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Wisconsin Women's Hockey 2023-2024

tedlasso said:
Yes. Good for O-B for sure. Always nice for new players to get opportunities. But seriously. Is it possible for USA Hockey to look at any other program other than Wisconsin? Is that 7 (!) girls on the rivalry series roster? I know the Wisconsin faithful on here are ecstatic, but hopefully, even you can see the absurdity. There will never be parity in women's hockey until players from other teams get recognized for what they are doing at less-heralded programs. Again, Wisconsin is a fantastic team with amazing players, no doubt, but there are other players...
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So team USA should pick lesser talented players from other schools to be nice? Winning is not important? USA and Hockey Canada have 1 thing in mind, to win. That is all that matters. When you practice with and against top end talent and play against other top end talent like the wcha has, you develop further. FYI the rodents have 5 players on the Canadian U18 roster. That's even a bigger accomplishment because of the very narrow age window.
 
Well that seemed like an awfully belligerent response from Timothy A. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. There are plenty of equally talented players that do not go to Wisconsin. But I am quite certain you will never agree. I'll just leave it at that.
 
tedlasso said:
Well that seemed like an awfully belligerent response from Timothy A. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. There are plenty of equally talented players that do not go to Wisconsin. But I am quite certain you will never agree. I'll just leave it at that.
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You come to the Wisconsin thread to announce that too many Wisconsin players get named to the national teams, and are surprised that a Wisconsin fan objects and disagrees?

What were you expecting?
 
tedlasso said:
Well that seemed like an awfully belligerent response from Timothy A. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. There are plenty of equally talented players that do not go to Wisconsin. But I am quite certain you will never agree. I'll just leave it at that.
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Belligerent response? Lol. I guess we also have a different definition of that word along with our difference of opinion of who should be on the national team. I was tame and factual.
 
Robert, I'd appreciate your insight into the Badger volleyball loss yesterday and overall how you felt their season really went. There's a lot of negativity on Twitter but I don't know about if those are just casual fans or hardcore people who are lamenting.
 
Timothy A said:
Robert, I'd appreciate your insight into the Badger volleyball loss yesterday and overall how you felt their season really went. There's a lot of negativity on Twitter but I don't know about if those are just casual fans or hardcore people who are lamenting.
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We watched an episode of the Twilight Zone.

A week ago last night, Texas played Tennessee in the 'Sweet Sixteen'; they were down two sets to one, and down in the 4th set 22-19. Tennessee served a match point at 24-23, before Texas won the set, and then the 5th set. One point different last week and Texas bombed out disappointingly in the Sweet Sixteen.

Texas had an outstanding night, and Wisconsin had an inexplicably bad one. Maybe one can blame it on nerves; despite the recent success, fully half of the badgers had never played in a Final Four before. But that don't feel very satisfying. I really don't have anything close to a good explanation, other than "just one of those nights".
 
robertearle said:
We watched an episode of the Twilight Zone.

A week ago last night, Texas played Tennessee in the 'Sweet Sixteen'; they were down two sets to one, and down in the 4th set 22-19. Tennessee served a match point at 24-23, before Texas won the set, and then the 5th set. One point different last week and Texas bombed out disappointingly in the Sweet Sixteen.

Texas had an outstanding night, and Wisconsin had an inexplicably bad one. Maybe one can blame it on nerves; despite the recent success, fully half of the badgers had never played in a Final Four before. But that don't feel very satisfying. I really don't have anything close to a good explanation, other than "just one of those nights".
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Someone posted on Tweeder that GG should get into the portal. Is she normally dependable but had a bad night? It reads the like UW Clarkson debacle. They just couldn't get anything going.

Does UW need better players for returning the serve and serving or is this a coachable thing?
 
Timothy A said:
Someone posted on Tweeder that GG should get into the portal. Is she normally dependable but had a bad night? It reads the like UW Clarkson debacle. They just couldn't get anything going.

Does UW need better players for returning the serve and serving or is this a coachable thing?
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Anybody saying GG should get into the portal hasn't been on the journey with the team. She had a bad night, this is true. She's also one of the emotional souls of the team. An infectious, energetic presence that can't help but light up her teammates. She has her weaknesses, but suggesting we'd be better off without her in the gym is ridiculous.

Ann-Renee Desbiens never won a championship. It's not all about banners.
 
BadgerPete said:
Anybody saying GG should get into the portal hasn't been on the journey with the team. She had a bad night, this is true. She's also one of the emotional souls of the team. An infectious, energetic presence that can't help but light up her teammates. She has her weaknesses, but suggesting we'd be better off without her in the gym is ridiculous.

Ann-Renee Desbiens never won a championship. It's not all about banners.
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GG also had 13 digs, and was easily the best Badger serving last (as well as for much of the season); 11 points scored on 17 total balls served.

("Points scored on serve" is one way to think about volleyball; the team receiving serve wins the point something like 60% or 65% of the time in the NCAA. That stat shows the importance of controlling your own serve-receive and serving the other team "tough". And controlling serve and serve-receive was absolutely where Texas beat UW. It is axiomatic that the team that scores more 'points on serve' wins the set.)
 
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Timothy A said:
Someone posted on Tweeder that GG should get into the portal. Is she normally dependable but had a bad night? It reads the like UW Clarkson debacle. They just couldn't get anything going.

Does UW need better players for returning the serve and serving or is this a coachable thing?
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GG is an OK player when it comes to being dependable in serve-receive, but has has matches where she gets rattled and "jumpy". Something like a goalie getting jumpy and over-playing the puck. But she has other skills - floor defense outside of serve-receive, and "bump setting" or secondary setting - that are WAY above average. She was coming off maybe her two best matches as a player prior to last night. so last night's bad performance is hard to explain. But she was hardly the only one in that category.

She will undoubtedly have a role on next year's team, and wanting or urging her to transfer is just nuts.
 
Thanks for the VB comments. Winning the Natty is a ridiculously hard thing to do in any sport. I think people forget there's another team you are playing and sometimes they outplay you and you don't win. I think getting to the FF for a high end team in VB or WH or MH means a successful season. It means you had an opportunity to win the title, that's all you can ask for, that opportunity.
 
Some college coaches encourage their players to get international experience. Some don't. How is that working for the coaches who don't? Even when the Olympic years are lean for Wisconsin, things seem to work out overall.
 
Timothy A said:
... Winning the Natty is a ridiculously hard thing to do in any sport. I think people forget there's another team you are playing and sometimes they outplay you and you don't win. I think getting to the FF for a high end team in VB or WH or MH means a successful season. It means you had an opportunity to win the title, that's all you can ask for, that opportunity.
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Thank you for this. I know that a poster can feel like a lone voice in the wilderness when making the point. So much anger out there. Just wanted to say I agree with your perspective, and that you're not alone.

Mind you, I can accept fans being intensely disappointed in the heat of the moment. But there's got to be a morning after. When it comes, your perspective is the best path forward.
 
pgb-ohio said:
Thank you for this. I know that a poster can feel like a lone voice in the wilderness when making the point. So much anger out there. Just wanted to say I agree with your perspective, and that you're not alone.

Mind you, I can accept fans being intensely disappointed in the heat of the moment. But there's got to be a morning after. When it comes, your perspective is the best path forward.
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Here is how Wisconsin's volleyball coach Kelly Sheffield answered 'the question' in Thursday's post match press conference:

"I don't want to be somebody that says you got to win a championship or it's a lost season. I don't want to be in this profession if that's what it is and that's what our players are feeling. We don't talk about that. We talk about trying to play our best, trying to get better, be the best we can be, max out all those types of things. And hopefully along the way you're with people that you enjoy being around. There's a lot to celebrate, there's a lot to be proud of. It's a bittersweet moment because I know they thoroughly enjoyed playing with each other and for each other, and the fan base, and the University. But, you know, that's sports and they have nothing to hang their heads about. It was a great year and we wish we had a few more days with them, but that's the way it goes."
 
The Rivalry series with Canada is taking a brief hiatus before resuming in early February. The final 3 games are scheduled for Feb 7th, 9th, and 11th. The Badgers also have games with Bemidji on the 8th and 9th following games with StC the preceding Saturday and Sunday and MN pays a visit the following weekend. So, how is the playing time of Bucky’s 5 fs and 2Ds to be distributed over that period of time?

Admittedly, Bemidji is a relatively weak team. The Badgers might get by without Harvey and Wilgren, but they can’t play them with only 5Fs. So, at the very least, something has to give on the 9th. Then there is the issue of coming off the previous weekend against StC (which likely will be physically demanding) and adding Rivalry games (certain to be physically challenging as well) in the midst of a stretch ending with the 2 other top teams in the conference.

Not to be ignored is the question of the priorities for the team – is the Rivalry series of primary importance or is the conference and end of the regular season? And, what about the physical demands on players associated with the sequence of games over the 3 weeks stretch (or 4 weeks with OSU following MN)? What would the absence of players mean for those who haven’t been selected for the US Rivalry squad?

Hopefully someone will ask MJ at his next press conference how he plans to handle the situation. It also would be good to ask why the last Rivalry games could not have been held after the NCAA Championship.
 
robertearle said:
Here is how Wisconsin's volleyball coach Kelly Sheffield answered 'the question' in Thursday's post match press conference:

"I don't want to be somebody that says you got to win a championship or it's a lost season. I don't want to be in this profession if that's what it is and that's what our players are feeling. We don't talk about that. We talk about trying to play our best, trying to get better, be the best we can be, max out all those types of things. And hopefully along the way you're with people that you enjoy being around. There's a lot to celebrate, there's a lot to be proud of. It's a bittersweet moment because I know they thoroughly enjoyed playing with each other and for each other, and the fan base, and the University. But, you know, that's sports and they have nothing to hang their heads about. It was a great year and we wish we had a few more days with them, but that's the way it goes."
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Great response by Coach Sheffield!
 
To the issue of the Wisconsin players in February, I believe that the NCAA players don't play in the February Rivalry Series games. Coach John Wroblewski said something like that after Saturday's USA-Canada game.
 
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