State of the Program: Women's Hockey
ANOTHER WINNING HAND?
Head coach Mark Johnson returns a strong roster as he looks for a fifth championship ring in seven seasons
By Mike Lucas
UWBadgers.com
Mark Johnson isn’t big on bling, so he doesn’t wear any of his four national championship rings. He leaves that to those who earned the prize on the ice.
“I’m not a big ‘show it off’ type guy,’’ Johnson, the UW women’s hockey coach, admitted.
But he loved seeing the excited reaction of each of his players when they received their 2011 NCAA championship rings following last Saturday’s Red-White intrasquad game.
“As they open up the ring boxes, it’s hilarious because they’re hooting and hollering,’’ he said. “As we all know, once you win a championship ring, they can’t take it away from you.
“Now in the back of their mind, they have something in their possession.
“Down the road, they have something that they can show their families if anyone asks, ‘Oh, yeah, mom used to play hockey.’ And they can pull out the ring, which is as big as a paper weight.’’
The rings have grown in size with each national championship. The magnitude of the accomplishment — four titles in the last six seasons — has also grown proportionately.
“It never gets old,’’ Johnson said.
