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Wisconsin opens conference play at St. Cloud State
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Also by Robert Panger:
- Cheap way to enjoy spring break, MLB (March 23, 2007)
- Badgers look to put Gophers in hole (January 27, 2006)
- Badgers reach mountaintop (April 10, 2006)
- Wisconsin opens conference play at St. Cloud State (October 21, 2005)
- Gophers sweep Badgers, move into tie for 1st place (January 30, 2006)
Related Stories:
- Month off in store for Wisconsin (December 8, 2006)
- No. 12 UW men's hockey team set for WCHA home opener (October 28, 2005)
- Wisconsin seeks revenge (October 6, 2006)
- Playoff positioning on the line for UW against St. Cloud (February 20, 2004)
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by Robert Panger
Friday, October 21, 2005
The No. 13 Wisconsin men's hockey team opens up WCHA play this weekend with a series at St. Cloud State. The Badgers (1-1-0) are 12-7-1 when they open the WCHA season on the road.
With last weekend off after opening their season against St. Lawrence two weeks ago, the Badgers should be rested and healthy for this weekend's series.
The Huskies (1-1-0) have a new coach at the helm after the resignation of Craig Dahl, who amassed 338 wins in his 18 years at SCSU. Former assistant coach Bob Motzko took over for Dahl, who stepped down before the season began.
A new coach may bring some new luster to a club that has struggled to get wins the last few years. After making the NCAA tournament for four straight years, the Huskies haven't been back since the 2002-2003 season, and they haven't been to the WCHA Final Five since their '01-'02 campaign. The team finished last season a disappointing nine games under .500, their worst record since 1995-96.
"Obviously their record hasn't been great the last two years, but the team is ready to play every night. They play real hard, they're physical," captain Adam Burish said. "They have a bunch of tough, grinder type of players that if you're not ready to play, they'll run you through the wall, and they'll steal two points from you."
Despite its struggles, St. Cloud brings with it a physical defense led by junior captain Casey Borer. He and Justin Fletcher should be the difference-makers on defense, hoping to improve on a team defense that finished eighth in the WCHA last season.
St. Cloud could see some improvement in goal this season as well with the addition of Bobby Goepfert, a transfer from Providence. Goepfert joins the duo of Tim Boron and Jason Montgomery in net. Boron stood out for the Huskies last season with a .904 save percentage and a 3.00 goals against average.
He split time with Goepfert in goal in the Huskies' first series of the year against Northern Michigan, as Goepfert came away with the lone win with the teams splitting the series.
The Badgers will match St. Cloud's physical defense and solid goaltending. A team defense that was first in the WCHA last season brings back its entire defensive corps.
In goal, the Badgers will look to Brian Elliott to take over for the departed Bernd Bruckler. Elliot looked solid in the games he started last season, going 6-2 with a .945 save percentage in eight starts. He also played well in his first two starts as the Badgers' number one netminder.
"There's definitely a flow to that and it's confidence. There's a rhythm there," said head coach Mike Eaves of his junior goaltender. "He's in the flow of things. Brian played the two games, and he's had this week here to get back and face more pucks. Hopefully he'll get that rhythm and flow early this weekend."
The only question for the Badgers this weekend is whether the offense will play up to its potential. Wisconsin returned 98 percent of its scoring from last season, a squad that finished fourth in the WCHA with 3.36 goals per game, but mustered just four goals against St. Lawrence.
With offensive threats on almost every line, starting with junior Robbie Earl, the Badgers have the opportunity this season to make some noise offensively.
"That's one of the things going into the season that we're confident about is we have the ability to score goals," Burish said. "We've got the personnel that can score a lot of goals this year."
Last season and even in the first series of this year, the Badgers, with offensive weapons such as Earl, last season's points leader Joe Pavelski and Ryan MacMurchy, have not lived up to some people's expectations. But for them, it may only be a matter of time.
"Offense is about getting into a flow," Eaves said. "We need to get into that and we would like to get into that offensive. I think we have more weapons. We just need to get those weapons warmed up, tuned in and ready to go."
This weekend, the Badgers will get to test their mettle against a tough conference foe. With a strong defense leading the way, goaltending and offense will make the difference.
"We just have to stick to the details, match their physical, aggressive type [of play], and just capitalize on our scoring chances," Earl said. "We have the offense to do that, and that's what we need to do."
