Frozen Four Rivalry Q&A: Nicole Haase from Bucky's 5th Quarter

NH: I think don't think anything fundamental has changed, but it's just been the general momentum and coming together of a season. A lot was made of the scoring drought and while it was certainly the story of individual games, I don't think it was ever symptomatic of a bigger problem or issue. It was just bad puck bounces and a slump. It was, however, frustrating and maybe a little demoralizing. Having shaken some of that off and shown what their capable of has increased the confidence and swagger ten-fold and it's that sort of intangible attitude that seemed to show on the ice the past few weeks. As every player that scored shook off some of that, it reflected in their play.

Additionally, it's not just the past few weeks, but the emergence of the second line, which features Annie Pankowski, Emily Clark and Baylee Wellhausen, has certainly been crucial for the Badgers as the season winds down. Pankowski (USA) and Clark (CAN) are both on their respective countries' squads for the IIHF Women's World Cup. Pankowski is averaging 1.11 points per game. Big time players are at their best in big time situations and it feels like Pankowski's season has been building to this. She was poised and polished against BU and looked next-level. She wears it well. BU didn't prepare for that line at all and didn't have the depth to handle them. Obviously that's not the case with Minnesota. But when the line I'm not even talking about features the shot, pace and skating ability of Sarah Nurse, it's easy to get excited about the depth UW puts on the ice.

NH: The need to have shots on goal, not just shots. In one of the games at Ridder in January, they were shooting pucks as soon as they crossed the blue line and not really shooting with purpose. One of the things that helped them shake off their slump was being able to get second and third chances. Leveille will give up those opportunities, but usually Stecklein et, al are there to make sure that doesn't bite her. If Wisconsin has to find a way to get any sort of pressure around the crease.

Secondarily, they need a solid game from Desbiens. This goes without saying for the most part, but ARD hasn't been tested a ton this season and she has a tendency to stray from her net. She's just the tiniest bit reckless and I love that about her. Most of the time, it's what makes her so great. But every so often she ends up too far our or out of position because of it. It's the sort of bad that comes with so much good from her style, but Wisconsin can't afford to give Minnesota an inch. 

NH: It's probably a little bit of all of those things. To be fair, before the current losing streak, Wisconsin had dominated the rivalry for something like six years. It does seem to cycle.

One of the things that has frustrated me in the past season and a half or so is that the teams have been pretty evenly matched. For a stretch there, the Badgers were totally outclassed and it was clear that they never had a chance. That hasn't been the case more recently, but they've still been unable to break through. The fact that they got the tie the last time out is definitely something the team is proud and very aware of it. It's a step in the right direction to breaking away from this streak.

NH: Is it weird to say nothing scares me? That's not to say that they're not a good team/opponent. Maybe it's just that I'm familiar with them and so I feel confident that the Badgers can match up well with them? The potent offense is definitely a problem and they struck for most of their goals in the Saturday game in January against UW's second line, so balancing those matchp-ups will be a big point, but Mark Johnson can read a plus/minus sheet, so I'm guessing it's something Wisconsin's addressed and worked on.It's the Minnesota defense and the clogging of both the zone and in the crease that concern me. The defense is giant and solid.

Any Badgers reading, don't be offended, but this year's Badger team is eons better than last year's that had Minnesota down 3-2 headed into the third period of the national semi-final. This team has everything that that one lacked - experience, depth, scoring ability - as well as being as good in goal and on D. I'm by no means assured of a win, but I'm confident in this year's team and what they can do.

NH: Put me down for a deep and hearty sigh as I started to answer this. A peek at the front page of Badger Athletics showed all five stories were about the men's basketball team, which is so disheartening. The basketball game isn't meant to start til around 8:30 pm, but I don't think there's a ton of overlap in fanbases there. I know there were quite a few of the hardcore fans who were disappointed in the inability to get Frozen Four tickets, but it's obviously not a surprise there aren't many available.