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UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN HOCKEY MEDIA CONFERENCE

February 15, 2016

Mark Johnson

Madison, Wisconsin

THE MODERATOR: Women's Hockey Head Coach Mark Johnson is here. We will have some opening comments then take questions.

COACH JOHNSON: Thanks, Brian. Certainly want to congratulate my team. Senior Day is always an emotional day and having such a big senior class, distractions which coaches don't like, and it's all good distractions because obviously a lot of the family members were in town yesterday and the distractions were wonderful, and when they drop the puck, as a coach you hope they're ready to play.

Obviously the meaning of the game and the importance of the game was known by everybody, not only us but certainly by Coach Harrington and Mankato. I was happy with the way we came out and handled those emotions, more importantly I was happy how we came out the last period and embraced the last tent minutes of our regular season at home. We played as well as we have all season, we scored on our opportunities, and in the last five or six minutes, as I was going up and down the bench, I was talking about, make sure you enjoy this. Enjoy playing here in front of the crowd and knowing that in five or six minutes you are going to be WCHA Champs, so it was a good day.

We held our banquet last night after the game, and again, another emotional night saying goodbye to the seniors and having our parents in attendance; it was a good day. I got home last night, 9:30, on my couch, very relaxed and a smile on my face, so good day.

Q. What more can you accomplish?
COACH JOHNSON: Well, as I tell the team, they can enjoy it today and tomorrow at eight o'clock they're back in the weight room working out and getting ready for Minnesota. Obviously it's an important series, when you look at the big picture of things in women's hockey, so it's our job to prepare ourselves. It's a short week with practice Tuesday and Wednesday and then travel up there.

I think the competitive nature of this group and their work habits in playing Minnesota just creates excitement. As I've said in the past when we're going into a weekend against Minnesota, it's fun for the coaches because you know your players are going to be excited to play, so I anticipate that Friday night and coming back Saturday with our game on Big Ten and an opportunity to showcase our product around the country. So it's an exciting weekend and, again, depending on how the series goes and who wins, it has a ramification on the big picture as far as the RPI is concerned.

Q. Mark, you have no concerns at all about how your team is approaching this game coming down off of what happened yesterday and getting prepared for this? It sounds like it's good timing for you, or am I not seeing that correctly?
COACH JOHNSON: No, I mean, I think to answer it, yeah, I've got concerns, but I think hopefully we've learned from past experiences and that's what you reflect on. We beat Minnesota a couple times here, and now we got a big series up in Grand Forks, and we came out Friday night in that game and you could say we came out to the a slow start, so we can reflect on that and talk about that experience, and unlike other teams we play, I think a lot of the players get keyed up for Minnesota, so I anticipate you seeing a real high octane up and down, close-knit battle in both games this weekend, and that would be preparation, that will be the talk starting tomorrow afternoon as we get ready for practice.

Q. Coach, you got 30 wins in 32 games, obviously the team is good, but how important is this weekend for the confidence of your team as they move into the playoffs and the results of this weekend coming up?
COACH JOHNSON: I enjoyed the games this weekend for a couple of reasons. One, obviously we were playing a highly competitive, an arch-rival, the second part of it, at the end of the weekend we should be better because of it. So when you play a couple of games at a real fast pace, and you play against a real strong opponent, you will usually come back it that next game and play at the same level, so when we play Minnesota Saturday afternoon and get ready for a playoff game against Minnesota State, Mankato, and can play at that pace we play at this weekend, that's going to be good for us.

Q. You've got several guaranteed games to go, and obviously you hope it goes further than that, but to this point has this team exceeded your expectations?
COACH JOHNSON: It probably has. You sit down in September and you get out the crystal ball and see what's going to work, what's not going to work and where you might at the end of the season with things that are unknown and injuries and things that happen over the course of a winter, but as I sit here today and talk and reflect on what we've done over 32 games, it's pretty impressive. You compliment the players for doing that, the time commitment, and yesterday they got rewarded because yesterday after the game -- this is the toughest trophy to win to me in women's hockey, because it takes so long to get there and so many things have to go right and you have to be consistent, you have to make improvements and you have to make adjustments, and this group has been able to do that, and certainly a feather in their cap for winning the League Championship.

Then we will wrap up the season Friday and Saturday and then we play a two-week season, and I will explain that to the group where if you keep winning, you move on, if you don't win, you don't move on. In basketball we call it "March Madness" and there is a reason for it. It's exciting, it's fun, there is pressure, and all of that put together makes it an enjoyable time of the year. So we will talk about those things and the most important things is to get ourselves ready and get focused in on Friday night.

Q. You've known the Kessell family for a long time, and I understand you a chance to speak a little bit with Amanda Kessell prior to her return to Minnesota; is that true?
COACH JOHNSON: Yeah, I saw Amanda just before Christmas, back in town here, and hadn't seen her in a while. I've known her for a long, long time, went to school with her dad and graduated in the same class at Memorial, played a lot of baseball together with him.

So the thing I guess I'm happiest about is that she is healthy. We have had players that have had to redshirt that had to take a medical redshirt and forego any of their eligibility left at college level with concussions, so to me the most important thing is, you know, anyone, whether you're a male or female that has one, is to try to get healthy so you can lead a normal life.

I've had friends that have had them, and they've been with them a long time, and eventually they are fortunate to get healthy. So when I heard Amanda was coming back, I was happy because she is healthy, and hopefully things will go well for her, and she will continue to stay healthy.

THE MODERATOR: Anything else for Coach? Thanks, Mark.

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