

BY ANDY BAGGOT

UWBadgers.com Insider

MADISON, Wis. — Hilary Knight was known for many things during her brilliant career with the Wisconsin women's hockey team, but one of her greatest strengths was less conspicuous.

Playing from 2007 to '12, Knight set career program records with 986 shots, 262 points, 143 goals, 37 power-play conversions, 30 game-winners, nine hat tricks and eight shorthanded goals.

A two-time first-team All-American, Knight played in four NCAA title games with the Badgers and came away with a championship ring in 2009 and '11.

How Knight didn't win the Patty Kazmaier Award as the best college player in the land at some point in her career is, some would say, an enduring crime.

But to know Knight is to know she brought a mature, 30,000-foot view to most every conversation, even when she was a rookie at UW.

More than a decade later, that hasn't changed.

In the midst of preparing for her third appearance with Team USA in the Winter Olympics, Knight offered a provocative take on one of the marquee matchups of the Games in PyeongChang, South Korea.

The U.S. women's hockey team vs. Canada.

"I'd say it's the most beautiful rivalry in sports right now," Knight said.

USA! USA! USA! ???? "O, Canada" ???? This year's #Olympics are pretty significant for @BadgerWHockey considering that nine current and former #Badgers will represent their countries in Pyeongchang — Wisconsin Badgers (@UWBadgers) February 9, 2018

Interesting choice of adjectives.

Beautiful?

"You're getting the best game out of both sides," Knight explained. "It's everything you want as a competitor and it's everything the fan wants.

"The level of competition is at its highest. The stakes are higher than ever and it's a great game of hockey."

The North American powerhouses have met in all 18 of the sanctioned world championship finals with the Americans prevailing in seven of the last eight matches.

The teams have accounted for all five Olympic gold medals awarded since 1998, but the Canadians have won the last four, beating the U.S. in the finals in 2010 and '14.

The rivalry is such that the gold-medal game in 2014, won by Canada 3-2 in overtime, attracted almost 5 million viewers on NBC.

The countries appear on another collision course and Wisconsin players — nine in all — could well be the tipping point.

Knight is one of four former Badgers playing for Team USA, joining center Brianna Decker, captain and winger Meghan Duggan and goaltender Alex Rigsby.

They will line up across five UW products playing for Team Canada: goaltender Ann-Renée Desbiens, wingers Emily Clark and Sarah Nurse, defenseman Meaghan Mikkelson and center Blayre Turnbull.

The teams will face one another in a Group A preliminary round game Feb. 14. If all goes according to plan, they will meet again for the gold medal Feb. 21.

"It's a pretty heated rivalry," Duggan said in advance of her third Olympics. "It's emotional. It's intense. But I wouldn't have it any other way."

They're all members of the @BadgerWHockey family Yet, at this year's #Olympics, they become foes in an intense rivalry. #VarsityMag is a must-read before the puck drops in Pyeongchang. ???? http://go.wisc.edu/varsity-8-22 — Wisconsin Badgers (@UWBadgers) February 9, 2018

Mikkelson, who played for the Badgers from 2003 to '07, is also on the cusp of her third Olympics. She owns gold medals from the last two Games.

"The level of intensity and competitiveness, it's one of the best rivalries in sports," she said. "It's one of the best — if not the best — in female sports.

"These are the games we look forward to the most. As intense and competitive as they are, it's what we live for."

The pool of former UW players in South Korea ranges in age from 22 to 33 and include some distinctive resumes.

Knight, Decker and Duggan are the top three point-producers in Wisconsin history with 262, 244 and 238, respectively.

Rigsby and Desbiens are the two winningest goaltenders at UW with 100 and 99 career victories, respectively.

Duggan, Decker and Desbiens were Patty Kazmaier Award recipients in 2011, '12 and '17, respectively.

Mikkelson (2007), Knight (2009, '11), Duggan ('11), Decker ('12), Rigsby ('14) and Desbiens ('16, '17) were first-team All-Americans.

Duggan (2011), Knight ('12), Decker ('13), Rigsby ('14) and Turnbull ('15) wore the "C" as captain of the Badgers.

Mikkelson is the oldest player on Team Canada at 33, while Clark is the youngest at 22.

Duggan, who also captained Team USA in 2014, believes Decker is "hands down, the best player in the world."

Also @UWBadgers @Bdecker14 and @mduggan10 are ready for Olympic Hockey! — Coach Tony Granato (@TonyGranato) February 8, 2018

There are relationships woven throughout the two UW entourages.

Turnbull and Rigsby became best friends in college, bonding over the impact of cancer on their mothers.

Decker and Knight spoke of being proud of Turnbull, whose maturity belied the fact her mother died when she was in high school.

Mikkelson was a senior with the Badgers when Duggan was a freshman, but Mikkelson has long admired Duggan's dogged perseverance in the face of injuries.

Of course, the nine have nothing but hosannas for UW coach Mark Johnson and assistants Dan Koch , Jackie (Friesen) Crum and Mark Greenhalgh .

"All of us, we can't talk any more highly of the University of Wisconsin women's team and Mark," Decker said.

"I think it just shows how well the coaching staff prepares us and the level of expectations that they hold us at," Rigsby said.

"It's obviously a world-class university and we're provided with all the resources we need to be prepared and make it to the next level. We're really lucky to have a great coaching staff that supports our goals and dreams."

The Olympics are underway and the OpeningCeremony airs tonight at 7pm (CT) on NBC Miracle on Ice hero Mark Johnson shared the feelings and emotions of the event with @TonyGranato and Paul Chryst in an #Unfiltered discussion. — Wisconsin Badgers (@UWBadgers) February 9, 2018

Clark is the only current U.S. collegiate player to make Team Canada. She's projected to return to UW for her senior season in 2018-19, as is winger Annie Pankowski , who was among the final cuts by Team USA.

"I don't think it's a coincidence that we all went to the same program," Clark said. "Wisconsin has had a huge impact on my development as a player, just being exposed to Mark Johnson and having the resources we have here."

Do the Wisconsin Nine have a shared trait having played in the same system in Madison?

"All of us are very different people as players, but I think there's a level of excellence that you get when you go to that program," Clark said. "All of us are held to such high standards there."

Johnson has a storied Olympic legacy — he led the iconic Miracle on Ice outfit in scoring on the way to the gold medal in 1980 — but Nurse didn't know of that when she first met him. Teammate Mikayla Johnson, Mark's daughter, ultimately filled in the blanks about the guy who has led the Badgers to 10 NCAA Frozen Fours and four national titles since 2002.

"He puts his heart and soul into his players," Nurse said.

Johnson was the Team USA coach in 2014. There were nine UW products in the Vancouver Games as well — including seven for the Americans — but the pool of talent in the U.S. and Canada has gotten much deeper and more diverse in the last eight years. That's proof the Badgers have maintained a high level of consistency.

"Those types of situations make you the proudest because you've done something to affect them and they've been able to fulfill their dream," Johnson said of his current and former charges.

"You're in the business of trying to help people accomplish goals that are really difficult to get to. To me, that makes it very special and I'm certainly proud of those kids that they get an opportunity."

Is there one trait Johnson hoped to instill in his Olympians?

"An understanding of what it takes to become that type of player, the little things that go into doing that," he said.

In all, Johnson has sent 15 players — nine Americans and six Canadians — to the last four Olympics.

"It's fun to know this school has helped so many players achieved their dream," Desbiens said.

"When you're suiting up for your country in the heat of the moment, obviously you're trying to beat the other team as any great competitor will," Knight said. "But it's also great to see how the Badger players have flourished in their careers."

Allegiance to UW only goes so far in a rivalry like this, though.

"We're pretty much all business when it comes to playing them," Decker said.

"I know I have a connection with those guys because they went to Wisconsin and I'm sure they're just as proud of the school as I am," Duggan said of the alums on Team Canada. "But I think, right now, as much as we have that connection I have to stay focused on my team and what we're doing."

On Sunday a pair of #Badgers recorded points in @TeamUSA's win at #PyeongChang2018 while @adesbiens30 earned a shutout for @TeamCanada! — Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerWHockey) February 11, 2018

Another chapter in this great rivalry is about to be written and a host of current and former Badgers figure to dictate its content.

"It's one of those rivalries where we know that you have to prepare and be ready to play as soon as the puck drops," Rigsby said.

"There's a lot of respect, but we definitely push each other to get better because there's a lot of emotion and a lot of pride on the line," Clark said.

It helps that one of the narrators will be Erika Lawler, a former UW standout and U.S. Olympian in 2010, who will serve as an on-site studio analyst for NBC Sports.

"It's fierce every time we play them," Nurse said of the Americans. "There's a lot of pride on the line and you don't want to go back to your country and say that you lost."

Johnson said that if he were starting a team using the nine alums he would choose one of the goaltenders first, but wouldn't be too fussy.

"You take the first four, I'll take the fifth and be OK, too," he said with a smile.

Regardless of outcome, Johnson will watch from a distance with pride.

"I just hope they walk away enjoying the experience, enjoying the journey," he said. "There's a lot to enjoy there."