You might think that after such a dominant 2008-'09 season, which ended with the Badgers winning their third national title in four years, the Wisconsin women's hockey team would cruise to another championship in 2009-'10.
But with head coach Mark Johnson leaving to coach the U.S. Olympic team at the 2010 Vancouver Games, six seniors, including goalie Jessie Vetter and team captain Erika Lawler are graduating, and a few more current team members likely joining Team USA at the Olympics, there is a lot of uncertainty surrounding the coming season.
Johnson's absence could prove to be crucial for the Badgers. Since taking over the head coaching job in 2002, he was behind the bench for all three of Wisconsin's national championships.
When Johnson was selected to coach Team USA, he named assistant coaches Tracey DeKeyser and Daniel Koch co-head coaches for the 2009-'10 year. This will not be the first time DeKeyser and Koch have shared head coaching duties. When Johnson left for a weekend to coach the U.S. Under-18 team in January, DeKeyser and Koch took over for a series against Minnesota-Duluth.
Another significant change for the Badgers is the graduation of the team's six seniors: forwards Kayla Hagen, Erika Lawler and Angie Keseley, defenders Rachel Bible and Alycia Matthews and goalie Jessie Vetter.
In their absence, new seniors such as Jasmine Giles and Kyla Sanders, as well as sophomore forward Brooke Ammerman, will need to step up to leading roles for the offense. Giles and Sanders were an impressive duo as linemates, racking up a combined 26 goals and 46 assists last season, and Ammerman showed a great deal of promise with 27 goals her freshman year.
On defense, juniors Malee Windmeier and Olivia Jakiel will try to fill the hole left by Bible and Matthews. The Badgers outshot their opponents by 15 on average in the 2008-'09 season because of strong play on both offense and defense, something this year's team must be able to do without those aforementioned six seniors. And with Vetter leaving as well, Wisconsin will look for senior Alannah McCready to step into the starting goalie role.
The team could lose a few current players to the Olympics as well. Four Badgers, including junior Meghan Duggan and sophomore Hilary Knight, were selected to join Team USA at the International Ice Hockey Federation's World Championships in Finland after last season ended.
Assuming Duggan and Knight are selected to play for Team USA in Vancouver, Wisconsin will lose two of its top scorers: Duggan posted 23 goals last season, while Knight led the team with 45. Both will likely join Johnson at the Olympics, meaning the Badgers will need to find another source of offensive power.
The 2008-'09 Wisconsin women's hockey team was possibly the strongest one in the program's history, suffering just two losses on the way to a shutout victory in the national championship game. This year, however, the outcome could be much less certain.
Having lost players and their head coach, the Badgers will look to those who have acted in supporting roles to step up and lead in 2009-'10.
