Wisconsin Women's Hockey 2022-2023

[Timothy A]

Laila Edwards 2nd period goal was disallowed I assume because ref believed it was after the whistle. She is so hungry to score around the net, nifty play by her even if it was disallowed. I would think finding a way to park her in front and gobble up rebounds would be a good thing.

So I probably didn't hear the whistle then.

Only one of Lindenwood's penalties was an "affected the play" penalty, a hook, the rest were needless personal discipline penalties. I hope there is more 5 x 5 play tonight. I am most interested in seeing how UW breaks out, gets through the N zone and then creates before Lindenwood gets into their 5 player D zone coverage set up.

 

[robertearle]

So I probably didn't hear the whistle then..

I just watched it on BTN-Plus. There is no whistle before Edwards digs the puck out from below the goalie and jams into the net; the whistle comes pretty much simultaneous to Edwards starting to raise her hands. The goalie does not have control of the puck, and from there, we could have semantic debate about whether a puck below the goalie's body is 'covered' or not. She is over the puck, with the puck maybe a foot or so from the goal line. Edwards reaches in from a little bit behind the goalie and to her right. Edwards doesn't have to contact the goalie or 'hack' at her to reach the puck, she just reaches under the kneeling goalie and grabs the puck. There clearly no 'control' of the puck by the goalie. The only ref visible, along the goal line, is skating towards the back of the net to get a better look, and I think he's the one who blows his whistle. He never indicates goal but at the same time is a little slow in waiving it off, almost like he's trying to decide what his call is going to be. But of course, it isn't when the whistle actually sounds, it is when the ref decides he's lost sight of the puck and intends to blow the whistle. Easy to see how he might have lost sight of the puck, but it should have been a goal.

58:20 into the BTN video

 

[Timothy A]

Oddly I found myself leaving the rink disappointed they didn't crack 70 sog again, then I said to myself, "they scored 10 goals you goof! Be happy!"

KK said post game she's been fighting nerves a lot. I can't wait to see how well she plays when she gets comfortable. I sure can't complain about what I am seeing other than I wish she'd hit the net more on some of the shots, but I'd like to see every shot hot the goal. You can't buy cookies if you don't go shopping.

It's nice to see Helgeson get ice time, even pp time (which shocked me) but she is weak defensively. Her and Kotlowski had a shift together last night and it was a mess. I was having flashbacks to last year. Not good.

The Lions had the best chance for either team all weekend with a breakaway last night, but Gervais made a great save. I was surprised she stayed up on the shot. I like that. The D also made 2 terrific plays on odd man rushes to squelch them.

The 3rd line is going to have troubles in the D zone with better teams. Last night the Lions had a couple zone entries that were scary and they were on the ice for both of them. I'm afraid MN and OSU will eat them alive. I'd hate to dump Simms to the 4th line due to her skillset, but I trust Picard as the 3rd line C against a quality opponent. They do have a number of games before the big dog games, so it will be interesting to see if they trend in a better direction. MJ says it takes sometimes until the break for things to come together for Fr.

LE is a very interesting player player to watch. Sometimes it looks like she's not trying hard, but it's deceiving because her strides are so effortless and bam she's where she needs to be. I hope her hands develop over the years to be quicker like Eden's or Simms.

SS really pumped up the shots, she had a 7 sog weekend. She's up to 9! LOL O-B has 26.

One thing I really like with this team is they crash the net after they establish O zone control. Over the years it seems like UW teams like to the perimeter deal and they weren't being destructive around the net. Sure it's easy to do this against a completely overmatched team, so it will to some degree lessen against more skilled teams, but they are showing a trait I hope continues. The top 2 lines have recovery speed to crash all 3 F and I trust the top 4 D to be able to cover the backend.

So we didn't learn a whole lot, but it was a great series to get the Fr some confidence and build line cohesion.

The Tommyettes come to town with no games played other than an exhibition last weekend. I'm expecting them to have more talent than Lindenwood, but that might not be the case.

 

[Gargoyle]

Doubling the price of tickets did not result in any enhancement of the "fan experience." Indeed, we still don't have even the minimum perk: the stats sheet. The minitron is as as fuzzy as ever. The announcer couldn't pronounce the names of many of our players. Not only do we not get a pep band, we didn't even sing Varsity at the second intermission in the second game. I didn't listen to the TV feed, but NH reported some gaffes sufficient to indicate that the announcers weren't actually well-versed in hockey, much less Wisconsin women's hockey. I saw Jason King, the associate director assigned to women's hockey, early in the game. I hope that he can come up with a way to convince hockey fans that Athletics is actually interested in their experience. The product itself is wonderful, but it doesn't seem like Athletics cares particularly about our "game day experience." Honestly, women's hockey deserves better.

 

[Timothy A]

Doubling the price of tickets did not result in any enhancement of the "fan experience." Indeed, we still don't have even the minimum perk: the stats sheet. The minitron is as as fuzzy as ever. The announcer couldn't pronounce the names of many of our players. Not only do we not get a pep band, we didn't even sing Varsity at the second intermission in the second game. I didn't listen to the TV feed, but NH reported some gaffes sufficient to indicate that the announcers weren't actually well-versed in hockey, much less Wisconsin women's hockey. I saw Jason King, the associate director assigned to women's hockey, early in the game. I hope that he can come up with a way to convince hockey fans that Athletics is actually interested in their experience. The product itself is wonderful, but it doesn't seem like Athletics cares particularly about our "game day experience." Honestly, women's hockey deserves better.

And the volume for the announcer volume for game 2 was terrible. And you can't even hear that goal song…...

 

[Timothy A]

Youth Hockey Hub is reporting that Hannah Halverson has committed to Wisconsin, a forward from Edina. They characterize her as a flashy and gritty forward.

 

[Patricio]

Well, the prelims are over, and it is on to the WCHA schedule. St Thomas will be more of a test for the Badgers than Lindenwood, but not a serious threat. Rather, I see them as providing an opportunity for continued improvement (especially for the Y1s) in preparation for the games that follow.

St Cloud always is competitive, especially on its home ice, and Bemidji can be a serious annoyance. Given that the 4 games that follow these 2 series are against the Bulldogs and Gophers, I am hoping the 4 games after St Thomas serve to verify that the Badgers have established cohesive styles of play on offense and defense and they will meet expectations and prove to be difficult to contain going forward.

As for where the lines stand, the first 2 definitely look solid. I also think the LE-Woz-Simms line is getting close. Simms is dynamic and she and Woz are starting to gel. LE has shown flashes, but I wish she would be more active, spend more time circulating around the crease and establishing a presence between the circles where her last goal displayed a nice quick release. If LE can become more active, it would open scoring opportunities for all 3.

The 4th line lags behind the others. Picard certainly works hard and is solid in my view. GS works hard also and shows appreciation for occupying space in front of the net. However, like the situation for line 3, Enright needs to become more active and aggressive. Though Enright’s doing this won’t make this line as dangerous as the others, the presence of Picard offers possibilities for this line to make contributions and apprise opponents of the fact that they can’t relax against any of Bucky’s lines.

Time to rock and roll.

 

[Connaught Point]

Well, the prelims are over, and it is on to the WCHA schedule. St Thomas will be more of a test for the Badgers than Lindenwood, but not a serious threat. Rather, I see them as providing an opportunity for continued improvement (especially for the Y1s) in preparation for the games that follow.
G
St Cloud always is competitive, especially on its home ice, and Bemidji can be a serious annoyance. Given that the 4 games that follow these 2 series are against the Bulldogs and Gophers, I am hoping the 4 games after St Thomas serve to verify that the Badgers have established cohesive styles of play on offense and defense and they will meet expectations and prove to be difficult to contain going forward.

As for where the lines stand, the first 2 definitely look solid. I also think the LE-Woz-Simms line is getting close. Simms is dynamic and she and Woz are starting to gel. LE has shown flashes, but I wish she would be more active, spend more time circulating around the crease and establishing a presence between the circles where her last goal displayed a nice quick release. If LE can become more active, it would open scoring opportunities for all 3.

The 4th line lags behind the others. Picard certainly works hard and is solid in my view. GS works hard also and shows appreciation for occupying space in front of the net. However, like the situation for line 3, Enright needs to become more active and aggressive. Though Enright’s doing this won’t make this line as dangerous as the others, the presence of Picard offers possibilities for this line to make contributions and apprise opponents of the fact that they can’t relax against any of Bucky’s lines.

Time to rock and roll.

Great post, Thank you Patricio!

 

[Timothy A]

Great post, Thank you Patricio!

Yes that was a great post.

MJ always says it take at least to about the Christmas break for the Fr to feel really comfortable. Harvey and Simms look to possibly be ahead of the curve. LE, Jungels and Enright will catch up at some point. Better competition will help them a lot. We will learn more each week. Exiting times.

 

[Gargoyle]

Can anyone explain to me how to access The Wisconsin Hour with Brian Posick? Either live (so I'll know in the future) or in an archive?

 

[Timothy A]

Can anyone explain to me how to access The Wisconsin Hour with Brian Posick? Either live (so I'll know in the future) or in an archive?

https://tunein.com/radio/options/Wisconsin-Hockey-Hour-p1037114/

This might work.

I've listened a few times, but the coaches typically don't say anything we either don't already know or they don't get asked any hard questions.

What a fun weekend ahead, 2 worlds collide as we are camping/fishing and going to the hockey games. If we can put a musky in the boat that would top it off.

Let's go RED!

 

[robertearle]

- If there was betting on who would be the Wisconsin goal scorers (like there is for 'who scores the first points of the Super Bowl?', etc) and you had a parlay card with Grace Shirley, Wozniewicz, Simms, and Enright on it, you probably would have won a bunch of money.

- Add to that two pipes and two crossbars for Wisconsin (one pipe for St Thomas). The St Thomas goalie was really good.

- Later on in the second period, Wisconsin had probably the worst line change in the history of Badger hockey. Badger #3 was skating hard to try to catch up to the resulting St Thomas odd man rush, Badger #4 was just getting on the ice as Kronish was stopping the puck; a 5th Badger didn't hit the ice until the whistle had blown and the dead puck line changing had begun. Seriously, wtf was that?!?

- Simms got a penalty for "faceoff violation", the double warning on faceoffs; I had never seen it called before (though someone said she got one last week vs Lindenwood? I missed the Friday game). The only penalty called on St Thomas was when a Tommie got her stick actually stuck in the blade of Lacey Eden's skate. I was half-expecting them to call holding on Eden.

I still don't have a feel for how good this team is yet.

 

[Timothy A]

MJ said they were missing the net too much early on ....my commentary now.... which left the Tommies in the game, then they started playing better and UW less juicy chances.

I don't recall a game where the 4th line scored 3 times. Picard was a force. I hope she goes to the hole more with the puck and doesn't circle so much.

There were some risky plays made at the offensive blueline that they can't make against better teams.

Disappointed with the crowd size, maybe 65%.

 

[Gargoyle]

Disappointed with the crowd size, maybe 65%.

The stats say the game was sold out so apparently someone bought up the unsold tickets, but the attendance was not even close to capacity. Timothy A, your 65% is more along the lines of what I saw. I wonder whether doubling the ticket price, eliminating the senior discount, and charging for parking has created this problem or if it's simply related to the quality of the opponent.
Wasn't it a fun game to watch? I especially enjoyed watching the third and fourth lines hustle, and score, out there.
And might I add that the announcer was so much better than the one last week! Were the announcers on the TV feed better, too? I may watch the replay on Big 10+ tomorrow.

 

[robertearle]

And might I add that the announcer was so much better than the one last week! Were the announcers on the TV feed better, too? I may watch the replay on Big 10+ tomorrow.

That was Bonnie Oleson. She is the regular PA announcer at UW volleyball, basketball and softball. And last spring as part of Women's History month, she was the PA announcer at a Milwaukee Bucks game.

https://www.wisn.com/article/bonnie-...tory/39527887#

She's so much a part of 'the team' for volleyball (and Coach Sheffield is that classy a guy) that she got her own championship ring for last year's championship.

https://twitter.com/BadgerVB/status/1570927927294038019

(Last night, I was thinking to myself "Hey Bonnie, how much time is remaining in the period?"

 

[Patricio]

Anyone know why Eden is not playng?

 

[Timothy A]

Eden is out with an upper body injury. Doesn't seem to be negatively affecting them so far. Great first period.

 

[Patricio]

Thanks to Timothy A on status of Eden. Perhaps MJ will clarify nature/status of injury post game.

On to my views of a number of positives from this weekend’s games:

• The play of both the 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] and 4[SUP]th[/SUP] lines on Friday. Everyone on those lines played really well, and it was nice to see GS, Enright, and Picard score some goals and assists.
• LE, Enright, and Jungels seemed to be more active and aggressive. If they continue on this path, they will provide a nice boost to the offense.
• The line of Simms, LE, and Woz is starting to show more cohesiveness. Like the O’B line, it has lots of speed and the three are beginning to leverage each other’s styles and skills to create scoring opportunities. They soon may be on a par with lines 1 &2.
• Picard also continues to show speed and aggressiveness that should pay dividends in future games, especially if Enright continues to become more active and GS shows ongoing interest in occupying space in the crease for rebounds and deflections. This would make this line more than a passing thought for opponents.
• Great that KK finally got her first goal. Hopefully that relieves some of the pressure she may have been feeling because of the high expectations for her. In turn, this may help her relax a bit, enabling her to utilize her obvious skills to greater advantage for herself and others. If so, she could redefine what it means to be scary.
• For some reason, Gervais consistently has faced the better offensive performances of opponents thus far. She has had to make a greater numer of difficult saves than Kronish, and she strikes me as more relaxed and quicker in goal. The Badgers begin a string of progressively tougher opponents next week, and it may be only a matter of time before she is named the number one goalie.

The one negative is the reported injury to Eden. Hopefully it is nothing significant and she will be able to return to play soon. The Badgers adjusted well against St Thomas. and, although the 4 Y1s are showing progress (I view Picard as basically a Y1 given she played so little last year), an extended absence of Eden would make the forthcoming series of opponents more difficult to deal with

 

[TJ77]

eliminating the senior discount,

Was this for season tickets? I bought tickets for a game in January and got the senior discount.

 

[robertearle]

Fourteen goals for Wisconsin this weekend, and eleven different goal scorers. And Sophie Shirley and Lacey Eden were not among them.