Though perfect thus far on the season-opening eight-game homestand, head coach Mark Johnson and his 4-0 women's hockey team is still going through the early season process of feeling out what his team has to offer.
""It's certainly work in progress, you don't get this long training camp,"" last year's Olympic head coach said. ""But I think every time you play a game and you're involved in competition, it starts to paint pictures … the more you play, the better you get to know your team.""
While the long homestand has certainly helped Johnson's adjustment back into coaching at the college level, this weekend provides the Badgers with a true test in No. 10 Ohio State.
""[Ohio State is] a team very similar to ours. They've played four games and they're 4-0. They've got four or five kids, as I call them, difference makers."" Johnson noted. ""It's been a good [off] week and we look forward to the challenges Friday and Saturday night at the Kohl Center.""
The Badgers hold a 39-7-6 record all-time against the Buckeyes but are just 2-4-0 in their last six meetings dating back to the beginning of the 2009-2010 season.
In order for the Badgers to avenge last year's WCHA first round sweep at the hands of this Ohio State squad, their returning Olympians, senior forward Meghan Duggan and junior forward Hilary Knight, will have to lead the charge. Johnson knows that the performances of returning stars such as Duggan and Knight will not only be crucial in this weekend's series, but throughout the WCHA campaign.
""I think [it's] a combination of [getting the most out of the returning Olympians], and then the support staff that's behind those players in regards to how these great players that have come back to our league can elevate their teams and make players maybe play a little bit better than they normally would without those individuals,"" Johnson said.
Through the first two series, the silver medalists have performed just as needed, with Knight notching eight points and Duggan adding three of her own to go along with a +7 plus/minus. As the season wears on, their leadership, on and off the ice, will be crucial in keeping the top-ranked Badgers on a path toward the national title.
Although the latest USCHO.com poll has Wisconsin atop the national rankings, the upcoming series with No. 10 Ohio State is really the team's first chance to see if that moniker is indeed justified.
Two games against the Buckeyes this early in the season is far from make-or-break. But even in the early going, this series will certainly tell us a great deal about what is to come from Wisconsin women's hockey through the rest of the season.
