Wisconsin Women's Hockey 2022-2023

[Hockeybuckeye]

It was really hard to see the puck on the far side of the rink through that stupid net.

I have no idea why they have it. Probably someone was overly concerned about crowd safety but there's no side netting in the men's arena and the pucks there come over the glass harder and more often than at the women's pre netting games so what gives?

 

[Timothy A]

That period was a train wreck.

 

[Timothy A]

Why do we just stand there and let them shoot the Puck when its at even strength? close on the person with the Puck and make them move it. this is ridiculous.

 

[Bonzo]

That period was a train wreck.

I just don't get it. What is wrong with this team? On a 4 game losing streak having scored only 2 goals and now down 3-0 in the 2nd? Being horribly outplayed being outshot 23-7. This team seemingly has so much offensive talent but can't generate any offense. Have opponents figured out MJ's offense? Is team chemistry a problem? It is just incredibly confusing why this team isn't very good lately. And don't tell me it is because they have played 3 really good teams lately. I don't care how good the opponents are, something is wrong with this team.

 

[Timothy A]

I didn't anticipate having time to take the Christmas tree down this afternoon. That's a nice diversion from the nightmare.

 

[wiscolorado]

I wasn't able to watch either of the games this weekend, so take my opinion with a grain of salt, but the results lately are simply not up to the expected standard for the program. Two goals for in five games, and losing all five of those games, is patently unacceptable. This kind of a stretch feels like uncharted waters - hopefully being at home next weekend against Mankato will help the team to get right, but the recent results don't exactly have me feeling optimistic about what we might see in the WCHA and NCAA tourneys in a few months.

 

[Patricio]

I did not watch any video of this weekend’s games, so I am able to comment about this weekend’s results only on the basis of the stats posted by the USCHO and the WCHA.
I’ll start with the positives:

• Kronish appears to have played well again.
• We did not allow any PP goals by OSU which has the best PP in the WCHA, perhaps nationally.
• We also did not allow Webster to score a goal though she managed 2 assists.

The negatives are more extensive and daunting:

• Once again, only one goal and yet another shutout making it 3 shutouts and only 2 goals in the past 5 games. In a word – dismal.
• Bucky was outshot 75-45. I don’t keep a record of this stat, but it well may be historic.
• Gervais gave up 5 goals, but I hope it was the result of a team effort not due solely to her failings.
• Bucky also went 0-6 on PPs, continuing a season long habit.
• Any benefit from the reconfiguration of the first 2 lines has yet to manifest itself.

So, the Badgers are left with 3 weeks of games against lower tier teams in the WCHA, a group it soon may join given the disparity that has emerged between the top 3 teams and the others. Hopefully, it will emerge unscathed from these before finishing with MN and OSU (4 games the outcomes of which are looking like forgone and forlorn conclusions). Then their last hurrah should be advancing from the preliminary round of the WCHA postseason tournament before losing in the semifinal of its Final Faceoff (Four). Whether the outcomes of all this will be sufficient to gain a position in the NCAA's 6-team play-in round and, from there, the NCAA quarterfinals is an open question. But, without a major improvement in their level of play, they will not get to the final 4.

Last year’s early exit from the NCAA reasonably can be tied to the impact of the loss of players to the USA Olympic Team. This year is a different situation, one for which expectations were high given the return of the players who were lost for the Olympics and a strong recruiting class. But other top teams had to deal with similar losses and associated issues and have performed better. Thus, additional concerns of possible significance have begun to emerge for me as well:

• Will this dramatic change in performance impact player morale and confidence?
• Does this signal a decline in the UW’s relative status in the WCHA and nationally?
• Will it impact recruiting efforts if this is not seen as a one-off event? The WCHA now has 3 other very strong teams and a number have started to emerge in the East as well. These teams may become increasingly attractive to recruits, and will this lead the UW's perceived recruiting advantages to diminish? Interestingly these teams tend to stress D and the ones the UW has played recently have managed to stifle Bucky’s offense.

If this were the NFL or a top college football team, there would be questions about the need for a new OC. The head coach in women’s hockey also serves as the OC and I am not suggesting a coaching change. But this team has too much speed, skill, and assertiveness to be struggling so mightily. So, it may be time for MJ to examine his approach to offense and make some changes that will use his players more effectively.

 

[robertearle]

LOL!!

Well, I DID watch the games this weekend... and last weekend... and the weekend before.

And you guys are WAY over-reacting.

Yes, they've lost five in a row. Yes, that is very disappointing.

But the five games were against the two teams that played for the national championship last spring, and the team currently in first place in the 'other' best conference in women's hockey.

And today was the only game where they were outplayed. (And BTW, I have watched teams in other years that were as badly outplayed in Columbus that went on to win the national championship.)

They're in a monumental scoring slump. That won't last. They're probably "gripping their sticks" pretty darn tight right now. It is *clearly* the case that MJ knows a whole lot more about what to do about it - and what NOT to do about it - than any of us.

If it were me, I'd tell them to forget about standings and ratings, forget about who they're playing, forget about where they're playing, and "go play". It's a game. And it's a game you've been playing your whole life. And it's a game you play very, very well. So go play. Go have fun.

Something I remind myself and friends and family regularly during baseball season, and it applies here (and is maybe something Buckeye fans could also take note of; I know the Gopher fans around here already understand it): when you're winning, it feels like you're never gonna lose again... but you do. And when you're losing, it feels like you're never gonna win again... but you do.

 

[ARM]

And you guys are WAY over-reacting.

Thank you.

Hockey is a funny game. If we were told that two WCHA teams would meet in January, and Team A would be on a five-game win streak, having outscored opponents, 31-6, while Team B had lost five straight, being outscored, 14-2, maybe somebody could name the two teams, but the odds are that they would have them reversed.

 

[Timothy A]

But the five games were against the two teams that played for the national championship last spring, and the team currently in first place in the 'other' best conference in women's hockey.

And today was the only game where they were outplayed. (And BTW, I have watched teams in other years that were as badly outplayed in Columbus that went on to win the national championship.)

I agree. Yesterday they were generating quality chances. It could have been a 4-1 win, could have won in OT, they were dominating it. MJ liked the way they played against Q. Created quality chances. Game 2 against UMD wasn't great. UMD played a perfect game and gave them next to nothing offensively. Today it was quite a bit worse than that. That being said, had they popped a PPG when they were down 2-0, the game could have flipped. They didn't.

I will say that UMD and OSU knew how UW was breaking out in both game 2's and were intercepting passes in the middle of the N zone or up the boards. It looked like 6 on 5 again. Something needs to change there. It doesn't seem like they react well to bounce back game 2 pressure. In both bounce back games they looked bad.

I give them credit for changing the PP to an umbrella, although it did not work. They need to shoot more on the pp and on the ice to generate rebounds. Pass pas shoot is what Bill Howard used to say on the UW men's radio broadcasts when they ran the umbrella.

I'd rather have a slump now then later if we have to endure one. The floodgate will open at some point. Hopefully its soon enough to keep them in the ncaa's. If the season ended today and it was an 8 team field, I can't imagine they would be in. How big is the ncaa field now? That being said they have at least 5 games left against UM and OSU, maybe even 6, plenty of chances to move up the computer rankings. They still control their own destiny and the talent there to run the table and win the rest of their games. In MJ I trust.

On Wisconsin!

 

[robertearle]

I'd rather have a slump now then later if we have to endure one. The floodgate will open at some point. Hopefully its soon enough to keep them in the ncaa's. If the season ended today and it was an 8 team field, I can't imagine they would be in. How big is the ncaa field now? That being said they have at least 5 games left against UM and OSU, maybe even 6, plenty of chances to move up the computer rankings.

As far as I know, it's 11 teams. like last year. (Calling Grant!) Somebody from the NEWHA gets an auto-bid, and none of them is in the top 10/11, so upsets in their tournament are no worry. Does five-team CHA still get an auto-bid? (Calling Grant!!) But again, none of them - right now - is top 10/11. so upsets are not - right now - a worry.

That means nine slots open for the three conference tourney winners, and then six at-large bids. Hockey East could have an upset winner steal a slot - with only Northeastern in the top 10 - so to feel relatively safe, Wisconsin needs to be top eight in the Pairwise/RPI.

And right now they are right there at #8. So that's a little concerning, but that gap in RPI between UW and #9 Cornell and #10 Clarkson is quite large. Drop another five games to Minn and Ohio State, and things might get close, but even then it might hold up. Win even one or two of those five games, and I'm pretty confident they stay at least 8th, and "limp" into the tournament

 

[Steamboat]

I've heard the new Wisconsin chant goes "One? We got none!"

 

[whoop87]

Yes, the NCAA tournament will be an 11 team field this year but now with 5 Automatic Qualifiers. NEWHA (New England Women's Hockey Alliance) gets their 1st bid and the CHA still has their AQ.

Here's a link to the doc when the NCAA Division 1 Competition Oversight Committee broke the news of the expanded field back on Nov. 23, 2021. The NEWHA AQ is mentioned on page 2.

https://ncaaorg.s3.amazonaws.com/committees/d1/compoversig/Nov2021D1COC_Nov23Report.pdf

 

[Still Eeyore]

Thank you.

Hockey is a funny game. If we were told that two WCHA teams would meet in January, and Team A would be on a five-game win streak, having outscored opponents, 31-6, while Team B had lost five straight, being outscored, 14-2, maybe somebody could name the two teams, but the odds are that they would have them reversed.

I agree that it's too early to panic, but there is real cause for concern. Winning the WCHA regular season title is probably now out of reach. They're not only 9 points out of first place, they would need to catch both Minnesota and Ohio State, 8 points ahead of the Badgers. Given that one of those teams will collect at least 3 more points when they play in Minneapolis, Wisconsin needs to collect at least 11 points in 10 games to have a mathematical chance to win the race. That, of course, presumes not only that the Gophers and Buckeyes split, but also that they get swept by all of their other opponents. Since it's highly likely that Minnesota sweeps St Thomas and Bemidji, and OSU sweeps MSU and St Thomas and gets at least a split against St Cloud, Wisconsin you'd think that they need to snag at least 24 points from their last 10 games to even have a shot, but it's worse than that. Assuming that they take care of MSU, St Cloud, and St Thomas, they'd be dropping those six points against Minnesota and/or Ohio State. If they split both series, and UM and OSU split their own series, then Wisconsin would need both of them to lose at least one of their other games. They need to right this ship immediately for the regular season title to be in play.

On the other hand, they are now only 4 points ahead of UMD for third place. The Bulldogs have the easier schedule down the stretch. Both teams have series left against Minnesota, St Cloud, MSU, and St Thomas, but Wisconsin's additional series is against Ohio State, while UMD plays Bemidji. Falling to fourth is a real possibility.

 

[FiveHoleFrenzy]

I don't want to spend the time searching but I'm sure a BADger poster will know this...When was the last time the BADger women's hockey team lost a game by a margin of 5 goals (or more)?

 

[ARM]

I don't want to spend the time searching but I'm sure a BADger poster will know this...When was the last time the BADger women's hockey team lost a game by a margin of 5 goals (or more)?

My quick guess is that you'd have to go back to Johnson's first season as coach. They lost several games to UM and UMD by four goals after that, but the most lopsided loss that he had looks to be early in his first year to the Bulldogs (7-2). Most of the records for worst loss came in the program's first year.

 

[robertearle]

My quick guess is that you'd have to go back to Johnson's first season as coach. They lost several games to UM and UMD by four goals after that, but the most lopsided loss that he had looks to be early in his first year to the Bulldogs (7-2). Most of the records for worst loss came in the program's first year.

Like most schools (I expect) Wisconsin publishes a "record book" where, among lots of other things, you can find year-by-year and game-by-game results. As Arlen has said, there are a number of 0-4 games; with a quick glance, I didn't see anything worse than that recently (except a 0-9 game against the 2010 National/Olympic team, but that's a game with MJ on the winning side)

Year-by-year starts on page 8.

https://uwbadgers.com/documents/2022...Recordbook.pdf

 

[pgb-ohio]

LOL!!

Well, I DID watch the games this weekend... and last weekend... and the weekend before.

And you guys are WAY over-reacting.

Yes, they've lost five in a row. Yes, that is very disappointing.

But the five games were against the two teams that played for the national championship last spring, and the team currently in first place in the 'other' best conference in women's hockey.

And today was the only game where they were outplayed. (And BTW, I have watched teams in other years that were as badly outplayed in Columbus that went on to win the national championship.)

They're in a monumental scoring slump. That won't last. They're probably "gripping their sticks" pretty darn tight right now. It is *clearly* the case that MJ knows a whole lot more about what to do about it - and what NOT to do about it - than any of us.

If it were me, I'd tell them to forget about standings and ratings, forget about who they're playing, forget about where they're playing, and "go play". It's a game. And it's a game you've been playing your whole life. And it's a game you play very, very well. So go play. Go have fun.

Something I remind myself and friends and family regularly during baseball season, and it applies here (and is maybe something Buckeye fans could also take note of; I know the Gopher fans around here already understand it): when you're winning, it feels like you're never gonna lose again... but you do. And when you're losing, it feels like you're never gonna win again... but you do.

Very solid take.

The mentality you're calling out infects many sports. I see at least 3 reasons why it's an issue in the Women's WCHA:

1. The other-worldly winning percentage required to win a Regular Season WCHA Title tops the list. One losing slump in the middle of a 6 month season can knock you out of title contention. Heck, needing overtime to win can seriously damage your title hopes, if you do that too often. Historically in Men's D-1 Hockey, sweeping at home and splitting on the road would usually put you in contention. The bar is higher in the Women's WCHA. A lot higher.

2. The 3 schools you mention by name are all serious about Football. In the world of D-1 Football, a single loss has people yelling fire in crowded stadiums. Lose a 2nd game, and the sky is falling. Lose a 3rd, and everyone needs to be fired. But mere firing isn't enough. You need to have an ample supply of tar & feathers ready. Of course this isn't Football, but that mentality creeps in. In Hockey, an undefeated or near-undefeated regular season is an astonishing accomplishment, not a standard of minimum competence.

3. Earn home ice for the WCHA Playoffs, and you've got a legitimate shot at winning the Final Face-Off. Maybe that's not as prestigious as a Regular Season Title. But it's a coveted prize, definitely worth playing for. An NCAA Title is the biggest prize of all. If the Pairwise says you have an inside track for an NCAA bid, you're already having a good year. Of course an excellent year requires more. But angst should not be the response to an NCAA year.


I get that we can say these things until we're blue in the face, and it won't stop the cries of agony & despair. But these points do need to be made from time-to-time. If for no other reason than to keep our fellow fans off bridges & skyscraper ledges.

 

[FiveHoleFrenzy]

The Sinners, with their current losing streak, can take solace in the fact that they didn't lose in OT to a 4th place NEWHA team...

So there is that.

 

[Timothy A]

Mankato is going to be a tough series. They shockingly swept St. Cloud. If they don't score early it will be interesting to see how it affects them in the head. You can see the frustration get taken out on the opponents and in the body language. Does MJ completely juggle the lines or does he stick with it. Sticking with it shows confidence, juggling may show panic, yet all these players understand changes are part of the game.

I like throwing lines out there.....
LE - OB - SS
Curl - Picard - Woz
Wheeler - Compher - Eden
Enright - Simms - GS

Keep the umbrella PP, just shoot more from the point. Pass Pass Shoot. Rinse and repeat.