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UND brings heated rivalry to town

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Also by Tyler Mason:

Miami could ruin Pats' perfect mark (December 13, 2007)
Wisconsin hockey continues road woes in Mankato (December 10, 2007)
Hot stove season best time of year (December 6, 2007)
Engel finds niche at new position (December 6, 2007)

by Tyler Mason

Friday, November 9, 2007

As the Wisconsin men’s hockey team found out last weekend with a series split against Michigan Tech, the WCHA season has arrived. The schedule only gets tougher this weekend, however, as No. 3 North Dakota comes to town.

The Fighting Sioux (4-2-1, 2-2-0 WCHA) began the season as the top-ranked team but have since dropped two spots following a 3-1 loss to Michigan Tech and a 4-1 loss to Colorado College in consecutive weekends.

For the No. 10 Badgers (4-2-0, 1-1-0 WCHA), the rankings of the two teams means nothing, as games against the Sioux are always a battle.

"It’s North Dakota. They could not even be ranked, but we’d be jacked up," defenseman Kyle Klubertanz said. "Every year it’s a rivalry between us and them. They come in here and they play hard. The place will be packed and ready to go."

"It’s just an indicator of what kind of team’s coming in," forward Ben Street said of the rankings. "On any given night, any team can beat any other team. We know that, and we know that these guys are a good team. We give them the respect they deserve."

Like North Dakota, Wisconsin came away with a split last weekend, losing the series opener against Michigan Tech but rebounding to win the second game.

"Friday, we were kind of slow coming out of the gates," Klubertanz said. "This weekend against North Dakota, we have to get out hard."

Leading the offensive charge for UND so far this season have been forwards T.J. Oshie and Ryan Duncan. Oshie leads the team with five goals, while Duncan, last year’s Hobey Baker winner, has eight points.

"They’re quick and they’re skilled," Klubertanz said. "We’re just going to have to shut those guys down. They don’t like to be hit, so if we do that, we’ll slow them down."

As talented as Oshie and Duncan are individually, UW head coach Mike Eaves sees the duo as even more dangerous when they play together.

"When you have three good hockey players playing together, it makes it really difficult to stop them because they feed off each other," Eaves said. "Part of their strength is that they’re able to use people around them to their advantage."

North Dakota also brings with them the nation’s top defensive scoring team, allowing just 1.29 goals per game. For a Badger team that has averaged 4.67 goals per game offensively — second-best in the country — and scored eight goals against Robert Morris earlier in the season, points will likely not come easy against the Sioux.

"It might not even be an eight-goal weekend," Street said. "We’re going to need to capitalize on our chances when we can, power plays and that sort of thing. … We don’t expect it to be a shootout game."

Part of the stoutness of the defense is due in part to goaltender Jean-Phillippe Lamoureux, who has started 32 consecutive games between the pipes for North Dakota. Playing that many games in a row, Eaves said, has given the Sioux a level of consistency on defense.

"From a coaching standpoint, you know what you’re going to get; you’ve seen him play a lot and you have a feel for what you’re going to get," Eaves said. "That gives you a level of comfort in that if you make a mistake, chances are he’s going to stop it."

Lamoureux comes into the weekend with a 1.06 goals against average — good for second-best in the nation.

"He’s a good goalie, there’s no doubt about that," Street said. "In terms of us approaching it, we know that we’re not going to beat him too many times on the first shot when he can see it. We’ve got to get bodies at the net, we’ve got to bang in rebounds — there are not going to be a lot of pretty goals playing against this team."

The team’s freshmen haven’t had a chance to play against North Dakota, but they still understand the importance of the series early in the season.

"This is definitely a big weekend," defenseman Cody Goloubef said. "This is going to kind of teach us who we are and kind of be a character builder."

For Eaves, it is tough to imagine a series better than the one this weekend that will boast five first-round draft picks, last year’s Hobey Baker winner and has been decided by one goal in nine of the last 12 games.

"Every time we play this team it is one of the best series year, without question, whether it’s here or there," Eaves said. "Both teams rise to the occasion, and this is terrific hockey."

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