On a day meant to celebrate the accomplishments of the entire team, the loudest and longest ovation was reserved for the athlete named the Frozen Four's Most Outstanding Player. With 218 career points, a Patty Kazmaier trophy and two national championships under her belt, it was well deserved.
"It's such a great environment here," Bauer said when the applause finally died down. "It's a great place to go to school; it's a great place to play hockey."
While the environment surrounding the University of Wisconsin women's hockey team may be great in the eyes of Bauer, it was the senior, along with the rest of the Badgers, who helped make it that way.
After bringing home the program's first national championship a year ago, Wisconsin repeated as national champs, winning in Lake Placid, N.Y., by a decisive score of 4-1 over Minnesota-Duluth in the title game.
UW broke six NCAA records this season, including fewest losses (1) and fewest goals allowed average (0.85). Those were just the national records. On their way to compiling a 36-1-4 record, the Badgers shattered just about every school record they could, as they became the first Wisconsin team to repeat as national champions since the women's cross country team in 1984 and 1985.
Taking home the crown with a victory over the Bulldogs in the season's final game is an impressive feat, considering the pressure placed on the Badgers to defend last year's national championship.
"As human nature does a lot of times, you got complacent, you might lax off or you might get a little bit soft," head coach Mark Johnson said, commenting on the possible perils of winning a national championship. "This group didn't do it."
While those members of last season's team didn't show any signs of complacency this year, not all of the Badgers even had reason to be complacent. For freshman and WCHA top newcomer Meghan Duggan, this was the first opportunity to claim a championship.
"It's unbelievable, I've never won a championship before," Duggan said. "It's just the perfect way to end a perfect season."
Despite having a roster littered with All-American and WCHA selections, nobody seemed to want to take credit for the team's success this season.
Athletic Director Barry Alvarez passed a great deal of praise to Johnson during Monday's festivities, but Johnson in turn cited the players as the reason for the Badgers' success. When the team's seniors were given the chance to speak, however, they were quick to praise their teammates, their coach and the university.
Even defenseman Meaghan Mikkelson, after jokingly waving to all cameras after saying she loved the spotlight, deflected praise back on the fans.
"To have all those fans there, you don't know how much it meant to us," Mikkelson said when asked about the Badgers trying win over Harvard a week earlier.
Judging by the size of the crowd at both the final home game — 5,125 people showed up at the Kohl Center to watch Wisconsin's four-overtime quarterfinal thriller against Harvard — as well as the championship celebration, it's fairly apparent the feeling is mutual.
And there's no doubt the Badgers have earned the attention they've been given.
Before the band played "Varsity" to bring Monday's gathering and the Badgers' season to a close, men's hockey broadcaster and the evening's emcee Brian Posick thanked the fans before adding that they'd be back for a third title a year from now.
Posick's prediction drew a laugh, but assuming Johnson and the talented Badgers continue to avoid complacency, it's a likely possibility.
