan ended up fifth with 7 points (4 goals, 3 assists). Engstrom recorded two points from the blue line and was a +9. Jessie Vetter continued her brilliance in goal with a .952 save percentage and 1.28 GAA and saved her best in the gold medal game when she stopped 51 of 53 shots.

Two other former Badgers aren't going home empty handed. Team Canada defensemen Meghan Mikkelson and Bobbi Jo Slusar, both former University of Wisconsin stars played big roles for Team Canada. Slusar finished the tournament with a couple of points and was a +4 and Mikkelson's 3 goals and +10 rating in the tournament earned her the honor of being named the tournament's best defenseman.

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Some BTHC Talk (and more) From Coach Eaves and Barry Alvarez

For those of you who live in Madison, the On Wisconsin radio show/podcast featuring Brian "The Voice of Badger Hockey" Posick from The Big 1070 (Madison) might be a major part of your sports radio experience*.

Last Wednesday's edition of On Wisconsin featured some quality discussion about the two biggest stories to strike Badger Hockey in the last few weeks: the Big Ten Hockey Conference and the Lady Badgers' newest title. Coach Mike Eaves and Athletic Director Barry Alvarez both had some chances to comment on those stories.

* Disclaimer: OR if you live in the suburbs of Milwaukee, have a normal 9-5 type job, and are an amateur blogger (in more ways than one), then you might find out about Coach Eaves and Alvarez's comments when you ask someone from the athletic department if they have made any formal statements about the BTHC, and he kindly respond to you with an e-mail linking to this podcast...

The link to the audio is here, you can also access the podcast for download here.

A general timeline for those who want to skim the podcast:

00:56-2:32 Brian Posick mentions the women's hockey title.
2:46 - 3:17 BP introduces the BTHC news
3:17 - 5:43 Coach Eaves' comments on the BTHC
18:03 BP's interview with Barry Alvarez begins
19:33 - 22:05 They discuss the women's hockey team, Megan Duggan, and Coach Johnson
22:06 - 24:18 They discuss the BTHC
26:02 - 28:26 The issue of the facility improvements at Camp Randall

Now, I'm a total hack of a journalist (you know... because I'm not one and this is an occasional hobby for me), but here's my lame-duck attempt at transcribing the comments:

Mike Eaves on the BTHC:

"In the first place, Brian, it needs to be said there's a lot of work to be done. This is just the first step ... getting the presidents and the ADs to get on board and back this. This thought process is real powerful. And I think that... in lieu of the BTN going into effect... it was just a matter of time before this type of thing happened.

"In my mind, a lot of things in our society are driven by dollars and cents and this is one of those things. The Big Ten, once they got up and running and the money they are providing to each institution... the Big Ten is big time bucks. And once they got football and basketball going, the next revenue or income sport is hockey, men's ice hockey. And I think it was just a matter of time before they were looking to get them on there. And with that being the case right now, and Penn State getting finances to get the men's and women's program there, this was a natural progression in my mind, it was just a matter of time.

"The positives of it I think are the fact that you are going to create an unbelievable conference in men's ice hockey. It's going to be on TV. People, if they want to watch college hockey, are going to know where to go to watch it on a regular basis so i think that exposure to college hockey will be tremendous. I think that will be a great thing.

"I think the conference itself, having at our league meetings everybody speaking the same language in terms of what their needs are, and the things they have to deal with i think will be very much a positive because we all speak the same language.

"The negatives... you know, people can speculate as to what some of those might be, they could say that its either going to hurt college hockey and that we're gonna lose some programs, or because of the stimulation of what's going could create some programs. So i only think that time will tell if that's going to become an issue and *laughs* time will tell what other positives and what other negatives are going to come up."

Barry Alvarez on Mark Johnson:

"Well Mark, what a... just a tremendous leader he is. Just the way he manages his team, how he builds the team. And how... you know, he's so consistent. And that's the thing I see about him. His players know exactly what he wants. He's never too high, never too low. The consistency that he shows and the great job that he does teaching and building a team is very impressive"

Barry on Meghan Duggan:

"There are certain people that have a presence, and she's one of them. She walks into a room, and she has a presence. She steps on the ice, she has a presence. Every great team has a leader, someone just like her. And you can just sense that and you can feel that. When she speaks... you can look at the people in the crowd last night and everyone listened to her and every one of her teammates that spoke mentioned her by name. And [she's a] very impressive lady"

Barry after Brian Posick noted that some places, like Penn State for their men's program, might be interested in Coach Johnson:

"Absolutely. You've got the best women's coach in the country. What he's accomplished speaks for itself. You certainly don't want to lose him. But anytime you have a successful coach, there are always people that are looking at him, you know, and people that will try to get them to move and come and run their program. that's part of the business that we're in."

Barry when asked if he thinks Coach Johnson could have the same level of success in men's hockey:

"You know Brian, I'm not a hockey guy. But I mean... I'm sure the fundamentals... he coached men's hockey before he took over the head job at the women's program." (BP: "Assistant with Jeff Sauer, yeah...") "Absolutely. And I don't see why he wouldn't be successful."

Barry on the BTHC:

"I think everyone looks at their own situation. Everyone is concerned about their own situation. I think for a number of years now, people have been concerned by us having a league it will hurt college hockey. I don't agree with that.

"I think hockey needs to be regionalized. Hockey is a very expensive sport, and when you're traveling, criss-crossing the country playing your schedule, it gets more expensive and it limits how many people can play. You take a look at the east coast schools, it's basically a bus league, they can bus to everything they don't have to fly so its less expensive.

"What the Big Ten will do for our fans... it's name recognition now. You're playing teams that you recognize. You're more aware of a Michigan, Ohio State, you have a built in tradition and rivalry already. Plus the BTN has committed to about 40 games right off the bat. so i think that it sells and it promotes college hockey and maybe educates a lot of people in areas where there isn't hockey about college hockey"

(Brian Posick: And, no disrespect to other schools in the WCHA or the CCHA, but it also, these six schools in the Big Ten, it puts them on the same academic standing as the other schools. There's no doubt that theres a disparity in the WCHA.)

Barry Alvarez's response:

"There's no question.. You're dealing with DIII schools in some cases and some DI schools and standards are a little bit different, what you're accustomed to is a little bit different, I sensed that in the meetings that i've gone to that its much different than sitting in a Big Ten meeting."

Teach Me How To Duggan

Since the Mark Johnson took over the Wisconsin Women's hockey program in 2002 he's done two things. Win National Championships, and produce Patty Kazmaier Award winners. Johnson wrapped up his fourth NCAA Title behind the Wisconsin bench on Sunday. The day before, Wisconsin senior captain Meghan Duggan was named the 2011 Patty Kaz winner, the third Badger to win the award under Johnson's watch.

For those not familiar with the women's game, the Patty Kazmaier is awarded to the top player in women's college hockey. Similar to the Hobey Baker that is given to the men.

Duggan joins Sara Bauer (2006) and Jessie Vetter (2009) as players to win the award while playing for the Badgers. Every season that a Wisconsin player has won the award, the Badgers have gone on to win the NCAA title.

Speaking emotionally about his senior captain, head coach Mark Johnson wasn't shy in reaping praise, "Meghan is probably the best two-way player, not only in the country, but in the world," said Mark Johnson, head coach at the University of Wisconsin. "One of the reasons we're in the position we're in right now is because of her leadership and what she does on the ice, and probably more importantly, what she does off the ice."

Duggan, who led the entire country in scoring with 87 points in 41 games won the award over fellow senior nominees Kelli Stack from Boston College and Meghan Agosta of Mercyhurst.

Photograph Credit: Brent Stoutamyer

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On to Lake Erie: Women Advance to Frozen Four

The Men’s season might be done, but the Women’s season still has much to cheer about.

On Saturday evening, in front of several thousand Badgers fans, the UW Women advanced to their 5th Frozen Four in the past six seasons with a 2-1 victory over the Duluth Foreign Legion (DFL). Overall, it was one hell of a good hockey game, even though there was no checking!

The first period was pretty even and the Badgers failed to capitalize on a few nice chances. The DFL was able to change the scoreboard first, w/ a goal late in the period. It came after a penalty ended for the Badgers and was one of those cases where they struggled to clear the puck and you just knew something bad was going to happen.

There was a lot of nervous tension in some of my friends heading into the second period. In case you weren’t aware, the DFL was the last team to beat the Badgers this season, way back in November 2010, and after the NCAA Committee decided that earning the #1 overall seed meant nothing, fans knew the DFL would be a tough out. Instead of getting Dartmouth the actual #8 seed, the Badgers were handed their old rival and defending NCAA champions.

The momentum quickly shifted back to the Badgers in the 2nd period, early on their second PP, Hilary Knight launched a shot from the point, which made it through traffic and past DFL goalie Comrade Kim Martin. Credit the players screening the goalie. Mark Johnson also shifted his lines late in the 1st or early in the 2nd, and put all three Patty Kaz finalists together, creating a dominate line of Knight, Meghan Duggan and Briana Decker. Those three created a lot of nice chances the rest of the game and were complimented well by the 2nd and 3rd lines which overall, the DFL worked hard to keep up with.

The Badgers controlled play through the 2nd and into the 3rd period, when 7:34 in Decker to Knight to Duggan for what would eventually be the game winner. The DFL mounted a late attack and pulled their sieve, but it was too little too late. The Badger Women cleaned up the defensive lapses they were having two weeks back in Verona, Alex Rigsby continues to play well in net, and while the score sheet doesn’t show it, forwards like Madison Packer, Mallory Deluce and Carolyne Prevost had great efforts.

One other event to point out, in the third period after a pileup in front of the DFL net, Comrade Jocelyne Larocque grabbed Knight’s facemask and ripped her helmet off. Not only did Comrade Larocque not get ejected, there wasn’t a single penalty called. I haven’t seen such a bogus officiating job since Randy Schmidt didn’t know how to run a video review at Magness arena costing Matt Ford a tying goal as time expired against Denver in 2008. Unacceptable.

Regardless, the Badger Women are headed back to the Frozen Four. There are A LOT of new faces since their last trip in 2009 where they blew out Mercyhurst, but some of the key kogs to that team are still around and I expect nothing less than #4 being brought home next Sunday. I’m bold enough to say that the Badgers might have faced their toughest game in the quarterfinals. The east coast teams might have nice records, but nothing compares to the top end of the WCHA, and UW is the best of the best. BC, BU and Cornell better be ready to get beat down in Lake Erie, because Duggan/Decker/Knight are ready for the big show.

Besides the games, Meghan Duggan should be in line to become the school’s third Patty Kaz, national player of the year, winner! She certainly has the resume. I won’t lie, I’m a little confused how Kelly Stack was a hat trick finalist instead of Hilary Knight. Knight has 9 more goals than the next closest player in NCAA hockey, and 20 more points than Stack. I know I’m biased on this one, but the stats don’t lie. Next season Knight needs to get her community service and charitable work in line, and should be the Badgers 4th Patty Kaz winner, but this year Duggan deserves all the accolades. She is truly the definition of an all around player, and a Badger Great. Duggan, Knight, Decker might not just be a nice line combo, but the next three Patty Kaz winners, if East Coast Bias doesn’t thwart the effort.

I’ll be enjoying the games in some form from my buddy’s condo in Honolulu, Hawaii. To those who are making the trip, enjoy the games and cheer hard for the Women to bring home #4!

Photos from life.com and hockeyjournal.com

Women's Hockey Wants (and Deserves) Your Help

I haven't been able to devote much time or effort to the Wisconsin men's team in the latter half of this season, but living in Columbus allowed me to see the lady Badgers in January and has put me within a four-hour drive of Erie, Pennsylvania, the site of this year's Women's Frozen Four. Unfortunately, this also means that I will not be able to get my loud, obnoxious self to the Kohl Center this Saturday for the women's national quarterfinal game against the Russian National Team University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs. In my stead, I want to encourage each and every person who can possibly attend to do so.

If you're reading this, you probably already know the success that the women's team has had in recent years, and this year as well. Our #1 Badgers boast three of the top four scorers in the country in senior Meghan Duggan (2nd, 82 points), junior Hilary Knight, and sophomore Brianna Decker (T-3rd, 76 points each). Duggan is one of the three remaining candidates for the Patty Kazmaier award. The Badgers have a 2-1-1 record against the Bulldogs this year. And finally, our great fellow Wisconsin fans set the single-game women's hockey attendance record against the Gophers in January. This team wants your help, and they deserve it.

If you've never been to a women's hockey game before, you'll be impressed with what you see. One of these two teams has won the national championship each of the last five years, so there's no question that the level of play in this game will be astronomically high. There may not be any checking allowed, but that opens up the game for more skilled plays, with beautiful passing and excellent skating. And if you're not a hockey fan at all, first of all you've come to the wrong blog, but secondly you might never get another chance to see your team host an NCAA tournament game in any sport in your home arena.

So I beg of you: get to the Kohl Center any way you can on Saturday night. Walk. Drive. Bike. Take a cab. Even get one of those wacky bicycle-rickshaw things if you have to. Just go, be loud, and cheer the Badgers on to victory. Make this game a night to rememeber, and send our lady Badgers (and me) to Erie with the chance to win their fourth national championship. It's always a great day for hockey.

Knight, Duggan named Patty Kaz Finalists

Thursday Wisconsin forwards Meghan Duggan (pictured) and Hillary Knight were announced as top 10 finalists for the 2011 Patt Kazmaier Award.

According to the release, "This year marks the 14th annual presentation of the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, given annually to the top player in NCAA Division I women’s ice hockey. Selection criteria includes outstanding individual and team skills, sportsmanship, performance in the clutch, personal character, competitiveness and a love of hockey. Consideration is also given to academic achievement and civic involvement."

Duggan, a senior forward was also honored on Thursday by the WCHA as it's Player of the Year. Duggan, a member of last years USA Olympic team which picked up a silver medal in Vancouver led the WCHA in scoring with 61 points in 28 games for a 2.18 point per game clip. Duggan won the league scoring race by 10 points over teammate and line mate, Sophomore Brianna Decker. Duggan's 79 total points this season are tied for first nationally.

Knight, a junior forward is putting goals on the board at an insane rate this season. Her 46 goals this season are 11 more than the next highest goal scorer (Duggan). Knight's 46 goals this season are also more than 4 Division-1 women's teams scored the entire season. Knight was also honored by the WCHA on Thursday being announced as a first team All-WCHA forward. This is the second time Knight has been a finalist for the Patty Kaz.

According to UWBadgers.com, 10 UW women's players have been finalists for the award: Sara Bauer (2006, 2007), Duggan (2011), Molly Engstrom (2005), Meghan Hunter (2001), Knight (2009, 2011), Erika Lawler (2009), Carla MacLeod (2005), Meaghan Mikkelson (2007), Bobbi-Jo Slusar (2006) and Jessie Vetter (2009).

Sara Bauer won the award in 2006 and Jessie Vetter won the award in 2009.

Here are the Badges honored by the WCHA on Thursday at the League Awards:

Hilary Knight-First team forward
Meghan Duggan-First team forward
Brianna Decker-First team forward
Brittany Haverstock-Third team defenseman
Brittany Ammerman-All Rookie team forward
Alex Rigsby-All Rookie team goalie
Mark Johnson-Coach of the year

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101 and counting

To add to Chuck's last post about the Women's team taking home another WCHA regular season championship, over the weekend Hilary Knight (pictured) became the first player in UW Women's history to reach the 100 goal mark in her career.  She added an OT winner on saturday to get to 101, which is currently the UW career record as well, and growing.  As I've stated before, Knight is ONLY a junior, and there is a good chance she will also become the first Badger Woman to reach 150 goals before all is said and done.

Not to be out done is Meghan Duggan, who is having a Patty Kazmeier type season.  Duggan is chasing another Badger record held by former Badger great Sara Bauer.  Bauer scored 218 points in her Badger career, Duggan currently sits at 211 points.  Duggan also has 94 career goals and should become the 2nd Badger Woman to reach that milestone before her career ends this March.

This weekend's series w/ North Dakota is the last of the regular season, but won't be the last in Madison this year.  As a season ticket holder, I received a letter this weekend informing me that UW will host their 1st round WCHA playoff matchup Feb 25, 26 & 27 at the Eagle's Nest in Verona.  Tickets go on sale tomorrow, so check uwbadgers.com for more info.  In addition, at some point on the weekend of the March 11-13 they will also host a first round NCAA game at the Kohl Center.  The exact date and time is not know, but if possible I hope they attempt to schedule it in conjuction w/ the Men's team WCHA 1st round playoff series (being hopeful the Men finish the job in the next 8 games) and get a large crowd to cheer the Women's team on to Lake Erie.

Photo from ww.life.com

McCabe, Kerdiles Help USA To Four Nation Titles

It's been a tough season so far for 2011 Wisconsin recruit Jake McCabe (pictured). Upon returning to Ann Arbor earlier this fall the Eau Claire native learned that he had a stress fracture in his L-5 vertebra which is in the lower back. 8-12 weeks of rest and rehab were in store for the young defenseman.

McCabe was able to return for a warm up USHL game last weekend and made the trip to Sweden with his U18 teammates for the Four Nations Cup. McCabe must be feeling better. He chipped in a goal against Switzerland on Saturday and this morning Team USA beat Sweden 5-4 in a shootout to win their second consecutive Four Nations Cup at the U18 level.

The United States U17 experienced similar success this weekend. Thanks to Badger forward recruit Nic Kerdiles, who is looking like one of the premier players in the country for the 2012, the USA U17 squad was also able to capture gold in a 6-1 route of Russia. Kerdiles was great all tournament recording three goals and an assist in four games. The California native showed great consistency, recording a point in every game.

The United States women who were playing for the Womens Four Nations cup this weekend weren't as fortunate. Team Canada got the best of them in the championship game, winning 3-2 in overtime. Badger senior forward Meghan Duggan finished the tournament leading USA in scoring with five points. Former Badger Meaghan Mikkelson scored the game tying goal for team Canada and assisted on the game winner in overtime.

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International Badgers

It's a huge week/end for international hockey. USA has teams in the U17 Four Nations Cup in Woodride, Il, the U18 Four Nations Cup in Sundsvall, Sweeden, the World Junior A Challenge in Penticton, British Columbia, and the Women's Four Nation Cup in St. John's N.L.

2012 Wisconsin recruit Nic Kerdiles (pictured) got the USA U17 team on the board Wednesday with a goal en route to a 6-1 victory over Switzerland. Kerdiles also notched a goal in the opening game, a 4-1 USA victory over Slovakia. The U17 team finishes up pool play on Friday night vs Russia.

2011 Wisconsin recruit Jake McCabe and the USA U18 team lost in an exhibition game to Sweden on Wednesday 3-1. McCabe did not record a point. The U18 team opens pool play Thursday morning against Finland at 8:30 AM CST.

There are no future Badgers on Team USA at the World Junior A challenge but there are four Wisconsinites playing for the red white and blue. Ohio State recruit Max McCormick (DePere), North Dakota recruit Jordan Schmaltz (Verona), Denver recruit Garrett Allen (Delafield), and Colorado College recruit Aaron Harstad (Stevens Point) are all in attendance. Team USA is 2-0 so far and will be playing in the Semi-Finals on Saturday.

At the Women's Four Nations Cup Team USA is off to a fast 2-0 start. The USA Women avenged a loss to Canada in the last Olympics with a 3-2 shootout victory to open the tournament. Badger senior forward Meghan Duggan had a goal and Badger Junior forward Hilary Knight scored the only goal in the shootout. Former Badger Jessie Vetter stopped 32 shots in the game plus all three shooters she saw during the shootout. Vetter was named the player of the game.

Meghan Duggan led the charge in game two vs Finland with two goals. Badger sophomore forward Brianna Decker had a goal and an assist and was named the player of the game for Team USA in the 4-0 victory. Hilary Knight chipped in an assist. The ladies are on the ice next on Friday vs Sweden. Former Badgers Molly Engstrom and Jinelle Zaugg-Siergiej are also on the roster for Team USA.

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USA Takes On Canada For GOLD Tonight

I'll be the first one to admit that I do not get into women's hockey. I have however really enjoyed watching the United States women at this Olympic Games and it has really piqued my interest in the women's game. I am really excited to watch the USA women take on Canada tonight for the Gold Medal.

If you are not already aware, coverage for the game starts at 5:00 PM and the actual game starts at like 5:30 I think. The game can be found on MSNBC. Nicole from the Cute Sports Blog will once again be helping us out doing a live blog of the game. She should be starting the live blog by 5:15. If I'm feeling ok, I will also be helping out when I can.

There will be 9 current or former Badgers playing in the game and obviously the United States men's coach is Mark Johnson, no introduction needed. 6 of 7 United States players are pictured to the left. First Row L to R: Erika Lawler, Jessie Vetter. Second row L to R: Hilary Knight, Meghan Duggan, Jinelle Zaugg-Siergiej, and Molly Engstrom. Missing from the photo is Kerry Weiland. Canada also features some former lady Badgers. Defensemen Meaghan Mikkelson and Carla MacLeod.

Stats for the ladies Badgers so far:

USA
Hilary Knight: 4 GP, 1 G, 7 A, +8
Molly Engstrom: 4 GP, 3 G, 4 A, +13
Meghan Duggan: 4 GP, 4 G, 0 A, +5
Erika Lawler: 3 GP, 0 G, 2 A, +6
Jinelle Zaugg-Siergiej: 4 GP, 0 G, 0A, +3
Kerry Weiland: 4 GP, 1 G, 1 A, +6
Jessie Vetter: 3 GP, 0.33 GAA, .976 Save %

Canada
Meaghan Mikkelson: 4 GP, 0 G, 0 A, +10
Carla MacLeod: 4 GP, 2 G, 3 A, +13

Image Credit: David Stluka Photography (Awesome, awesome photo)

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Rafalski's Two Goals Seal US Win

Being one of only three previous Olympians on the United States men's hockey roster, Brian Rafalski was looked upon as a leader in this years games in Vancouver. Rafalski proved his on-ice leadership by blasting two third period goals behind Norwegian goaltender Pal Grotnes.

The United States got on the board early when Plover, Wisconsin native, and former Badger, Joe Pavelski found streaking Madison native Phil Kessel up the middle of the ice who would not be denied. Chris Drury would add a goal before the period was over.

In the second, Pat Kane would get his first of the tournament with an assist from North Dakota forward Zach Parise. After the US and Norway traded goals to make it 4-1, The USA put it away when Parise found Rafalski streaking to the net who burried the puck behind Grotnes. For good measure, Team USA made it 6-1 on a play that featured three badgers getting in on the scoring. Joe Pavelski won the offensive zone faceoff back to defensman Ryan Suter. Suter, made a nice crisp pass over to defensive parter Rafalski who blasted home a one timer in the upper corner to ice the game.
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The United States women's team had already clinched a spot in the semi-finals set for Monday before they even stepped on the ice for this afternoons tilt with Finland. What was on the line was the prospects of avoiding Canada in that semi-final game. Win and they get Sweden, lose, and they get the home team Canada.

The USA never gave it a thought winning the game 6-0. Former Badger goaltender Jessie Vetter was credited with her second shutout of the tournament, also her only two starts. Former Badger defenseman Molly Engstrom continued her stellar play on Thursday netting a goal and assist. Forward Hilary Knight, who has two seasons left of eligibility after the game are over recorded her first ever Olympic goal yesterday afternoon. Meghan Duggan, continued her hot pace with another goal for the United States.

One good piece of news for Team USA is that forward Erika Lawler was able to play after sitting out a game and a half with an ankle injury. She was able to skate 12 shifts for over 11 minutes of ice time. I'm assuming coach Johnson is easing her into it and she should be pretty close to full go on Monday vs Sweden.
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Dany Heatley and the Canadian men's team got a major scare on Thursday night from the Swiss team. I was away and couldn't see the game but from the sounds of it, it was epic. Heatley, the only former Badger on the Canadian team got things started for the home team with a goal in the first period, his third of this Olympic games. NHL teammate Patrick Marleau and former North Dakota star Jonathon Toews got assists on the play.

Heatley would return the favor to Marleau in the second period, assisting on Marleau's goal that gave Canada a 2-0 lead. But the Swiss team would battle back, scoring two second period goals to tie the game at 2-0 and eventually force overtime.

There was no scoring in the OT and the game went to a shoot-out. I don't think it take a genius to figure out who has the advantage in a shoot-out between Canada and Switzerland. Especially when international rules let Sidney Crosby go more than once in the contest. So Canada got the win in a SO and will play the United States on Sunday. Should be an epic match up.

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USA Women Open With 12-1 Victory

The United States women's hockey team opened up the 2010 Olympic Winter games with a 12-1 victory over China Sunday afternoon. Ironically, these two teams faced each other eight years ago to the day, and played to the exact same score, a 12-1 USA victory.

The United States is absolutely loaded with former and current Badger players. They were led on Sunday by forward Meghan Duggan (pictured left) who had two goals on four shots for the red, white, and blue. Duggan will have one year of eligibility left with the Badgers after she returns from Vancouver.

Other Badgers who figured into the scoring Sunday afternoon: Molly Engstrom had a goal and an assist. Hilary Knight, and Kerry Weiland both finished with one assist. Erika Lawler and Jinelle Zaugg-Siergiej were held off the scoresheet. Jessie Vetter did not play.

Arguably the biggest news of the day was that forward Erika Lawler suffered an apparent ankle injury when she crashed into the boards racing for a loose puck. It happened during the second period and while she returned to the bench, she never returned to the ice. It didn't look like the injury was too serious and she was probably held out due to precautionary reasons more than anything. Keep an eye on this situation.

Team USA next plays on Tuesday vs Russia at 4:30 on MSNBC
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The Badgers are represented on Team Canada as well. Former Badger defensemen Carla MacLeod and Meaghan Mikkelson are suited up for Team Canada and they started off their tournament by taking on Slovakia Saturday night.

Team Canada absolutely smoked Slovakia and got an 18-0 victory. MacLoed was a star for the Canadians with two goals and two assists in the blowout. Mikkelson went scoreless.

Team Canada next plays on Monday vs Switzerland at 4:30 on MSNBC

Duggan photo courtesy of Getty Images

Olympic Preview: Team USA Women

The Olympics start soon, 2 weeks from now I'll be glued to the TV watching Team USA both the Men and Women. I'm a huge fan of biathlon for some reason too, but I digress. I'm going to start w/ the Women's team, because I'm A LOT more interested in them due to the numerous Badger ties. Yeah the Men's team has some too (included the beloved Joe Pavelski), but I'm really excited about the Ladies in Red, White & Blue. Hopefully get to the Men later in the week.

I've had the opportunity to see these fine women play 3 times in the past 2 months (twice in person, once on NHL Network). Thursday night on the NHL Network will be the last warm up, as Team USA takes on Finland, check it out at 8 PM.

Canada got the better of them during their pre-Olympic matches. Canada looks good, but I think Team USA has all the pieces to upset the lady canucks on their home soil. Team USA has 7 former/current Badger players and the 1980 Olympic Gold Medal winner Mark Johnson as their coach; 21 gold medals are waiting to be hung around these women's necks.

Team Canada needs to get some love as they feature former Badgers Meaghan Mikkelson and Carla MacLeod. Hope you are ok w/ silver.

NBC is once again our hosts for the Olympic games. Coverage is being supplemented by USA, MSNBC and CNBC. During the Olympics, MSNBC will likely get more viewers than in the rest of the year combined.

Below is the schedule for Team USA's and Team Canada's preliminary round games (all times CST):

Feb 13th: Canada vs Slovkia 7 PM (CNBC)
Feb 14th: USA vs China 2 PM (USA)
Feb 15th: Canada vs Switzerland 4:30 PM (MSNBC)
Feb 16th: USA vs Russia 4:30 PM (MSNBC)
Feb 17th: Canada vs Sweden 4:30 PM (MSNBC)
Feb 18th: USA vs Finland 4:30 PM (MSNBC)
Feb 22nd: Semis 2 PM (USA) & 7 PM (CNBC)
Feb 25th: Bronze 1 PM & Gold 5 PM both on MSNBC (DVR the latter, USA vs Canada, book it!)

NBC's Olympic website also has some nice profiles of all the Women's Team, I'd definitely check it out.

For easy reference the links to the Badgers:

Jessie Vetter
Jinelle Zaugg-Siergiej
Hilary Knight
Erika Lawler
Meghan Duggan
Kerry Weiland
Molly Engstrom

Hilary Knight is the youngest player on the team, and IMHO the best. I'd love to see her lineup w/ Erika Lawler, they dominated last season. Come on Ladies, bring home the GOLD!!!

USA Women's Olympic Team @ KC Tomorrow 7 PM

Be there or be square?

Tomorrow night Mark Johnson and 7 former or current Badgers (along w/ 14 Olympic teammates) are coming to the Kohl Center. Five former Badgers include Erika Lawler, Jessie Vetter, Jinelle Zaugg-Siergiej, Kerry Weiland and Molly Engstrom. Two current Badgers are redshirting this season to play in the Olympics, and Hilary Knight and Meghan Duggan will rejoin the Badgers next season.


Both Duggan and Knight have blog posts at uwbadgers.com about the upcoming game. Both are very excited to be back in Madison, in front of the home crowd.

I tagged along to St. Paul last wednesday when the Olympic team played Canada at the Excel Energy Center. Canada was a 2-1 winner, but the US played better than they did earlier in the month in Denver. They have some work to do to gain Olympic gold, but they have the talent. Erika Lawler always give 100% (I don't buy into the 110% thing) and kept the puck alive in gaining an assist in USA's only goal. It was great to see Hilary Knight play again; I'm biased but I believe she is the greatest female hockey player in the world, and can't wait for her to light up the box scores in Vancouver. Jessie Vetter was not in net, but I'd guess she will be tomorrow.

If you aren't busy tomorrow, come to the Kohl Center, you can afford $5. If you are veteran, police officer, EMS or firefighter, you can get in for $1 as UW is celebrating local heroes. When will you get another chance to see an Olympic team play in Madison or Wisconsin no less? There is something special about seeing our fellow citizens in the Red, White and Blue representing our country.

For the Badgers, both Brooke Ammerman and Brianna Decker were invited to the evaluation camp this summer and will likely be Olympians themselves 4 years from now.

Lastly, in a day where sports role models are hard to find, 21 good ones will be on the ice tomorrow night. Bring your kids, have them watch 20 to 30 year olds who bust their ass, not for phat contracts following college, but for a chance to represent their country and reach their life long dreams.

09/10 Women's Previews: #7 Meghan Duggan

Vitals:

Position: Forward
Year in School: Senior (will redshirt this season)
Shoot Right
Height: 5-9
Hometown: Danvers, MA
Major: Biology
Previous Team: Cushing Academy in 05/06

08/09 Stats: 41 games, 23-33-56, +25, 38 PIM
07/08 Stats: 38 games, 20-19-39, +24, 38 PIM

09/10 Role: US Women’s Olympic Team

08/09 Recap: Meghan was the key to a very successful 2nd line last season while serving as Assistant Captain and playing big minutes on the All Forward 1st PP unit and on the PK. For her efforts she was named to the All-WCHA 3rd Team in a very deep WCHA. She finished 4th on the team in scoring.

09/10 Thoughts: Big shoes need to be filled for the Badgers this season w/ Meghan off to the Olympics. Were there no Olympics this season, she would have been the #2 returning scorer and likely Captain of the team. Her last chapter as a Badger will have to wait a year, time to write a chapter as an Olympian first. While Meghan (and Hilary Knight) won’t be on the Badger roster this season, the blog will be following them closely as they go for gold.

Plan to come to the Kohl Center on Tuesday January 5th, when Meghan (and 7 other current and former Badgers) will be in town as Team USA squares off against the Badger Women.

Prediction: Olympic Gold

USA Badgers photos & and Meghan Duggan article

BLAINE, MN - AUGUST 25: University of Wisconsin attendees back row (L-R) Angie Keseley, Jinelle Zaugg-Siergiej, Hilary Knight, Meghan Duggan, Molly Engstrom, front row (L-R) Kerry Weiland, Jessie Vetter and Erika Lawler of the U.S. Women's National Hockey Team pose for a portrait on August 25, 2009 at the National Sports Center in Blaine, Minnesota.

LIFE has a whole bunch o' photos of the 2009-10 US Women's National Team, including this Tom Dahlin/Getty Images photo of the 8 Badgers on the team. To see other photos of each player, click on their names.

(By the way, the caption on the LIFE site currently has the players in the back row listed in the incorrect order, so I fixed it above. Also, it's nice that LIFE allows for sharing of photos on non-commercial websites.)

In addition to looking for photos, I've also been continuing to look for articles on our USA Badgers, and today I found another article on Meghan Duggan.

“I was really excited to hear my name announced on Monday,” Duggan said. “It’s really huge to make it this far — to get by that first cut.

“I wished for, waited for and trained for this moment my entire life, and again it was great to hear my name announced the other day.”

A few US Women's National Team links

• The US Women's National team will be at the Minnesota State Fair tomorrow, marching in the State Fair Parade and signing autograpsh. (Thanks to brookyone for the link.)

• The Salem News has an article about Meghan Duggan making the team. (Thanks to BadgersWHockey, a fan-based twitter feed, which was nicely pointed out to me by a reader. I'm adding a link on the left of the blog.)

• Boscacci tells us that Mark Johnson will be one of Brian Posick's guests after 2PM on "On Wisconsin" on WTSO 1070. Hey, it's about 2PM right now, I'd better head over there! EDIT: BadgersWHockey says Johnson will be on around 2:20.
  

Badgers win WCHA Honors

WCHA awards were announced today, and 7 Badger players received honors, as did head coach Mark Johnson. Most notably, Hilary Knight was named WCHA Player of the Year! Hilary, she's the bomb. (You'll notice that Jessie Vetter did not win goaltender of the year; that honor went to freshman Alyssa Grogan from minnesota.)

Hilary Knight - Player of the Year, 1st-Team All-WCHA
Jessie Vetter - 1st-Team All-WCHA
Erika Lawler - 2nd-Team All-WCHA
Meghan Duggan - 3rd-Team All-WCHA
Alycia Matthews - 3rd-Team All-WCHA
Brooke Ammerman - 3rd-Team All-WCHA, All-Rookie Team
Brittany Haverstock - All-Rookie Team
Mark Johnson - WCHA Co-Coach of the Year (with minnesota's Brad Frost)

Congratulations, Badgers!

9 Badgers also were named to the WCHA All-Academic team: Rachel Bible, Mallory Deluce, Meghan Duggan, Maria Evans, Kayla Hagen, Angie Keseley, Erika Lawler, Alycia Matthews, and Jessie Vetter.

Nice work, ladies!

Here are the uwbadgers.com and wcha.com releases and a blurb in the WSJ. Also, one of the Fitchburg, MA papers had a nice feature on Erika Lawler.

Ya know, I'm not sure if I posted this yet, so I'm going to go ahead and post it here -- current Badger Jessie Vetter and past Badger players Molly Engstrom and Sara Bauer were named Top-10 players from the 1st 10 years of the Women's WCHA. Here are the uwbadgers.com and wcha.com releases.

Just a reminder that Vetter, Knight, and Lawler are all top-1o finalists for the Patty Kaz. The top-3 finalists will be named on March 10.

Patty Kaz nominees announced

On Sunday, the 43 nominees for the 2009 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award were announced. The list includes 4 Badgers: Meghan Duggan, Hilary Knight, Erika Lawler, and Jessie Vetter.

Before the announcement, uwbadgers.com already had Patty Kaz sites for Knight and Vetter, so I'm assuming that that Knight and Vetter were nominated by Coach Johnson and that Duggan and Lawler were nominated by other coaches. I don't really know how the whole thing works, but here's what dave1381 posted on uscho:

The procedure last year was that coaches nominate two players from their team. They also are asked to list the top three players at their league and national level.

Hopefully uwbadgers.com will also put together Patty Kaz sites for Duggan and Lawler now as well.

The Badgers' having 4 players nominated is quite impressive. Congratulations to Meghan, Hilary, Erika, and Jessie on their nominations!

The top-10 finalists will be announced March 2, and the top-3 finalists will be announced March 10. The award will be presented in conjunction with the Women's FF on Sat, March 21. Good luck, Badgers!

Baggot wonders about Women's attendance

Before I get to the main point, I want to point out that Meghan Duggan was named WCHA offensive player of the week.

To the main point of this post, today Andy Baggot of the WSJ shared some thoughts wondering why the Women's team doesn't see bigger attendance numbers at their games. He makes a lot of good points, and I have wondered this exact same thing myself this season.

Here are some of Baggot's points:

• The Badger Women are the best thing going in terms of Wisconsin sports. No one touches their unbeaten record of 16-0-2.
• Baggot considers Jessie Vetter to be one of the five most dominant, most clutch student-athletes in school history, men or women. Her stats definately back this up this season and throughout her career. 8-1 in the NCAA tourney w/ two National Championship and there is a good chance she'll be the top netminder for Team USA in the Olympics next winter.
• If Jessie isn't enough, Erika Lawler, Meghan Duggan and Hilary Knight are three of the best Women's hockey players in all the land and possibly Olympians themselves in Feb 2010. Hilary Knight is the bomb. Throw in Brooke Ammerman, Malory Deluce, Angie Keseley, Jasmine Giles and Carolyne Prevost too (I could name several more), they aren't too bad.
• Mark Johnson, enough said.

If you actually link over to the article there are a lot of comments from different people, all w/ some merit on why they don't draw better. Here is a brief summary:

• People don't like Women's sports. Roughly 50% of the populace is female, can this blanket statement really be true?
• Schedule, its mentioned many times and I think is the main reason for low attendance on fridays.
• No checking, the game is too slow. I can understand if you've only seen Men's hockey all your life that no checking would be odd, but I don't think the game is that slow. W/ out the checking it really opens things up, and well the Badgers are talented and it shows.
• Competition isn't great. Sure'll I'll give anyone that. Other than minnesota and Foreign Legion of Duluth, the rest of the WCHA is no match. Not the women on the ice's fault that other schools suck.
• One person even said foul language. Sieve is far from foul, its the cold hard truth.

The Women are averaging 1,440 people/game so far. As a few commentors pointed out the volleyball team draws 3 to 4k, while the basketball team draws 8k, sometimes more. Both are much more mainstream sports in HS for young women to play, I can see how they would be attended because likely more people participated in them at a younger age.

Really I think people are missing out, and missing out in a big way. Last season I attended my first Women's game, 1st round WCHA against Mankato. I had always said I would make a game, and always put it off. Not long into the 1st period, I knew I would be in a seat come this season when I could make it. Hilary Knight put a sick move on one of the land cow players scoring a sweet goal. No checking, you say, I'm glad becasue you would never see a talented player in the Men's game do that, or at least not often, maybe on a breakaway. I'm very happy I've made 7 of 10 so far this season, and look forward to St. Cloud this weekend.

Men's and Women's hockey are like night and day to me, I enjoy them both for that reason. As Baggot was saying, this team is loaded w/ talent, loaded!

I will admit that schedule is a big deal. I have a job where I can leave friday afternoons and head to the KC, but a lot of people don't and kids are still in school. But the price is definately right, $5/game or $30/season ticket is a steal, especially for what you get in return in entertainment value.

For those who have been to a game and don't like it for whatever reason, that is fine, the play doesn't suit everyone. If you haven't been to a game, I recommend making a point of picking a saturday for a doubleheader, and form an opinion for yourself. I think the Women's team would be a great place for young girls to come and watch hardworking, confident young women play their sport, and maybe give them some good role models to aspire to.

I'm not sure if Andy Baggot is saying the Women should get 10,000+ in attendance or he just expects better. I would be happy to see 4,000 at every game, and maybe that will come if UW builds a new rink for practice and Women's game. Maybe their own rink will help their schedule too.

This weekend is another chance for Badger fans to see the Women in action. Come to the Kohl Center at 2 PM Friday and/or Saturday, I don't think you'll be disappointed.