Johnson discusses upcoming schedule and preparations
November 22, 2011 | Women's Hockey
Nov. 22, 2011
• Watch Johnson Press Conference 
MADISON, Wis. -- Wisconsin women's hockey head coach Mark Johnson talked about the team’s upcoming schedule and the play of senior forward Hilary Knight during the weekly press conference Monday at Camp Randall Stadium.
Archived video of the media session is available through the link above, and a complete transcript of Johnson's remarks can be found below.
Johnson: It’s certainly going to be nice to be back home seeing it’s our home series for the month of November. We came off a good road trip out at RPI; I was impressed with the way we played Saturday. Friday’s game was a little bit more challenging than I think a lot of people anticipated, but I think through those types of situations, and, certainly, those type of games, you grow strength.
Players learn and understand a little bit more as far as what the coaches are trying to preach, so I was impressed with the way we came back Saturday and did some of the things that we had talked about at our pre-game meeting prior to game time Saturday night. So we’re looking forward to playing Friday and Sunday here back at home and wish everybody an enjoyable Thanksgiving weekend as we approach this weekend.
Question #1: Mark, I don’t know if this question is fair to you or not, but is there a player on your team that reminds you of you when you played?
Johnson: I’d like to say Decker, but I don’t think that I was that aggressive or that nasty when something wasn’t going as well as I thought or wanted it to go. I don’t know if I’ve ever been asked that question and I would probably have to say no.
With some of the players that I’ve had in the past, I might answer differently, but the group we have right now, the closest one would probably be Hilary, just because I was lucky enough to be able to get the puck in the back of the net quite often. I think we’ve seen in three and a half years with Hilary in watching her play, she’s certainly got a gift of scoring and certainly comes to play every night, and so from that standpoint, she would probably be the closest.
Question #2: You guys come back home and then you’re back on the road again for a long stretch with the schedule. How challenging is this, or is it something that you just have to kind of embrace and nothing you can do about it?
Johnson: Well, I’d like to think, certainly, that the month of October was one that we had talked about prior to involving in those games that we’re going to find out a lot about our hockey club because of the strength of that schedule. Certainly having gone through it, been very successful, helps with confidence and helps in a lot of different areas for the hockey club.
We play 34 games, usually play 18 at home and 16 on the road, and they sort of come at different times over the course of the season as far as your number of home games and away games, but the end result is you’re still playing that number. And so as I always tell our team, I’m not really concerned where we play or who we play. I think from a coaching standpoint, you look for that consistency.
From game 1 to game 34 are you getting better? Are players getting better as a whole? Is your team getting better and are you seeing a consistent effort every night? I think if you’re able to accomplish those things, generally, at the end of the season, you’re going to have a successful one.
Question #3: Mark, you mentioned Hilary’s gift for scoring, and you’ve seen a lot of scores both on the men’s and women’s side. What factors combine to give her that gift?
Johnson: Well, I think it starts with your work habits. So if you watch us practice and when practice ends she’s one of those players on a consistent basis that stays after, works on her shot, works on the little things that’ll be when you get in situations within a game and a scoring opportunity arises. Have you practiced those certain things? And, obviously, her size, her strength, and her shooting ability, you know. She shoots the puck, you know . . . like a guy, and so when she comes down the ice, she has the ability to beat the goaltenders from areas where other girls don’t have that opportunity. So you put all those things together, you’ve got a pretty good package.
Question #4: Your nonconference season is over with now. All the games that you play are WCHA. Does that change the way you prepare for the conference season?
Johnson: Nope. Similar to what Mike [Eaves] says my philosophy is pretty simple. You look at each game. What’d we do well? What didn’t we do well? And at the next practice, what do we need to do collectively to get better as a team? So there’ll be some things that we work on today to sharpen ourselves up and prepare us for the week and get ourselves ready for Friday afternoon’s game against St. Cloud. Whether they’re a league opponent, whether they’re a non-conference opponent, you have to prepare for each team, and take one game at a time.
As we found out Friday, just because you wear the Wisconsin jersey, and you go on the ice, that doesn’t mean you’re going to win. You have to compete. You have to play hard. You have to do the little things that’ll give you the best opportunity to be successful in that particular game. And if you don’t do that anything can happen. Those are the things that we try to relay to our team and try to get that message across and then you go out and compete.
Question #5: To kind of follow up on Hillary, when she’s done here, she could own all the UW records for points and goals. She played in the Olympics, obviously, won numerous National Championships. What matters to her? What do you think matters to her in her psyche?
Johnson: I think just some of the things I just talked about. I think what matters to her is coming to practice every day and working hard. She’s a captain of our team. She wants to be a great leader. If you’re going to be a good leader, you have to do things on an everyday basis and, she wants to play the best game she’s capable of playing Friday afternoon against St. Cloud, come back Saturday, practice, get ready for Sunday’s game and do that on a daily basis.
I think you watch us practice, you watch us play, she gives 100% every game and, certainly, that’s what makes her tick. It just didn’t happen. It’s been a process that’s taken, obviously, a bunch of years. She’s had some success. She’s played at different international events won some NCAA Championships. I think what still motivates her is to try to become even the better player that she already is. So she’ll come to work today, bring her lunch pail, roll up her sleeves, and try to become a better player.
