The 2006-07 Wisconsin women's hockey team will begin the season with the proverbial bull's eye on their back. For the second year in a row, Wisconsin will begin the season as the top-ranked team in the country, and this weekend the new-look Badgers will begin their title defense against Quinnipiac hoping to recapture the glory from a season ago.

"Well, the whole premise is to try to get back there [to the Frozen Four], and the journey starts Friday night against Quinnipiac," UW head coach Mark Johnson said. "That's the task at hand — to see how we respond to winning a national championship; and we need to understand that the only way you win games is if you earn victories and go out and work for them."

Quinnipiac, which plays in the talented ECAC Hockey League, finished last season with its best winning percentage in program history, after going 10-18-6. The Bobcats have almost 90 percent of their scoring production returning this season, including Vicky Graham, the program's all-time leading scorer. They will also be bringing back their top five defenders in the plus/minus and scoring categories from a year ago.

The Badgers, on the other hand, will begin the season with many new faces in new places after losing five players from last year's talented senior class. Nevertheless, Wisconsin still returns a strong nucleus of players, featuring Sara Bauer, Bobbi-Jo Slusar and Jinelle Zaugg.

Bauer, who won the Patty Kazmaier Award last season as the nation's top player, was UW's leading scorer last season, with 58 points, and the catalyst of a prolific offensive attack that averaged over four goals per game. Slusar, who was named team captain for the 2006-07 season, is widely considered one of the top defenders in the nation and is a deadly offensive weapon from the blue line.

With a strong core returning and the addition of a highly touted freshman class, players and coaches alike see no reason why the loss of seniors should have a significant effect.

"It's hard when you lose players and you have to bring in new ones, but our freshmen are ready to play, and I see a lot of positive things, but I know there is going to be a lot of learning experiences for them, but I feel confident with them and with the rest of our core," Slusar said. "We have a very strong core, we only lost five players, so if we can just continue to improve every game then we're going to be fine."

This year's freshmen, similar to last year's rookies, will be expected to make significant contributions immediately, and according to Johnson, they will have opportunities to showcase their skills as early as this weekend.

"Some of them are going to get really good opportunities, and most of them right away … we will put line combinations together Friday, and all the lines will have some freshmen on them," Johnson said. "We didn't bring them in here to sit and watch; we brought them in here to make contributions, and hopefully as each weekend goes by, they get better and gain some confidence and play up [to] their capabilities because they are all pretty good players."

Prior to Friday's game, Wisconsin will unveil its 2006 National Championship banner. The ceremony will undoubtedly be exciting for the returning players and the fans in attendance. Johnson, however, hopes his team can overcome the enthusiasm and focus on the task at hand.

"Just because you're the defending champs doesn't mean everyone's going to lay down; it's just the opposite effect," Johnson said. "So when Quinnipiac comes in here, they're going to try to make a mark for their own program and take us from No. 1 to wherever if they beat us.

"It's going to be like that every weekend," Johnson said.

According to the players, there will be no hangover from last season as the team is looking to build momentum from the ceremony and begin another championship run.

"I'm betting they [Quinnipiac] are going to be nervous, that's for sure," Zaugg said. "I would be scared to come in our backyard right now, especially for the first game of the season, because we're going to come out with a lot of fire and intensity."