Wisconsin Badgers 2016-2017

[robertearle]

Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2016-2017

It was unfortunate that the St. Cloud player got knocked out last night by a check from Clark along where the benches meet (it was called). I did not see the play, but I saw her laying on the ice right in front of me and she was out cold. Then she seemed to be hyperventilating as she came to. It was a little scary. Hopefully she's ok.

That was Lauren Hespenheide. (No, I didn't see the play either.) She was back in the game within a shift or two, and was called for a cross-check almost immediately (as well as a trip later in the period). Wisconsin converted on both resulting PPs.

Edit: In particular, Emily Clark was called for checking Hespenheide at 8:37 of the third period, and Hespenheide got her cross-checking penalty at 9:26.

[ne7minder]

Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2016-2017

I thought the ref's could have done a better job calling penalties, they let a lot of St. Cloud interference go, UW had 2 blatant trips they did that were not called. I don't recall seeing Diebold call a UW game before.

This came up last season & has gotten much worse this year IMO. Players are going to be hurt if the officials continue to ignore obvious penalties. Its a big reason the mens games get as ugly as they do. I don't understand their reluctance to call the penalties out there. I don't expect them to see everything but they let a lot of blatant stuff go.

[robertearle]

Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2016-2017

How do you make 9,000 people showing up for a women's hockey game seem like a disappointment? By claiming it was 15,000.

Are there 5,000 people showing up at the KC right now, saying to one another "Whaddaya mean it was at 4 PM?!?"

Where were they all?

[gwhinwi]

Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2016-2017

How do you make 9,000 people showing up for a women's hockey game seem like a disappointment? By claiming it was 15,000.

Are there 5,000 people showing up at the KC right now, saying to one another "Whaddaya mean it was at 4 PM?!?"

Where were they all?

Watching it on TV, it was disappointing to see that many empty seats at a $1 per ticket game. No idea why people wouldn't have come out for it.

[WiscDC]

Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2016-2017

This came up last season & has gotten much worse this year IMO. Players are going to be hurt if the officials continue to ignore obvious penalties. Its a big reason the mens games get as ugly as they do. I don't understand their reluctance to call the penalties out there. I don't expect them to see everything but they let a lot of blatant stuff go.

This year has been pretty close to last year, which is a heck of a lot better than a couple (or was it 3? I lost track, even though I did notice a distinct change one year ) years ago and the years prior. It's no longer a situation where once every two or three weeks we'll get a crew who decides that they'll call one penalty all weekend and that's it.

[Timothy A]

Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2016-2017

Well, it would have been fun to put 9 up in the Kohl and get that crowd a rockin, but a 2-0 win with 60 sog I'll take all day. St. Cloud did a lot better job in transition D, clogging the middle up and stick checking effectively. UW didn't really have many sniper shot opportunities where the sniper has time to pick the spot and shoot.

The McKibbon line seems to be in a funk right now, but at least the pp is scoring now, a good sign.

The refs didn't do much better of a job, but the players definitely played a cleaner game.

The band was too small, but I understand the kids aren't back from home yet.

The attendance actually filled in as the game wore on, the biggest swath of empty seats was below the band. At the start there was some emptiness in the 100's.

The usher we had in the 109 section was quite the tyrant.

[ne7minder]

Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2016-2017

This year has been pretty close to last year, which is a heck of a lot better than a couple (or was it 3? I lost track, even though I did notice a distinct change one year ) years ago and the years prior. It's no longer a situation where once every two or three weeks we'll get a crew who decides that they'll call one penalty all weekend and that's it.

The crew that sticks out to me (maybe because we see them so often) is Ludwig's. A few years ago he ran on a rotating system. If your team had the last penalty you were free to do whatever you wanted but the minute the other team got a penalty you had to skate on eggshells because yours was next. This year they just seem to lose their whistles for some periods & then find it again later. Yesterdays game saw both UMD & UM get away with some above average bad stuff then later get called for insignificant. Once again glad to to not have Miller in the building, that would have been insufferable even on the rare occasion she would have been justified in howling. Also, very glad to see the teams comport themselves so well when they could have escalated. What this sort of officiating does is depend on the decency of the players not to escalate until someone gets hurt and that is not how the game should be run.

[Badger Booster]

Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2016-2017

It was an interesting weekend of hockey. On Friday night, the diehard fans were treated to a clinic and one of the more dominant Badger wins in some time. Outside of one early glitch that allowed a breakaway attempt that was stopped by Desbiens, St. Cloud didn't really threaten to score at all. All lines were clicking for Wisconsin and seemed to bury every high quality chance they had.

For me personally, Fill the Bowl was kind of a mixed result. First, I give St. Cloud credit for clearly being determined to not get routed in front of a huge crowd and televised audience. They kept a lot of players back on defense which minimized or eliminated any Badger odd-man rushes. While Wisconsin had a ton of shots/shot attempts, there didn't seem like an outrageous number of high quality scoring chances. That and Alder just played better in goal. Unfortunately, Wisconsin has really struggled to score goals in the Fill the Bowl games. Some of that is based on the opponent (Minnesota in '14), but just in general have not played their best hockey in front of the big crowds. Not saying it needed to be 9-0, but you could tell the team was pressing leading to missed passes and shots off-target. I wouldn't have thought anything of it if it was played at LaBahn, but it wasn't a showcase game for the program.

The overall environment of the game was good, but not great. I won't debate that the pre-game introductions and national anthem (with the kids holding the massive American flag) was stunning. However, there were some logistical issues that I'm surprised were made. First, I think that the reserved seating policy did not produce the desired results. While there was definite coverage in all sections in all decks, there were also empty seats in almost every section. At the very least, general admission would have almost certainly filled the lower bowl to capacity along with the best seats in the second and third deck.

On a similar note, I don't understand the people that bought tickets and either didn't show or didn't give/sell them to those who would. I initially bought a lot of tickets not knowing how many friends and family would attend. Unfortunately, due to people working/having other plans, I had over a dozen extra tickets. Instead of just eating them, I spent an extra 10 minutes outside of Kohl and was able to give them away to some very appreciative fans who didn't realize it was a sell-out. It frustrates me that I'm sure there were hundreds of fans turned away when there were probably a couple of thousand seats unused. Everything I heard about reserved seating was supposed to solve this. It clearly didn't.

I also realize that school isn't in session yet, but the complete lack of a student section hurt the overall atmosphere. In the days of Fill the Bowl general admission, students naturally gravitated to the area of the men's student section. That combined with an unusually small band (for a Kohl Center game), was very noticeable for how loud it was. It also didn't seem like there was much coordination between the band and whoever was running the video board/sound. On more than one occasion, the band would start playing only to get completely drowned out by loud, canned music.

Even Phil wasn't at the top of his game. He completely forgot to do the "We want more" chant after the first goal. And with no student section, nobody chanted his name to remind him. I don't know, maybe he was tired from getting a lot of work on Friday night.

Ultimately, at the end of the weekend, it was successful with a league sweep, a record crowd and a nice food haul for a local charity. However, if Fill the Bowl is only going to be once every 2-3 years, it should be done a little differently to produce an even better atmosphere and game environment. I realize that every other women's program (and a lot of mens programs) would kill to have a game like this, but the bar has been set pretty high here.

[robertearle]

Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2016-2017

Will next Sunday's start time be changed, and how early can it go to? Can they go as early as 11 AM?

(Because the Packers in the NFC championship, of course; kickoff at 2 PM.)

[Timothy A]

Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2016-2017

Will next Sunday's start time be changed, and how early can it go to? Can they go as early as 11 AM? (Because the Packers in the NFC championship, of course; kickoff at 2 PM.)

Like they would actually change the game time due to football? I hope so. Otherwise I have to dvr the Pack, avoid all news of the game and watch when I get back home. Honestly I feel a stronger pull to go to the hockey game than watch the football game. Hockey is my first love.

UW has received a commitment from a 2019 D, Teagan Grant, currently plays for the Toronto Jr Aeros. Her Twitter account lists her as a commit and Jackie Crum is following her.

Fill The Bowl thoughts...agree with Boster, having the game without the students was a mistake for the atmosphere. It definitely threw Phil off, though on the 2nd goal the band did the Phil chant, then he fired it up. I agree the reserved seating made the lower 2 sections not totally full. Apparently they can't sell as many tickets if they do general admission because people spread out too much, according to ARD. But I think you can do general admission, but have the Ushers tell people to not leave gaps between them and do some announcements during pregame to tell people to skooch together, kind of like you do at a Christmas or Easter service at Church where the once/twice a year folks crowd the place up. At least they set the record, so if they to another fill the Kohl, maybe they can try the general admission again. I wonder if the rodents will attempt to beat the record with a game at the Target Center. There's no way UW could ever participate in that game.

[robertearle]

Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2016-2017

Like they would actually change the game time due to football? I hope so.

There was a Sunday game a few years ago that I remember sudden realizing had a very early start time, such that I had to jump *immediately* in the car and drive down to get there just in time for the opening faceoff (and pay for parking, which I just about never do; I usually ride my bike or take a city bus). Turns out (I think) it was Feb 14, 2010; it was an 11 AM start time. But that doesn't match up with any playoff game or Super Bowl (too deep into Feb for either). Best I can figure, the early start was to give more time for a KC hockey-to-basketball switch-over; women BB that day at 6 PM.

So an 11 AM start time has a precedent. But not for a Packer playoff game.

[gwhinwi]

Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2016-2017

UW has received a commitment from a 2019 D, Teagan Grant, currently plays for the Toronto Jr Aeros. Her Twitter account lists her as a commit and Jackie Crum is following her.

I anxiously await the day when I get Women's recruiting news before I see you post it! heh.

Spreadsheet is updated with her addition.

[Timothy A]

Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2016-2017

I anxiously await the day when I get Women's recruiting news before I see you post it! heh.

I was just going through all the Packer tweets last night and there it was. I've always dreamed of being a Badger Hockey insider! I follow @BadgerWHockey, that seems to be the key, or @WHockeyCommits, but they can be a little slow on the draw. Thanks for the spreadsheet. I was going to do my own after Chuck left the board out of desperation, but you picked up the slack at which I am very grateful for. That spreadsheet is GOLD Jerry, GOLD.

It was nice to see MJ worked Mauermann into some other lines Saturday. He must have the same eye for talent as I do. It's pretty obvious when she is on the ice.

I tweeted at the team to see if they would move the game time, no response yet, not that I'm expecting one. They are all about promoting the team and not very interested in fan interaction.

[vicb]

Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2016-2017

....... They are all about promoting the team and not very interested in fan interaction.

I have been a fan of the Clarkson women's team since the program went Div I in 2004 and have been a fan of the men's program since I went to school there in 1972. I give a small amount of money directly to both the men's and women's programs and have gotten to meet and talk to the women's coach a couple of times. Coach Desrosiers is one great person as well as a coach. As far as fan interaction, the women for 2 years now have taken the time to send hand written personal notes thru the athletic dept to the fans (me ) thanking us for supporting the program. Now that is promoting the team and having some fan interaction. A nice touch.

[Timothy A]

Re: Wisconsin Badgers 2016-2017

I have been a fan of the Clarkson women's team since the program went Div I in 2004 and have been a fan of the men's program since I went to school there in 1972. I give a small amount of money directly to both the men's and women's programs and have gotten to meet and talk to the women's coach a couple of times. Coach Desrosiers is one great person as well as a coach. As far as fan interaction, the women for 2 years now have taken the time to send hand written personal notes thru the athletic dept to the fans (me ) thanking us for supporting the program. Now that is promoting the team and having some fan interaction. A nice touch.

Very nice touch indeed. That's the beauty of a smaller school like that, though the UW women's program is a small program at a massive institution. It would be a nice touch for UW to do a private meet and greet with season ticket holders for autographs and pics at the start or end of the season. Maybe even a little catered lunch or dinner with a few speakers and the team. Just a thank you for our loyal support. I wonder how many season ticket holders there are for the program.