Before opening its season Friday night, the top-ranked Wisconsin women's hockey team will watch as a banner celebrating its 2011 national championship rises to the Kohl Center rafters. Once there, that banner will occupy space next to three others from title runs in 2006, 2007 and 2009—and, the Badgers hope, will be joined in a year's time by another reading ""2012.""
While Wisconsin fans will inevitably look toward next spring and another notch on their dynasty's belt, head coach Mark Johnson is focused on something more immediate. He is concerned with what happens a few minutes after that banner finds its new home—and his players go to work on the ice beneath it.
""As most coaches will tell you, we don't like distractions. We like kids to focus in and get in a good, solid routine and stay there,"" Johnson said. ""As that banner is starting to be hoisted it's one of those memories that will certainly sit in the back of their mind for the rest of their lives. But how they're going to react? I don't know. I just hope that when they drop the puck they're ready to play.""
You do not have to look back far to see a Wisconsin team that arguably was not ready to play soon after seeing a banner go up. The last time the Badgers opened a season as defending national champions, against North Dakota Oct. 9, 2009, they fell to the Fighting Sioux 2-0 in a game that foreshadowed a season full of disappointment.
This time around, there are fewer indications that Wisconsin will suffer the same letdown. Unlike the 2009-'10 season, the Badgers have not lost almost all of their top scorers, a legendary goaltender and their head coach. And their opponent Friday, Lindenwood, is far less talented—the Lions' women's hockey team will make its debut as a Division I hockey program over the weekend.
Still, they will have to deal with the loss of team captain and Patty Kazmaier Award winner Meghan Duggan, and a slew of other seniors.
""The one thing about our business is that you lose quality people, you lose quality players, every year, and then you try to fill them in,"" Johnson said.
Attempting to fill that void will be a class of freshmen who have plenty of opportunities to show what they can do in the series. With four players—junior defensemen Stefanie McKeough and Saige Pacholok, senior defenseman Brittany Haverstock and senior forward Carolyne Prevost—away at Hockey Canada camp, Johnson said Wisconsin's freshmen will play a big role over the weekend.
""They're going to get a lot of ice time,"" he said. ""The bench will be a little bit short this weekend and our young ladies will certainly get an opportunity to get their feet wet in a hurry.""
