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BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider
When you have the top two scoring defensemen in the nation at your beck and call, conventional wisdom says you should provide them with as much playing time as possible.
That's especially so when your club is 14-0 and sitting atop the national polls.
But when Wisconsin women's hockey coach Mark Johnson used senior captain Courtney Burke and junior Jenny Ryan for 30 minutes each in consecutive games last week, it was out of necessity, not greed.
"It's something we had to call upon them to do because of some of the injuries we've had up to this point," Johnson said.
Burke and Ryan saw major ice time for the top-ranked Badgers during a non-conference series with Lindenwood because two other front-liner blue-liners – junior Melissa Channell and sophomore Maddie Rolfes – were sidelined with upper-body injuries.
Johnson said Channell could be available for a non-league series with Dartmouth (4-2-2) on Friday and Saturday at LaBahn Arena, which would ease the burden on Burke and Ryan.
Neither complained about the extra workload mind you, but after Wisconsin emerged with 5-1 and 4-0 victories over Lindenwood – extending the best start in program history – Burke and Ryan were bushed.
"Really tiring,'' Burke said.
"In the first game I really didn't notice it as much just because I was so into the game," Ryan said. "But I definitely felt it in my legs and my lungs in the second game."
It helped that the games were played on Friday and Sunday, so Burke and Ryan had an extra day of recovery.
It helped that Lindenwood (3-9-2) isn't among the national powers.
It helped, too, that the Badgers had the puck a lot – piling up a 108-23 edge in shots in the series – which translates to less exertion in the defensive zone.
Fatigue didn't seem to affect Burke and Ryan on the score sheet. They combined for 19 shots and both finished the series with three assists. Ryan was a plus-4; Burke a plus-3.
Going back to the original thought, it's not a bad thing to have Burke and Ryan on the ice as much as possible.
Ryan has the top scoring average among NCAA Division I defensemen in the nation at 1.36 points per game, while Burke is next at 1.21. They also rank one-two in assists; Ryan has 17 and Burke 14.
Moreover, the two lead the team in plus-minus at plus-25 and play a major role in the fact the Badgers have 10 shutouts, lead the nation in scoring defense (0.36 goals allowed per game) and have the most effective penalty-killing unit (40-for-41, 97.6 percent).
Johnson said we're watching two highly regarded, Olympic-caliber talents blossom. Both spent the summer pushing the envelope on their fitness levels and upgrading their all-around games.
"Both have great IQs as far as the game's concerned," Johnson said of the pair. "They're patient with the puck. They see the ice. You put those things together and give them experience and you see what happens."
The two New Yorkers – Burke is from Albany; Ryan from Victor – are roommates on the road who share quiet, direct personalities.
Burke on Ryan: "She's just a good person overall. She's easy to talk to."
Ryan on Burke: "She's very unselfish. She's never thinking about herself. She's always thinking of the team."
With 16 goals and 74 assists in her career, Burke is closing in on 100 points. Only Sis Paulsen (42-88-130), Kerry Weiland (34-90-124) and Bobbi-Jo Slusar (27-66-93) have more in program history.
Johnson credited Burke for her devotion to offseason conditioning and an improved diet.
"She really wanted to push herself so she'd have a successful senior year," he said.
One of the more surprising elements of Wisconsin's fast start is its offensive production. It ranks third nationally at 5.07 goals per game despite losing four double-digit goal scorers to graduation.
"For sure we're way ahead of where we thought we would have been at the beginning of the year because we lost a lot of scoring," Burke said.
Two sophomores – right winger Anne Pankowski and center Emily Clark – lead the Badgers with 10 goals apiece. Eleven forwards have multiple goals, while five – Clark, Pankowski, junior left winger Sarah Nurse, senior center
Erika Sowchuk and freshman right winger Sophia Shaver – have multi-goal outings.
"We're having a lot of scoring coming from everywhere," Ryan said. "It's definitely huge that we can put any line out there and we can expect a goal."
Not just even strength, either. Wisconsin has a robust power play (14-for-54, 25.9) that's seen nine different goal-scorers. The penalty kill, meanwhile, leads the nation with six shorthanded conversions from three sources.
"Personally I don't think I'm doing anything special besides getting the puck through (the defense) and getting it to a forward's stick," Ryan said. "I throw the puck at the net and some forward's going to put it in the net. Everyone's just doing their job."
Having veterans like Burke and Ryan to run the show from the blue line helps. That shouldn't change for the series with Dartmouth, which comes out of the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference with great incentive. Not only is this an opportunity to knock off the No. 1 team in the country, it's a chance to score points with the NCAA selection committee should a national tournament berth be on the line come March.
"It's us with a bull's eye on us," Johnson said.
