After defeating the Japanese National team 3-0 last week, Wisconsin women’s hockey coach Mark Johnson said an exhibition game proved an important experience for UW freshmen and players returning from injury.

The Badgers faced off in an exhibition game last Monday against the Japanese, who took on a series of opponents while in the Midwest, including Minnesota. During his weekly press conference Monday, Johnson said this was a good opportunity for his freshmen players.

“Any time you get an opportunity to play, you have a chance to grow. Certainly for our younger players, an opportunity to go on the ice, play live competition with announcers, with the referees, with the fans, try to get the jitters and nerves out,” Johnson said.

He added getting an exhibition game in before the season started was also nice so redshirt junior Brittany Ammerman could get a chance to skate and get back into the swing of things.  Ammerman was only able to play in the first three games last year before an injury ended her season.

To start the regular season, UW will hit the road to face Minnesota State University, Mankato in a Friday-Saturday series. Mankato will have played three games by this Friday, making Johnson glad his players have the exhibition under their belt.

The rest of the WCHA will also prove to be tough this season, according to Johnson, who said he feels it might be beneficial to start the season off against some big names.

“It’s obviously early in the season, it’ll be a good opportunity for our freshmen to get their feet wet,” Johnson said.  “It’s going to be a very competitive, very balanced league this season, so it’ll be a good opportunity for our young players to see some league competition and an opportunity to grow at the same time.”

The coach said he plans on using the Mankato series to get a feel for what works and what doesn’t, trying out different line combinations, power play combinations and just seeing what the overall team chemistry is like.

“If we like what we see we’ll probably stick with what we see.  If not, you’re going to make adjustments as you go,” Johnson said.  “Early in the season we try to feel things out, and see what kind of chemistry certain lines have and combinations and coach as we go.”

Following the series with MSU, the Badgers will take on conference rival and back-to-back NCAA champion Minnesota Golden Gophers. A meeting with the Gophers always comes with extra anticipation and Johnson is glad to be taking them on early in the season.

“I think [the Minnesota series] is in a great spot, especially with my younger players,” Johnson said.  “You know you’re always as a coach looking for opportunities to see how your players will react in situations.”

Impact of the Winter Olympics

With the 2014 Olympics in February, national team practice is beginning, which means any college hockey player named to an Olympic team will be away from her collegiate teammates this season. Wisconsin incoming freshman Annie Pankowski will miss her first season after earning a spot on the U.S. Olympic team.

Johnson said U.S. and Canadian players who will be playing in the Olympics will be gone from their conferences this entire season, which will in turn level the playing field by having some of the powerhouses absent.

The teams that are most impacted by the Olympics are teams that have players from countries like Sweden or Finland, as is the case with North Dakota, Johnson said.

“If you’re from North Dakota, you have a couple kids coming in and out of your lineup over the course of the season, that becomes a little bit more challenging than for us or maybe Minnesota, who would have kids on this team that will be gone for the whole year,” Johnson said. “It certainly impacts different schools throughout the country.”