Team USA visits the Badgers

With a record crowd in attendance Tuesday, the Wisconsin women’s hockey team welcomed the U.S. Olympic National Team to the Kohl Center for an exhibition matchup.
The Olympic squad, comprised of six current or former Badgers and lead by sabbatical Wisconsin head coach Mark Johnson, left no doubt about who was the best team in the land by delivering a 9-0 victory over the Badgers.
It was a special night in the Kohl Center as four graduated Badgers were welcomed back as well as current UW athletes Hilary Knight and Meghan Duggan, who elected to take a year off to participate in the approaching Olympics in Vancouver.
“Honestly it was the highlight of my career,” Wisconsin interim head coach Tracey DeKeyser said. “I’m such a sucker for the Olympic games, and I cry every time it’s on, and for some reason I found myself kind of teary-eyed during the national anthem.”
After a ceremonial puck dropping to mark the occasion, Johnson’s crew wasted no time taking the speed of the game to a level the Badgers were not accustomed to.
“It was really fast. They dumped the puck in and they were on you right away,” junior Geena Prough said. “You had to really think on your toes.”
Senior Alannah McCready occupied the net for the Badgers in the first period while former Badger and Patty Kazmaier award winner Jessie Vetter stood her ground for Team USA.
From the looks of it to me Team USA will do well in the Olympics. GO BUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mark Johnson Named Nation's Top Coach

For the third time in four years, Mark Johnson has been named the best Division I women's college coach in the nation.
The American Hockey Coaches Association bestowed that honor on him Wednesday following a season in which Johnson's Wisconsin Badgers went 34-2-5 and won both the WCHA and NCAA postseason tournaments.
The runner-up was Mike Sisti of Mercyhurst College, whose Lakers lost to Wisconsin in the NCAA championship game.
Johnson's three awards represents the most for any individual coach in the 12-year history of the honor. The reigning WCHA Coach of the Year also won the AHCA award in the Badgers' back-to-back national championship seasons of 2006 and 2007.
Johnson, who will step away from the UW bench next season to lead the U.S. women's hockey team into the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, will receive his award April 25 in Naples, Fla., during the AHCA convention.
In seven seasons as coach of the Badgers, Johnson has a career record of 210-39-22, and his winning percentage of .815 ranks him top among active Division I women's coaches. It great to see these kind of awards go to coaches at UW. GO BUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!

Women's Hockey Threepeats as National Champs!!!

The Wisconsin women’s hockey team continues to reap the benefits of stomping No. 3 Mercyhurst for the national title on Sunday. It has been a whirlwind non-stop few days for the Badgers since they returned to Madison late Sunday night. It all started after the game with the ensuing celebration on the ice that led to the locker room and finally to a local Boston restaurant. More than100 fans gathered at Game On next to Fenway Park to welcome the 2009 national champions and celebrate for the next four hours while the team killed time before their scheduled flight back to Madison. When the team landed in Madison at approximately 11:20 p.m., they were greeted by TV cameras and about 25 fire trucks and police cars with their lights bright and the horns blaring. All of the firemen came out to applaud the ladies and then gathered on the ice at The Shell to take a picture (see below). Since the team got home so late, the marketing folks scheduled a homecoming celebration for the team on Monday. The crowd of over 600 cheered the team on as each player was announced and coach Johnson and three seniors talked. The Badgers hung around after the event to sign autographs and take pictures. It goes without saying that it was a bittersweet moment for the seniors. A class that recorded 135 wins, which is more than any other team during that time, and three national championships. The NCAA title game is the only way they knew how to end a season.

Lets hope the Badgers can keep this winning tradition and spread it to other sports at UW as well. GO BUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Women's Hockey Repeats as National Champs!!!

Congrats to the Women's UW Hockey Team on their second consecutive NCAA Championship. Also to Sara Bauer as the Frozen Four's Most Outstanding Player. With 218 career points, a Patty Kazmaier trophy and two national championships under her belt, it was well deserved. Here is what she had to say about her time at Wisconsin, “It’s such a great environment here,” “It’s a great place to go to school; it’s a great place to play hockey.” Thank you Sara and thank you to the UW Women's Hockey Team for repeating as National Champions. GO BUCKY!!!