When the USA Hockey Foundation announced the finalists for the Patty Kazmaier Award, it wasn't surprising to see that two Badgers placed among the 10. Senior forward Sara Bauer, who won the award last season and senior defender Meaghan Mikkelson represent two of the best the Wisconsin women's hockey team has to offer.
"Obviously, I'm honored to be placed in the top 10 level with all those great players," Mikkelson said. "We just said congratulations to each other. … Obviously, we're happy for each other, but we're focused on this weekend's [series] against North Dakota."
The fact that both an offensive and defensive player garnered recognition shows how prolific Wisconsin's offense is (averaging more than four goals per game) and how stingy the defense is (allowing only one goal per game).
The one facet of the Badgers' success not represented by a Kazmaier finalist is the goaltending. As Wisconsin prepares for its first playoff series against North Dakota, the goaltending will have be top-notch as it has been all season long. The duo of Jessie Vetter and Christine Dufour has split time in goal all season, and both have performed very well.
"That's something that separates us from a lot of teams is our goaltending," team captain Bobbi-Jo Slusar said. "That's just another reason why we're strong defensively — our goaltenders are strong. So I think we have a lot of confidence in them, and we trust that they'll do their job."
The numbers don't lie. Dufour leads the conference in save percentage, winning percentage and goals-against average, while Vetter is second or third in each category. Dufour set a UW record last weekend with her seventeenth career shutout.
"Well, I didn't really know until I tied [former record-holder Meghan Horras]," Dufour said. "It's obviously a good thing. … It feels good, but it's not only about that — I have my teammates to [help out]."
It's interesting to compare last postseason to what could happen this year. En route to winning the national championship last season, the Badgers encountered a rather peculiar problem. Instead of having one great goalie, the team had three. Going down the stretch late in the season, Dufour, Vetter and former Badger Meghan Horras all fought for time between the pipes.
And all three produced. Unfortunately for Dufour, she became the one left out despite putting up solid numbers. While Dufour sat on the bench, Horras and Vetter shared time before Vetter stole the spotlight and became a brick wall during the playoffs and was the starting goalie in the championship game.
"Obviously, last year was rough for me," Dufour said. "But I came out and wanted to do my senior year a lot better. Obviously, I don't want that to happen again, so I'm doing everything possible to do my part, work hard, and hopefully I'll get my chance."
This season there are no such problems. Head coach Mark Johnson will do what he's done all season long — let them each feed off each other's energy and let them split time. If one player starts outperforming the other, like Vetter did to both Horras and Dufour last season, then perhaps that might change.
"[Vetter and Dufour] are competing with each other and pushing each other," Mikkelson said. "It was a really unique situation last year having three outstanding goalies. … That's not something a lot of teams have."
While Bauer and Mikkelson get the recognition as some of the best players in the country, two of the best goalies ever to skate for the women's team just go about their normal routine. They simply take the ice when called upon and try to stop any puck sent their way. They've done it all season, and now they need to make sure they keep it up.
"I got a petition in to the NCAA to see if we can use them both at the same time. … I'm not sure that's going to get passed," Johnson laughed. "But they'll both get a chance to play this weekend against North Dakota."
