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Wisconsin Women's Hockey 2024-2025

B

BadgerPete

Active member
Forever Forward, as a good friend of mine says.

We've won the last three odd numbered year titles, so let's keep the streak alive.

Current 24-25 Roster
F - Casey O'Brien, Lacey Eden, Sarah Wozniewicz, Marianne Picard, Kirstin Simms, Claire Enright, Laila Edwards, Bella Vasseur, Cassie Hall, Kelly Gorbatenko, Finley McCarthy, Maggie Scannell, Hannah Halverson
D - Vivian Jungels, Caroline Harvey, Laney Potter, Ava Murphy, Emma Venusio, Grace Bickett, Katie Kotlowski
G - Ava McNaughton, Chloe Baker

Outgoing in Portal: Sophie Helgeson, Jane Gervais, Maddi Wheeler

I will update this roster as confirmations happen during the silly season.

Obviously defense is light at the moment, but that is a heck of a core coming back. Eden, Simms, Edwards, Hall, Woz, and O'Brien is not a top six to sneeze at, the top 2 D pairings have sky-high potential, and McNaughton proved herself to be next in line with the great Wisconsin goalies this postseason.

I am particularly excited to see Finley McCarthy in action. I feel she's been kind of forgotten since she was too old for the last U18s, but she was a force at the previous two and I could easily see her pushing for an early top six spot.
 
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Let's get right to it LOL.

I am concerned about scoring. Replacing OB and Curl's production is going to be tough. They are losing 159 pts at the F spot. Will Enright, Vassuer, McCarthy, Scannel and Halverson score that many points? They each would have to average 31.8 pts to equal it. Enright had 15 pts as a Fr. Hall had 24 pts this last year. Gorbotenko had 15 in spot play. There's no way Simms will get near 75 pts with OB gone. I think we are in for a more offensively challenged year.

UW needs a few Curls. Not real dancey, but can win puck battles along the boards with some muscle and have above average speed. That's one area where Hall and even Simms and Eden struggle on. I wonder if McCarthy, Scannel and Halverson are more of the OB waterbug fast type or more of the tank Curl type. LE and Gorbokenko are similar, but I don't think they have quick hands Curl or Compher. Sometimes I think their long sticks hurt them more than it helps them in tight spaces along the boards.

I think the D will be fine as usual. They will find a 6th somewhere, I prefer that Kotlowski stays as a 1 year rental (or find another 5th yr player), the next year there are 7 d on the roster.

Goaltending is in great hands. They get a 1 year rental for insurance. The next year Stewart arrives, and she is highly regarded, so she's be ready to roll by her Jr year.
 
Timothy A said:
Let's get right to it LOL.

I am concerned about scoring. Replacing OB and Curl's production is going to be tough. They are losing 159 pts at the F spot. Will Enright, Vassuer, McCarthy, Scannel and Halverson score that many points? They each would have to average 31.8 pts to equal it. Enright had 15 pts as a Fr. Hall had 24 pts this last year. Gorbotenko had 15 in spot play. There's no way Simms will get near 75 pts with OB gone. I think we are in for a more offensively challenged year.

UW needs a few Curls. Not real dancey, but can win puck battles along the boards with some muscle and have above average speed. That's one area where Hall and even Simms and Eden struggle on. I wonder if McCarthy, Scannel and Halverson are more of the OB waterbug fast type or more of the tank Curl type. LE and Gorbokenko are similar, but I don't think they have quick hands Curl or Compher. Sometimes I think their long sticks hurt them more than it helps them in tight spaces along the boards.

I think the D will be fine as usual. They will find a 6th somewhere, I prefer that Kotlowski stays as a 1 year rental (or find another 5th yr player), the next year there are 7 d on the roster.

Goaltending is in great hands. They get a 1 year rental for insurance. The next year Stewart arrives, and she is highly regarded, so she's be ready to roll by her Jr year.
Click to expand...

McCarthy and Scannell both have good size. McCarthy in particular I remember winning most of her battles in the corner back at LaBahn in '22. Scannell is 5'10" so there's certainly no shortage of size there and at '24 U18s she certainly wasn't afraid to mix it up in front of the net. I haven't seen enough of Halverson to know yet.
 
BadgerPete said:
McCarthy and Scannell both have good size. McCarthy in particular I remember winning most of her battles in the corner back at LaBahn in '22. Scannell is 5'10" so there's certainly no shortage of size there and at '24 U18s she certainly wasn't afraid to mix it up in front of the net. I haven't seen enough of Halverson to know yet.
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Great scouting report. I'm 5% less concerned than before. For the record, Simms had 32 pts as a Fr. We're in big trouble.
 
Timothy A said:
Great scouting report. I'm 5% less concerned than before. For the record, Simms had 32 pts as a Fr. We're in big trouble.
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I don't think the totals from this year paint an accurate picture of the team scoring necessary to have a good season.

The highest scorer on the 2023 title team was O'Brien with 48. The highest scorer on the 2019 title team was Pankowski with 50.

Only 4 players on the 2019 team scored 30 points. (Pankowski (50), Roque (43), Shirley (38), and Curl (33).) It sure is nice to put up numbers like this year, but I don't think borderline historic seasons out of multiple forwards is a prerequisite to end up with a successful season.
 
It's not letting me edit right now; I will update it when the forum stops glitching.

Edit: still won't let me edit. Trying to edit this one multiple times to determine glitch.

4/1 - Still can't edit the original post. Fan Forum so glitchy.
 
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BadgerPete said:
I don't think the totals from this year paint an accurate picture of the team scoring necessary to have a good season.

The highest scorer on the 2023 title team was O'Brien with 48. The highest scorer on the 2019 title team was Pankowski with 50.

Only 4 players on the 2019 team scored 30 points. (Pankowski (50), Roque (43), Shirley (38), and Curl (33).) It sure is nice to put up numbers like this year, but I don't think borderline historic seasons out of multiple forwards is a prerequisite to end up with a successful season.
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Ok, I'm down to defcon 2.

I'm sad Jane is leaving. I just hope she ends up out east.
 
benchwarmer5 said:
Any ideas what MJ and the staff might do in terms of this? Pick up a transfer with only one year left? We have Stewart coming in for 25-26, so do we really want to have four goalies for 25 season? Interested to see what happens with this.
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Remember when we elevated Nali Mullan from club hockey to D1 just in time for the NCAAs? Maybe there's a sleeper playing with one of our club teams who'd like to be the third goalie next year. I don't know enough about Chloe to give an opinion on whether she can play a robust second.
 
Gargoyle said:
Remember when we elevated Nali Mullan from club hockey to D1 just in time for the NCAAs? Maybe there's a sleeper playing with one of our club teams who'd like to be the third goalie next year. I don't know enough about Chloe to give an opinion on whether she can play a robust second.
Click to expand...

I was thinking about that the other day, but there is ZERO chance I would have come up with that name. :-)
 
Assuming there isn’t a repeat of season ending injuries akin to the one that just ended, I am not terribly concerned about the F and D lines for this coming fall. While I would like to see O’Brien and Wheeler return for their final years of eligibility, assuming that Enright and Vasseur have recovered fully from their injuries, the incoming recruits should make for a solid, exciting set of FLines once the best mix of 3 players for each one has been established. Adding O’Brien and Wheeler likely would make the mix even stronger. As for DLines, Vesuvio should lead to 3 solid D lines as well. And McNaughton obviously is a top goalie,

While the Badgers will have a solid contingent of 12 Fs with the new recruits, it still would be nice to have a quality 13[SUP]th[/SUP]. The same is true for a 7[SUP]th[/SUP] D and backup goalie in the event of injuries or illnesses. If O’Brien and/or Wheeler were to return that would complete the F needs. A portal transfer might address the need for a D. As for goalie, it is unclear if Baker is a possibility given her total lack of any game experience in her 2 years here. Perhaps she could be, but, if not, a portal transfer might provide someone though it is unclear who would want to transfer knowing they would see limited playing time give McNaughton’s status and if she remains healthy. But solving issues and problems like these are why MJ gets paid as well as he does.

So, assuming there aren’t any major injuries, I am optimistic about the coming season even without finding those quality reserves – but more so if the Badgers can find a few quality reserves if events create the need for some. It may take a little time to get the optimal mix for the members of the various lines, but I expect that will be achieved. It will be fun to watch it come to fruition.

To close, I have come across information about Kelly Gorbatenko’s sisters, who will be joining the Badgers for the 25-26 season, supposedly derived from scoring sheets for their games. Rachel, who was recruited as a D, has gained a couple of inches and now is as tall as Kely at 5’ 11”, In her 23-24 season, the data from her score sheets showed 35Gs and 19As for 54Pts in 34 games. Recently she appears to be getting more attention for all-star teams as well. Rachel, a F, remains 5’ 9” and scored 32Gs and 32As for 64 pts in 36 games. If they duplicate these stats in the coming season, we may end up talking 2 Fs and a possible FLine of Gorbatenkos (the .Line perhaps?), Or, if Rachel should remain a D after posting 2 consecutive seasons of such numbers, the DLines may add some unusual punch.
 
benchwarmer5 said:
Any ideas what MJ and the staff might do in terms of this? Pick up a transfer with only one year left? We have Stewart coming in for 25-26, so do we really want to have four goalies for 25 season? Interested to see what happens with this.
Click to expand...

Yes and Stewart is highly regarded so it not like they are not sure what they have in terms of quality. Who is going to want to come here with probably not much of a chance to play for their last season?
 
Timothy A said:
Yes and Stewart is highly regarded so it not like they are not sure what they have in terms of quality. Who is going to want to come here with probably not much of a chance to play for their last season?
Click to expand...

there’s like 9 or 10 goalies in the portal with one year left of eligibility. McNaughton doesn’t need to play 40 games next year. Someone can come and make a meaningful contribution in a back up role I’d guess, and still get a lot athletically and academically being at Wisconsin. You guys will be ok!
 
Patricio said:
Assuming there isn’t a repeat of season ending injuries akin to the one that just ended, I am not terribly concerned about the F and D lines for this coming fall. While I would like to see O’Brien and Wheeler return for their final years of eligibility, assuming that Enright and Vasseur have recovered fully from their injuries, the incoming recruits should make for a solid, exciting set of FLines once the best mix of 3 players for each one has been established. Adding O’Brien and Wheeler likely would make the mix even stronger. As for DLines, Vesuvio should lead to 3 solid D lines as well. And McNaughton obviously is a top goalie,

While the Badgers will have a solid contingent of 12 Fs with the new recruits, it still would be nice to have a quality 13[SUP]th[/SUP]. The same is true for a 7[SUP]th[/SUP] D and backup goalie in the event of injuries or illnesses. If O’Brien and/or Wheeler were to return that would complete the F needs. A portal transfer might address the need for a D. As for goalie, it is unclear if Baker is a possibility given her total lack of any game experience in her 2 years here. Perhaps she could be, but, if not, a portal transfer might provide someone though it is unclear who would want to transfer knowing they would see limited playing time give McNaughton’s status and if she remains healthy. But solving issues and problems like these are why MJ gets paid as well as he does.

So, assuming there aren’t any major injuries, I am optimistic about the coming season even without finding those quality reserves – but more so if the Badgers can find a few quality reserves if events create the need for some. It may take a little time to get the optimal mix for the members of the various lines, but I expect that will be achieved. It will be fun to watch it come to fruition.

To close, I have come across information about Kelly Gorbatenko’s sisters, who will be joining the Badgers for the 25-26 season, supposedly derived from scoring sheets for their games. Rachel, who was recruited as a D, has gained a couple of inches and now is as tall as Kely at 5’ 11”, In her 23-24 season, the data from her score sheets showed 35Gs and 19As for 54Pts in 34 games. Recently she appears to be getting more attention for all-star teams as well. Rachel, a F, remains 5’ 9” and scored 32Gs and 32As for 64 pts in 36 games. If they duplicate these stats in the coming season, we may end up talking 2 Fs and a possible FLine of Gorbatenkos (the .Line perhaps?), Or, if Rachel should remain a D after posting 2 consecutive seasons of such numbers, the DLines may add some unusual punch.
Click to expand...

Edwards and Wilgren have exhausted their eligibility. Kotlowski has been here for 5 years already. I believe she does have 1 year left since she redshirted a year. Does she intend to come back for a 6th year? If not I think the Badgers only have 5 D for next year: Harvey, Jungels, Murphy, Potter and Venusio. Helgeson is in the portal.

Am I missing someone when you say "Venusio should lead to 3 solid D lines"
 
Bonzo said:
Edwards and Wilgren have exhausted their eligibility. Kotlowski has been here for 5 years already. I believe she does have 1 year left since she redshirted a year. Does she intend to come back for a 6th year? If not I think the Badgers only have 5 D for next year: Harvey, Jungels, Murphy, Potter and Venusio. Helgeson is in the portal.

Am I missing someone when you say "Venusio should lead to 3 solid D lines"
Click to expand...

Surprisingly, Wilgren actually has another year, if she chose to use it. It certainly looks like she's choosing not to.

Played in the year ending in the spring of 2019, one year used
Played in the year ending in spring of 2020, two years used
Played in the year ending in spring 2021, COVID year, doesn't count
"Centralized" in the year ending in 2022, doesn't count
Medical hardship after three games in the year ending in 2023, counts against "five year clock", but not against four years eligibility
Played in the year ending in spring of 2024, third year used.

Kotlowski has a more 'normal' COVID year of eligibility to use (no redshirt), if she chooses.
 
Lindsay said:
there’s like 9 or 10 goalies in the portal with one year left of eligibility. McNaughton doesn’t need to play 40 games next year. Someone can come and make a meaningful contribution in a back up role I’d guess, and still get a lot athletically and academically being at Wisconsin. You guys will be ok!
Click to expand...

She doesn't need to, but nothing beats game experience. The only play twice a week so there's no reason to really give them any games off. Once MJ picks a starter he is usually pretty stingy with other opportunities for backups to play.
 
The Swedish national team's third-string goalie is available as a one-year rental. She has been playing in the NEWHA under a Badgers head coach.
 
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