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!!!!!!!!!!!