New-look Badgers set to battle Gophers after losing five players to Olympics

At long last, the moment we’ve been talking about all season is here. Wisconsin Badgers stars Kirsten Simms, Laila Edwards, Carolina Harvey, Adéla Šapovalivová, and Ava McNaughton are off to Madrid, leaving Mark Johnson and the rest of the team to navigate the remainder of the regular season while their teammates fight to bring back a gold medal for Team USA (or Czechia, in the case of Šapovalivová).

The No. 1 Wisconsin Badgers (23-1-2, 17-1-2 WCHA) won’t be able to ease into the transition, either. Just like the men, they’re off to Minneapolis this weekend; but unlike the men, these Minnesota Golden Gophers (22-4-0, 16-4-0 WCHA) are ranked No. 3 in the USCHO poll and are the only team to beat the Badgers this season—a 5-1 drubbing in Madison to snap a 23-game winning steak and end the Gophers’ 10-game skid against Wisconsin.

The Badgers got their win back the next day, jumping out to an early lead and coasting to a 7-2 victory. Both teams will be noticeably different this time around.

We’ve already touched on the Wisconsin departures, but Minnesota will be without their leading scorer in Abbey Murphy, who also happens to lead collegiate hockey in both goals and points.

Murphy’s scoring acumen has been on display all year, posting 36 goals in just 26 games. She figures to play a large role on Team USA, and I’m looking forward to her being on our side as a change of pace. Wisconsin has historically done well to keep Murphy off the scoresheet, which is a big reason the Badgers are 10-1 in their last 11 games against Minnesota.

Simms and Harvey put on quite the show in their last regular-season appearances, each scoring a hat trick on senior day. Simms posted nine points over the course of the two-game series while Harvey notched eight of her own, serving Badger fans a taste of what they’ll be missing during the Olympics.

For whatever reason, Lacey Eden is not going to the Olympics—and that’s good news for Badger fans. Eden is riding a 12-game point streak, a four-game goal streak, and provided seven points of her own in last weekend’s sweep over Bemidji State. The Team USA snub seems to have only added fuel to the fire, and Eden will now get to wear the “C” for the remainder of the regular season with Harvey’s absence.

Cassie Hall and Kelly Gorbatenko, two of Wisconsin’s leading scorers, figure to join Eden on the top line, though Coach Johnson may opt for more of a split to better balance the lines. Depth and tired legs could be a concern over the next few weeks, and there will be plenty of new faces suiting up to eat up shifts.

One player who unfortunately will not suit up for the remainder of the year is alternate captain and center Marianna Picard. A potential PWHL draftee, Picard will be hanging up her skates at the end of the season following a knee injury suffered in the game against St. Thomas on January 16, her mother announced on social media. This marks the third injury to the same knee, ending her 152-game Badger career with two national titles. The fifth-year senior will finish with her master’s degree in biomedical engineering at the end of the spring semester.

The new-look Badgers will be tasked with holding onto a four-point lead over Ohio State in the WCHA standings with eight games remaining, including two against the Buckeyes. Minnesota is still squarely in the mix, sitting five points back of first-place Wisconsin. A split or better in each of the next two weeks for the Badgers could go a long way toward claiming the WCHA regular-season title before fielding a full roster again in the postseason, but Wisconsin women’s hockey doesn’t shoot for a split. This is a team that’s lost only once in the last 440 days.

As for this weekend’s Border Battle, nobody outside of that locker room can tell you what to expect. Absent five of their stars, Wisconsin still boasts plenty of talent throughout their roster. My guess is we’ll have hungry Badgers all over the ice, but it remains to be seen if the re-tooled roster will have the firepower to keep Minnesota’s remaining stateside talent at bay.

Game Info

Date: January 30-31

Time: Friday – 6:00 p.m. | Saturday – 2:00 p.m.

Place: Minneapolis, Minn. | Ridder Arena

TV: B1G+  | Radio: 1070 AM