First, I want to thank Timothy A for his welcome. I have followed the forum as a guest and have enjoyed reading the posts – even those only tangentially related to hockey and the Badgers. I primarily am a fan of the women’s team, and my posts will focus on them. What follows is my first post and I want to apologize right now for its length.
As the season has progressed, I (like others) have become increasingly perplexed by the drop-off in the team’s ability to generate a consistent level of play. This is most evident against the other top teams in the WCHA – OSU, MN, and Duluth. All of these teams employ aggressive styles of play that put consistent pressure on the Badgers at both ends of the ice leading to sloppy passes (often telegraphed) that produce extended time to clear their zone and turnovers, as well as wearing down players. Quinnipiac employed a similar style, and I expect to see more of it from playoff opponents. The Badgers have yet to find a way to counter this type of play from higher quality teams, but they need to find a solution, or I fear their quest for another national title will be an abbreviated one.
When Eden and Curl were cut from the Olympics team, I briefly entertained the prospect they might rejoin the team for the second half of the season. I saw the possibility of a 3rd line with them and Woz (or possibly Eden, Wheeler, and Woz) as intriguing, one that could be a true game changer. Line 1 would remain the WOW line, and the second line would have three members with lots of prior experience with each other. Quite a change. Alas, that did not happen, and I never was certain it would have been allowed under NCAA rules or even that Curl and Eden had returned to campus. So, here we are with a second line that is struggling, a third that has only one quality player (Woz), and a 4th that has only 1 member. The first line also has not been consistent lately. What can be done perhaps to turn things around?
I see Woz as very talented and a future star. She skates well, is aggressive, hangs around the crease, has a nice shot. It is unfortunate that Picard got injured so early as it would have been interesting to see what kind of chemistry they would have had. So, given the apparent intractableness of the current situation, my suggestion, admittedly somewhat drastic, is to move Wheeler to the 3rd line with Woz and GS and Schneider to the second line with GS and Pettet. Woz has shown lots of potential, and I would like to try leveraging her talent to boost the offense. Wheeler is similarly aggressive and talented – hence my choice for a new linemate.
Again, my apologies for being so verbose.
