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UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN HOCKEY MEDIA CONFERENCEDecember 1, 2014Mark JohnsonTHE MODERATOR: Head Coach Mark Johnson is here and we will have opening comments and take questions. COACH JOHNSON: Thanks, Brian. It's certainly nice to be back home, finish up the first semester with a couple of elite games, being on a smaller ice sheet obviously at the LaBahn. A couple of weeks ago we played up at St. Cloud on an Olympic size sheet, and this past weekend we played New Hampshire, which is about as big as Lake Mendota, so it will be good to be back at LaBahn, and as mentioned earlier, it's a busy week here in Madison, and certainly Wisconsin athletics, but it's also a fun time. So we're looking forward to our game Friday afternoon at 3, and then get a day off Saturday and come back Sunday afternoon to wrap up the first half of the season. Q. You have shut out five straight opponents, obviously that starts with your goaltending but what other elements play into that equation? You have to be playing really good in a five‑person unit. COACH JOHNSON: It's a group effort. You have to collectively play strong and when you do have breakdowns, as you mentioned, your goaltender has to be in a position and competitive. So you certainly last three or four games, I think Ann has been able to focus in when we have had breakdowns or had to kill off penalties and she has had to make saves, her concentration level has been high, and that's the challenge. Sometimes when you're in that 15 to 20‑shot range, it's more challenging for a goaltender to stay focused, especially if you go lengthy minutes without seeing a shot. I think the last three or four games she has been able to focus in and part of the success of that is also puck possession, spending a lot of time in the offensive zone and managing the puck. That's one of the things we talk about in our business, on the hockey side of it, is to manage the puck, to take care of the puck and eliminate turnovers, in certain parts of the rink and overall the last four or five games we've been pretty good at that, and we will certainly get tested Friday afternoon a little more heavily than we have maybe the last couple of weekends but it's been good. Q. How much of it is a product of having everybody here? COACH JOHNSON: That's helpful! It's helpful! We got to spend Thanksgiving together as a team. There has been some challenges and hurdles, but, you know, in women's hockey, when you have some good players and some elite players and they get opportunities outside our university, those are things that we have to deal with. They're generally all good. When they end up having to miss games, other kids get an opportunity to step in and get some minutes that they might not have gotten if those players were around, but it's all good. But it's certainly nice to have everybody back and have a full lineup. Q. To what degree do coaches here get caught up in the experiences of other coaches preparing for NCAA Tournaments, preparing for bowl games, preparing for Big Ten Championship games? Do you get wrapped up in that? COACH JOHNSON: I think we do, and whether it's Gary or the volleyball team, watching the men play in the Bahamas and the women play down there, that's the business we're in and we follow our fellow coaches, and it's fun to watch 'em win and fun to watch 'em be successful. You can learn things about how they conduct themselves, and follow them and if you follow them closely you can pick up a lot of things. I'm interested to watch Wednesday's basketball game with Bo, and you got two elite coaches going against each other, and I'm sure the Kohl Center will be exciting, and our fans will be excited, and if you're a fan, whether you're a coach that coaches here, or yourself as a writer, other people, it's a fun week to be around Madison. There is a lot of good things going on, real good things, and there is a lot of campuses and a lot of universities, and a lot of people don't have an opportunity that our fans do and other coaches, and our student‑athletes get an opportunity to watch this, too. It's a fun week. A lot of great things going on, creates a lot of energy for everybody. Q. Annie Pankowski scored eight goals during this unbeaten streak. What has clicked for her? COACH JOHNSON: With a lot of freshmen players it's getting comfortable with a lot of things, first starts with the classroom and the schooling. I think with Annie getting a chance to play in the Four Nations Tournament was a confidence builder for her and just a matter of getting her feet and getting more comfortable around the league. I think a lot of young players when they come in and play in the WCHA they realize how difficult it is and how challenging it can be, whether you come in as a highly‑recruited player or maybe just a walk‑on. It's a competitive league, we have a lot of good players, all the teams are well coached, and I think as Annie has progressed, you know, I think she has gotten more comfortable being a college student. Q. Mark, where has an Reneé gotten better than she was a year ago? COACH JOHNSON: I would say couple of things that I mentioned earlier, her ability to focus in on those games where you go a lot of minutes without getting a shot, and that can be challenging. Some nights when a goaltender gets 35 or 40 it's much easier to stay focused than a night where you get 15 or 18 shots. I think after we got back from Bemidji, we challenged her a little bit in regards to talking about those things, where you go 6, 8, 9, 10 minutes without a shot, are you going to be ready for that next one. We challenged her, we did a couple of things at practice and I think the end result is, after the St. Cloud series and this past weekend at UNH, she has done a better job with that. THE MODERATOR: Thanks, Mark. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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