Johnson Addresses Media
October 29, 2007 | Women's Hockey
Women's hockey coach Mark Johnson appeared at Wisconsin's weekly Monday news conference to preview the team's Border Battle this weekend against No. 6 Minnesota at the Kohl Center. A full transcript follows. To view archived video footage of the news conference, click on the audio/video link on the left.
MARK JOHNSON: First thing, it's interesting as we unwind and get past ten games, look at some of our scores. We lost the game a week ago, and just the reaction of people. It's interesting. Obviously, expectations are high. It's been interesting because we tied a game here against Ohio State, then we ended up going up to St. Cloud and losing, and I got the sense it was the end of the world from some people and as people ask me questions, whether reporters or some of our fans, and it's just part of the process. It's part of the journey to develop a team and push forward and try to become better.
Those are some of the things we talked about after we tied Ohio State, after we lost in St. Cloud. What did we do well in the game' What didn't we do well ' And what do we need to do to get better for tomorrow's game or for next weekend's game' And that's the process we deal with as coaches, and that's what we look at this past weekend against, our two games against Mankato. We won both games. They were very competitive games. They were tough WCHA match-up games. And what did we do well, what did we need to improve on, and how do we get ourselves ready for Friday afternoon against Minnesota, who will present probably the most difficult challenge of this season.
So it's been fun, it's been interesting, and the journey continues.
QUESTION #1: Mark, has Hilary Knight been kind of on par with what you expected her to be this early in her career'
JOHNSON: From a playing standpoint, yes. From a point production, you just don 't know what the numbers are going to look like after maybe eight, 10, 12 games. But as far as doing the things on the ice, I think she's probably where we thought she would be at this particular point. The things that are sort of out there that you don 't know how they're going to deal with are living in the dorms, adjusting to Madison, adjusting to college life and the class schedules, and the time management that these young athletes have to work with that first five or six weeks of school.
The hockey part of it is just one element. Then you throw everything else into the equation, it becomes difficult and challenging. She's played in high-profile events, and so her comfort level against the competition is there, and certainly her point production up to this point isn't a surprise, but it certainly is, if it makes sense, from the standpoint that she's a freshman.
QUESTION #2: Going along, her international experience, what you've seen, what most has she taken out of that, those experiences, playing with, you know, with and against the best players in the world in women's hockey'
JOHNSON: I think for the young players it's just the factor of being intimidated. Like Friday afternoon, when you've got a pretty decent crowd at the Kohl Center, how comfortable are you going to be on the ice' If you make a mistake, how are you going to react in your next shift' If you have a poor game, how are you going to come back in practice and get yourself ready for the next game ' And so a lot of little things take shape, and so having played at a high level, played against some of the top players in the world, her confidence or comfort level when things don't go well is going to be a little bit farther ahead than maybe some younger players that haven't had that experience.
And Hilary's had both of those, because when she was at the Four Nations, she played a little bit, she didn't play a lot, and so you absorb that type of role. With the World Championships in Winnipeg, she played a lot in some games, didn't play much in other games. And so for young players, you're getting experience in different roles, and how you adjust with those experiences and gaining your confidence is a big factor when you come into your university as she does.
So it's just being comfortable and being confident so when I do make a mistake on the ice, it's not the end of the world. I don't take it into the next shift. I don't take it into the next game. And I think as a coach, that's one of the things you have to deal with is trying to play these kids in all different situations and help them with that confidence so that if they do make a mistake or they have a poor game, you know what, it's not the end of the world.
QUESTION #3: Mark, it was hard to tell if you were amused or annoyed by how people reacted to the tie and the loss. Could you kind of clarify where you were with that '
JOHNSON: Well, I just find it interesting because, as I think I mentioned the last time we got together a couple weeks ago, in September a year ago, if you would have told me we 'd only lose one game, I'd have thought you all had been crazy. It just sort of happened that way. This year is no different. If you tell me at the beginning of the year we're only going to lose one game, you're nuts. And the season sort of unwinds, so when we did lose a game, I just sort of got the reaction like, well, what's wrong. You know, walking my dog with my neighbor, you guys lost last night. What happened' Well, the other teams are pretty good. They've gotten better. They're competitive and they want to beat us.
We came off the ice Friday night up in St. Cloud, and I looked at my assistants and I said, you know what, we played pretty well. We probably out chanced them 35-5. Their goalie was better than our shooters that particular night. We had a goal taken back with seven seconds to go that was a goal. Let's move on to tomorrow and play the same way.
And for our players, they were a little bitter that they had lost. They came back to the rink Saturday and were angered. And they came out Saturday night, and we talked about one thing: let's get the fish in the boat tonight. Let's get the puck in the net. If we do that, we're going to win the hockey game. We were able to come out and we played very well.
Through defeat, it can be exciting, but it's just the reaction, Andy, from some of my neighbors, some of the people that all of the sudden, jeez, what happened to you guys, you tied a game. Well, you know, Ohio State has got some pretty good players.
QUESTION #4: Mark, the difference between Minnesota with a new head coach, Brad Frost, as opposed to Laura Halldorson, any difference really'
JOHNSON: Just saw a little bit of footage this morning on their game against Duluth. Obviously, they had their 10-year anniversary this past weekend. They were hosting Minnesota Duluth, who was the No. 1 team in the country from rankings last week, and they beat them twice, so they've got a good team. They always will. They've got good players, and certainly, for Brad, it brings in a new type of excitement maybe when you have a fresh voice and a new coaching staff. They've also brought in Mark Osiecki's father to help with the defensive core, and he's certainly been around the block a few times and brings some experience and certainly brings a lot to the table in regards to that. So we expect a very confident team to come in here Friday afternoon, after their two victories, and certainly a team that will be excited to play us.
QUESTION #5: Mark, despite all that that you just said, you've got a long history with Minnesota as a player and a co-coach. Do you take particular delight that your team has kind of turned the tails the last couple of years and dominated them and maybe surpassed them as a program'
JOHNSON: Well, I don't rate whose program is better because every year is going to be a little different. I remember my first couple years trying to figure out how we 're going to cover Darwitz and Wendell and doing a pretty good job for part of the game, but not all the game. Like I say, they're always going to have a good team. They're going to always have good players. And any time you play them, whether it was last year or the year before or this year, it's going to present a real tough task. So our job is to prepare our team and get ourselves ready to compete for 60 minutes both Friday and Saturday afternoon.
As far as ranking programs, I want to say both have very strong programs, and that 's evident because they've won some national championships, and we 've been fortunate enough to win some national championships.
QUESTION #6: When you were speaking before of how to handle it with the team, the relative struggles that people are bringing up to you about losing and tying a game, the line from the commercial of never letting them see you sweat kind of kept going through my head. Is that kind of the image, the attitude, the mindset you have to present as a coaching staff to the team at this point in time that hopefully trickles on down to them '
JOHNSON: Well, I'm sure they get frustrated with maybe some of our reactions as a staff, but in our meetings, in our video sessions, we talk about as a staff trying to get to perfection. And on the way there, we're going to be pretty good.
So with young players, you have to balance things off. You have to do some positive things. You have to show some things that they need to improve on, but my philosophy has always been, as a coach, whether I'm behind the bench or in practice, I 've got to be positive. I've got to get some energy through the players because if I'm negative, and I'm barking and screaming, it's like a wildfire. It will go right through the team, and I don't need that during a game. I need the players to be focused on being upbeat and positive.
We talk about making mistakes. We'll talk about correcting those mistakes, but the most important shift is your next one. If you made a mistake the prior shift, well, you 've got to have a real short-term memory. It's like in golf, if I missed a three-footer on seven, when I've got a three-footer on eight, I better forget about seven pretty quick. So my mindset is that you try to keep things positive and try to teach the players how to become better players.
