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Wisconsin Women's Hockey 2023-2024

Friday’s game took a bit of time for the Badgers to kick into gear. However, once they did, it definitely was a fun fan experience. There certainly was a lot of positives that should yield further enjoyment.
With respect to the forward lines:
  • Hall-Curl-Eden: These three are going to be a load for other teams to handle, especially as Hall gains experience. Curl and Eden appeared to be in mid-season form already and Hall’s goal was stunning. Her skating and stick handling on it would have been exceptional for someone in in her 4[SUP]th[/SUP] year and this was only her 4[SUP]th[/SUP] game. Hall also showed some proclivity to hover around the crease, and I anticipate, given her hands, she will land some reflections as the season progresses.
  • O’Brien-Simms-Wheeler: This is a solid trio of fast, aggressive Fs who had a number of nice setups on which finishing passes narrowly missed connecting. I expect they will become scary for opponents as they have more time acclimating themselves to their complementary styles and those passes start connecting.
  • Woz-Picard-Laila: Picard’s knee injury appears to have healed well. She and Woz skated with lots of speed and the two appear to have developed nice chemistry. In my view Laila, skated a bit faster and more aggressively than last year which I hope continues. If Laila starts to position herself more often around the crease or in the slot, she, and this line, likely would realize scoring benefits from Woz and Picard’s style of play which tended to attack the net.
  • Gorbatenko-Helgeson-Kotlowski: Kotlowski is not a F, which limits what can be expected from this line. I hope that Gorbatenko gets opportunities to play with Fs from the other 3 lines to help her develop a style of play that is more typical of a full F line, especially ones as talented as Bucky’s.
As for the D lines, it was nice to see Jungels get a G and an A. I still am puzzled by the separation of her and Harvey. But, all 3 played well. As for Potter and Murphy, definitely fast and aggressive and not shy about jumping into offensive opportunities. The future looks good with these 2 going forward.

Finally, I am not a big beer drinker, my alcohol preferences being ones in small glasses served clean, on the rocks, or blended. But I decided to check on the beer offering given the AthD emphasis on it as likely being a major contributor to the “new fan experience” for this season. My expectations weren’t necessarily high, but Coors light at $9.49 was a bit staggering unless it was for a 6-pack (prices, for which I checked online, ranged between $6.69-$6.99 at most stores). Paired with the $13 cheeseburger TJ77 mentioned in an earlier post, an experience I doubt anyone would want, especially if there were a door charge as well.
 
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It's sad Gorbotenko doesn't have F's to play on the 4th line with her. She was spotted into shifts with top 3 line F's and did not look out of place at all. She was strong on the puck.

No band for either game was sad.

Potter looks like she's 6-3 out there. She really sprouted up wince watching her in the U18's.

I like Murphy's game a lot. She was physical along the boards, she almost played like a guy.

I think I liked Potter and Murphy's game more than Wilgren or C Edwards. Edwards had a few wanky plays I'm not used to seeing her make. Wilgren had a few wankies too.

Woz is at a whole new level this season. The overall depth of all 3 lines is insane. They are really 1A, 1AA and 1AAA.
 
LooseHockeyPuck said:
I have been a lurker of the USCH forum for several years now but a fan of Wisconsin hockey for quite some time now.

This years team is LOADED!! I guess we will see how they perform when the schedule gets more difficult.

In about 10:years I fully expect a Mark Johnson statue on campus. We are so blessed to have him.

Also wanted to say how much it is appreciated for those that provide detailed info on upcoming Badger recruits and the different line configurations.

On Wisconsin
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Don't be a stranger, stop in for a chat anytime. More eyes on the team leads to more interesting commentaries.
 
Curl certainly deserves the C she wears, but has anyone heard an explanation for why she is the only one with a captain's letter? I noticed BC had two players wearing Cs, but those were all I could detect for them too. But the size of their letter was small, and it did not stand out well against the color of their jersey - so I may have missed others if they had them.
 
Patricio said:
Curl certainly deserves the C she wears, but has anyone heard an explanation for why she is the only one with a captain's letter? I noticed BC had two players wearing Cs, but those were all I could detect for them too. But the size of their letter was small, and it did not stand out well against the color of their jersey - so I may have missed others if they had them.
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I don't remember a year when we didn't have at least one A. Shoot, wasn't it year-before-last that we had five or six?? Casey was an A last year, right? Perhaps TM could ask Coach about this.
 
Gargoyle said:
I don't remember a year when we didn't have at least one A. Shoot, wasn't it year-before-last that we had five or six?? Casey was an A last year, right? Perhaps TM could ask Coach about this.
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Gargoyle's memory is correct. The 20-21 season had Bowlby as C with LaMantia, Pettit, Posick, Schneider, and Watts as As. Last season Curl was C, Buchbinder, LaMantia, and O'Brien were As.
 
I went to the men's game Sunday and there were quite a few print at home tickets there too as there was at the women's games. Will people adapt or just not come?

Speaking about not coming, now that all the home games appear to be on btn plus, I'm not sure I need to get season tickets anymore. Before the only way to see them was is person. Every game I go to is a 5 hour ish time commitment.
 
Timothy A said:
I went to the men's game Sunday and there were quite a few print at home tickets there too as there was at the women's games. Will people adapt or just not come?

Speaking about not coming, now that all the home games appear to be on btn plus, I'm not sure I need to get season tickets anymore. Before the only way to see them was is person. Every game I go to is a 5 hour ish time commitment.
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I wonder what would happen if one were to print out the 'digital only' QR code and take it to a game. Would the scanner be able to tell the difference? Is there a time-stamp or some other 'element' embedded in it that would somehow invalidate the printed one? I might have to try it, to see what happens. (And then would it work the same way next year that it might this year?)

As for the other, I'm sure you know well that you see stuff in-person that you'd never see on the video stream. But whether that's worth your time investment, only you can say.
 
Timothy A said:
Every game I go to is a 5 hour ish time commitment.
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I suspect that true 'Red" fans will be breaking out the tiny violins for this comment. The B1G option is great for reviewing your in-person experience, or a last resort if you are out of town or physically incapacitated(this might be the key).
By the way Tim, you earlier this year chided me about secretly having red in my closet. In 2006 I went to the old Mariucci Arena to watch the Gophers and Badgers play for the NCAA title. I wasn't aware back then of the color profiling that we now have at the different sporting events. I went to my closet for a comfortable jacket for the weather on that day, and picked out, yes, a red jacket. Going up to the ticket booth, they looked me over, and gave me a pair of tickets right in the middle of the Wisconsin fan section. As it turned out, Wisconsin was dominant, and I was able to get good views of the goals they scored against the Gophers. In the years since I have been more careful with attire when going to games, and once Ridder was built, simply got season tickets so I never needed to worry about where I would be seated.
But no regrets from that first adventure in red.
 
BadgerPete said:
The roster for the November Rivalry Series is out, and current Badgers Britta Curl, Lacey Eden, Laila Edwards, Caroline Harvey, and Anna Wilgren will be joining alumni Hilary Knight, Abby Roque, and Natalie Buchbinder on the team. The games are on the bye weekend between the St. Cloud and Ohio St series.

Full announcement: https://teamusa.usahockey.com/news_article/show/1287576
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I just about pooped my undies when I saw 5 players were gone that time period, not recalling the bye. They (the wcha) must have planned the schedule with this in mind. Whew! I will be watching these games to specifically see where/how Laila fits in.

Sadly I won't be attending tonight. I have to pack for camping and fishing this weekend and get to church tonight. Hopefully I can catch the 3rd period tonight on btn+. On the plus side the wife is joining my daughter and I for tomorrow's game.

Kato will be a step up from the previous cupcakes, it will be interesting to see how they stack up. Never in a million years did I ever think I'd think that playing Mankato would be a step up from playing BC. LOL!!!
 
Wheeler missing from the line chart, Gorbatenko taking her place on the third line.

(I'm not there; flu all week, I was sick; getting better.)

Also, as long as I'm at home, I checked on whose doing the radio. NOT Reid Magnum, but rather the same two guys who did (tried, anyway...) the Lindenwood series. I don't know if that's all season, but if there's no more Reid, I won't be happy.
 
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For unstated reasons, Reid and Greenie are out: https://uwbadgers.com/news/2023/9/2...-expand-womens-hockey-broadcast-schedule.aspx
I haven't listened to the broadcasts, but NH was Xing that these broadcasters definitely need mentoring and coaching. I guess their mistakes were often cringe-worthy.
I had to miss the first period yesterday, which meant I missed most of the scoring. The goalie for the second and third periods is from Middleton. The refs missed a lot of roughing-type penalties. I hope that the officiating takes a bit more control tonight.
 
Gargoyle said:
For unstated reasons, Reid and Greenie are out: https://uwbadgers.com/news/2023/9/2...-expand-womens-hockey-broadcast-schedule.aspx
I haven't listened to the broadcasts, but NH was Xing that these broadcasters definitely need mentoring and coaching. I guess their mistakes were often cringe-worthy.
I had to miss the first period yesterday, which meant I missed most of the scoring. The goalie for the second and third periods is from Middleton. The refs missed a lot of roughing-type penalties. I hope that the officiating takes a bit more control tonight.
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Well, that's too bad, because Reid is just light-years better than those guys. Tonight, I'm going to volleyball and would probably have taken a radio with me, but I'll probably just check the score on my phone.

The difference last night, other than the goalie change, IMO was that Mankato got much better at getting sticks into the passing lanes. If they play that way from the start, tonight could be much closer. I hope/expect MJ to make adjustments, though.
 
There's a post on the twitter account that has an update to the schedule for my 'favorite' insane weekend of the year.

The Duluth series is now set for Saturday/Sunday, Dec 2nd and 3rd, 4 PM and 3 PM.

Assuming that the NCAA let's the UW volleyball team play their first and second round tournament matches on Thursday and Friday, and not Saturday (I'm assuming they will be hosting, but at this point, that's just about a given), then the Saturday schedule in Madison "only" has men's BB at the KC at 11:30 vs Marquette, women's hockey vs Duluth at LaBahn at 4 PM (while the KC is being switched over for) men's hockey vs Ohio State at 8 PM, all with the possibility that football could be playing in the Big Ten Championship televised at 7 PM.

Every year. Why can't they schedule one or both hockey teams to be out-of-town that weekend?
 
robertearle said:
Mankato got much better at getting sticks into the passing lanes. If they play that way from the start, tonight could be much closer. I hope/expect MJ to make adjustments, though.
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I saw most of the 2nd and 3rd periods and this is what stood out to me. They were super effective at being disruptive. They must have got the memo after the 1st period. A nice job of coaching there.

I'm going to complain to the AD about the sucky radio people. The in between period player interviews are cringeworthy. It's embarrassing how bad the interviews are. These ladies deserve better coverage then this. BUT, last night the btn+ color lady was shockingly horrific. She had no F-ing clue what she was doing. NONE. ZERO. NADA. I doubt she even knows any of the rules for the game. She'd just blurt out some meaningless stat not related to the play at all. That's who Nicole was referring to on the Tweeder. After 10 minutes we muted the TV and I conversed with Maddy on the play like we were at the rink.

Reid and Greenie were really good like PB and Howie were for the guys years ago.
 
Timothy A said:
I saw most of the 2nd and 3rd periods and this is what stood out to me. They were super effective at being disruptive. They must have got the memo after the 1st period. A nice job of coaching there.

I'm going to complain to the AD about the sucky radio people. The in between period player interviews are cringeworthy. It's embarrassing how bad the interviews are. These ladies deserve better coverage then this. BUT, last night the btn+ color lady was shockingly horrific. She had no F-ing clue what she was doing. NONE. ZERO. NADA. I doubt she even knows any of the rules for the game. She'd just blurt out some meaningless stat not related to the play at all. That's who Nicole was referring to on the Tweeder. After 10 minutes we muted the TV and I conversed with Maddy on the play like we were at the rink.

Reid and Greenie were really good like PB and Howie were for the guys years ago.
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I actually looked her up, and she's a freshman who ran track (other sports?) in high school, majoring in communications/broadcasting; so, she's been on campus all of six weeks at this point. So I'd go easy on her; it's not her fault she was assigned to do something she had no idea how to do.

Yes, this team deserves better radio broadcasters, and the blame goes to the decision makers at Big 1070, Mike Heller etal. And they deserve better on the BTN streams. The play-by-play guy wasn't bad, but the blame for the girl goes to the decision makers at BTN student broadcasts for putting the poor girl in that position.

(This got me curious about the play-by-play guy. He's only a sophomore, but according to his LinkedIn page, he's already done two seasons of play-by-play for the Green Bay indoor football team and is in his third season as "Press Box Assistant" with the Packers.)
 
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