Wisconsin Badgers 2013-2014 Season

[Badger Booster]

Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2013-2014 Season

Game really seemed to turn in the 2nd. Wisconsin had several opportunities with the puck rolling around in the crease, but nobody to slam it home. Really played well all period....until a poor backcheck led to a No Dak goal with less than a minute left. Took the life out of the crowd and seemingly the team. Even with the 4 goals allowed, I thought Desbiens played pretty well. Got hung out to dry on the first two goals.

Badgers really have to play with more consistent energy and create more quality scoring chances, especially the forwards. North Dakota is too good to just play hard for a period or two and expect to win.

Rigsby did dress so I wouldn't be surprised to see her get the start tomorrow.

It seemed liked the most crowded sellout they've had and I didn't see many open seats...until after the 4th goal. I saw more than a few people turned away at the door. I was able to sell my extra ticket in about 30 seconds. A dad brought his daughter to the game but hadn't bought an extra ticket ahead of time. I wonder if they count standing room spots into the capacity size. Standing room probably accounts for about 200 or so.

Big game tomorrow. Hopefully, they'll be able to put today's game behind them and move on.

 

[Timothy A]

Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2013-2014 Season

The line change that led to the first sue goal was awful. I know the gals were gassed, but the puck didn't get near far enough out of the zone for the change to occur. They did dominate the 2nd, hit 1 post for sure, but yeah that period's ending did seem to suck the air out of them. ARD was really p/o'ed after the 4th goal, but I thought she played very well. She was tested more often and harder that the sue sieve. Ammerman was not her usual speedy, feisty, aggressive self at all. I wonder if she is sick or injured. Conversely the sue played well. It reminded me of the 0-0 game I saw on tv where the sue dominated the game, but Rigsby stole the game. When I saw her dressed, I thought for sure she was going to play. I don't understand why you do dress her if the isn't going to play in this game. Either she's healthy enough to play or not.

I just saw the rodents lost in a shootout....ouch, we coulda picked up a little ground there.

 

[robertearle]

Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2013-2014 Season

When I saw her dressed, I thought for sure she was going to play. I don't understand why you do dress her if the isn't going to play in this game. Either she's healthy enough to play or not.

My guess is the thinking is a healthy and playing well Desbiens was preferable over a rusty Rigsby against UND, that it would be better (safer?) for Rigs to knock the rust off against Bemidji (with all due respect to Bemidji, they ain't UND). She was dressed to play in case something happened to Desbiens.

It will be interesting to see who plays today. In keeping with the above, my guess is Desbiens.

 

[ARM]

My guess is the thinking is a healthy and playing well Desbiens was preferable over a rusty Rigsby against UND, that it would be better (safer?) for Rigs to knock the rust off against Bemidji (with all due respect to Bemidji, they ain't UND).

I agree with you. It's a marathon, not a sprint. If there is a goal-mouth pileup and Rigsby re-injures her knee and is out for a couple of months, then it was a bad gamble to play her. You are far likelier to get such contact involving your goaltender against UND. Injuries often seem to happen when an athlete is tired, so it is also possible that she isn't back into game shape and ready to play 120 minutes on the weekend. If she plays today, that could be another factor.

 

[Badger Booster]

Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2013-2014 Season

I think it's probably a combination of all the above. With dressing yesterday, I'm guessing she would have gone in if anything had gone wrong with Desbiens. I think Rigsby plays today (though I have no inside information), but playing two straight days against No Dak might not have been the best way to get her back into action. With Desbiens playing so well lately, it probably wasn't that hard of a decision. The key will be to get Rigsby has healthy as possible going into the playoffs.

Wisconsin caught a break with Ohio State getting two points from the Gophers last night. Get a win today and they'll still be in striking distance of the league lead.

 

[NMH]

Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2013-2014 Season

The defense was awful on Saturday. Very little of what happened was Desbiens' fault, but you can be sure she took the loss hard. The D left her out to dry for pretty much the whole game.

Regardless of Rigsby, I liked the return to Desbiens today for her psyche. A similar situation happened to Rigs her freshman year where she was shelled by Minny - she was actually pulled from that game. And Coach Johnson had a personal practice with her and made sure she was in the right headspace and got her back out there. While this isn't the same exact story, I think it's important that they show the faith in Desbiens and get her back out there so that the loss gets compartmentalized and put in the past. If she didn't play on Sunday, that's a long time to marinate on it.

While it's a shame UW couldn't take advantage of tOSU's upset of Minny, that, along with Harvard's loss to Yale and Mercyhurst's tie with Cornell, there was a lot of shakeup at the top of the rankings, so Saturday's loss shouldn't affect the Badgers too much, which is nice.

 

[WiscDC]

Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2013-2014 Season

Before today, the worst hockey officiating I had ever seen was the Friday game against Minnesota in Madison last year. Now it is the game that just happened. Holy crap, that was awful. If one player attacks another, they'd maybe call coincidental minors. We had a couple other calls that were legitimate, but completely random selections out of all the should-be-penalties happening right in front of the refs faces. That was utter incompetence. At least in that game last year against Minnesota, one team wasn't getting away with things. Today, the Badgers gooned it up less than North Dakota, but they got away with plenty, knowing they would. I remember at one point, bodies and sticks were flying everywhere. The nearest referee didn't see it, but had sharp enough eyes to identify a hand pass all the way through it. Okay, now that that's out of the way...

They played better today (duh). ARD made some awesome saves, it makes me wonder how that first goal even had a chance. There were more people there today than yesterday, and it did end up being another sellout.

 

[robertearle]

Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2013-2014 Season

Before today, the worst hockey officiating I had ever seen was the Friday game against Minnesota in Madison last year. Now it is the game that just happened. Holy crap, that was awful.

I wanted to put in a word of support, so to speak, for the refs.

A lot of time, you'll hear people talk about the refs' "letting them play". And refs will do it... right up until the stop doing it, and start calling penalties. So you end up with stuff getting called in the 3rd period that didn't get called in the 1st, etc. But the refs this weekend (the pair that I most like to see doing games) "let them play" the entire time, both games.

Lotsa stuff that could have - and maybe should have - been called but wasn't called both ways. They were consistent the whole way; they let 'em play, start to finish.

 

[WiscDC]

Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2013-2014 Season

I wanted to put in a word of support, so to speak, for the refs.

A lot of time, you'll hear people talk about the refs' "letting them play". And refs will do it... right up until the stop doing it, and start calling penalties. So you end up with stuff getting called in the 3rd period that didn't get called in the 1st, etc. But the refs this weekend (the pair that I most like to see doing games) "let them play" the entire time, both games.

Lotsa stuff that could have - and maybe should have - been called but wasn't called both ways. They were consistent the whole way; they let 'em play, start to finish.

I'm usually against the "let them play" camp, because that's a nice way of saying, "ignore the rulebook and try to figure it out." Also, they were not being consistent. A modest hook was called, but a punch to the head is ignored? That's not consistent at all.

Edit: This is also NOT LETTING THEM PLAY. It's facilitating hooking and holding the opponent when she beats you. It facilitates blatant attacks. "Letting them play" is a sportuguese cliche.

 

[Timothy A]

Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2013-2014 Season

The refs were mostly consistent with the non-calls, but the noncalls weren't iffy noncalls, they were no doubt about it penalties that had to be called or it's not "hockey", it's some other sport. Also, why were they reviewing goals so often? The only UW goal Sat. was so obviously a goal, but yet it was reviewed. The UW goal the delayed penalty was also reviewed, and the refs had a 1 hr conference about something after it was scored. So why did they give UW a pp when the goal was scored during the delayed penalty? I never did figure that one out.

 

[Nowheresville]

Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2013-2014 Season

So why did they give UW a pp when the goal was scored during the delayed penalty? I never did figure that one out.

They changed the rule a couple years ago, so now anytime a team scores on a delayed penalty, the penalty is still enforced after the goal.

 

[Timothy A]

Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2013-2014 Season

They changed the rule a couple years ago, so now anytime a team scores on a delayed penalty, the penalty is still enforced after the goal.

10-4. So what the hell took so long to resolve that, you stupid refs?

 

[robertearle]

Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2013-2014 Season

10-4. So what the hell took so long to resolve that, you stupid refs?

My guess on that one is there was maybe a whistle during the 'delay' part of the 'delayed penalty' (whistle blown if UND gets control of the puck prior to it going into the net, wipes out the goal). Don't know if the video available to them had audio (and of sufficient quality to hear a whistle); Don't know why it took so long - maybe discussing if video review can also be 'audio review'?

(They also reviewed the 4th UND goal on Saturday, for what I thought might have been a high stick (to the puck, not player) during the scrum. No idea at all what they wanted to look at on Keely J's goal Saturday.)

 

[NMH]

Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2013-2014 Season

My guess on that one is there was maybe a whistle during the 'delay' part of the 'delayed penalty' (whistle blown if UND gets control of the puck prior to it going into the net, wipes out the goal). Don't know if the video available to them had audio (and of sufficient quality to hear a whistle); Don't know why it took so long - maybe discussing if video review can also be 'audio review'?

(They also reviewed the 4th UND goal on Saturday, for what I thought might have been a high stick (to the puck, not player) during the scrum. No idea at all what they wanted to look at on Keely J's goal Saturday.)

Not that I agree that it was necessary, but Jaminski's goal kind of popped around the corner posts then down and out quickly, so my guess is they reviewed to make sure it actually crossed the line. It's the only explanation that makes any sense.

On the long Sunday review, I think they were checking to see if UND touched it at all. The goal can seen at the :47 or so mark in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hleIIEjPAg8

Sometimes I think I hear a whistle, sometimes I don't. Schlossman argues there was a whistle, so it should be no goal. If there is a whistle, it's concurrent to the goal, so to my mind the refs may have screwed up to blow the whistle early, but since it clearly doesn't affect the flow up play, they make the correct call in counting the goal and not disallowing it, effectively fixing the mistake. But I could be totally wrong.

The thing about "let them play" is that it's great until the game gets out of hand and then the refs are more than partly responsible for any melee and injuries/penalties/goals that result.

It's one thing to be loose, but I feel like if I'm the ref, two teams I don't have that attitude with are Minny and NoDak. You know they're going to be physical before the game even starts. The third period Saturday was very close to getting out of hand because of Wisconsin's frustrations and the fact that it had been a lax game.

 

[northhockey]

Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2013-2014 Season

http://undhockey.areavoices.com/?p=96235

UND didn't deserve to win yesterday but both teams deserve better officiating. I hear a whistle right before the crowd erupts. Multiple UND players went straight to the refs so I find it hard to believe there was no early whistle. Should be a no goal. they didn't call much of anything either game when both teams were deserving of multiple penalties....

 

[Timothy A]

Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2013-2014 Season

Now to the game itself. After the 1st period Sunday, I was pretty convinced the sue had passed UW for the #2 spot in the wcha's pecking order. The sue owned the Sat. game and the Friday game @ the sue, and UW wasn't generating any O against them. Then in the 2nd and 3rd periods Sunday, UW took over. At this point I'd say they were even, but UW has the advantage in goal with either ARD or Rigsby.

Speaking of ARD, she is amazing. The 4 goals Saturday was in no way a reflection of her play. I'd love to know what her analysis of the Sunday goal she allowed was, a shot from that distance is normally 100% stopable. She is so good in tight scrums and that back door save in the first was eye popping. The kicker on that save was she was in perfect position to save a rebound. I'll say it right here and now that the gold metal game in 2018 will be ARD vs Rigsby. I won't be able to watch.

 

[ARM]

UND didn't deserve to win yesterday but both teams deserve better officiating. I hear a whistle right before the crowd erupts. Multiple UND players went straight to the refs so I find it hard to believe there was no early whistle. Should be a no goal.

It seems like it wouldn't have taken much for Lashomb to clear the rebound as she goes by, and she didn't even make an attempt. Or S.A-B. could have either dove on the puck or stood up; instead, she gets caught in between. It's possible that the call was blown, but still, you control what you can control.

 

[Badger Booster]

Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2013-2014 Season

Yeah, I came out of the Saturday game wondering if the Badgers had the firepower to compete at the elite level. First few minutes of Sunday didn't help when Desbiens gave up a goal from just inside the blueline.

After that, the effort and execution just got better. The players that stood out for me (especially in comparison to Saturday) were Nurse, Turnbull and Ryan. Obviously, Nurse and Turnbull scored goals, but Ryan looked much more comfortable controlling the puck than I can remember. That and Desbiens really played well after allowing the only goal. She made a lot of acrobatic saves throughout the game when it could have gotten really dicey. Overall, the team brought much more consistent energy and effort throughout the game and were rewarded for it.

As stated earlier in thread, game did sellout on walk-up and it did seem there were more people in the arena compared to Saturday. Made for a really good environment, though still lacks the presence of a band or anything more than a 4-man student section.

Took someone that had never been to a hockey game before. He seemed to enjoy the game and was surprised by the speed (though he kind of wanted to see more checking). He really couldn't believe how inexpensive it is with $5 tickets ($30 full season ticket package) and free parking on the weekends.

While disappointed that Wisconsin couldn't gain on the Gophers, the damage could have been worse. At least the conference title is still in the conversation unlike last year.

 

[Timothy A]

Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2013-2014 Season

Yeah, I came out of the Saturday game wondering if the Badgers had the firepower to compete at the elite level. First few minutes of Sunday didn't help when Desbiens gave up a goal from just inside the blueline.

After that, the effort and execution just got better. The players that stood out for me (especially in comparison to Saturday) were Nurse, Turnbull and Ryan. Obviously, Nurse and Turnbull scored goals, but Ryan looked much more comfortable controlling the puck than I can remember. That and Desbiens really played well after allowing the only goal. She made a lot of acrobatic saves throughout the game when it could have gotten really dicey. Overall, the team brought much more consistent energy and effort throughout the game and were rewarded for it.

As stated earlier in thread, game did sellout on walk-up and it did seem there were more people in the arena compared to Saturday. Made for a really good environment, though still lacks the presence of a band or anything more than a 4-man student section.

Took someone that had never been to a hockey game before. He seemed to enjoy the game and was surprised by the speed (though he kind of wanted to see more checking). He really couldn't believe how inexpensive it is with $5 tickets ($30 full season ticket package) and free parking on the weekends.

While disappointed that Wisconsin couldn't gain on the Gophers, the damage could have been worse. At least the conference title is still in the conversation unlike last year.

From where we were sitting on the "student" end, I did notice Ryan on multiple times just taking that puck right out of the zone with authority. I thought in the 2nd and 3rd period Sunday UW was way less passive physically and with their sticks when defending their D zone upon entry by the sue.

I sure was hoping for more than 3-4 student this last weekend. Oh well.

The person in charge of the canned music needs to yield the floor to Phil when he's doing his thing. That's really annoying. Speaking of canned music, on Saturday I noticed some of it was rather un-inspirational to say the least.

I don't know why they can't send over a reduced sized band for the gal's games in general.

 

[robertearle]

Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2013-2014 Season

I don't know why they can't send over a reduced sized band for the gal's games in general.

First thing to note about the band, and student section in general, is that right now they are between semesters. Not many students around at all, and (I assume) not many band members, either. At the men's game Friday night vs Michigan, 'the band' was no more than 20 or 30 or so members (? - I didn't look all that closely). Two weeks ago at the Friday Alabama-Huntsville game, I'm pretty sure 'the band' had a handful (or more) of alumni "townie" former band members mixed in to get their numbers up to the 20-30 level

More generally, while I'd love to have a band at the women's games, I find it hard to fault band members. If they're in the marching band, they start practice for football in 90 degree weather the 1st of August, and are still out there pretty much every day through the 20 degree weather of December. The 'pep' bands that show up at hockey games also cover basketball games (men certainly, women?), volleyball matches, etc etc etc. Certainly not all of them show up at all events, but that's a lot of time to commit to.